Bone Broth

Photo: NomNomPaleo

One crucial super-food I'm trying to get more of is bone broth.  Homemade, gelatin, collagen, mineral rich yummy goodness!  Learn more about why bone broth is a super food at one of our favorite sites, Balanced Bites.

My main reason for having bone broth everyday is the gelatin helps your system digest more effectively which evidently I need help with.  Bone broth is a gut healing super food!

Aids Digestion
Yet another benefit of gelatin, bone broth helps your system digest more efficiently, especially milk, meat, beans, and grains. That’s likely why it’s used in GAPS and other gut healing diets. Who doesn’t need a little help digesting everything in our day and age?

Read more at http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2013/02/21/10-reasons-i-drink-bone-broth/#OKdVJyHD2MtOC4yy.99

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10 Reasons I Drink Bone Broth

February 21st, 2013 · 56 Comments · Food for Thought, Frugality, Natural Health

Welcome! If you wish you could eat more whole foods without breaking your budget, you're in the right place. Start here for my top 10 baby steps to better Kitchen Stewardship.

You might also be interested in family-friendly, delicious and nutritious recipes or one of my popular eBooks to help you on your journey.

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485
Would you drink a mug of chicken bone broth? I never drank it before last week.
In that week, my toddler got pneumonia, my second grader threw up, my preschooler coughed for days on end, my husband coughed…and I would get a tickle of a sore throat now and then. It always went away.
Let me also explain that I do not have the perfect diet – I eat too much late at night while blogging and get into the Halloween candy and random Costco chocolates far too often.
I do not get enough sleep. Some nights I only get three hours of sleep, and even that is interrupted at least once by my nursling. The day before Thanksgiving I was up until 3:30 a.m. baking pies and writing a post for Attune, and then I saw my little guy once or twice (maybe three times), my daughter had a nightmare and cuddled in my bed for a few minutes, and by 6 or 6:30, my oldest son was throwing up.

My husband, who slept through me getting out of bed at least six times plus Leah getting into our bed, received the “state of the family’ address at 7:30 a.m., otherwise known as, “Honey, let me catch you up on what has happened while you were sleeping.”
That part has nothing to do with my story except that it’s amazing the man slept through all that, and woefully ironic that he pops out of bed the second his alarm goes off while I have no idea anything happened. He’ll wake me up for a third time and I think it’s only the first.
I digress.
I never promised to be right in mind, just able to fend off illness with a mighty hand…I mean, cup of bone broth.
I wrote the intro to this post in December, hence the Thanksgiving reference, but ironically, in the last two weeks we’ve had two kids with ear infections, three kids with fever, one toddler with pneumonia (again!), lots of coughing, (all of which we fended off without antibiotics) and no bone broth in the house for the last month. Coincidence? Maybe. But I bought a chicken not-on-sale yesterday and have been drinking mugs of it this morning. It’s broth week at Kitchen Stewardship, after all!

485

10 Reasons to Drink Bone Broth

1. Immunity Boosting Fat
The yellow fat from pastured chickens holds immune boosting powers that are only the tip of the iceberg in the power of a properly prepared chicken stock to keep you from getting the next cold or other bug that flies through your house.
2. Warm Liquid is Soothing
It’s okay to mention the obvious. There are plenty of other immune-boosting strategies, like apple cider vinegar water, using lots of raw garlic, and taking fermented cod liver oil, but the soothing feel of a warm liquid on a cold day can’t be beat. (You’ll still want FCLO from Green Pasture for the Vitamins A and D and omega 3s, but you might not want to sip it as you sit at the computer!)
3. Super Mineral Boost
Bone broth contains minerals from the bones that are not only abundant but easy to assimilate into our bodies (unlike the whole mess with whole grains and phytic acid and such – see the soaking grains series for more info on that). Minerals that will help you stay in optimal health include:

• calcium
• magnesium
• phosphorus
• other trace minerals
• (source)

4. Better Carrier for Garlic and Cayenne than Tea
Fresh garlic, ginger, and cayenne pepper are great immunity boosting foods to eat as well, and while ginger makes a decent tea, it’s just weird to sip tea with garlic and cayenne. They taste awesome in broth though…

5. Gelatin for Joint Health
One of the incredible benefits of real bone broth made with the vinegar soak, all the cartilage from the animal and the actual bones is that your finished stock should have a good amount of gelatin. Gelatin is the cooked form of collagen, which makes up about half the protein in our bodies, so you’re truly “body building” when you consume it.
Gelatin provide glycine, an amino acid that promotes healthy cartilage and ultimately aids in avoiding joint pain. Could a cup a day keep the acetaminophen away?
6. Improves Bone Density
The calcium that leaches out of the bones into the stock is ready to be absorbed into your body, the perfect weapon against osteoporosis or weak bones in any way. (source)
7. Aids Digestion
Yet another benefit of gelatin, bone broth helps your system digest more efficiently, especially milk, meat, beans, and grains. That’s likely why it’s used in GAPS and other gut healing diets. Who doesn’t need a little help digesting everything in our day and age?

Read more at http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2013/02/21/10-reasons-i-drink-bone-broth/#OKdVJyHD2MtOC4yy.99

Here's my husband Brad's recipe:
Note: There are many recipes and a lot of them add in veggies.  We've kept it simple here to keep in line with the low-fodmap diet.

Ingredients:

• bag of bones from grass-fed beef, lamb or organic pastured poultry
• a splash of apple cider vinegar to help leach minerals from the bones
• filtered water to cover

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients to your slow cooker.
2. Cook on low for 12-24 hours.
3. Skim the fat off the top before drinking.
4. Add salt to taste.
5. Remaining broth can be poured off and refrigerated. Lift off hardened fat before heating and drinking.
6. If freezing, cool to room temperature in a glass, bpa-free container.  Put in freezer and leave top off until frozen to avoid cracking jar.  Replace lid.

You can drink the stock any time and you can use it as a base for soups and add it to recipes calling for water or broth.

OK, so what can I eat on a 30-day FODMAP free journey?  Easier to say what I can't eat.  Depending on whose list you are looking at some things may vary.  I've decided to go with Chris Kresser's list:

FODMAP rich foods to avoid:

Vegetables

·      Artichokes

·      Asparagus

·      Beets

·      Broccoli

·      Brussels Sprouts

·      Cabbage

·      Cauliflower

·      Dandelion Greens

·      Fennel

·      Garlic

·      Green Bell Peppers

·      Green Onions

·      Leeks

·      Mushrooms

·      Okra

·      Onions

·      Shallots

Fruits

·      Apples

·      Apricots

·      Avocados

·      Blackberries

·      Cherries

·      Lychees

·      Mangoes

·      Nectarines

·      Peaches

·      Pears

·      Persimmons

·      Plums

·      Prune

·      Watermelon

Herbs & Spices

·      Chicory

·      Fennel

·      Horseradish

·      Wasabi

Nuts & Seeds

·      Pistachios

Why am I doing this?  My stomach has been hurting with almost everything I eat.  Even a strict Paleo diet wasn't helping.  So, I'm trying to cut out more foods that may be exacerbating my problems.  I just need to clean out a little and see what happens.

Stuffing Stuffed Acorn Squash

We're counting down to Thanksgiving!  I love Thanksgiving.  It is my favorite holiday.  I love cooking in the kitchen with my husband and it seems this is the only day we get to cook together.

I've been building my tried and true recipe files.  As I pulled out my Thanksgiving recipes I realized we've been making our Good Eats Roast Turkey for 9 years!  Why fix what ain't broken?  After going paleo last year we made some adjustments.  I thought I'd share our favorites with you in case you'd like to add them to your holiday dinner.

This is my version adapted from I'm Good Fat.  I found this recipe and made it for my mom last month while she was out visiting.  I recently made this recipe again because I love it!!!  It tastes just like Thanksgiving stuffing without any of the bread.  This will be our stuffing this year.

Ingredients:

3 acorn squash, halved, seeds removed
coconut oil, sea salt, nutmeg
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 tbs coconut oil
2 lbs ground organic, pastured pork, grass-fed beef, grass-fed bison, or try a combination
2 large carrots, diced
sea salt
1 tbs minced parsley
1 tbs minced sage
1 tbs minced thyme
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 organic Fuji apples
1/2 cup chopped almonds

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350˚F. Dot the inside of each acorn squash with coconut oil and sprinkle each with sea salt and nutmeg.
• Place the acorn squash cut side up in a glass baking dish and add 1 cup of water to the bottom of the dish. Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
• Cook the squash in the oven 45 minutes or until fork tender.
• In a large skillet sauté the onions in coconut oil until they start to brown. Add the ground meat, carrots, sea salt, and cook until the meat is no longer pink. Add the parsley, sage and thyme and cook for another 5 minutes.
• Add the garlic, apple, and nuts. Stir until warmed. Season to your liking with salt.
• Stuff each cooked squash half with the stuffing mixture and return to the oven for an additional 10 minutes.

Bison and Sweet Potato Chili

I love chili.  It really hits the spot when I'm craving comfort foods.  This is an amazing recipe from Paleo Girl that my whole family loves.  You don't have to use Bison but grass-fed bison is a great, low-fat meat option.  Tonight I'm using lamb because I have it on hand.  Any ground meat will work but I hope it's grass-fed...

If you want your chili to be more spicy, follow Paleo Girl's recipe here.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground buffalo (or ground meat of choice)
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled & cubed into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 medium red onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 8oz. can tomato sauce
• 1 14.5oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes with green chiles
• 1/2 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. Brown your ground meat in a stock pot. Once browned remove it with a slotted spoon leaving any drippings in the pot.
2. Add the coconut oil and cook the sweet potatoes for about 5 minutes stirring often. Add the onion and continue cooking until sweet potatoes are fork tender.
3. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.
4. Next add remaining ingredients except for cilantro.
5. Let simmer for about 10 minutes so that the flavors can meld together.
6. Stir in the cilantro right before serving.

• Skill Level: Easy