What Really is Bone Broth?

Bone broth is a very rich and nutritious broth that comes from cooking beef, pork, or chicken bones in water with onions, carrots, and celery (veggies optional) for up to 24 hours. Other nutritious additives are chicken feet, necks and skin, pig feet, or beef tails.

I know, that may be something new, adding feet to your broth and it might even sound gross, as it did to me when I first heard it! The only time I saw chicken or pig feet were when they were still on the animal and they sure weren't very appetizing! But once they were cleaned it did not faze me a bit to throw them into my soup pot:) Another thing that helped me was, hearing about all the health benefits of gelatin-rich broth. Yes, that is actually where gelatin/jello comes from, the feet of animals.

And now for the health benefits

A cheap alternative to pills and supplements

Bone broth is packed with nutrition that your body can actually absorb, unlike the isolated nutrients found in pills. Your body cannot use only vitamin D or only magnesium. I remember "despairing" trying to figure out which supplements to take with what.

Many people who are anemic don't get better by taking iron supplements. Your body needs a host of other enzymes, vitamins, cofactors, and a bunch of other things to actually absorb the iron effectively. The same thing applies to all the vitamins and minerals commonly found in supplements.

That's why getting your nutrition from foods such as bone broth is so important. Real, whole foods are already full of a host of other factors that you need in order to digest your food and absorb it properly.

And the best part? Bone broth is dirt cheap compared to expensive pills.

Drink 1-2 cups of bone broth per day

The biggest thing is consistency. It won't do any good to drink a whole gallon of bone broth in a day and then not drink anymore for weeks! Start by drinking 1-2 cups per day and see how it makes you feel. Drink it with a meal, on its own, in the morning or evening, whenever. It doesn't matter when or how you drink it, just drink some every day.

Bone broth recipe

You will need 1 whole chicken, or 1 package of chicken soup bones, (found right here), 2 carrots, 1 chopped onion, and 1 bunch of chopped celery. (veggies are optional)

Place chicken in a crock pot or stock pot and fill with water.

Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, remove the chicken and pick the meat off the bones. Set aside for later dishes.

Return the carcass to the broth. Now would be the time to throw in the feet, neck, or skin. Simmer on low for up to 24 hours.

After the broth is finished. allow it to cool and pour through a strainer. Throw out the leftover bones.

Broth can be frozen for up to a year or refrigerated for a week.

Beef or Pork Broth

For the beef or pork broth, basically, you follow the same recipe as for chicken, except you use around 2 lbs. of beef or pork bones. And these won't have meat on, so you just throw them into the pot with or without veggies and simmer for 24 hours.

Where Do You Find Bones?

The best bones and feet to use are from locally grown, pastured animals. (I will add....pastured animals rarely walk around in their own manure...if that helps to overcome your grossing out!)

You can find chicken, chicken feet, beef, and pork bones from The Nolt Homestead right here.

Blessings- Louise