heal - Manage Stress | Increase Energy |Simple Solutions | Rommy Kirby, Holistic Health Coach, Yoga Personal Trainer, Essential Oil Educator

Bone Broth Made Easy

Rommy Kirby — Sat, 23 Nov 2013 15:57:11 +0000

“Good broth will resurrect the dead”…

In my quest for optimal health and vibrant radiance I learned about traditional healing foods. I kept hearing about ‘bone stock’.

Frankly, because it sounded like work I wasn’t truly intrigued until…friends took me to a Neiman Marcus restaurant.

We were in Chicago, it was cold, it was windy. I was chilled and travel weary. Sitting in the oh so posh restaurant was a welcome treat.

Once we placed our orders, the server brought each of us the most delicious cup of golden broth. It was warm, full of flavor and just what I needed to make it through the day. In that moment I understood the restorative power of bone broth.

I would have loved a quart that blustery yet sunny day! It revived me and gave me the stamina I needed to have fun and enjoy myself even though it was so very cold.

Then in my New Master Healers classes with my teacher Andrea Beaman, I learned that bone stocks are full of nourishing goodness.

A good stock is loaded with easily absorbable vitamins, minerals and collagen that can repair and heal the digestive tract, especially the lining of the small intestine. Vanity bonus is that it will also improve skin tone, strengthen nails and grow long lustrous hair.

Have you ever wondered why your grandmother gave you chicken soup when you were sick?

Briefly, there are two reasons.

First, traditionally, chicken soup is made by boiling the left over bones of Sunday’s roasted chicken. Remember, the entire animal was used and nothing went to waste. The bones are not only flavorful, they contain life giving marrow and trace minerals. The joints are loaded with collagen, the building block of protein.

The second reason is that chickens are an energetic animal. Because they are generally always on the move, they have a high metabolism. So energetically, chicken is what you want to eat when you feel the need for more energy. Chicken soup is loaded with vitamins and skin luscious minerals to give your body the energy it needs to heal and recover faster.

One of my favorite and fun Facebook status updates is ‘It’s a bone boiling kind of day’. Hubby likes to joke to his friends that if he ever disappears they should look in the soup.

Today, I am sharing with you my basic recipe for boiling beef bones. Use this recipe as a guide, make it yours by simply changing up the ingredients a bit. You can use it with chicken bones, fish bones or pork bone stock.

You can even saved bones in the freezer until I have enough…which, come to think about it, makes me a bone collector.

So why not just use the broth or stock that come in a can, jar or the tetra box at the grocer?

Because they are just not as nourishing. They are ‘from concentrate’ which means they are diluted with water. Most of the time there are added sugars, MSG and way too much salt to flavor it. And it is just so easy to make your own. (when you do need to resort to store bought, by the best you can and look for the USDA Certified Organic, that’s what I do)

Over the last 12 months, I have been experimenting with different bone brews…I mean recipes. I’ve finally found a base recipe that works.

Basic Bone Stock Recipe

2 Pounds of Bones – the highest quality available to you
1 Large Onion
1 Garlic Bulb
4-6 Stalks Celery
2-3 Carrots
2 Bay Leafs

Other spices I use…

Peppercorns
Cloves
Cardamon Pods

7 Simple Steps

Step 1 – If bones are raw, roast in a 400 degree oven for 1 hour. I like to salt and pepper them. I will even, time permitting, roast the onion (quartered) and garlic (whole) at the same time but it is not necessary.

Step 2 – Place bones, vegetables and spices in 6 quart stainless steel pot.

Step 3 – Cover with fresh clean water to within 2 inches of rim.

Step 4 – Bring to a soft boil over medium high heat, then lower heat to low gently rolling simmer uncovered for 4-24 hours.

Step 5 – Remove from heat, allow to cool. Using tongs remove bones and large vegetables.

Step 6 – Carefully strain into large glass bowl. Cover and place in refrigerator until fat solidifies. About 4-6 hours.

Step 7 – Using a ladle, carefully place your golden elixir into glass jars or even ice cube trays for easy measuring. (I’ve recently found out that you can freeze glass jars as long as you leave room for expansion at the top.)

How to use your liquid gold…

Warm it in a sauce pan and drink it from your favorite mug.

Use it as a soup base.

Add it to stir fry, saute or sauce.

My Number 1 use and favorite quick meal…

Simple Egg Drop Soup

Notes…

You know you have made a truly magical brew if your bone broth congeals. It’s the gelatin that grows strong healthy nails, radiant skin and lustrous hair and heals the digestive system. That’s why hospitals serve jello, though, what they serve has no resemblance to life giving gelatin given to patients in the old days.

I’ve tried using vinegar to pull the collagen from the bones, but have not had success and my broth has been to brightly flavored. I use the French method of per-roasting and long simmers.

You can experiment with your vegetables.

Be open to experimenting with your vegetables and spices. Remember that cooking, unlike baking, is as much art as science. Have fun!

Add additional water as necessary throughout your simmering process.

Every good and thorough detox or cleanse program has a component to rebuild the digestive tract.

The post Bone Broth Made Easy first appeared on Manage Stress | Increase Energy |Simple Solutions | Rommy Kirby, Holistic Health Coach, Yoga Personal Trainer, Essential Oil Educator.

What do Vicodin, Zocor and Lipitor have in common?

Rommy Kirby — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 09:31:40 +0000

Have you ever noticed how many of your conversations revolve around health, aches, pains and medications?

Whenever I get together with friends, somehow, we always have a conversation about health.

At a recent dinner party, a friend was asking some really great questions. Then he asked one question that I thought was fabulous.

He asked, “So what do you think about Ambien?”

A hush settled over the party and everyone tuned in thinking I just might go ballistic on pharmaceuticals.

For most holistic health practitioners, this can be a challenging question, one that raises our ire and sparks our passion.

But when it comes down to it, it isn’t Ambien that bothers me. It isn’t even Vicodin, Zocor and Lipitor that bother me.

Here’s the thing they all have in common, these drugs work as designed. They work incredibly well to manage a bothersome symptoms of dis-ease. That can be a good thing.

What really bother’s me, and most likely every single holistic practitioner, is that these drugs manage symptoms only. They actually can, and often will, do more harm than good because they mask the underlying cause.

Medical science is learning that inflammation is at the root of all disease. Every single one, even Insomnia.

Inflammation is the body’s healing response to stress, bad nutrition, toxins, pathogens, parasites, bacteria, injury and virus. Chronic inflammation is the cumulative response to prolonged over exposure to all that crap.

In other words, disease is the sum of the parts.

The simple supposition then is, stop inflammation, stop disease, and begin to heal. When the body heals, the symptom goes away.

But how?

The primary way to decrease inflammation it to increase nutrition. Give your body the building blocks it needs to repair.

Number 1 – Eat More Whole Foods

Take a look at what you are eating. If it comes with a nutritional label, there is a good chance it is processed in some way. See how many more vegetables you can eat daily.

Choose the highest quality available. Look for these words, local, organic, non GMO, free range, grass feed and finished, no hormone or antibiotics added.

Number 2 – Sleep

Your body repairs, restores and reorganizes when you sleep. Just like babies will stop growing and get sick if they don’t get adequate sleep, sleep deprivation decreases your cellular function.

For my best radiant rest I use essential oils. I diffuse blends (synergies) that ground and calm and soothing and calming Lavender Essential Oil and generally apply the soles of my feel, my belly, the back of my neck.

Number 3 – Stay Hydrated

Hydrated cells are more supple and resilient to infection by virus.

I really enjoy plain H2O, but sometimes, I like to a a drop add essential oil to glass of water for flavor and variety. You can also add lemon slices and organic cucumber peels for a Spa-like touch.

Number 4 – Supplement

Let’s face it, very few of us, me included, eat 100% perfect food perfectly combined 100% of the time.

It is a fact that our food, even our beautiful local and organic food, when we can get it, is not as nourishing as it was 20 years ago.

On top of that, most of us are walking around with impaired digestion so we can’t absorb all the nutrients. Combine all that with busy schedules, getting all our nutrients through our food is hard and nearly impossible.

One primary reason that I enjoy such vibrant health despite my very human attraction to sugar, aka Devil Dope, is that I pump up my whole food and juicing lifestyle with supplements. I used supplements to recover, restore and repair my very sick and toxic body because my digestive system didn’t work well.

What to look for in a supplement?

Quality supplements will be naturally derived and whole food based. They contain the vitamin, not vitamin isolates.

The majority of the supplements you find on the shelves are full of artificial preservatives, sugars and synthetic isolated vitamin constituents. They are hard on you liver and kidneys.

Did you know that your body cannot process synthesized vitamins? That’s why you get yellow, stinky pee.

Your body will absorb 80 to 90% of a whole food based supplement!!!

Which do I use and recommend?

Send me an email for information on my recommendations.

What to remember about this article…

Pharmaceutical drugs are designed to alleviate symptoms only.
Pharmaceutical drugs have negative side effects, always.
Pharmaceutical drugs mask the underlying cause of the symptom.
Inflammation is the root cause of all disease.
Proper nutrition will decrease inflammation.

Tell me Beautiful…

What symptoms are you experiencing that you think would be better if you treated your body to better nourishment?

The post What do Vicodin, Zocor and Lipitor have in common? first appeared on Manage Stress | Increase Energy |Simple Solutions | Rommy Kirby, Holistic Health Coach, Yoga Personal Trainer, Essential Oil Educator.