Paleo diet?

[GLC1968]

Catrin, I'm glad it's going well for you. My current fixation within the Paleosphere is bone broth. I cook some meat in coconut oil or ghee, add it to a simmering pot of bone broth I've already prepared, and then sautee my veggies of choice in the meat drippings/remaining oil. Stick all that on top of some raw baby spinach or kale in a big bowl and pour the broth and meat on top. Yum.

The guy at Whole Foods is always giving me the weirdest look because I'm always buying center cut marrow bones. Once he asked if I had a dog, and I went all veterinarian on him and told him why dogs shouldn't have bones. When I told him it was for bone broth, which is super nutrient rich (especially minerals!), he wigged out.

I eat "weird" food and I love it. I love how it makes me feel, and I'm glad you are finding it works for you too.

Bone broth is good for the dogs too though, right??

I sometimes pour a little bone broth on their food and they gobble it up. I figure it's good for the dog with the bad hips. When I made my broth, I gave all the leftover veggies to the dogs and boy, did they go crazy for it!

[Catrin]

Oooh, I found a new Paleo food tracking website. It breaks everything down to the nutrient/mineral/etc level. So if you really want to see where the Omega-6 is coming from you can. They are working on a mobile version, and it is apparent it's not be around that long but does allow the addition of new foods/recipes, etc. I am going to give it a shot for awhile.

[westtexas]

Bone broth is good for the dogs too though, right??

I sometimes pour a little bone broth on their food and they gobble it up. I figure it's good for the dog with the bad hips. When I made my broth, I gave all the leftover veggies to the dogs and boy, did they go crazy for it!

I bet it is!! I have been recommending that my clients with dogs with gastrointestinal upset or other illnesses feed them bone broth by syringe when they won't eat. I swear it's what saved my little rescue greyhound from distemper last year.

Catrin - you can use chicken bones just as well as beef/bison bones. I roast whole chickens and chicken thighs in the oven and save the carcass bones and thigh bones in the freezer. When I have a good amount I boil them for about an hour. They don't take as long as the long bones of the ruminants.

[tulip]

Westtexas, why are bones bad for dogs? What about feeding raw diets?

Okay thread hijack. If you are so inclined would you send be a brief pm? I do feed my dog bones (uncooked) occasionally.

[Owlie]

I bet it is!! I have been recommending that my clients with dogs with gastrointestinal upset or other illnesses feed them bone broth by syringe when they won't eat. I swear it's what saved my little rescue greyhound from distemper last year.

Catrin - you can use chicken bones just as well as beef/bison bones. I roast whole chickens and chicken thighs in the oven and save the carcass bones and thigh bones in the freezer. When I have a good amount I boil them for about an hour. They don't take as long as the long bones of the ruminants.

I do that with chicken sometimes too, if I've roasted one. Carcass+wings (because I don't eat them), put in a stock pot, cover with water, boil.

ETA: Excellent in winter for warming the place up.

[PamNY]

Once he asked if I had a dog, and I went all veterinarian on him and told him why dogs shouldn't have bones.

Dogs shouldn't have bones?

I'm sure I'm missing something -- but paleo sounds like BARF for humans.

[Susan]

My current fixation within the Paleosphere is bone broth. I cook some meat in coconut oil or ghee, add it to a simmering pot of bone broth I've already prepared, and then sautee my veggies of choice in the meat drippings/remaining oil. Stick all that on top of some raw baby spinach or kale in a big bowl and pour the broth and meat on top. Yum.

The guy at Whole Foods is always giving me the weirdest look because I'm always buying center cut marrow bones. Once he asked if I had a dog, and I went all veterinarian on him and told him why dogs shouldn't have bones. When I told him it was for bone broth, which is super nutrient rich (especially minerals!), he wigged out.

I eat "weird" food and I love it. I love how it makes me feel, and I'm glad you are finding it works for you too.

Gladly it's not weird to use marrow bones here, you can buy them precut. You can eat the (hot!) cooked marrow with a little salt or use it as spread (ok, eating Paleo you won't do that ) - it's very satiating.
I try to have some bone broth ready as often as possible too. If you whisk 2 eggs in hot broth it makes a very good small meal.

[GLC1968]

If you whisk 2 eggs in hot broth it makes a very good small meal.

Oooh, that sounds like a great idea for a quick snack for my husband (who works from home all day and wants to eat when he gets bored)! Thanks for sharing that, I bet he'd love it!

[westtexas]

Since a couple of y'all asked about the bones thing -

Bones are generally not recommended for dogs because of 1) obstruction and 2) injury. Chicken bones in particular like to splinter and get lodged in funny places like mouths, esophaguses, stomachs and intestines. Although stomach acid theoretically can break down a bone into it's components, too much trouble happens along the way. Large marrow bones like the kind I'm using from buffalo femurs to make broth are very very very hard. These kinds of things break teeth. Also, have you ever met the dog who swallowed rocks or tennis balls? These guys chomp down and swallow all kinds of things that seem like they shouldn't "fit" or go down, but they totally do. Bones just smack of impaction.

Either way, if you break a tooth or get a bone lodged somewhere it shouldn't, you're looking at a lot of money that could be spent elsewhere by simply not giving bones. At my practice, to pull a carnassial tooth (the big molar on top and bottom, commonly fractured from chewing on hard substances) is around $250. This doesn't include the medicine, the anesthesia or the dental cleaning before/after hand. An exploratory laparotomy is going to be about $800, for resection and anastomosis (meaning I have to remove intestinal pieces and put your pet's guts back together in one piece) $1200, minimum.

It's not that bones are "bad". They generally just cause more trouble than they are worth. And in a profession where people consider euthanasia due to financial burdens, us vets strongly recommend prevention when possible.

As far as Paleo being BARF for people - Paleo isn't raw. I'm cooking all my meats (except sushi) and these bones are stewed for 24 hours (they're still hard as a rock, just slightly more porous now from the vinegar I add to the broth). I think raw feeding is actually fine for dogs, if you can get the vitamins/minerals right AND the food safety. Too me, in this crappy food system, nothing is safe and everything should be cooked. That's why foods like EVO (evopet.com - I'm biased, I used to work for the company) exist. It's raw food that isn't raw and it's safe to feed your pet.

[Catrin]

Tried something quite yummy as a replacement for ice cream

Frozen blueberries
pour a small amount of coconut cream over them
Mix with spoon, the coconut cream gets thick after contact with frozen berries.

Eat.

YUMMY!

I used only a quarter cup of berries and 3 tablespoons of coconut cream - VERY high in calories. I don't think I would use anything other than small berries for this.

[Blueberry]

Apparently you can whip coconut cream too - bet that would be nice with the berries.

[Tri Girl]

Apparently you can whip coconut cream too - bet that would be nice with the berries.

coconut milk (after sitting in the fridge overnight) makes a FAB whipped cream!
I love to put that on berries for a sweet treat!!

[Blueberry]

coconut milk (after sitting in the fridge overnight) makes a FAB whipped cream!
I love to put that on berries for a sweet treat!!

Isn't coconut cream just the "solid" part of the regular (not lite) coconut milk after it's chilled? Or do you use the clear stuff too?

[Owlie]

Where do you find this stuff? Is it terribly expensive? I've got a tea or two that it might be tasty in.

[Catrin]

Coconut Cream is canned, and is a combination of coconut milk and meat. Trader Joe's sells a can for just a bit over $1. It is richer/thicker than coconut milk and it is just awesome in coffee, useful for cooking/etc. It is quite high in calories, so it is good to be aware of how it fits into your overall caloric goals. Coconut oil is very stable at high temps and great for cooking as well

If I thought I had the hand strength to pry my way into a coconut I would One of these days I will try it, but I don't have a cleaver!