Healthy Chicken Broth

The first time I heard about bone broth was nearly 20 years ago when my mom, then 60, fell and shattered her ankle bones. They were so badly splintered that the doctors could not fix it and said that they would need to set on their own. I watched my mom writhe in pain every time she moved her ankles as one of the splinters would hurt her inside. Till one elderly doctor advised her to take bone broth, or as he called it bone soup for fast healing of the bones. Mom, being a vegetarian, agreed to have it after much cajoling. All of us were surprised to say the least at how fast her pain subsided, her health improved and her ankles began to set. Of course, those ankles never returned to the petite shape they were in, but she began to walk in a couple of months.

Time went by and I completely forgot about the ‘Chicken Bone Soup’. 

I came across it again when I was researching how to heal a cavity naturally. You see, I am genetically predisposed to weak teeth, aggravated by my hypothyroidism. I had this real bad cavity and like a lot of you, dislike dentists. Having moved to a more holistic approach to health, I was curious to know if there was anything I could do to either prevent further damage or to heal the cavity as it was pretty painful, with the pain spreading to the side of my nose.

I found that bone broth was one of the top remedies not just for healthy teeth, but for healing cavities naturally. That is the first time I made bone broth. And, I can safely say that, I did in fact reverse my tooth decay. But that is topic for another post. J 

Bone broth is an inexpensive nutrient-rich food, full of minerals, amino acids got from the bones, carcass & vegetables. It is an excellent immunity booster and improves digestion.  Some of the health benefits include

•         Supports healthy skin, hair, joints & nails due to its high collagen content. Not to mention diminish fine lines and wrinkles.       
•      Fights off infection. Excellent for children when they are down with a flu, viral infection or a cold & cough
•         Can help get rid of cellulite as it improved connective tissue.
•         Improves bone & tooth health due to its high content of calcium, phosphorous & magnesium
•         Helps fight allergies
•     As a large part of our health is dependent on the health of the gut, bone broth is excellent for fixing a leaky gut and encourages healthy gut bacteria. Helps fix a leaky gut by building healthy gut flora 

Bone broth is very easy to make and can be made from almost anything. You can have a vegetable broth made from just vegetables, chicken broth from leftover bones or carcass, meat broth from either mutton bones or beef bones and even fish broth made from leftover fish heads or other parts of the fish which are not consumed in any other form.

What you will need is:

-    1 Kg Chicken bones and/or carcass

-        3 tblsps of Apple Cider Vinegar

-        Approx 300-400g of mix vegetables like

·      Onions

·      Beans

·      Carrots

·      Garlic

·      Ginger

·      Leeks

·      Celery

·      Cabbage

-        I guestimate the quantity of herbs (either fresh or dried) like

·      Thyme

·      Rosemary

·      Basil

·      Sage

·      Peppercorns

·      Bay leaves

·      Cinnamon stick

·      Coriander or parsley

-        4 litres of drinking water

-        A large pot

Preparation:

1. Wash the chicken and add it to a large pot.
2. Put in the Apple Cider Vinegar and water.
3. Allow this to stand for about 20 minutes. The Vinegar helps draw out the nutrients from the bones and carcass
4. Add all the vegetables. You can also add them a couple of hours later if you wish. I put them all together.
5. Put it on high fire till it gets to a rolling boil.
6. Reduce flame, cover and let it simmer for about 3-4 hours. The longer the better. I have also left this simmering for up to 6 hours. If you lose too much water, you can add in another 500ml if you wish.
7. Add in your herbs an hour before turning off the gas.
8. Once cool, sieve and pour them in suitable containers or jars.
9. Discard the chicken and veggies. They have no nutritive value and no taste.

You can add to the nutritive value of the stock by putting in a couple of chicken feet if you are not averse to it. They are a rich source of collagen. 

This stores very well in the fridge for up to a week. You can also freeze it for later use.

As it cools in the fridge, it will form a layer of fat on top and will be gelatinous. Do not discard the fat layer on top. When pouring out some stock, move the fat to a side and pour out your stock. It is this layer of fat that preserves it in the fridge.

This stock can be used as a base for your soups and gravies as well.

Cooking time for various broths will vary. If using other meat like lamb or beef bones, you need at least 6 - 8 hours of cooking. Fish or vegetable broth can be left to simmer for 2-3 hours. Because of the long cooking times, it may be a good idea to cook in large quantities and freeze.

Hope you enjoyed the recipe. Please do leave your comments and questions, if any, below……….

Here’s to your health & Happy Cooking!!

Basic Parenting

Parenting has gone through a lot of change since I had my children in the ‘90s. We belong to a generation of moms where we clubbed traditional methods of upbringing with modern practises under the guidance of elders in the family and some family doctor who was more than willing to share some informed choices in parenting. Today, thanks to the internet, everything is available at our fingertips. Sometimes all that knowledge can be a bit overwhelming. Don’t get me wrong. I am all for knowledge, information etc etc. Provided we have the intellect and the common sense to decipher the information and the maturity to select what suits our parenting style. It is important to adapt the knowledge to our overall family values and style to enjoy the full benefit…..

Families are different and what sets each family apart are their cultural heritage and family values which has been passed down the generations. We need to respect that and adopt our parenting style likewise. What is alright in another family may not be alright in mine and vice versa. I wish more moms would consider that aspect when cultivating a new habit or correcting something that already exists.

Gluten Free Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

As promised, here is the recipe for my delish GF Chocolate Chip Cookies. They really taste better if baked with frozen dough a few hours later. But, if like me, you can’t wait, bake up a batch after you have cooled the dough in the freezer for an hour or so.

This is a very forgiving recipe. So, play around with the additives, or leave them out completely. I usually like a blend of brown and white chocolate chips. You can also put in flours of your choice or make them with plain old AP flour. I use a blend of the Maid Replacer from Zero G  and oatmeal flour which I make at home by grinding instant oats. A mix of white castor sugar and brown sugar add an extra chewiness to the cookies. I have made them with a mix of brown sugar and jaggery powder  and they have come out pretty amazing. I have also added cinnamon powder instead of vanilla essence and if I wanted them spicy I have substituted it with dry ginger powder as well. So, play around with the recipe all you want or make different varieties and store them in your freezer to bake as and when required.

I store them in the freezer in silver foil bags and pop them in the oven whenever anybody wants to have some. Takes just 10 minutes to bake.

Ingredients:

Makes about 24 Cookies depending on the size you like...

1 cup of Soft Brown Sugar - 200g 

1 cup of White sugar - 200g 

2 1/2 cups of Gluten Free Flour Mix - 312g 

2 cups of Chocolate Chips - 250g 

1 cup of Soft Butter - 240g 

2 Eggs

1 Tsp Baking Powder

½ Tsp Baking Soda (or just 2 tsps of Baking Powder)

2 Teaspoons of Vanilla Extract

1/4 Teaspoon of Salt (omit if using salted butter)

Cream the sugar and butter together lightly using a whisk. Add one egg at a time, along with the Vanilla essence and whisk again till completely incorporated.

Separately mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda together. Add other powders if using them. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and fold well using a spatula. Now add the chocolate chips.

Put it in the fridge for at least 45 - 60 minutes. Pull out, shape into balls and bake. You can put the remaining balls in a zip lock or silver foil bag and freeze for future use.

Bake for 10-12 Minutes at 180'C /350'F. They will be soft when done. Just let them cool for about 10 minutes till they harden. They taste heavenly with a glass of chilled milk.

Enjoy!

The Start of my Gluten Free Journey

Ever since I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism 24 years ago, unbeknown to me, I have also suffered from gluten intolerance. In fact, I was unaware that there is something called Gluten Intolerance till I chanced upon it online. Suddenly, all the symptoms I had experienced since I don’t know when, had a name. But wait. Oh my God! Did that mean I had to give up all my favourite foods? No flat breads, no sandwiches, no pasta, pizza, spaghetti and the list goes on. Like the rest of the world, or at least a large part, I am addicted to gluten. It is like a comfort food. But, I had to abstain from it if I was to try and feel better. The symptoms that had bothered me the most were frequent bouts of constipation, fibromyalgia and painful blisters, especially on my scalp.

So, one day I gave up gluten. Just like that. By the way, I must clarify here that while most grains contain gluten, we are referring to the ‘bad gluten’ which is primarily present in wheat, barley and rye. Some people who are gluten intolerant cannot tolerate oats as well. This probably could be due to the gluten contamination in oats as most factories that market oats also market wheat etc. All I ate was rice, rice and more rice. Of course, I did love my dosas and idlis. I noticed the results almost overnight. Suddenly I felt much better. My stomach behaved much better in the next couple of days, the painful blisters on my scalp began to vanish. The weird pains and aches all over my body began to subside. The fringe benefit was that I slept much better, my energy levels were up (which is another thing we hypothyroid people deal with every day) and I felt more cheerful and upbeat in general.

But I wanted to be sure that it was in fact the gluten that was making me feel better. So, after a month of being off it, I decided to have a sandwich for dinner. By the time I was done with the sandwich, I could almost immediately feel the needle like pain in my scalp which I recognised as the start of the blister. It was so piercing that I needed to massage it to feel better. Next morning, my stomach was in a bad shape and that spot which was painful the previous night had turned into a painful blister. Ok, I’m done. No more gluten for me. And so I went completely off it. This was nearly a year ago.

Some gluten free brands I use

I am glad I went off gluten. I have lost some weight in the last year, I find myself more productive, cheerful and, feel generally healthy. I started exploring gluten free options and didn't find too many. Of course I did find a couple of bakers that made gluten free baked goods. Either they were too expensive or they were not what I was looking for in terms of taste. As the awareness about gluten grew, I began to find many brands of Gluten free flours, grains etc in the market. I picked up the different varieties to start exploring recipes on my own. I have started baking my own gluten free cookies which taste absolutely divine. Crisp on the outside and chewy, gooey on the inside. Especially with a glass of chilled milk. I always keep a batch frozen and pop them in the oven every evening. Takes just 10 minutes. Shall post the recipe in my next post. I am still in the learning stage and will share my recipes as we go along.