Outwardly, I can't tell you how happy I am, here on the first official day of Fall, to see the long, hot summer we've had, finally come to an end. . .bye bye summer Today is cooler, in the low 60's. Jeans and flannel weather ☺️ calm, sunny. . .and pretty much perfect.
My internal body isn't always so quick to rejoice. For some reason, many people, and animals, take a while to adjust to each new season. With flu season cranking up again, and COVID showing no sign of being eradicated, we have to take responsibility to listen to our bodies, and enhance its ability to keep our immune systems strong however we can.
Our 'gut' is largely where the good bacterias reside. They feed a healthy immune system and keep it that way. Having had 3 intestinal surgeries, I know it's my bodies weakest link. Today, I'm switching back to smoothies to boost that. Basically full-fat plain Greek yogurt, banana, frozen pineapple and berries. Mexican vanilla, a big, BIG shake of cinnamon, and coconut milk, from a carton, to thin it to 'drinkable.' I eye everything up, I don't measure, and it creates a 2-1/2c smoothie It's a lot, but I just sip on it for an hour or so because I know it's what my body needs.
Now onto this recipe. . .Fill a 5 quart pot about 1/3 full with fresh cold water in which you dissolve 1/2-1t of salt. Chop all the vegetables shown, starting with the sweet potatoes, and potatoes. Get these into the salted water right away to avoid big grey oxidation spots. This will fill the whole pot. Cover and simmer.
(My dogs don't like purple cabbage, I'll use that in coleslaw)
Once the water is at a very low boil, cover the pot and set the timer for an hour. Check the celery for doneness since that's the vegetable most resistant to heat. Once everything is cooked the way you like it, pour the vegetables to a colander over a big bowl. Save all the wonderful vegetable broth to add a little when serving, or for a future soup.
Clean the pot, then add 12-16oz. ground turkey and 3/4c good quality, single source, EVOO. It sounds like a lot, but it's a very good, healthy, and necessary fat. Chop and stir this until sizzling and lightly browned. Add a big serving spoonful of Turkey Better Than Bouillon - about 3 tablespoons. Stir this over low heat just until it bubbles again. Now add the vegetables back to the meat, a little at a time, mixing everything together well. Cover, turn off the heat and let stand a half hour to blend all the flavors.
I had a tiny bowl of this for lunch, with a ladle of the vegetable broth. I'm glad I did. The celery and cabbage were still quite fibrous. I didn't want to cook it any longer, so I used my immersion blender to make it easier to digest. Once it's cool, I'll freeze it in 1c packages which will be enough for 1 feeding for both dogs. I'm pretty sure if each of us only had a smoothie as described above and a bowl of this each day for a week, we would go a long way toward healing our gut issues! I have a lot of cooking to do in the next week or two, but after that's done, I might do just it!
I think this recipe would also be excellent to use instead of commercially prepared baby food. This contains sodium, but that could be eliminated or reduced. There are no chemicals or preservatives, only good quality, healthy meat, oil and vegetables. I'm not a doctor or a trained dietician, but I'm very interested in all aspects of food and how it can either hurt or heal our bodies, and promote good gut bacteria, which, in turn, will eliminate the bad bacterias. This is all of much interest to me and will be one of lifelong learning.
I would also recommend this when recovering from a bad bout with a stomach and intestinal bug. After a day with just clear liquids: Coke or Pepsi that has the carbonation stirred out, and chicken broth for 24 hours. Then adding soda crackers and/or toast. This would be good on day 2 or 3, post sickness, if everything else was well tolerated.
My old dog, Penny, is around 17. She's mostly deaf and losing her sight, arthritic and full of benign lipomas. . .But. . .she still gets around, goes on short, slow walks, and I want to keep her as healthy as possible for her remaining time with me. When she was much younger, maybe 4-6 years old, she started vomiting, pretty much daily. My vet said get her off grains. I switched her to a 'good' grain-free dry food, which worked right away! Then several years later, it was on the list of dog foods to avoid. I switched both my pups to another and all was well until recently when this food, that my vet recommended, and feeds her dogs, started making her sick again.
Quite by chance, I read the ingredients on a bag of SPROUT Dog Food and decided to try it. Immediately the vomiting stopped. I'm on my 3rd big bag of it, and they're doing great! Oliver is my 10 year old 'puppy,' and then there's Daphne, my 13 (?) year old wonderful cat. I'll even let her try some of this food. For each of the dogs, I'll use this to supplement their dry food - 1/2c dry and 1/2c vegetables and turkey - plus a Vit. E and fish oil gel cap and a Cosequin for the old gal, at one feeding each day, until all 11 1c packages are gone.
They're Family! . .Feed Everyone Well...☺️...Lin
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