In the Beginning

So I'd been researching and learning more about primal/paleo eating plans while following the transition plan for Medifast which adds one food item per week (ie: veggies one week, fruit another, etc)  I still wasn't 100% anything since occasionally I would have off plan foods/treats, but knowing that I was transitioning off of this "all or nothing" plan allowed me to just adjust my daily intake accordingly instead of just going hog wild off the deep end and eat anything and everything in sight.  One night my husband and I decided we were going to grab some Chik fil a for dinner, so I logged my food into my daily calorie tracker and decided that I would have a Chicken sandwich, I made other adjustments through the day and was at peace with my planned choice and my total calories/carbs for the day.  That evening I started having horrible stomach pains, I couldn't figure out what in the world was wrong with my stomach.  I was couldn't go to sleep until about midnight because my stomach was hurting and burning and then woke up again about 12:30 in pain again.  I decided to go soak in the bathtub since I wasn't sleeping anyway.  I started reading Robb Wolf's "The Paleo Solution" and stayed awake in pain until about 3am when I remembered I had some crystallized ginger from before I had my gall bladder removed, the only thing that seemed to help with stomach cramping back then.  I ate a few chunks and finally got to sleep.

The next day I emailed my friend and said I needed to know everything I could to do heal gut damage, that I needed to start taking my stomach pains seriously because it was obvious that there was something wrong with my stomach since I was hurting after meals so frequently.  She had previously told me about the wonders of "bone broth" but I had never heard of gut damage and really didn't think I had anything like that.  After my all night stomach pain and chest cavity burning, etc I knew that it was definitely time to start doing what I could on my own.  She sent me several links to bone broth recipes previously and that day I printed everything I could find.  I really thought that all my pain must have been from the peanut oil Chik fil a uses to fry their chicken.  I had only recently heard that peanuts and peanut oils can contribute to "leaky gut" which was another thing I had never heard of and obviously in denial about possibly having.  She also told me that Chik Fil A was a big MSG user, I started looking up ingredients online and even called the store... sure enough... MSG!  The really disturbing part is that my husband I and were on their site the day before reviewing their allergen page and thinking how awesome it was they were so up front about their allergens (because of our daughter's eating plan and sensitivities) I guess MSG isn't classified as an allergen because it wasn't until I went and read the actual ingredients that I saw the offender.  Hot doggit! I had been MSG'ed again.  I started getting really mad at our food industry... if these additions to our food were making me hurt so badly, what in the world was it doing deep down inside my body? Worse yet, what is it doing to our children?  So this anger pushed me a little further down this road to start living primal/paleo.


That night I went to the store and made a few purchases toward my primal/paleo lifestyle.  Now please forgive me since I am still in the learning stages, I am going to make mistakes and get the wrong products occasionally, but instead of putting any sort of "pressure to be perfect" on myself I'm taking this as a learning process and each new thing I learn moves me closer and closer to that primal/paleo lifestyle I hope to live someday.    I knew ginger could help my stomach pains too and my friend suggested making tea from ginger root, lemon and honey.  The other items are just things that I've read about and wanted to start building up my cabinet supply a few items at a time so it wouldn't be so expensive to begin all at once.


My plan was to start with some bone broth, since it takes a good 24 hours to cook down and pull the healing properties of the marrow out of the bones, I wanted to get that started sooner than later so that I could start the healing process.  Since it was Thursday night I didn't want to roast my own chicken and then begin the process so I purchased a rotisserie chicken and turkey breast.

So the first step was going to be removing the meat from the bones.  I was really hesitant about this process, since I tend to buy those boneless skinless cuts of chicken or breasts that are already cleaned, skinless/boneless etc.  So I was getting brave here.

As I stood at the counter pulling meat from the bones (which was surprisingly easy) I actually started feeling a shift within myself.  This simple act of removing chicken/turkey meat from the bones started making me feel like I was in control again.  I was literally taking control of what I was putting in my body.  I made two Tupperware containers, one with chicken and the other with turkey.  These were going to be used throughout the week for other meals.  The bones, skin, fat, etc I was reserving aside to become part of the bone broth.


Once the meat was completely removed then I filled the crockpot with 4 quarts of filtered water, 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar 1 whole bulb(?) of garlic and 1 tsp of sea salt.  I then added all the bones and turned the crockpot on high.  It was almost 9pm when I was finally ready to let it do it's magic.

I learned that it probably would have been better to heat the water first so it wouldn't take so long for the mixture to get to boiling but live and learn.  Once it all comes to a nice boiling bubble then you turn it down to low and cook for up to 24 hours.

I wasn't really sure what to expect smell wise, I guess I figured it would smell something like it does when I cook a pork tenderloin or something in the crockpot, I thought maybe it would have a yummy garlic smell.  I woke up at one point in the night and noticed this strange smell. It didn't smell like spices or chicken, I don't really know how to describe it other than just odd.  I'm guessing its just the smell of the skin, fat and bones breaking down.  It's not a bad smell, just not anything I was expecting.


The next morning (around 6am) I was excited to lift the cover and see what it was looking like.  I guess I left quite a bit of the meat and fat on the bones. I didn't even both trying to get the meat off the wings I just through the whole thing in there.  So the next morning all the meat, skin, and fat was floating on top.  I gave it a little stir and left it to do its magic all day long.

We were planning to come home right about 24 hours after it all began so I was pretty excited to see what it was going to look like by the end.  We ended up meeting up with my mom for a movie and got home a couple of hours later than planned but I figure that was just that much more time for the broth to do its thing.

When we got home I turned off the broth and let it cool for a couple of hours.  I was really curious about how it was all going to taste.

I purchased a wire strainer and once it was cooled I strained the broth into a bowl, catching the bones, skin and meat and leaving just this lovely bone broth to be packaged and enjoyed.



The bones were really neat.  They were so soft that you could squeeze them between your fingers and they would just crush.  It was really pretty interesting and I'm still trying to research and see if there is anything that they would be good for... seems like they could be used for fertilizer or something.  If I find anything I sure will share it.



I then used a measuring cup to put the broth into smaller Tupperware containers for easy storage in the refrigerator and freezer.   I read on a site somewhere that you could put the broth into ice-cube trays for easy single servings of the broth for cooking vegetables and so I put some of the broth into an ice-cube tray.  I think my husband thought that was a bit nuts but he was going along with it, I mean what did he have to lose? I was already making home-made broth, something I have never dreamed of doing.


I enjoyed a cup of the broth right then and there.  It felt so good to know that I was doing something to move my life/health in the right direction.

I have enjoyed the broth almost every single day over the course of the last week.  I would warm the broth and drink it straight, I would put some of the meat from the chicken and/or turkey in with the broth and have soup.  One night I even took some chicken, turkey and left over pork tenderloin... warmed them up in a skillet, added some spinach and some broth and cooked it all down into this hardy meal.

I even managed to get my husband to try it one night when he wasn't feel well.  It said it was alright, I guess that means it didn't suck. HA!

My next adventure with bone broth I am going to roast my own chicken before making broth out of the bones.  Should be interesting. :)

The journey begins/continues...