Turkey Bone Broth!

Alright!  It has begun!  My first Bone Broth recipe from the Bare Bones Broth Cookbook by Katherine and Ryan Harvey.

I am rocking the turkey bones left over from Thanksgiving.  I am extremely excited because my kitchen smells amazing and I don’t even have all of the ingredients in yet.

This broth will get immediate use. We are in the midst of holiday productions in my home, including school and dance shows all falling in the same week, beginning this weekend.  We are experiencing longer nights and earlier mornings just keeping up with the schedule. I am excited to have the immune boosting power at my fingertips to keep us all healthy, and frankly to stave off hangriness during our long days!

The first hour has me skimming fat and “scum” off the top!   Yummy!

As this is a time intensive process I will add a new blog post during each phase.  This is (almost) real time people!!!

See you on the other side!!!

Chicken soup (The Easy Way!)

I love Chicken soup especially this time of year.  It’s great to have around for the inevitable sicknesses that come with having young kids in school and everyone being trapped inside with little to no natural light most of the day.

I also LOVE making stock fresh at home and I have found a couple ways to make it easier.  Homemade bone broth and stock is one of the healthiest things you can get into your body, but it can take time to make so I always try to have some on had in the deep freeze.  I will link to one of my favorite bone broth recipes below.

On to easy home made chicken soup!

I start with home made broth and a store bought rotisserie chicken (that’s right, I cheat!) Having a whole chicken already cooked to perfection halps the process some much especially on those busy nights.  Now the trick is sourcing your chicken well.  I go to our local health food grocer, where I do spend a little more, but the chickens haven’t been pumped full of crap I don’t want, and they have a full deli and rotisserie where the cooking is done for me!  Having the chicken without a bunch of chemicals in it allows me to use the bones to make my next pot of stock.  It’s a beautiful cycle!

The nice thing about soups is you can ad lib at will.  Add what you do like and leave out what you don’t!

Here’s mine! 

 6-8 Cups Homemade Chicken stock

1 whole chicken cooked, meat removed and chopped or shredded

4-6 whole carrots scrubbed well, peeled, chopped

4-6 stocks of celery, washed, trimmed, chopped

1 medium onion – peeled, chopped

1 leek – sliced into rings, green and white parts, then washed thoroughly

3-4 cloves garlic – minced

1 Tbsp dried Parsley

1 Tbsp dried Thyme

Salt and Pepper to taste

***Remember to save the bones, fat and skin from your chicken and the discards from your produce to make stock*** 

 Here’s the really hard part….

Throw everything in a pot, bring to a boil, then lower temp and let simmer until the carrots are tender!
From here there are many options:

Prepare noodles to pour the soup over

Add ginger to add a little spice and a health boost

Chipotle spice is a great addition

Wilt Spinach or Kale to give it an additional greens boost 

I love The Paleo Mom – Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, PhD – she has done some much research on eating healthy and how and WHY our bodies need certain foods and the best ways to get them.  Here is her Chicken bone broth recipe.  Remember to add your produce wastes to this to get more bang for your buck from higher priced but better grown, non-GMO, non-round-up ready food!

Vegan “Minestrone” Soup

1 Tbsp Coconut Oil1 10 ounce package frozen Spinach – (4 cups raw)

3C Cooked Great Northern Beans – (1 1/2 14oz cans, no salt added)

3C Cooked Kidney Beans – (1 1/2 – 14oz cans, no salt added)

3 Cloves Garlic – Minced

2C Carrots – diced small

2C Onion – diced small

2C Celery – diced small

2C tomatoes – seeded & diced small (1 – 14oz can no salt added)

2C Zucchini – diced small, peeling is optional

2 medium Potatoes – scrubbed well, diced small – peeling optional

1 Tbsp dried Parsley

1 Tbsp Sea Salt

Fresh Ground Pepper to taste

1/2C Red Wine

Veggie Stock or Water for thinning – if stock is used do not add salt until the end of cooking & taste test)