Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Tuesday Recipe- Bone Broth




It has been awhile since I have posted a recipe, so I thought I better post one.
Today's recipe is a bone broth. Bone broths are very healthy and supper good for you! Easy to make, filling and nutritious! What more could you ask for in a food.

What you need:
For chicken:
Bones, even the left over bones work well for this, the more bones you can use the better. When doing chicken, I use all the bones from one whole bird along with several more larger bones, like from legs and thighs, filling the about half to a quarter with bones.
Onion, very roughly cut
Several ribs of celery, optional, Hublet does not like celery. I did put it in the chicken broth I just made and he really liked it, don't tell him!
Couple of carrots, optional
1-1 1/2 tsp of sea salt
sage
thyme
rosemary
marjoram
bay leaves
You can use any spices you like, these are the ones I use
Splash of raw apple cider vinegar, any vinegar will work, but raw is best
Water to fill the pot

Place all of the ingredients into a stock pot or crock-pot. Bring to a boil and boil for a time, at least an hour. Turn down the heat and allow it to simmer for 24 hours. Strain the broth and enjoy!

For beef bones:
Soak the bones over night in water and 1 cup of vinegar. This soaking helps begin breaking down the bone so you can pull even more minerals and vitamins from the bone. Once soaked over night, rigorously boil them for 10 minutes. This will help to get the impurities out of the bones. Rinse the bones and wash the pot out, if using the same pot or stick the bones into the crock-pot. For the number of bones, when making in my crock-pot, which is 5 quarts, I think, I use three to four good size bones. When doing my large stock pot, I use a bag and some times one or two more if they appear smaller.

What I use for seasonings and spices:
several cinnamon sticks
bay leaves
ginger, about a 2 inch piece cut in half length wise
several cloves
anise
whole all spice
several cloves of garlic, slightly mushed
onion, very roughly cut
1 TBS raw apple cider vinegar, again any will work
1 TBS of sea salt
Fish sauce, not needed, but I like the extra salt and taste
pepper corns
water to fill pot.

Once the bones have boiled, place everything into your pot. Allow to come to a boil and then turn it down to a simmer. While it is simmering, any scum that comes to the top, scrap off and discard. Beef bones need to simmer for about three days. You can go less time, about eight hours, but the longer the better. The reason it is so long is so you can pull out all of the vitamins and minerals from the bones, beef bones are large. This is when a crock pot comes in handy.

Want broth even quicker, a pressure cooker is your best friend. Follow all the steps above, but place in a pressure cooker, either a stove top or electric cooker, love my InstantPot, place on high and cook, one to two hours. Chicken is usually good at an hour.
A note on beef, when cooking them in a pressure cooker, you can usually do three sometimes four batches with the same bones. Most of the time, the fourth batch, I give to my dogs. Begin with an hour of cooking, if it is not gelling, then cook longer.

Note on water. The amount of water can vary depending on what you are going to do with the broth and some of the benefits you are looking for. Enough water to cover the bones, and time, is going to give you a lot of gelatin. The gelatinous gel is very healthy and can help with wrinkles and joints. You can also reduce this down very easy and then put in small amounts into other dishes that need broth or make sauces out of it. With more water, it is going to be more liquid and have less gel. Still very healthy and yummy!

Bone broths are excellent for healing our bodies. Our digestion does not have to work as hard, being it is already liquid. It can help heal injuries to bones and joints. It is also good for healing the lining of the stomach due to acid reflex and the intestines due to over growth of yeast.

After my first taste of homemade bone broth, I craved them. My body was screaming out for this healing liquid. Give them a try and I am sure your body will be telling you the same thing!

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God bless,
Jenn

Monday, April 16, 2012

Arthritis

Let's talk a little about arthritis today. You might think it is crazy for me to be able to talk about this with some personal experience, begins I am only 29 years young. Due to major complications with my wrist injury, I have arthritis in my wrist joint. I have no cartilage, the covering and the shock absorber for the bones, surrounding my ulna as well as some of the bones up in my hand, I rub bone on bone. For some relief, my orthopedist put in 10 mm of bone graphing into my radius, which healed down after having shattered it. Beings I like to do preventative care, there are many steps I am taking to help prevent the arthritis I already have from becoming worse and trying to help more from forming, at least prolonging it as much as I can.

Steps I am taking:
1. Moving. Moving joints and our bodies in general is very important. By moving, we help to bring fluid into the joint, oxygen rich blood, move the lymph and take away the bad stuff. If you need to lose weight, moving is a no brainer. Weight lose can also be a huge help to those with arthritis.
2. Eating an anti-inflammatory diet. Inflammation is at the root of every disease and problem. It is a major factor today due to the VERY inflammatory diet most people eat. I do this by not eating excesses amounts of omega 6 fatty acids, very little grains, no processed foods, good sources of cholesterol and saturated fat and eating more omega 3 fatty acids.
3. Drinking raw apple cider vinegar, water and honey. I know I have talked about the Vermont method, as it is sometimes called, for other health issues, working out and cold and flue prevention. One of the things this is best known for and started for, was helping arthritis as well as preventing it. What is theorized, is the vinegar helps to prevent the build up of calcium in the joint, which can lead to arthritis, as well as other problems. For many people this does wonders for their arthritis.
4. Speaking of calcium in the wrong places, I eat a lot of Vit. A rich foods, butter, cream, raw milk, egg yolks from pastured animals. Vit. A is an activator vitamin, as Dr. Price called them. We have to have these activators so our bodies know what to do with the other vitamins and minerals we consume. Without Vit. A, calcium does not work properly. Instead of going to the bones and teeth, nerves, where calcium is suppose to go, it goes to the joints, the arteries, the eyes, causing arthritis, arteriosclerosis and glaucoma. Vit. A is very important for the body to know how to use calcium, as well as everything else. Do not be afraid of fat!

These are a few of things I am doing to help and prevent arthritis. If you have questions or would like help with your arthritis, please feel free to contact me. I would love to help you.

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God's many blessings upon you in this time of rebirth,
Jenn




Friday, April 6, 2012

Salt

What do you think of when I say salt? Do bad connotations come into your mind, like: salt is bad for you, it causes high blood pressure, it makes you retain water... These can be true, but what does salt do for our bodies?
Maintains blood pressure
Supports thyroid and adrenal function
pH balance
Cellulite
Bone health
Our nervous system
This list could go on and on of the benefits of salt. So, does this make you ask then if salt is really all that bad for you? What about different types of salt, table salt verses none processed sea salt?

Table salt does cause the problems we understand about with salt. Staying away from this can be a good thing for your health. However, staying away from all salt is not a good idea. We have to have salt for our bodies to function properly.

To better understand this, here are two great articles on salt, no need for me to re-type what they have already done.
http://wellnessmama.com/3745/is-salt-healthy
http://chriskresser.com/shaking-up-the-salt-myth-history-of-salt
Both articles have good information in them for you to better understand why we need salt and what to watch out for.

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
Striving to be the salt of the earth,
Jenn

Monday, April 2, 2012

What I drink During A Workout

If you ask my Hublet how crazy my workout are, he would tell you they are insane. I ask him to do my workouts with me or I can tell him what I did. Then, he could do the workout the next time he workouts. He does not ever take me up on this offer. Huh....

Too hydrate my body during and after these crazy sweaty workouts, I do not drink plain water, crazy as it might sound. For me, water does not do the trick regardless of the amount. The reason being, when we are working out and sweating, it is not only fluid we are loosing, but also electrolytes. We also need to replenish our supply of these, like sodium and potassium. Our glucose levels need to be raised after a hard workout also.

For me, these are what work well:
The Vermont Method, Kombucha and raw milk after.

The Vermont Method again is:
Raw apply cider vinegar, with the mother
Raw honey
water, 8-16 oz.
Put it all into a glass, stir well and enjoy!
When I work out, I also will add some sea salt for the sodium lost due to sweat. The reason I enjoy this for working out is it's ability to quench my thirst, obviously. It also replaces lost electrolytes and can help raise your glucose levels that drop during a hard workout. For these reasons, it is also good to drink after a workout.

Kombucha is a fermented tea beverage. To make kombucha,  you need a scoby. You can either purchase one or if you know someone who makes it, they might be willing to give you one of theirs. Fermented beverages give you loads of good healthy bacteria and quench your thirst better than most anything. When I make my kombucha, I like to put ginger in for the second fermentation. I really like ginger, the health benefits of ginger are unbelievable and it is great to help sore muscles or prevent sore muscles. An all around good thing to drink before, during, and after a hard workout.

Something new I have just started is kefirs, both milk and water. These are also fermented beverages and will have the same benefits in helping recovery from a workout. I have bought milk kefir before and I really enjoyed it. The health benefits of live culters are second to none. One of the best ways to help prevent becoming sick. Trust me, it works. Even with the severity of the flue season this, I have not gotten sick, felt amazing all season. My Hublet even got it and I took care of him and did not get sick. Better than any flu shot. Anywho, I found a company called Culters for Health and ordered milk and water kefir cultures to begin making my own. They are both sitting on our kitchen counter right now re-hydrating. I will let you know how they turn out and the fun I have with them!

Post work out, I am not always hungry and in fact I like to fast for about an hourish after working out several days a week to help build more human growth hormone. Fasting is one of the best ways to build more of this important hormone. When I am hungry or decide to eat, I like to drink a big glass of whole raw milk. It has everything in it you need to recover, fat, protein, carbs and some natural sugar. I am sure once my milk kefir is going well, I will use this post workout, maybe blended with blueberries or chia tea.

After all of this, I do drink plenty of water. I like putting in some lime, lemon, or grapefruit along with sea salt. I do not put a lot of salt in, just a grind or two from my salt grinder. I drink when I am thirsty and try not to over drink. Drinking too much water can be just as bad as not drinking enough.

A glimpse into my crazy world and how I try to stay healthy and well hydrated.
Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God's blessings be upon you this most blessed Holy Week,
Jenn