USE FREE BONES!

If you are a budget-conscious housewife don’t be embarrassed about asking your local butcher for free bones, yes FREE bones. That’s what I normally get from my butcher if I intend making beef, pork, chicken broth or soup. And I always keep a stock of broth in the freezer because it is so handy for me to use when I want to make a quick meal of warm, nourishing soup so welcome on those chilly winter days. I love these soups.

Take a look at this recent picture of a beef bone that was given to me by my local butcher...ha! ha! ha! Even with my broken Spanish I always end up getting what I am trying to order. Mind you the locals love to hear me trying to communicate with them in Spanish. They even help me by giving me the correct Spanish words and the proper pronunciation. Yes I am learning thru talking to them like this. So always be friendly, be brave and be nice and your butcher will give you free bones too. After all, those old bones are only going to be thrown away by the butcher. (Although I think you’ll probably stand a better chance of getting free bones from your local neighbourhood butcher than from the Supermarkets in the area.)

 Well, back to my free bones. I boiled them with a few beef slices (the cheapest cuts from my butcher), a dash of salt and sliced onions until the beef slices were tender enough to be eaten, then I added potato cubes and sweet potatoes plus a few vegetables (I used leeks in this photo) and simmered the whole pot until it was ready to serve. It is really so tasty with the addition of a beef cube, and a pinch of pepper and mixed 5 spice or bouquet garni. This provided my husband and me with a complete, delicious, nutritious and thrifty meal.

I saved half of the broth I made in the freezer, ready to be used on rainy days. I will probably make a different soup with it by adding just potatoes and vegetables (homemade vegetable soup!). This type of meal is truly delicious and nutritious and is very economical too. Normally I just use the cheapest available fresh vegetables in my soups, or sometimes legumes which are so cheap and full of nutrients.

I also love mixing mashed potatoes and mashed sweet potatoes or mashed pumpkin with my broth and making a thick soup adding a dash of pepper and just a quick swirl of a teaspoon of light single cream before serving, mmmmm! So scrumptious, lovely, very appetising and presentable too. Try it you’ll be surprised.

TIP: Always sieve the bone broth before using in order to discard the small bone fragments that occur during the boiling stage. And remember not to overcook your vegetables.