healthy lifestyle

Bone broth: health benefits?

Does bone broth actually have any health benefits?

 

A Bowl of Comfort: Slovak Soups & Stews Book

I’m sharing another part of  chapter from my book, A Bowl of Comfort: Slovak Soups & Stews. This chapter is where I get geeky.

In the book is info on the difference between broth, stock, and bone broth, and between white and brown stocks (for now we’re just calling it bone broth). Included are instructions for making bone broth with a pressure cooker, slow cooker, or stock pot with poultry, fish, or ungulate (animals with hooves) bones. And, I have six ideas of where to find bones, if you don’t know where to get them.

 

 
Bone broth is a bit of a buzzword. Trendy cafés serve flavoured bone broth to go and it is celebrated as a magic heal-all. Others scoff at broth as a fad of plaid-wearing hipsters or dismiss that any health benefits can result from drinking it.

Is the bone broth worth the fuss, not to mention the extra time and energy that goes into making it (or buying it)?  Click to continue reading

9 Tips to Save Time Cooking Real Food

9 tips to save time cooking real food - Almost Bananas

Even if you like to cook, nobody wants to spend all day every day in the kitchen. With a family to feed, it can start to feel like a downright chore that never ends.

Ever been scrambling for a last minute meal as the whining level increases with the kids’ hunger, as tempers flare and dinner is late which means that kid bedtime is late which means that mama is grumpy which means she stays up later to get some quiet time which means that she regrets staying up the next morning? Maybe I’m the only one…

I’ve compiled a list of ways that help me save time cooking real food. I’ll be the first to admit, though, that even though I know what I ought to do, I don’t always do it. But I’ve realized these help, and try to implement them as much as I can. Click to continue reading

Winter Hike up McKirdy Mountain, Valemount, Canada

McKirdy Mt. Valemount BC Canada

I wasn’t expecting to get to Canada this year, but in February I made a quick unplanned visit to be together with my extended family. Given that it takes two days to travel one way from Slovakia to the middle of nowhere Canada, I didn’t have much time but was still hoping to get above treeline.

My mom and I did make it up, and I couldn’t have asked for a better companion. We frequently paused along the trail as we got into conversation, solving all the problems of the world.

We went up McKirdy Mountain, and while I have showed pictures and shared memories of my favourite place in the the world before, it was in the summer.

We hadn’t planned on stopping at Hermit Thrush Cabin, but when one of the lenses in my glasses fell out, we traipsed over to tape them back together. That red Tuck Tape has some seriously sticky qualities, and is oh-so-sexy for repairing glasses.  Click to continue reading

How to Live as a Big Family in a Small Space

6 people in 70m2

A few years ago I returned to Canada for a visit. I woke up at my sister’s house and looked out the window – everything seemed so BIG compared to Europe. Beefy trucks with bulky snowmobiles were parked in front of massive houses.

Now, I admit that I miss trucks. On the very rare occasion that I see one here, I wish I could buy one. I would seriously love some snow (although my type of sledding usually involves walking uphill).

But the huge houses…I’ll leave them. My dream house, for our family of 6, is about 110 m2 (1180 ft2). My dream house also has innovative furniture, like a desk on hydraulics that transforms into a guest bed without disturbing the stuff on the desk. (You can find more of my house aesthetics on Pinterest on the That Someday House board, as well as some separate bedroom boards.)

Right now though, I don’t have the fancy furniture or even custom storage. I’ve got 6 people in 70 m2 (750 ft2). I’m not crazy organized or a great housekeeper, but we manage to live in our home fairly comfortably. Click to continue reading

Sitting: The Silent Killer

sitting the silent killer

It sounds like an exaggeration, that sitting is killing us. But it’s true. Studies have demonstrated over and over again, that sitting is bad for our health, from increasing cardiovascular  disease to impairing the  utilization of fats properly.

From sitting, you say? Yes, it was surprising to me too.

And even if you get in your half hour (or more) of exercise a day, it doesn’t undo the negative effects of sitting for prolonged periods of time.

Click to continue reading