Recipes for bone wellness

My father in law somehow fainted in Chinese Garden last Friday and fractured his arm. On first look the injuries are quite bad, as he somehow got a black eye as well.. He also got a couple of injuries here and there.. i googled online for some soup recipes that could be useful..

Found this website useful for reference on Chinese herbs: http://www.homemade-chinese-soups.com/chinese-herbs.html

Source: http://5elementfood.blogspot.sg/2014/11/three-chinese-bone-soups-for-healing.html

Pork Bone Soup 

1 pound of Pork Bones (preferably Neck Bones)
Enough Water to Just Cover the Pork Bones
Enough Water to Cook the Pork Bone Soup
1 Tablespoon White Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Salt
Optional: 2 cups of Soybean Sprouts

Place Pork Bones in a soup pot and add water to jut cover the bones. Bring to a boil and turn off when the scum rises to the surface. Throw out all of the water and then refill the pot so that there is about 4 inches of water covering the bones. Add vinegar and salt and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer on low for 3 hours or more. Cool and strain broth. If desired, reheat and cook Soybean Sprouts in the soup for about 15 minutes before serving. Otherwise, reheat one cup at a time to boiling and serve in a mug. Season with additional sea salt if desired.

Chicken Bone Soup

1 pound of Chicken Drumsticks
1 large yellow onion, stem ends removed and cut into chunks (can leave peel on)
1 Celery Root, washed and cut into chunks
2 large carrots, washed, stem and end removed and cut into chunks
2 - 3 Parsnips, washed, stem and end removed and cut into chunks
2 large Celery Stalks, washed and cut into chunks
1 - 2 Turnips, washed, stem and ends removed and cut into chunks
2 - 3 teaspoons of salt
10 - 12 cups of Water

 In a large soup pot, put in chicken thighs and all the root vegetables. Cover with water up to 4 to 5 inches above the chicken. Bring to a boil and then turn down heat to a simmer. Cook for 1 1/2 hours. Taste and add salt. Strain broth and serve individual portions reheated and poured into a mug. Season with additional sea salt if desired.

Beef Bone Soup

4 - 5 pound Beef leg bones,
1 large Onion, stems removed and cut into chunks (leave skin on)
2 large Carrots, washed, stem and end removed and cut into chunks
2 - 3 stalks of Celery, cut up
3 Large Tomatoes cut up
12 cups of Water
3 teaspoons Salt
1 Bay Leaf
Handful of Parsley

 Put beef bones in a large soup pot and barely cover with water. Bring to a boil until the foam rises. Drain water and rinse the bones. Put back into the pot with the water, vegetables, Parsley and Bay Leaf. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Skim additional foam as it rises. Cook for 3 hours. Cool and scrape out the marrow if possible and add back into the soup. Strain and refrigerate. When ready to serve, heat up one cup at a time and serve in a mug and season with additional sea salt if desired.

Five Element Analysis Soups, and especially broths are a Water Element food. But, each soup is made with a different kind of bone. Pork Bones belong to the Water Element, Chicken Bones to the Wood Element and Beef Bones to the Earth Element. The Soybean Sprouts contribute the Wood Element to the Pork Bone Soup and the Celery adds more of the Wood Element to the Chicken Soup. However, the Celery Root is an Earth Element vegetable as are the Carrots, Parsnips and Turnips in the Chicken Soup. Onions add the Metal Element to the Chicken and Beef Soups and the Parsley and Bay Leaf add even more Metal to the Beef Soup. Tomatoes contribute the Fire Element to the Beef Soup. The Pork Soup is for tonifying (nourishing) the kidneys. The Chicken Soup starts adding essential nutrients and supports the Liver and Stomach. The Beef Soup is for enhancing the blood and energy. 

Found a vegetarian soup recipe here too: http://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/food-recipes/recipe-bone-nourishing-soup.html

 Du Zhong/Toh Tiong (Eucommia Bark) – 3 to 4 pieces (cut into thick strands)
Chuan Gong/Chun Kiong (Szechwan Lovage Rhizome) – 20 pieces
Chinese Black Dates – 1 cup
 Goji/Wolfberry – 1/2 cup (soaked in water to remove any colouring)
Red Cane Sugar – 1 tablespoon/to taste
Mushroom stock – to taste
Eggs – 4 eggs (boiled in advance) [Optional]

 Pour some water into a small pot, bring it to boil and place the eggs into the boiling water. Pour the 1/2 cup of wolfberry into a bowl of water, wash and drain it. Cut the Eucommia Bark into smaller pieces. Fill the slow cooker with boiling water up to 3/4 of the pot. Put in all the Eucommia bark, Chuan Gong, Chinese black dates, and wolfberry into the the slow cooker. Add 1 table spoon of red cane sugar and about 1 teaspoon of mushroom stock. You can add more according to your taste. Let the soup boil for 4 hours, then soak to 4 eggs into the soup. Leave the boiled soup in the slow cooker to keep warm. 

Another vegetarian soup here: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-recipe/no-bone-broth/ 

14 cups cold water
2 large onions, chopped small
5 garlic cloves, crushed
4 large celery stalks, chopped small
1 large potato, chopped small
1 large carrot, chopped small
10 sprigs parsley
1 large zucchini, chopped small
1 large parsnip, chopped small (optional)
3 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 corn cob (optional)
1/4 cup diced green onion
1/2 cup arame
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke or smoked paprika (optional)
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper

 Place the cold water in a large stockpot over high heat. Begin chopping the vegetables and placing them in the pot as you go, along with the arame. Add bay leaves and peppercorns. Cook for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain well before using. Add liquid smoke if using, and salt and pepper to taste before serving.

For phlegm (shared by fellow mummies in my grp)

This post is up to record recipes for phlegm in babies.. by mummies Cindy n Denise..

Pear with almonds soup
Cook the pear and Chinese almond soup with a bit of the chuan Bei powder..

take one Chinese pear (cut into pieces, skin removed), one tablespoon each of the nan xing almond and Bei xing almond, one quarter of the dried tangerine, 白木耳 (one quarter, soak in water to soften first). Add 1 big bowl of water and put everything in the slow cooker.. Boil for a few hours. Before you serve LO, add a bit of the chuanbei powder. The chuanbei powder is important as it is the one that reduces the phlegm, not too much.. Just give LO, 2-3 tablespoons of the soup..

Chinese yam 山药
1)yam, peeled, cut into small pieces into the food grinder, together with half a bowl of water yam processing into a thin paste,

2 )then cooked while constantly stir to boil.

The best to eat with empty stomach. 1 bowl of yam can be divided into 2 or 3 times to feed your baby 

yam spleen and stomach, lungs gas, kidney essence, is best suited for infants and young children, not only can cough treatment of asthma, also on the baby anorexia, sweating more, drooling. Qi deficiency, timid and other diseases also have a good therapeutic effect. Note that, yam's boiling time should not be too long, otherwise the starch contained therein would break down, leading to the loss of tonic effect.

Note: not my recipe, just posting for record and to share with fellow parents.. somehow I can't upload the pictures shared.

9m + milestones

JY can now:
-stand 3-5 seconds without support
-crawl on all fours
-play peekaboo on his own,
-point to his head
-salivate a little less.
-sound like he's calling jiejie
-climb down backwards from the sofa
-scream along with jiejie

It also means I'm heading towards two toddlers in the house soon!! Crawling n walking and screaming around the house.. Yikes!!

Baby Jaundice

I recall this as I was congratulating a new mummy friend about her delivery… Her newborn has jaundice and had an extended stay in the hospital after birth..  Both my kids had jaundice that was picked up around Day 3 post-delivery. Hubby and I stayed an additional night for both kids as we wanted to be with our babies.

During JE’s time, being a first-time mother, I didn’t know what to expect. I had learnt about jaundice during the pre-natal class but it didn’t kick in until I was told my baby had to stay additional night and I couldn’t carry her home immediately. We stayed one more night after being checked by Dr Lim to be fit for discharge. The next day, the PD still deemed the jaundice not sufficiently low for discharge and had to stay an additional night again! We had to check out as it was silly spending so much so on hospitalization fees when I was well enough to rest at home. We stayed at mum’s as it was nearer from TMC and more convenient to visit JE to bring her freshly pumped milk. At this, I remember tears spilling out of my eyes when I toppled my painstakingly pumped milk while trying to transfer it after my first manual pumping session at home.

When JE was finally discharged, we happily went home… only to be readmitted during the one-week check-up because the damned jaundice spiked again. I held back my tears while in the Dr’s room but they rolled torrentially down my face once I was out waiting for the nurses to get the forms ready for admission and photo-therapy. It was a horrendous experience as hubby was busy and my sister was accompanying me.

When it was JY’s turn, I was calmer and knew I had to leave it to the experts, but still the readmission from the PD led to a pool of tears and funny Dr Tan saying “Aiyo… you don’t cry leh, I’m very scared when girls cry..” We did the readmission and went home to JE and some sleep. Both kids were diagnosed with blood type jaundice as they followed hubby’s blood type instead of mine. However, JY’s case turned into breastmilk jaundice and continued well until he was 1 month old. In the end I cheated and gave FM instead of breastfeeding for the few days prior to the last check-up. Thankfully, he managed to clear it  and did not have to go through those blood tests and pee tests nor therapy again.

Some of the methods we tried to alleviate the jaundice:

• -          Feed and bathe with honeysuckle flower (Jin Yin Hua) from traditional medicinal shops. Boil the flower in water, and then bathe the baby in a tub mixed with the solution for at least 3 -4 days. Info: http://www.heartknowsbest.com.sg/qna/QuestionDetail?qid=1045
• -          Sun bathe. Bring the baby out to the gentle sun for Vit D rays
• -          Cut down on ginger in mummy’s diet. Apparently I took Wen Dong Ginger which was very heaty and prolonged the jaundice.
• -          Gave formula feed for the 2 – 3 days prior to the check-up after baby was identified for breast milk jaundice. I was too upset with the multiple pricks for blood test.
• -          We also did a bath with warm rice water, though I forgot was it for jaundice or for a bloated baby..
• -          What I read but didn’t try: You can bathe baby in stout beer too!