Bone Broth. The OG Superfood.
‘Tis the season for our crockpots to be roaring. Let’s harness that energy to optimize health and healing. Nutrient rich “super” foods help our bodies repair and rebuild after daily stressors (physical, chemical, emotional), and even more importantly following a stressful event- trauma, surgery, etc.
Bone broth is one of the ancient superfoods that has withstood the test of time. Packed with collagen, minerals, and nutrients that support our teeth, gums, bone, joints, and skin – – – it is more than just a comfort food. Bone broth’s minerals (calcium, phosphorus, magnesium) form the building blocks to strengthen the matrix of our teeth and bones, and collagen supports the gum tissue and joint health. I see the link of nutrition to oral health daily, so I highly recommend this natural way to complement your oral care routine!
There are many nutritional considerations to optimize health (I encourage you to read my Nutrition for Oral and Overall Health blog to dive deeper), but simply adding bone broth to your diet can support stronger teeth and bone, as well as healthier gums. Here’s how I incorporate bone broth into my family’s diet…. I use bone broth instead of water when making rice, pasta, and quinoa. I use bone broth as a base in every soup that I make- chicken noodle, broccoli cheddar, tomato soup, and even chili. I add Redmond’s Real Salt and some spices to it, heat it up, and just sip on it for some soothing nutrients.
Here are a few other tips for an added nutritional punch in your meals. When you can, cook meat on the bone and with skin (when applicable). I get my meat for beef and pork roasts on the bone whenever I can. I love to bake or grill chicken breasts, drumsticks, and thighs with their skin and bones. I share an awesome recipe for Crockpot Rotissiere Chicken below, cooking an entire bird in the crock pot. Cooking it with and eating the skin throws in some collagen for radiant skin, happy joints, and healthy gums. Who doesn’t like that?!! Regarding whatever skin and bones you have left, NEVER throw that treasure away! I keep 2 gallon sized ziplocs in the freezer in my kitchen, one labeled “Chicken Bone Broth” and one labelled “Beef/Pork Bone Broth”. I throw all uneaten skin and bones in these bags, along with the occasional carrot peelings and ends, celery ends, and onion ends. Once the freezer bags are full, I brew up a batch of bone broth, as described below.
One more hot tip. I keep a container of cooked and shredded chicken in my freezer at all times, ready for action in fajitas, Buffalo Chicken dip, fried rice, whatever. To keep my stock of shredded chicken strong, I routinely cook bone-in/skin-on chicken breasts in the crock pot, remove and save the skin and bones in my trusty Ziplocks, and shred the meat for easy future use. I also pour off the juice that cooks off it into a glass jar and store in the fridge to use as a collagen and nutrient packed base for soups. You will notice that this liquid turns to a gelatinous solid in the fridge due to its high content of gelatin proteins and peptides. This is a nutrient dense gold mine!!
Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken
What you need
- 1 whole chicken, 4-5 lbs (if you can get a pastured chicken from a local farmer like mine- 99 Counties, the Iowa Food Co-op, or Prudent Produce– it will be a healthier hen with more nutrients to provide)
- 4 teaspoons salt (I prefer Redmond Real Salt due to its natural mineral content)
- 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
What to do with it
- Pat the clean chicken dry- inside and out- with paper towels
- Mix the seasonings together and rub all over the chicken- inside and out
- To prop the chicken up out of the juices that will cook out, put a stainless steel roasting rack, or long piece of aluminum foil crumpled into an S shape, at the bottom of the crock pot.
- Put your hen in, pt the lid on, and cook on low for 5 hours
- Make whatever sides you like to go along with it and bon appetit!
After dinner…
- Save all of the bones, cartilage, and any uneaten skin, and put it in a gallon sized ziploc.
- Pour all of the juice out of the bottom of the crockpot into a storage container, and save in the fridge for later. This collagen packed and very flavorful base will be an amazing addition to your future homemade chicken noodle soup!
Bone Broth
What you need
- A full Ziploc bag of bones, cartilage, and skin (and veggie peels and ends, if you’ve added that, too)
What to do with it
- Bust out your crockpot, empty the entire ziploc contents into it, fill it up with water, add about 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, put on the lid, and cook on low for 36 to 48 hours. (I brew my bone broth in the garage, as it has a pretty intensely savory scent that I find overwhelming after a few hours)
- When the time is up, use a mesh strainer to separate out the broth from the solids and BOOM, you’ve just brewed bone broth!
- Note the “Chicken 1” and “Chicken 2” labels. I typically brew 2 batches of bone broth from each load of bones. Once the first is done, I siphon out all the broth, put all of the solids back in the crock, refill with water, and complete a second brew.
- I store my bone broth in the freezer. Please be sure to follow proper protocol to prevent the glass jars from breaking upon expansion with freezing, should you choose to do the same. To prevent breakage, Be sure to leave about 2 inches of head space at the top of the jar. I first let it cool in jars at room temp, then I move to the fridge for 24 hours, then I move to the freezer.
- The bone broth will be pretty bland until you add some spices. You can just heat it up and drink it- add salt, pepper, turmeric, thyme, whatever you wish. You can substitute it for water when cooking rice, pasta, or quinoa. You can use it as the broth for soup.
Chicken Noodle Soup
What you need
- 2 Tablespoons Avocado Oil. Or olive oil. (Do NOT use canola, vegetable, etc oils, as they are very inflammatory oils and should never be used)
- 1 cup carrot, chopped
- 1 cup celery, chopped
- 1 cup diced onion
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1.5 cups shredded chicken
- 8 cups of homemade bone broth
- If you have it, 1 container of tasty gelatinous juices saved and stored from your rotisserie chicken
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 4 teaspoons Redmond Real Salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 5 oz egg noodles (look at the ingredient list to assure only wheat and eggs as ingredients, no added preservatives)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
What to do with it
- In a stockpot, saute onion and garlic with avocado or olive oil, until tender
- Add all other ingredients, except the egg noodles.
- Cook on Medium-Low to Medium heat until carrots and celery are tender.
- Add egg noodles, cook until al dente.
- Add salt and pepper, to taste.
- Enjoy!!
I hope that you find these recipes as hassle-free and as health-errific as I do!
✌️
~Dr. Mindy
