What Can I Do With This Placenta?
How to Enjoy Your Placenta
Planting Your Placenta
Many people freeze their placentas until they get a special tree or bush in honour of the new baby. After digging an appropriately sized hole, score the sides of the hole so the soil is more amenable to tender roots. Put the placenta in, and cover it with a half to a full inch of soil before placing the plant on top of it. Hold the plant steady while the rest of the hole is filled. Water the plant well after planting. Newly planted trees and shrubs need to be watered on a regular basis the first year until they form a good root system. As the placenta breaks down in the soil, the tree or shrub will reap the benefits of all the nutrients packed in that placenta. Now, just enjoy watching your baby and new yard addition grow!
Make Placenta Prints
This may appeal to some of you who enjoy doing artistic endeavours. Before the birth, pick up a few sheets of nice quality art paper. This can be watercolour paper, or some of the really unique specialty papers found in an art supply store. After the birth, take the fresh placenta and lay it out on the paper. You can make the prints with the blood that covers it, or wipe it off and put ink or paint on it first. To get the best prints, make sure there isn't too much or too little fluid for the print. Many parents have found this to be a fun activity as well as giving them a very unique, artistic keepsake of their pregnancy.
Membrane Art
As a student midwife I saw a beautiful "picture" up at a woman's house. It looked like an image of an angel. It was in fact the caul. Their last baby had been born with the membranes intact and the mother asked a friend to put the membranes onto a sheet of paper. Ta Da!! It really was lovely! ~Andrya, UK
Wholesome and tasty Placenta Recipes
Many animals, including herbivores routinely eat their placentas, as it replaces vitamins and minerals lost during the labour process. Many women who have tried it swear they feel better faster, and they do not suffer from postpartum depression because of the nutrients the placenta has given them. It has been called a 'harmless' meat, as no creature is killed to procure it. Placentas should only be eaten fresh and can taste great!! It can be a bonding experience for you and your friends to have a dinner party while eating something that nature (and you!) worked so hard to produce!
Each placenta weighs approximately 1/6 of the baby's weight. Cut the meat away from the membranes with a sharp knife. Discard the membranes.
Placenta Cocktail:
1/4 cup raw placenta
8oz V-8 juice
2 ice cubes
1/2 cup carrot.
Blend at high speed for 10 seconds
Placenta Lasagne:
Use your favourite Lasagne recipe and substitute this mixture for one layer of cheese. In 2 tbl. olive oil, quickly saute meat of 3/4 placenta, ground or minced; plus 2 sliced cloves of garlic, 1/2 tsp. oregano, 1/2 diced onion & 2 tbl. tomato paste, or 1 whole tomato.
Placenta Spaghetti:
Cut meat of 3/4 placenta into bite size pieces, then brown quickly in 1 tbl. butter plus 1 tbl. oil. Then add 1 large can tomato puree, 2 cans crushed pear tomatoes, 1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 tbl. molasses, 1 bay leaf, 1 tbl. rosemary, 1 tsp. ea. of salt, honey, oregano, basil, and fennel. Simmer 1 1/2 hours.
Placenta Stew:
Meat of 3/4 placenta in bite size chunks, 1 potato (cubed), 1/4 cup fresh parsley, 2 carrots, 3 ribs celery, 1 zucchini, 1 large tomato, 1 small onion. Dredge meat in 1 tbl. flour mixed with 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. paprika, pinch of cloves, pinch of pepper, 6-8 crushed coriander seeds. Saute meat in 2 tbl. oil, then add vegetables (cut up) and 4-5 cups of water. Bring to full boil, then simmer for 1 hour.
Placenta Pizza:
Grind placenta. Saute in 2 tbl. olive oil with 4 garlic cloves, then add 1/4 tsp. fennel, 1/4 tsp. pepper, 1/4 tsp. paprika, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. oregano, 1/4 tsp. thyme, and 1/4 cup of wine. Allow to stand for 30 minutes, then use with your favourite home made pizza recipe. It's a fine placenta sausage topping.
Placenta Roast:
All "food" should be properly cleaned prior to cooking, and all "food" should be properly cooked prior to eating.
This is a good recipe for placenta, which should NOT go to waste:
INGREDIENTS:
1 to 3 lb. placenta no more than 3 days old
1 large onion
1 large green or red pepper (green will add colour to the presentation)
1 cup tomato sauce
1 sleeve of saltine crackers
1 tsp crab or shrimp seasoning
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp white pepper
1 clove garlic (roasted and minced)
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Chop onion and green or red pepper in small cubes. Place in large bowl. Crush saltines into crumbs and add to onion and pepper cubes.
COMBINE IN LARGE BOWL:
Placenta, seafood seasoning, pepper, garlic, and tomato sauce. Place into aluminium loaf pan. Cover and bake for 1 and 1/2 hours, occasionally pouring off excess liquid. Retain liquid for gravy base if desired.
Sorry fellas.....:minger:
