Whiteley Creek Homestead

dry soup beans

In my childhood, we watched Leave It to Beaver, Father Knows Best, Casper the Friendly Ghost, and Bonanza on a black-and-white vacuum tube television...when it was working.

On cold winter evenings, my family would cluster in our small living room to watch T.V. while shelling dry soup beans that we had grown and harvested from our large garden plot. Recently, our youngest daughter, Jessie, came for a visit. To shell beans from my garden and experience a memory from my lifetime so long ago. It was a tender moment in time.

Sitting upon a shelf in my pantry, is a small jar of beans... shelled from pods growing on vines planted many years ago on my parents' farm when they were a thriving, viable source of nourishment for a family of twelve children. 

 

deer cohabitation

Three deer regularly visit our front yard to eat from a flowering crab tree heavily-laden with cherry-sized apples that determinedly cling to their branches despite winter's grip. Frustratingly, the deer believe that my perennials, shrubs, and young tree branches are free game, too. So, determined to retrain our visitors, Dick and I set some beyond-their-prime apples upon a chair along a pathway where we often sit. Far away from our house and the landscaping surrounding it.

After checking twice each day, our efforts proved fruitful. On the third day, it was evident that the deer had conferred and agreed to each leave a snack for later, as there were but three apples remaining. Going forward, have we seen nary one deer in our yard? Did our kindness have a boomerang effect? I would like to report that our deer have not returned. But such would be a tale. One that gives hope to countless others. When hope is something I cannot give. Our experiment produced healthier deer. Nothing more. Their willingness to be retrained is hopelessly nonexistent.

instant pot bone broth instructions

Supplies are gathered. Freezer is stocked with collagen-rich bones. Here's what to do with them.

Instant Pot Bone Broth Instructions

Place bones in pot. Add vegetables, herbs, egg shells, and peppercorns. Mix vinegar with water and then pour over the ingredients in pot being careful not to spill any water in chamber under pot.

Check to be sure that lid’s sealing ring is secure. Lock the lid onto Instant Pot and set the steam release valve to “sealing” position.

Press the “soup” button, then set for *low pressure/normal mode by tapping the “pressure” button to reset to low pressure, and then tap the “adjust” button to reset to normal mode. Set time to 180 minutes by pressing the + or – button. It will take approximately 30 minutes for Instant Pot to come to full pressure at which time the red float valve will push upward to indicate that the lid is sealed and the timer will begin to count down. Note: Programs and buttons vary depending upon the Instant Pot model. *Some instructions state to cook at high pressure for 120 minutes. When the timer reaches 0, the pot will beep. Press “cancel” and allow the pressure to release naturally which will take approximately 30 minutes. If you get busy and don’t hear the beep to press cancel, the pot will go into “keep warm” mode and automatically begin depressurizing. Do not attempt to remove the lid until the red float valve drops downward to indicate it is safe to remove lid.

Strain the broth into a two-quart canning jar. In addition, I often have enough broth to fill a peanut butter jar. If using the bones to make a second batch to which you'll add fresh veggies and a few additional new bones, scoop out vegetables first. I toss the veggies into my garden compost and place the bones, if reusing, into a container to store in fridge.

Place strained broth in fridge overnight. After it has gelled, skim off the solidified layer of fat that forms on top. (Beef bones produce a greater amount and more solidified fat layer than chicken bones.) Discard, or use to grease pans for adding amazing flavor to fried foods.

Keep a record of what combination of bones worked well so that it can be repeated.

 

homemade bone broth supplies

If your bone broth is thickly-gelled like Jell-O, and even thicker yet so it doesn't even jiggle, you will know that you have perfected the process. It requires the correct amount of...

• Collagen-rich bones
• Water and vinegar
• Cooking time

"Animal bones, tendons, ligaments, and other flexible connective tissues in the body contain a protein called collagen. Collagen is the main (and most abundant) structural protein in the human body." Source: Kettle and Fire Bone Broth The animal parts that are used to make bone broth are the same ones that tend to break down in our body as we age (bone marrow and cartilage).

Here's what you'll need:

Bone Broth Ingredients and Utensils

For Cooking Down Bones to release their collagen, there are 3 choices:

• Pressure Cooker
• Stove Top
• Crock Pot

My preference is a pressure cooker because, with the other two methods, additional water must be added to replace what is lost through evaporation. Therefore, flavor and collagen concentration is reduced. (I own an Instant Pot 8-quart IP-DUO8O Model).

For Bones: In our central Minnesota locale, SuperOne Foods has a good selection.

• Turkey and chicken: necks, backs, wings, the carcass after roasting a whole bird (for a turkey, portion into two parts and freeze half for later), chicken drumsticks (Costco family-pack sells for $0.79/lb or watch for sales at regular grocery stores), and chicken feet (Walmart sells 9 per Styrofoam tray).
• Beef: Knuckles, femurs, neck bones, and oxtail (sometimes labeled "beef tail").

Note: You will portion out the drumsticks into quart freezer bags w/ 4 per bag, then place those bags into a gallon freezer bag so that you can locate them more readily in the freezer. Likewise, portion the chicken feet into quart bags w/ 5 per bag, then tuck any stragglers leftover at end into the bags which will make 6 in a few bags rather than 5. Place each bag into a gallon freezer bag as you did with the drumsticks.

For Veggies:

• Celery
• Carrots
• Onion
• Garlic Bulb w/ individual cloves to break off

For Seasoning:

• Dried or fresh parsley
• Dried or fresh rosemary sprigs (adds amazing flavor- fresh if possible)
• Whole peppercorns

For Cooking Water:

• Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar with the 'mother' to help draw collagen from the bones.

 For Straining:

• Stainless steel wide-mouth funnel w/ handle (Suggested: Norpro Stainless Steel Funnel with Handle for Regular and Wide Mouth Jars available on Amazon)
• Large mesh strainer to set inside funnel (a. not double-mesh, as it clogs too easily and b. It's advantageous for it to be taller than the funnel, as it holds more solids to expedite the straining process)
• Long-handled soup ladle
• Two-quart (8-cup) glass batter bowl with a lid and measurement markings to mix vinegar with water and store bones in fridge if using them to make a second batch of broth
• One two-quart wide-mouth canning jar with lid
• One peanut or almond butter jar w/ lid

For Weighing Bones:

• Digital scale (Use the “weight converter” on https://www.coolconversion.com to convert ounces to pounds.)

For Record-Keeping:

• Notebook to keep track of type of bones, weight, and combinations that worked well so it can be repeated.

 

Homemade Almond Milk

Making almond milk in your own kitchen is simply...simple. Soak. Strain. Squeeze.

Homemade Almond Milk

1) At bedtime, put 1 cup raw almonds in a quart canning jar. Cover with enough warm water (not city water treated with chlorine) to allow for nuts to plump. Add 1 tsp sea salt. "Salt in soaking water activates enzymes that neutralize enzyme inhibitors making the nuts easier to digest and their nutrients more readily available." Fallon, Sally. Nourishing Traditions. Washington, DC: NewTrends Publishing, 2001. 512. Also, soaking makes nuts easier to pulverize.

2) After soaking 8-12 hours, drain almonds and rinse well.

3) Fill blender container with 4 cups water. Add soaked almonds. Blend until creamy. 

4) Pour liquid through a nut milk bag, cheesecloth, or a square of unbleached 100% cotton unbleached *Osnaburg Fabric. When milk flow slows down, draw together the sides of the fabric, then squeeze to extract remaining milk. If desired, save the pulp to use in recipes. (1 cup almonds produces 1/2 cup packed, or 1 cup loosely scooped, moist almond pulp.)

5) Pour milk back into blender container and add 1/4 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp almond extract and 2-3 dates. (If dates are dry, presoak in a little warm water to soften.) Although I haven't tried this, to make a richer, creamier "homogenized" milk, add 1 tsp -1 tbsp sunflower lecithin. Lecithin is a fat emulsifier that keeps fats (in the nuts) and liquids (water) from separating.

Note: I order truly raw, unpasteurized Italian Organic Almonds and Medjool Dates from Food to Live.

*Oznaburg is typically used for cross stitch and embroidery and is sold on a bolt at Joann Fabric & Crafts. I like it because the weave is larger but still tight enough so that almond pulp particles aren't allowed to eek thru the milk, and it allows the liquid to pass thru more rapidly than closely-woven fabric. After selecting a receptacle to use for straining the milk into, measure its diameter, then add on extra for overhang so that you have ample width to draw up the sides of the fabric to form a pouch that you can grasp and twist to squeeze out any remaining liquid from the pulp. The dimension of Oznaburg that I use to create a fabric strainer over my largest vintage Pyrex mixing bowl is 18" x 18". So, 1/2 yard of 45" natural, unbleached Oznaburg will provide you with two squares.