Homemade bone broth

Bone broth is one of the most commonly-made food items in our household because 1) it's super easy, 2) it's used in several recipes, and 3) word has it, there are several health benefits. (I guess there's a reason your momma made you chicken noodle soup when you were sick.)

So here's the know-how:

Get some leftover chicken (or beef, turkey, etc.) bones (I'll keep them in the freezer until I'm ready to use them)
Get some leftover veggies and herbs (or collect your veggie ends in a bag in the freezer until ready to use)

Put everything in your slow cooker and douse it in about a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, which supposedly "leeches" out the nutrients.  Put in just enough water to cover everything, and put your slow cooker on low.  I'll leave the slow cooker on while I sleep or when I'm at work, for at least 8 hours.  You'll wake up or come home to the most delicious and comforting smell!  Strain the bones and veggies out and voila!  You have a yummy and healthful broth.  You could drink it as is, or put it in the freezer for future use.  I mostly use the broth for soup recipes, giving mymeals a richer flavor and a more healthful kick.

Before cooking

After cooking

Arusha National Park, Tanzania

After visiting our school in Tanzania, Eric and I went with a few colleagues and alumni to check out Arusha National Park.  We had a few hours to spare and it was a great stop on the way to the airport.  With a clear view of Kilimanjaro on one side and Mount Meru on the other, the park provides a landscape that requires much more time to fully appreciate.  I would love to come back with more hours and a better camera lens to enjoy and capture this park more fully, but even this quick stop provided a douse of nature and landscape, with a sighting of the highest point on the African continent as a bonus.

August finds

Some favorites I came across in the month of August:

The always inspirational John O'Donohue left us with this great podcast interview before he left our world.  Make sure to check out the podcast playlist too, for some hauntingly beautiful Celtic music.

Trauma is nothing to be taken lightly, as new research finds that we actually pass our trauma onto our children's genes, once again confirming that effects of war will last for decades beyond the presence of direct violence.

In our FOMO obsessed world, maybe we should consider the value of the unlived parts of our lives.  This one hit me.

It was my mantra for a while (sometimes still is): Be unapologetically you.

 

One of the huge confusions in our time is to mistake glamour for beauty.
— John O'Donohue

Visiting youth leaders in Tanzania and Rwanda

Last week, we took a family work trip to visit the schools and programs we work with in Tanzania and Rwanda.  It's always energizing to get out of Kampala and out of the office to be with our other staff, students, and alumni who are all part of an incredible movement across East Africa of building leaders of high character.  Each of our leadership academies are set in stunning landscapes and there is always an abundance of inspirational thoughts shared.  With Leo in tow, we took it slow and simply tried to spend time with our colleagues and the students.


Cornerstone Leadership Academy Tanzania:

Cornerstone Leadership Academy Rwanda:

DIY solar dehydrator and sundried tomatoes

And by DIY, I mean I told my husband what I wanted, and he explained the design of this solar food dehydrator to our carpenter, who made it for us.  But I looked up the design online after seeing one at a lodge here in Uganda, so I think that counts for something.

Anyway, if you're the craftsman type or you have a carpenter who you can call, here's an idea for how to harvest the sun to dehydrate and preserve your own food.  I'm still experimenting, but my first success was with sun dried tomatoes.  It took a few days for them to dry out enough, and I then used some of my dried herbs, garlic, and salt to season them while preserving them in a glass bottle with olive oil.  We used them to top some pesto pasta.

Next up, dried fruits.