Tag Archives: #bonebroth

Recipe: All-In-One-Meal – Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls

30 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by in Food

≈ 2 Comments

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Tools:

  • Chopping Board
  • Knife
  • Large Deep Pan w/ Lid
  • Spatula and or Large Spoon

Ingredients:

Seasonings:

Directions:

Chop onion into small even sized pieces and saute in pan with butter or Ghee, season with salt, black pepper, and garlic powder over a medium-high-heat. While you onion is cooking, chop bell pepper into small even sized pieces and mince garlic cloves.

Once the onion is ½ way cooked, add the bell pepper with a little more salt and garlic powder. Once they are soft and have some color on them (de-glaze pan with broth or lemon juice) add the ground meat and season with salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes (if you desire). Add in any seasoning or herb to the meat you prefer, the more flavor the better.

While the meat is cooking, chop the cabbage into large long strips. (Cooking Tip: Because cabbage cooks down, if you cut the pieces too small they will dang near disappear in this dish.)

Once the meat is cooked through and is nice and brown, add in the minced garlic and cook for a few mins. Add the chopped cabbage, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, juice of two lemons (I used previously frozen lemon juice), and more of each seasoning. Place lid.

Reduce to medium-heat and cook for approximately 20 minutes; after this time the cabbage should be wilting and easier to mix/stir. Stir well and if more liquid is needed to continue the steaming of the cabbage add in bone broth or white wine and maybe a little more lemon juice and salt and place lid back on and continue to cook for 30 – 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

If you so choose, this dish is served well over rice. This is the time to make rice, with approximately 30 – 35 minutes of cook time left. I personally like to cook rice in bone broth and a couple of dashes of salt instead of water to add in nutrients and flavor.

Rice & Broth

Cooking Tip: As you may have noticed, I season each layer as it goes in the pan, this allows for the flavor to build as the dish progresses through the cooking process, if you do not the dish may turn out bland.

Done. Eat. Enjoy.

Unstuffed Cabbage Over Rice

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Vegetarianism & Veganism

23 Friday Sep 2016

Posted by in Lifestyle, Nutrition

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I have recently found that acquaintances in my life are choosing to eat vegetarian or vegan. I really did not want to get into a conversation or debate with them about their choice. But, it got me asking myself why they are choosing this? One person did tell me it wasn’t because of moral views, so why then? Well, I decided to put some thoughts and information out there in hopes of expanding some horizons.

Definitions

According to Google, Vegetarianism is defined as “a person who does not eat meat, and sometimes other animal products, especially for moral, religious, or health reasons”.

Also, according to Google, a Vegan is defined as “a person who does not eat or use animal products”.

Can You Be Healthy Long-Term?

Being a vegetarian or vegan and being healthy long-terms is not impossible, but it will likely be tough. I heard on a podcast not that long ago that was discussing vegetarianism and veganism and they were saying that it takes about 7 years for the long-term effects of missing nutrients and poor nutrient absorption to have a negative effect on their health.

Many folks who choose a vegetarian or veganism way of eating typically rely too heavily on grains, legumes, GMO foods, and highly-processed food-like products as the bulk of their diets. If you tolerate grains and legumes, it is ok to use them sparingly, however they are low in bio-available nutrients, they contain lectins and phytates, and can also contribute to intestinal permeability. It is helpful if you properly prepare them, soaking them overnight and allowing them to sprout before cooking them.  If you already have any intestinal permeability or inflammation they can wreak havoc. Generally speaking, these items also are not very nutrient dense, especially compared to other vegetable options. It is important to watch blood sugar issues with eating lots of grains and grain products.

Fruit is very yummy and do contain usable nutrients, but can cause increased issues with those with blood sugar problems and those who are fructose intolerant (avoid Agave). Eating some fruit is ok, but eating massive amounts of fruit all day isn’t a good idea.

A lot of folks also rely on soy products, which I say is a bad idea due to the estrogenic activity of soy. This is super important for men. Just say no to soy. Most soy is also GMO soy. If you choose to eat soy, I suggest you only eat traditionally fermented soy.

If the goal of either of these lifestyles is to be healthy, the main food items that need to be consumed is organic non-GMO vegetables, some fruit, and the use of supplements. Many vitamin and mineral deficiencies can occur over time from not eating animals and or animal products; for example: B12, iron, zinc, calcium, fat-soluble vitamins D and A, and other long-chain fatty acids like DHA and EPA.

Personal Opinion

I believe that having a plant-based diet is important. We should be eating a minimum of 2 – 3 cups of veggies with each meal. Eating a variety of foods is very important. Get them all and eat them all.

I also believe that the human body needs the bio-available nutrients that come from animal products (meats, organs, seafood, bi-products ie. Eggs, Bone Broth, Collagen Protein, Honey, Butter or Ghee.

I do not think that you have to eat meat or animal products with every meal to gain the nutrients your body needs. If you focus on the most nutrient dense the less you have to eat of them, like cold-water fatty fish, liver, pastured egg yolks, pastured bison or beef.

I believe that there are good and ideal ways for people to eat animals and animal products that do not involve large-scale factory farming practices ie. feed-lots and other confined animal feeding operations, closed-in chicken farms, or GMO plants etc. Vote with your dollar!

In my post Quality Food Sources, I provide my thoughts on sourcing our foods from responsible places. Regardless if you eat meat or not, you should be sourcing your produce from locally grown sources, the closer to you they are grown the less nutrients are lost and the less gasoline is needed to transport it. You can source responsibly raised and butchered meats, bones, and organs. With a little online research you can find local farmers and ranchers that are doing things in an ethically responsible way. If you have local farmers markets that is also a good place to start, they are usually there. Ask questions.

Small Rant:

It is naive to think that because you are vegan or vegetarian that your food doesn’t cause animal death. It does. The farming practices kill hundreds and thousands of animals and animal habitats. Why is it ok to kill a field mouse, mole, rabbit, snake, insect or bird and not a cow, pig, or deer? Anyway, that is not really a question….

The Bible says in Genesis 9:3 “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.” There is A LOT more details in in Deuteronomy 14:1-29 and in Leviticus 11:1-47. The Maker’s Diet has a bunch of details in it too.

Recommended Supplements:

Purepea by: Designs for Health

Calton Nutrition – Nutreince

EnergyBits

Various Resources:

The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability

The Vegetarian Myth (review by Mark Sisson)

The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

17 Primal Tips for Vegans and Vegetarians

Sustainable Living

Joel Salatin

Sustainable Farming

Naked Calories: The Calton’s Simple 3-step Plan to Micronutrient Sufficiency

Live Beyond Organic Change Your Diet. Change Your Life. Change Your World

10 Important Items To Include In A Plant-Based, Vegan or Vegetarian Diet

What Raw Vegans Can Teach Us About Paleo: 12 Lessons For Supercharged Living

Why Vegetarians and Vegans Should Supplement with DHA

Meat: It’s More than Protein

Nutrient Showdown: Best Sources of Vitamins & Minerals

The Illusion of Nutrient-Dense Food

10 Vegan Diet Dangers

I’m not vegan anymore

Bone Broth

05 Friday Aug 2016

Posted by in Food

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Bone broth has become very trendy and all the rage over the past couple-ish years for good reason. It is an incredibly healthy food that was all but lost from most homes. It’s back now and so very important for optimal health and longevity.

Just about every Paleo/Ancestral/Whole Food blogger has a post or multiple posts on the value and nutrition of bone broth.

You can also purchase pre-made bone broth. Other than Kettle & Fire Grass-fed Bone Broth which I do usually keep in my pantry at all times, I find that the others are pretty expensive considering it doesn’t cost very much to make it yourself.

Here are some of the folks I trust, if you are going to purchase instead of make it.

Be aware of boxes of “broth” you can purchase in the average grocery store, they are full of all kinds of yucky ingredients you don’t want in your body. Read your labels.

How I Make Bone Broth

I like using my large oval crockpot or Instant Pot on slow-cooker mode. I prefer the low-n-slow method. You can do my way in a stainless steel stock pot on the stove as well.

I am always collecting bones; large ziploc bag of bones in my freezer at all times. When I get a full gallon size freezer ziploc bag full of bones, I know it is time to make broth.

The quality of your bones is really important; get grass-fed beef, free-range pastured chickens and pork bones. You can also make stock from duck, turkey, lamb, or deer.

The bones that I collect are mostly from our dinners, I save all our chicken bones and steak bones, pork chop bones etc. These work the best because they were seasoned well and browned in the cooking process. I keep the fat on the bones if I can and save it too along with the fat that I cut off and don’t eat. I mix my bones and use all the different types in each batch.

If you buy a bag of bones from a butcher, store, or farm I suggest putting some salt and pepper on them and roasting them in and brown in the oven before making broth from them; it provides so much more flavor.

Bone Broth Instructions

I get my crockpot out and fill it with good filtered water, I turn it on high and let the water start getting really hot.

I add ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar and some real salt. You can add additional salt to the finished product as well, should you not add enough at the start.

Then I pull out my very favorite secret – Regency Soup Socks I put all my bones in one soup sock and tie a double knot at the top. I put the bones in the water.

Timing: Some people like to cook their bones for 24 hours. I like to cook mine for 10 – 12 hours because that is how many hours on my crockpot and am able to plan ahead for. The longer you cook the more gelatinous the result should be; it also depends on your bones. The longer you cook it the deeper and richer the flavor will be.

Note: If you use the stove-top you want to get it to a good boil to start then lower the heat to a simmer. Watch to make sure your water doesn’t get too low; you may have to add water. You do not have to add water to the crockpot, since it is sealed, and it creates more of a gelatinous result.

In a second soup sock I add onion, garlic cloves, celery, a couple bay leaves, 1 – 2 lemons cut in ½ or ¼ – I squeeze the juice in and then throw them in the bag. I like to wait until around 4 hours before the broth is done cooking before I add this bag to the crockpot. You can also add fresh or dried herbs, but wait until a couple of hours before you are done before adding them.

Once it is done cooking, I pull the bags out and trash them.

I let the broth cool for a while, but not all the way.

Once it is cooler, I get my jars, strainer, and a ladle and put it in the containers.

I allow them to sit uncovered until completely cooled to room temperature.

I put them in the fridge and freezer and use them as needed.

Uses for Your Broth

It is awesome to warm up a mug and add some lemon and sea salt and drink it every day. The healing effects on your body over time will be very noticeable. I love to use it for my liquid to warm up foods. And naturally, making soup with the broth is a great way to get it in your diet.

Leave me a comment and let me know if and how you use bone broth in your life.

 

I purchase my Kettle & Fire Grass-fed Bone Broth from Thrive Market –

Thrive Market allows you to shop for all the healthy food items you know and love at discount prices, because they cut out the middle man, and it gets delivered to your door so it also saves you time. Not only to you save money, but for every paid membership Thrive Gives a membership to a family in need.

I’m currently projected to save $500 – $600 on my groceries in 2016 by purchasing from Thrive Market.