Bone Broth Recipe

This can be made with bones from grass fed beef, lamb, chicken, turkey, etc. I often mix bones (some from beef and some chicken) to make a really tasty and rich broth. This broth can be used daily before or between meals to help with leaky gut or gut inflammation, digestive disturbances, overcome food intolerances and allergies, boost the immune system, and fatigue. It is loaded with collagen and minerals, so it is nutrient dense, easy to digest, and also makes a wonderful stock for soups. Here is how we make a tasty bone broth:

Put a chicken carcass or two, or beef bones, in a slow cooker, pressure cooker, or soup pot. Fill with water. Add 1-2 Tbsp of raw apple cider vinegar-this will provide enough acidity to pull the minerals and collagen out of the bones. Add to this one large onion cut into 8^th’s, including the skin as long as there is no dirt, a couple of crushed cloves of garlic and a tablespoon of ginger. You can add to this a couple of carrots, celery-especially the tops and hearts, a few large leaves of greens (chard, beet greens, kale, collards, spinach) broccoli stems, any other vegetable parts that you would compost aside from things like avocado skins/pits.

Add salt and pepper and other herbs you like.

Pressure Cooker:

Lock lid and bring to pressure, turn down heat and allow it to stay at pressure for a couple of hours, than turn off heat and let the pressure come down on its own as it cools. Open and strain the broth and return to the pot.

Slow Cooker:

Turn slow cooker to high until the stock gets hot, than turn it to low for the longest possible time. This is great to make at night before bed, as you can reset the timer to low for an additional 8-12 hours in the morning. The longer it cooks the better it tastes!

Stove Top:

Bring stock to boil and lower heat to simmer for several hours, can be done over a couple of days, than strain.  After the broth is strained, you can drink as is or you can use to make a soup with.

Some Tips:

1. Pressure cookers will make the broth in a couple of hours, slow cookers are great as you can let them simmer on low for 24-48 hours, otherwise you can do on the stove top and let simmer on low for a day or two (obviously you will turn it off if you are out or sleeping)
2. Whenever you have meat with bones, throw them into the freezer in a bag to use in a broth later.
3. When prepping veggies, put anything that you would put into the compost, into a bag and freeze. These will be invaluable for use when making a stock.
4. Sometimes the broth is very bland, and it is easily made more tasty by adding 1-2 Teaspoons of Better Than Bouillon, vegetable flavor, to the stock. First dissolve it in a small amount of hot water.
5. Another option for making the broth a little tastier and richer is to add a tablespoon of sweet white miso to your bowl and pour the broth over it. It makes it even better for your gut as it now provides additional bacteria to support the digestion of grains and vegetables.
6. There might be a fat layer that develops on top of the broth that serves to protect the broth, you can skim this off before drinking.
7. Note: Collagen is what gelatin is made out of, so it is common that the stock will be gelatinous when chilled. This is a good thing!

The simmering causes the bones and ligaments to release healing compounds like collagen, proline, glycine, and glutamine that have the power to transform your health. Collagen is the protein found in connective tissue of vertebrate animals.  It’s abundant in bone, marrow, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments.  The breakdown of collagen in bone broths is what produces gelatin.

• Gelatin helps people with food allergies and sensitivities tolerate those foods including cows milk and gluten.
• Collagen protects and soothes the lining of the digestive tract and can aid in healing IBS, crohn’s, ulcerative colitis and acid reflux.
• Gelatin promotes probiotic balance and growth.
• Bone broth increases collagen reducing the appearance of wrinkles and banishing cellulite.
• Because gelatin helps break down proteins and soothes the gut lining, it may prove useful for leaky gut syndrome and the autoimmune disorders that accompany it.
• Gelatin provides bone-building minerals in easily absorbable ways, preventing bone loss and reducing join pain.(1)

Nutrition researchers Sally Fallon and Kaayla Daniel of the Weston A. Price Foundation explain that bone broths contain minerals in forms that your body can easily absorb: calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur and others.  They contain chondroitin sulphates and glucosamine, the compounds sold as pricey supplements to reduce inflammation, arthritis and joint pain.(2)

References:

Kaayla T. Daniel, “Taking Stock: Soup for Healing Body, Mind, Mood, and Soul,” Psychology Today http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/naughty-nutrition/201202/taking-stock-soup-healing-body-mind-mood-and-soul (accessed 20 February 2012).

Kaayla T. Daniel, “Why Broth is Beautiful: Essential Roles for Proline, Glycine and Gelatin,” Weston A. Price Foundation.  http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/why-broth-is-beautiful (accessed 18 June 2013).