Step 1: 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- Nick Wallace at Wallace Farms– 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.

Step 2: Bone Broth

What you need

• Peel about 6 or 7 whole carrots, throwing the peelings and cut off ends in your ziploc of bones. Chop and store the carrots needed in your upcoming chicken noodle soup, eat the rest for snacks.
• Cut the ends off of a bunch of celery, and throw them all in the ziploc. Chop and store the celery you need for your upcoming soup, and have the rest for snacks.
• Chop 1 medium onion into small pieces and store in the fridge, to be used in your upcoming chicken noodle soup. Put the ends and outer skin layers into your ziploc.
• 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!
• 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. You can use it as the broth for soup (proceed to Step 3).

Step 3: 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- but that’s for another post)
• 1 cup carrot, chopped (use what you prepped above)
• 1 cup celery, chopped (same)
• 1 cup diced onion (prepped above)
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1.5 cups shredded chicken (if you don’t have enough leftover from the rotisserie chicken, then throw some bone-in chicken thighs in the crock pot in the morning- don’t mess with seasoning, cook on low for 4 hours, shred the chicken, and save the bones and skin for your next batch of broth)
• 8 cups of homemade bone broth
• 1 container of tasty juices saved and stored from your rotisserie chicken (note that this juice will turn into a gel in the fridge because it’s so full of collagen)
• 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!!

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 3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar, 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.

I hope that you find these recipes as hassle-free and as health-errific as I do!

Here’s to health!

~Dr. Mindy