If you follow me on snapchat: HeatherGF2, or instagram: @getfitgofigure then you know I get in a healthy dose of bone broth in my diet. It has replaced my morning coffee completely. Now, if I needed the caffeine, well then, coffee would be the second drink of the day. Or you could reverse that order 😀

Anyway, a few years ago I had made it a priority to take a collagen supplement due to the fabulous benefits of keeping me from really looking or feeling my age.  Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body. It gives hair its’ strength,  skin its elasticity and connective tissue the ability to keep you together! 70% of the protein molecules that make up your skin is collagen.

I’d say fending off aging is some pretty good motivation to drink bone broth!

The benefits of collagen include:

• improving bone and joint health
• helps give the skin elasticity for a youthful appearance
• balance hormones
• aids digestion

As time marches across my face and attacks my joints, collagen seemed like something I really needed in my life.

I tried capsules, powders and bars but it always weighs on my mind if the supplement is really effective. You know it is always better to get the nutrients from a whole food source.

What was my next best option… bone broth! Boom.

Bone broth is da bomb. I enjoy drinking it. I enjoy making it and I know I am reaping some SAWEET health benefits such as:

• Healing the gut (yes really!)
• Treating leaky gut syndrome
• Improve joint health
• Reduce cellulite
• Boost immune system
• Reduce inflammation
• Improve and maintain healthy skin (fend off those wrinkles people!)
• Boost detoxification
• Can reduce allergies

So how does this work:

When you make bone broth (see recipe below), the simmering of the grass fed  beef or local happy chicken bones in water with some vinegar releases collagen as well as a host of other  highly bio available vitamins and minerals like calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon and sulphur.  Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate also leach on out as well which aids in joint health and inflammation among many more compounds beneficial to the bod.

There is a reason chicken soup has a reputation for its popularity during the cold and flu season which is backed my science no less.

But don’t be fooled!

Store bought beef and chicken stock are not bone broth! Companies makes these with meat flavors and bouillon cubes and can include MSG. Gross. The best thing to do is make it yourself or buy it!

Where do I buy it you ask? Well, Kettle and Fire is an excellent bone broth! It is is so convenient to open up a carton, pour in a pot and then drink up a few minutes later. I do still make my own and stock up in the freezer but sometimes I do loath making bone broth and straining it and putting it into different containers and cleaning all the fatty dishes…. bleh. It’s a labor of love.

If you find bone broth isn’t for you. Check out Life Time Fitness collagen peptides (old version says Beef Protein with Collagen Peptides). They taste amazing and mix well in your coffee or plain yogurt. It’s also from grassfed cows and contains no artificial sweeteners. Use 232708 for the discount code.

Okay, back to bone broth. So here is how I make my bone broth… I am going to give you my willy nilly stripped down version which is what I do a lot of times and then I will give you a more involved recipe with ingredients and measures!

Bone sources matter

When buying your bones,  buy grass fed organic beef bones or organic pasture raised chickens. Why you ask? Well, you are what you eat and that goes for the animals you are consuming too!

My stripped down easy bone broth recipe:

1) I will take the bones from whatever animal I had roasted and throw them in a big ol 6-10 quart pot or crock pot along with all the good stuff left in that pan.

• Grass fed beef bones (roasted in the oven) Or chicken bones from a roasted whole organic chicken

 

2) Then I will fill that pot full with filtered water.

 

3) Add 1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar to the pot.

4) Let the pot sit at room temperature for about 30-90 minutes to let the minerals leach out of the bones.

Many times I have taken the bones from dinner,  prepared the bones to this step and let is sit over night at room temperature. I would then turn on the burner when I got up in the wee hours of the morning with my early rising kids and let the broth simmer all day.

5) Now bring that pot to a boil and simmer the crap out of it with a top on. Or, start up the crock pot and walk away.

chicken bones: 24 hours

beef bones: 48 hours

If the water is boiling off and your stock getting low, sometimes I will add more water to the pot midway through if I need to.

 

6) After simmering forever, let is cool so you can handle it. Strain the liquid, discard the solids and freeze the broth in containers. Before you thaw and consume the broth, skim the fat off the top, salt and enjoy!

Use Redmond’s Real salt or Himalayan sea salt . Ditch the stripped down iodized white table salt.

 

Labor of Love Bone Broth Recipe:

This bone broth requires more time in the kitchen to chop veggies. It may not take that much longer but sometimes all those extra steps just add up and I don’t have time! 🙂

Ingredients

• 3-5  pounds beef bones (roasted at 450 F for 40 minutes) or bones  from a whole roasted chicken (including all the good leftover stuff)
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1.5-2 cups chopped carrots
• 1.5-2 cups chopped leeks
• 1-2 cups chopped onion
• 5-6 parsley sprigs
• 3-5 sprigs of choice herbs (rosemary, thyme etc)
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 4-8 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp black peppercorns

Directions

1. Place roasted bones and all the good left over goo into a 6-8 quart stock pot or crock pot. (4 cups to a quart)
2. Fill with water
3. Add vinegar and allow to sit at room temperature for 30-90 minutes.
4. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
5. Simmer:
   1. beef bones: 24-48 hours
   2. chicken bones: 12-24
6. After simmering forever, let is cool so you can handle it. Strain the liquid, discard the solids and freeze the broth in containers. Before you thaw and consume the broth, skim the fat off the top, salt and enjoy!As stated above, use Redmond’s Real salt or Himalayan sea salt . Ditch the stripped down iodized white table salt.