Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The uphill Work of Recuperation

It's funny .. the Lord tells us to do what it He tells us to do.
I am happy to say that the Lord has given me the job of getting Don's body back to health.

No easy task. He is continually nauseated. He can't eat cause his throat is swollen and burned.

OK - that's where we start.

I have been doing a lot of reading, I am a fan of old world food. I like to look and see what has been working for centuries .. and consider that.

My new goal is to perfect a meat stock. I guess I will start with chicken. I have been given recipes. I have been told to put the whole vegetable in .. like with onions to include the peeling . I remember that from my grandmother, Nuna.
She was a hub back in the day - she knew stuff. She came over to the US from England at the turn of the century.

One thing I consider that she did not have to consider is organic or not organic. For Nuna it was all organic. When I put in whole vegetables now I only use organic. I might be over reacting but since I am dealing with Don's compromised immune system I keep it as pure as possible.

The recipe I am trying today is from Nourishing Traditions, it calls for free range chicken - to include the bony parts, gizzards and chicken feet if I can find them.
Put the chicken in 4 qts of water,
2 Tbsp vinegar
1 large onion
2 carrots
3 celery
and one  bunch of parsley.

Let stand for 30 min to 1 hour then bring to boil. Remove scum as it rises to the top.
Reduce heat then simmer for 6 to 24 hours.

The vinegar is in there to pull out the calcium and other minerals from the bones.

Later I can use chicken for chicken salad or things like chimichangas.

Strain the chicken bones, skin and meat, pour the stock into a large bowl then refrigerate until fat rises to the top and the stock congeals.
Skim off the fat and reserve the stock in fridge or freeze it in ice cubes or larger portions. Ice cubes will be good for me cause Don only eats a teaspoon of food at a time - you think I'm being sarcastic, I'm not. It's such a small amount of food that goes into that body. That is why everything he eats has to be huge in benefits.

Benefits of congealed stock .. it's the gelatin. It helps in digestion and enables to body to absorb nutrients.
It is also helpful for joint conditions. Civilizations have been using it for centuries.

http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/515-broth-is-beautiful.html

The recipe I tried from Nourishing Traditions today, turned out pretty well. It had a pleasant, light flavor which is good for Don.

Let's hope tomorrow it will be a good food day for Don. Today he seems better. His attention span is better and he is more alert.  I am hoping I can find food or conditions that help reduce his mucus - it's the stuff that makes him so nauseated. It's the bodies way of healing but there is to much. I am thinking antihistamine and a using the humidifier more often in the house.

Fun thought though .. we are invited to a Super Bowl party, Don should be well enough by then and Benjamin and I will be routing for the Steelers.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

woot woot go steelers! :)

Unknown said...

interesting about the vinegar. I wish I could come to the superbowl party! Are you putting helichrysum on Dad's feet? (get some if you don't have it). It's good for healing and reduction of scar tissue forming. Add majoram too because it intensifies the results you get with other oils.

and go Steelers!! (or Stellars as Zack's Utah accent says)

Mary said...

No, I forgot about helichrysum .. and marjoram .. thanks .. love you. I wish you could come to the party. I think I am going to try to make a Steelers cake. I don't know, seems like it would be fun.

I see from a human stand point