Bone Broth Sundays

My youngest son and I just figured out a great weekly meal plan that I've been using for several weeks. One of the best things about it is that I can use parts of meals to produce new meals later in the week. The week starts on Sunday for us and I use it as an excuse to cook with bone broth to get in some extra nutrition as we face the week ahead. Also, due to my restricted diet, it's a good way to have a meal that we can all enjoy together--most of the other days I have to adjust the main meal for me.

So Sunday dinners are a roast of some kind: usually beef or pork, sometimes lamb. We get our meat from our local farmers, all of it pastured, grass-fed, humanely raised. I say it's a roast, but I actually braise the meat in a couple cups of beef bone broth and a couple cups of water. I make slits in the meat and insert garlic cloves, throw in a few bay leaves, and salt the meat generously with sea salt. Depending on how much time I have I'll either cook it at 250 degrees F for 3-4 hours or 325 degrees F for 2 hours. Either way the meat falls apart and is juicy.

Veggies are also slow-cooked. Our favorite is green beans. I cook those in equal parts bone broth and water, toss in a quartered onion, and sea salt. Once that comes to a boil, I turn down the heat to a reasonable simmer and cook for at least an hour. We like them pretty soggy. Whatever broth doesn't get eaten with the veggies I drink with another meal. It is so very delicious!

I am avoiding nightshades, so our mashed potatoes are really Japanese sweet potatoes (white flesh and less sweet than regular sweet potatoes). I suppose I could add a little bone broth as the liquid at mashing time to add a little extra, but I usually just leave a little of the water the potatoes were boiled in behind in the pot. Add a little salt and ghee and whip 'em up.

Sometimes I'll make a little gravy from the juices or pour a little au jus over the meat. But I like to save the liquid to make a nutrient-dense red sauce for a pasta meal later in the week (another post). I throw the bones and some of the meat in the sauce too; the meat just keeps getting more tender and flavorful! My oldest son loves bbq, so later in the week for school lunch, I'll send along bbq pork sandwiches. This amount of food gives us a lunch for each of us and another entire meal. When you figure out how to stretch meals, it might be easier to justify the cost of a pastured roast. We buy in bulk when we can, which lowers the cost significantly. The nutritional value of the meat alone makes it worth it for us; it's a once a week treat that nourishes us deeply.

Find pasture-raised meats:

Weston A Price Foundation has local chapters that know the local farmers; they are a great resource
US Wellness Meats ships nationally