My home made os-pops!

Anyone following my social media posts recently will know that I am a big fan of bone broth. Possibly borderline obsessed. I have been giving it to my own dogs for a few years now. I have blogged on the mega health benefits of bone broth before but just as a reminder, they include:
​

• helping the liver to detox (particularly important for dogs eating processed foods &/or those that are chemically treated for ticks/worms)
• a great source of gelatin, glucosamine & chondroitin, essential for aging joints, early neutered dogs and large breeds
• a really fantastic nutritional boost for dogs recovering from illness/upset tummies
• maintenance of good general gut health 

Jo from Archie's Bonbons makes & sells it fresh frozen so until now that's what I've been using, but when I found myself recently with a leftover chicken carcess and leg of lamb bone, I decided to bite the bullet and make it myself (with her help).

I roughly followed this recipe but used the bones I had available to me which included the chicken and lamb mentioned above as well as raw chicken wings & backs and veal sternum. 

Above was as it looked at the beginning on Day 1

And this was 25 hours later. I should mention that the house did kind of stink while the slow cooker was on but we got used to it (kind of)! I could have added kelp, spinach, medicinal mushrooms etc once the main cooking was done but I decided to keep it simple for my first time. The ideal outcome is a wobbly jelly under the top layer of fat (which I scraped off and discarded). I was very proud of my wobble. 

I kept some in the fridge to use over the first 3-5 days and froze the rest in a variety of shapes and sizes, mainly because I love my little dog themed silicone moulds. I defrost in the fridge and give my gang about a tablespoon each a couple of times per week but there are no hard and fast rules. If you like making soup, I really encourage you to try making your own bone broth, it's just as satisfying. If not, contact me and I'll happily put some os-pops aside for you to pick up any time, the freezer is always well stocked here.