What’s the Beef about Beef? (Have a Cow!)

women looking at big plate of beef bones

By Jennifer Cote –

Jennifer Cote-photo-Caveman-Bones-Nom-Nom (400x300)In my “spare” time, I’ve been researching latest nutritional info on the world-wide web. We are truly in an information age.

Not that we want to stress over what we’re eating- that could be an unhealthy thing to do! But it is wise to make informed choices. Much new information is being published, that isn’t coming through any special-interest groups. If profits aren’t at stake, the facts are less likely to be skewed.

fall scents for your home

It’s good to know about “PUFAs” (polyunsaturated fatty acids), free-range, organic chickens (and their eggs), and anti-inflammatory diets (since many health issues seem to start with some kind of inflammation). But for now, let’s focus on beef.

When several friends/family members expressed interest, our daughter-in-law did some online-sleuthing, finding a great price for grass-fed beef from a farmer down in Temeculah. Cost was under $6/lb. for the meat, or $2.25/lb. for the whole cow’s weight. This was a special price, not including delivery, but we were planning a family trip down the coast, and realized we could pick up our beef that way. So we invested in a cow. A quarter of a cow, to be exact. Grass-fed, happy, and “halal-style”.

A quarter of a cow is a lot! We now have a freezer stocked full of various cuts of beef (and a bit of liver we may feed the cat). We also received a third of the cow’s bones, which we roasted on big sheets at the deli. We put them all in our giant pressure cooker afterward, and prepared a wonderful “bone broth” (formerly known as stock, before that came to mean the stuff coming out of cans or cartons). I now have quarts and quarts of bone broth in my freezer too.

But what is the beef about regular, grain-fed beef? In one study, they fed one group grass-finished beef, feeding the other group the typical grain-fed beef. The grass-finished eaters showed improved fatty acid composition (less omega-6, more omega-3), which is a good thing. This would lead to a more balanced inflammatory response (and probably, better health). It wasn’t that they noticed some exact chemical analysis of the one beef differing so much from the other, but there was a noticeable effect on the people. You can read more about that on “Mark’s Daily Apple”.

It’s about time to celebrate Memorial Day, and gratefully remember the selfless contributions of our military. We’ll be honoring those great men and women, and doing a bit of barbequing while we’re at it. May your holiday be blessed!

 

Jennifer’s love of cooking with natural ingredients is inspired by the organic garden she’s cultivated for over 25 years. A cutting garden provides flowers for The New Deli Cafe, an herb garden lends herbs for culinary creations, and twenty-some fruit and nut trees are scattered throughout her fairly urban back yard. New Deli compost keeps the garden flourishing, as Jen and her family carry on the family business, established in 1985. A blessed grandmother, mother, and wife, Jen gets much joy from sharing recipes (and perhaps an occasional basket of figs or platter of home-baked goodies).

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What’s the Beef about Beef? (Have a Cow!)
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