  Your Brain Needs Fat! Starting in the 70s and then really taking off in the 80s it was decided that fat was the ultimate culprit for bad health. Sadly, this was a misnomer and led not only to the increase in sugar intake for most Americans, but also a switch away from good fats to really horrible ones. So lets cover what are good fats and why do we need them? First we’ll talk about why we need fat in our diets: There are 3 major reasons that I like to talk about, and really I think it’s all the convincing that anyone should need! (1) Some very important vitamins that our bodies need to thrive are fat soluble. What exactly does that mean? Definition: A vitamin that is soluble in fat solvents and oils (lipo-soluble). They are absorbed with ingested dietary fat, fat-soluble vitamins are stored in moderate amounts from the gastrointestinal tract. Present in minute amounts in various foods, these vitamins are essential to maintaining normal metabolism and biochemical functions; fat malabsorption may result in fat-soluble vitamin deficiencies. Fat-soluble vitamins include vitamins A, D, E, K, F. In a nut shell, it means your body can’t make use of that particular vitamin unless it’s coming in with fat. If there’s no fat, then the nutrient will pass right on through and you’ll never gain any benefit from it. A good example of this is vitamin D in dairy products. If you eat non-fat yogurt, all that lovely vitamin D in the dairy is unusable for your body. Even if they fortify your milk or yogurt, unless there’s fat there, it won’t matter. (2) The correct combination of fats can help reduce your body’s inflammatory response; thereby helping to reduce your risk of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. (3) And most importantly, your brain is about 60 percent fat, and without healthy fat in your diet it won’t have the necessary fatty acids it needs to function and thrive. Pretty simple right? Which fats do we need to consume and which should we avoid?1. Saturated Fats Saturated Fats were one of those that got a bad name for itself back when the low-fat diets took hold. Sadly, this misconception is still going strong today even though research has shown time and again that saturated fats, when consumed from healthy sources, are not bad for you. There are more than a dozen different types of saturated fat, but you predominantly consume only three: stearic acid, palmitic acid and lauric acid. It's now well established that stearic acid (found in cocoa and animal fat) has no adverse effects on your cholesterol levels, and actually gets converted in your liver into the monounsaturated fat called oleic acid. The other two, palmitic and lauric acid, do raise total cholesterol. However, since they raise "good" cholesterol as much or more than "bad" cholesterol, you're still actually lowering your risk of heart disease. The key with saturated fats is to find the right source. Sources of healthy saturated fats include:
 2. Monounsaturated Fats Olive Oil and Canola Oil are your two most common in this category. Olive Oil can be very good for you, but many experts (including me) now advise you to stay away from Canola Oil (which turns out to be a modified and highly processed version of rapeseed oil – you’ll hear more about that below). Two things to keep in mind when consuming olive oil: (1) cold-pressed extra virgin is the best; and (2) it damages at a relatively low heat. This means it's amazing in things like salad dressing, but that when cooking with it, use only at lower temperatures. If you’re looking for a good higher heat cooking oil, try coconut or avocado oils, grass fed butter, lard or ghee instead. 3. Trans Fatty Acids This is a fat that is artificially made by adding hydrogen to vegetable oils in order to make them more solid (Partially Hydrogenated Oil), making trans fats your main fat culprit for bad health. Many studies have linked trans fats to an increased risk of heart disease. They also work on clogging your arteries and increase your chances of diabetes…among other health risks. You will mainly find trans fats in processed foods and restaurants – particularly deep fried food. So look at your ingredients list or ask your restaurant what they use. Companies like them because they have a long shelf life, can be used more than once in a deep fryer and add a flavor that is appealing to most people. There are also naturally occurring trans fats found in very small amounts in animal products. The research hasn’t come in yet on the effects of these trans fats. But since they’re in such small quantities, are naturally occuring and unprocessed, and nobody advocates going and eating a whole cow every week, they’re not typically thought of as a concern. 4. Omega 3 & Omega 6 (which fall under the category of polyunsaturated fats) Most of you have probably heard of the importance of consuming your Omega’s, but this really is specific to Omega 3. There are actually 3 main types of omega fats in our diet: Omega 3, Omega 6 and Omega 9. In this article, I'm going to focus on Omega 3 & 6 (Omega 9 we can make ourselves and comes out as a wash in terms of consuming it in our diet - so we'll just leave it there). However, a serious health problem for most Americans is the skewed ratio in their diet of Omega 3 to Omega 6. Ideally, the ratio would be 1:1, but unfortunately, the average American consumes somewhere between 1:15 and 1:20. What’s the difference between the two? Omega 3: There are both plant (ALA) and animal – mostly fish (DHA & EPA) sources of omega 3. It turns out that we don’t need a lot of ALA unless it’s converted to DHA, and our bodies aren’t very good at doing that. Therefore, animal sources are those that hold the most powerful health benefits.
Omega 6: The bulk of Omega 6 in our diets comes from vegetable oils (Palm, Soybean, Rapeseed & Sunflower). While it’s found in a whole host of other food too (some nuts, seeds, fruit and meat), these sources offer Omega 3 as well in a healthy ratio with Omega 6 thereby negating the negative effects. In fact, Omega 3 & Omega 6 interact with each other in our bodies, providing competition in a sense. So when our ratio is healthy, then we actually get the benefits of Omega 3. When the ratio is out of whack, we lose. What does Omega 6 do?
Recap: Fats to consume, fats to avoid ***You’ll notice that all the animal based fats are from sustainable and range/pasture sources. That’s because what an animal eats makes a substantial difference in the makeup of the meat they become. Eating conventionally raised animals doesn’t provide the same good fats. ***
Find other resources and research here: http://drhyman.com/blog/2015/12/27/separating-fat-from-fiction-10-fat-facts-you-need-to-know/ http://www.mercola.com/nutritionplan/beginner_fats.htm https://chriskresser.com/5-fats-you-should-be-cooking-with-but-may-not-be/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4808858/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12442909
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It's no secret that most of us eat a too many treats, drink a little more than normal, and generally are fairly merry and bright with our food during November and December (seriously... we can't just pretend it's only on the holidays can we?). And most of this overindulgence comes down to 1 thing: a lot more sugar in our lives. Even if it's in the form of breads, pastas, crackers, etc., our body reacts to it in just the same way as those of us who reach for the chocolate, cookies and pies. And it's addictive! It can be hard to break the cycle of eating the extras and we find ourselves snacking more, always feeling munchy, or wondering what we can go grab to eat next. You might also find yourself not sleeping as well, dragging your feet in the morning when the alarm goes off, feeling more moody or irritable, having a hard time around 2 or 3 in the afternoon and wondering how in the world you'll make it to the end of the day, or like your brain is moving in slow motion. If any of these symptoms ring true for you, the likely culprit might not be what you think... it might just be all that extra sugar carbs! When I detox every January, I'm always so thrilled with how I feel even just a few days into the process. It is truly impressive how quickly your body will recover from sugar overload and what those changes look like. Sure, you might loose a few pounds in the process (even as many as 7 or 8 in 2 weeks!), but other changes might be more unexpected: improved sleep, better moods, no afternoon lull, reduced cravings, eliminated snacking, improved brain function and alertness, and waking feeling refreshed and ready to go. You might be thinking, Kia, seriously? How can eating some extra pie and ‘stuff’ really do all that? You’re crazy! Well, for better or worse, I’m not crazy (at least not in that way), and there’s now plenty of research linking sugar/starchy/processed carbohydrate intake to all of these symptoms and more. Here are just a few of the ways sugar messes with us on a daily basis:
 (2) Sugar can drive our serotonin (your happiness hormone) out of whack. How? When we eat sugar, it drives up serotonin levels and then depletes the hormone leading us to feeling low, sad, sluggish, tired and depressed. So what do people often do? Eat more sugar to increase serotonin levels again leading to a vicious cycle. And in the end, our bodies will often just give up and not make the hormone in the quantities that we need, thereby leading people to eat even more sugar/starch in attempts to make more serotonin. (3) Increase Risk of Heart Disease. A 2014 study found that just one 12-ounce can of soda a day (or equivalent) added enough sugar to a person's diet to boost their odds of developing heart disease by a third. http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1819573) (4) Overconsumption of Food or Leptin Resistance. Leptin is a hormone that tells you when you’re full/had enough to eat. People who consume too much Fructose fail to get this signal and in turn, tend to overeat. http://ajpregu.physiology.org/content/295/5/R1370 When we eat sugar, our insulin spikes. When it falls again it leaves us feeling like we need to eat more, even though our body doesn’t actually need any more calories. When people switch out high sugar foods for nutrient dense foods, they often find themselves eating less overall, simply because the food you’re eating is fulfilling your body’s needs.  (5) Increased Body Fat. A 2010 study in children showed that too much fructose cause visceral fat cells to mature (aka, belly fat) (http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-06/tes-fsm062010.php) Relating to the overconsumption of food that comes with eating too much sugar, you can ask yourself, what happens to this extra food? Well, calories that are not utilized for energy are stored as fat for future use. So all that extra eating, even if it’s a non-fat diet, will be stored by your body as fat. (6) An Increase in Your Body’s Inflammatory Response. The details can get complicated quickly, but in a nut shell the consumption of sugar can lead to improperly digested food which then leads your body to react to that food as an imposter, triggering your bodies natural inflammation response. Depending on where this occurs in your body, it leads to a whole host of inflammatory diseases: Arthritis, Leaky gut syndrome, Chronic fatigue syndrome, Eczema, Crohn’s Disease, Celiac, Asthma, Allergies, just to name a few… (7) Toxic Effects on Your Liver Similar to excessive alcohol consumption, regardless of physique. Even those who didn’t consume too many calories and were trim still showed the same negative effects on their liver. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/98/2/349 (8) Increase in susceptibility of cancer There is a strong connection between insulin resistance and cancer; specifically recent studies suggest that insulin resistance is connected to a cells increased susceptibility to cancer formation. There’s been a few studies showing that breast and colon cancer patients who consumed larger amounts of starch and sugar had worse outcomes with regard to their cancer. The theory being that at least some types of cancer cells feed off of the sugar (and starch) that we consume. http://ict.sagepub.com/content/4/1/25 (9) Cognitive Decline and even Dementia More research is coming out showing the relationship between sugar consumption and the aging of our cells, and has more recently been linked to deficiencies in memory and overall cognitive decline. Research is also showing the correlation between Type II Diabetes and Alzheimer's. Both diseases stemming from insulin resistance. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4191295/ (10) Premature Aging Ground breaking research has discovered that non-vegetable carbohydrates directly affect specific genes that govern youthfulness and longevity. The original study looked at roundworms (they lived 6x longer than normal when they cut out all non-veggie carbs, and kept their youthful vigor until the end). This work has now been repeated around the world with other animals (rats, mice and monkeys). We also carry these same genes, which lead us to believe that the results would hold true for us as well.  And the list goes on... The bottom line is, that this is true for EVERYONE who over indulges in sugar, no matter your overall health or your body physique. So don’t be fooled into thinking that sugar doesn’t affect you. It does. And at some point in time it will catch up to you and show you just what it’s doing. So why not join me! No matter who you are, or your life circumstances, swearing off sugar and starchy carbohydrates for a couple of weeks will benefit your health. It’s a certainty! How much, and in what ways will depend on you. Come check it out here, and find out just how freeing it can be to not be dependent on sugar anymore. Your future self says ‘Thank You’! And who knows, it might just be the game changer you’ve been waiting for. In health, Kia   I have to confess, I love winter! If I lived somewhere where it was regularly below zero and I had to deal with shoveling snow all the time then I might rethink that statement. But I live where it’s regularly over 100 degrees in the summer (5 looooong months to be exact!), so anytime the thermostat registers something in the 30s I’m ecstatic! The only bummer about winter has been that I miss my smoothies. I can’t ever quite get myself excited about starting the day, with frost outside, by drinking an ice-cold beverage (I just sent shivers down my spine thinking about it!). But smoothies can be both light, and nutrient and vitamin packed, making it hard to find a good replacement when that’s what we’re craving. Then the other day, I got to thinking why can’t we have hot smoothies in the winter… seriously, this just dawned on me recently. Well, searching the web will let you know that I’m far from the first person to entertain this idea. There is an abundance of ideas out there! Some definite differences between summer and winter smoothies are that the winter counterpart tends to be not as sweet and fruity, and instead have more spice. But I’m sold. If I can get some good energy boosting, cleansing and high fiber goodness in a warm and cozy beverage, I’m all over it.  Now, I don’t know about you, but I also happen to love green tea: plain, in latte form, matcha variety, all of the above. So I thought to myself, how amazing would it be to have a green tea latte smoothie? Turns out, it’s really really amazing. Green Tea itself is also pretty amazing. Some of my favorite reasons for liking green tea are: (1) It’s high in antioxidants, specifically bioactive compounds that help protect your cells from damage; which offers both anti-aging and disease prevention properties. (2) These same bioactive compounds also mean that green tea can have a protective effect against cancer. (3) It contains quite a lot of the amino acid L-theanine, which has been shown to improve brain function. It also works synergistically with the caffeine in green tea for an even more positive effect. (4) The catechin compounds in green tea have protective effects on our neurons; this means that green tea may have the potential of lowering risk of neurodegenerative diseases. (5) Research also shows that these same catechin compounds inhibit viruses (like the flu!), and kill harmful bacteria (including those in your mouth, providing for improved dental health). (6) There is also research showing correlations between drinking green tea and lowered levels of triglycerides and total cholesterol; increased insulin sensitivity and decreased blood sugar levels; and increased ability to loose weight plus decreased body fat. All in all, I’d say that’s a pretty good track record!  So let’s talk smoothies! Now when I create a smoothie recipe, there are a few things that are must haves. (1) Seeds. Seriously. I don’t know why anyone would create a smoothie without them. They don’t add much flavor (or at least not if you have a flavorful smoothie to begin with). They blend up well (assuming you have a good blender – more on that later) and they add so much nutrition… they can’t be beat! 4 tablespoons in all, every time. I usually use 2 T chia seeds soaked, 1 T hemp seeds and 1 T ground flax seeds. However, if I’m missing one, then I just boost the quantity of the others. (2) I make very few smoothies that don’t have something green in them. If I’m going leafy green, kale is my favorite. Subtle flavor, blends well, and isn’t as high in oxalic acid as spinach. But more often than not, I just use a green leaf powder. Moringa Leaf is my favorite; also a subtle flavor, not grainy at all, and packed with nutrition. In this case, I'm using matcha green tea powder. (3) Unless I’ve got a significant protein source somewhere else in the recipe, I always throw in a scoop of protein powder. This is crucial if you want your smoothie to be satisfying enough to get you through until the next meal. Protein is what keeps our blood sugar stable, and gives us longer lasting satiation than if we don’t have enough during a meal. (4) A good blender can make all the difference. Have you ever had a smoothie that’s not well blended? Grainy, floating bits everywhere, and not only is it not smooth in texture, but the flavor isn’t smooth either. I happen to love my Vitamix, but they are expensive (unless you can find them on supper sale) and not everyone is willing to fork over that much for a blender. I recently found a great review on blenders that covers the all bases… so if you’re in need of an upgrade, take a look: https://www.reviews.com/blender/ Ok, without further ado, here are my two favorite warm matcha green tea smoothie recipes. Take a look, try them out and enjoy! Then pop back on here and tell me what you think. And don’t forget that hat and scarf when you leave the house! It’s cold out there!! Green Tea Latte Smoothie 
Directions: Add all ingredients into your blender according to manufacturers instructions & blend until very smooth. Green Tea Spiced Smoothie 
Directions: Add all ingredients into your blender according to manufacturers instructions & blend until very smooth.  Continuing from my last post (http://www.simplelocalhealthyliving.com/blog/kias-complete-breakfast-smoothie) and my goal of overhauling american breakfasts, here's option #2! Chia Seed Pudding might sound weird to you, but really it's an amazing little dish. So don't turn your back on me yet! This breakfast pudding is a power house and has a beautiful consistency, just give yourself a few days to try it. With new textures, most of us need more than one attempt to see it's true value. Seriously. Where I live, it's hotter during the summer than any human should have to put up with on a regular basis, so my go to is one of my smoothies. However, in the winter, I can't quite bring myself to blend up a smoothie when there's ice on the ground outside. This pudding? It's a winner every time. You can keep it cool if you like, or easily gently warm it up with hot water, or even a little heat on the stove/microwave (before you add the cream/yogurt). It will replace your oatmeal in a heartbeat as a high fiber, low sugar breakfast. Give it a try! And let me know what you think. Did it take you a few days? Love it right away? Modification that made it even better? I'd love to hear. And stay tuned for more! Next quick and easy breakfast? Nut, Seed and Fruit muesli!  Ingredients:
Optional Ingredients:
 Directions 1. Soak chia seeds in water for at least 30 minutes to overnight 2. Mix soaked chia, flax, hemp seeds and veggie powder (if using) with yogurt and vanilla. 3. Top with berries, nuts and/or honey if desired.  I personally would love to rid the world of breakfast cereal. It's really one of most atrocious things you can buy and eat... not to mention first thing in the morning! It's really just sugar, sugar, and oh yes, more sugar. Think about it. All cereal is, is refined flours (which by the way break down as sugar in your body) flavored with sweeteners. Even the "healthy" ones. Seriously. And think about when you eat them! After you've allowed your body to rest from food for (hopefully) about 12 hours. The very first food you're body gets in the morning! And we wonder why we have so many health problems steaming from over consumption? It's really not rocket science. What to eat instead? Over the next few weeks I will be posting a multitude of alternatives that will all start your day off the right way. To start, here's one option. It's focuses on good vitamins and minerals, and lots of fiber. Believe it or not, give yourself a week of having breakfasts like this and you will no longer crash mid-morning (requiring a sugar snack refill), or need that 3rd cup of coffee.   Do you like the idea of eating sustainably? Most health professionals believe, and the research is starting to pile up showing, that it's healthier for us and the earth, but depending on where you live it can be a challenge to find good sources of sustainable food. I'd like to learn more about what the challenges are for you! There are so many fad diets these days that it quite boggles the mind! The five-bite diet, raw-food diet, Alkaline diet, Atkins, South Beach, blood-type diet, and even the werewolf diet or the cabbage soup diet. Seriously. Fad diets try to be flashy and promise big changes while you're on them; They even work hard to find some celebrity who will endorse the diet as the next best thing. But as soon as you 'finish' the diet, any weight that might have come off often comes right back on again! And they certainly don't offer any realistic long-term changes to lifestyle and habits. In fact, many have components that are simply unhealthy for you, particularly in the long run by cutting calories, eliminating fat, or starch. Or they’re expensive and require you to purchase their product in order to achieve success. For this reason, I don't recommend that people take part in these types of diets.
Then there are some who believe that in order to be healthy, you must abide, in it's entirety, to a specific way of eating: Paleo, Vegetarian, Vegan, and Gluten Free are some of the most popular choices these days. But the problem is that most of these diets don't address the root causes of our poor health in and of themselves. It is entirely possible to be vegetarian and consume a terrible diet. Or to eat a gluten free diet by replacing wheat cookies with gluten free cookies. I hate to break it to you, but you're not going to be any better off. Now don't get me wrong, I believe there are healthy aspects to all of these ways of eating, and I employ aspects of all of them into my own eating habits. But to believe that you have to be exclusive of anyone of them, or even worse, to use them as an "excuse" to be a picky eater doesn't work. So what's the best "diet"? Well, it's not really a diet at all, but a change in how we view food and our relationship with how it's grown. And that is to eat sustainably. By eating sustainably grown and produced food, immediately we're going to go back to the basics: whole, fresh ingredients that are not laced with pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics or other toxic chemicals; eating primarily veggies and fruits; choosing meats and eggs that are healthy for you and the environment; calorie dense foods; reduced numbers of grains and increased nuts and seeds; and limited packaged and processed food. Now let’s put this into an eating plan:
To be sure, there are a lot more details that go into this. And for anyone who is struggling with weight issues or illness, there may be other considerations that need to be made. But for everyone, if we take these ideas and apply them as much as we can to our food choices, the result will only be positive. If you would like to dive into this deeper, or get some help in implementing this to your own life, give a holler!   If you’re like me, you often find yourself wishing you could wave a magic wand and have a delicious and nutritious meal sitting in front of you. Poof! Alas, that’s not how this works. Sure there’s convenience food that you can buy that will satisfy any taste, but really that just ends up being a waste of money and a whole lot of added garbage that you don’t need or want in your body. No thank you! So what to do on those days when time or inspiration is failing us? My solution has been to cook in bulk and save ingredients or whole dishes for future use (have I mentioned how much I LOVE my chest freezer!). This can be as straightforward as doubling the spaghetti sauce recipe and then freezing half in large jars for future dinners. Or, one of my favorite techniques is to cook more of any variety of ingredients and then make them into something new the next day. What does that mean? Well, for example, I can take leftover roast chicken and chop into a soup, stew or stir-fry. Or cook extra beans for chili one night, tacos the next! I do this regularly with a lot of different foods: veggies, lentils, quinoa, beans, chicken, meat and fish. It may not sound like a lot… but believe me, the time saved while putting together the next meal is noticeable for sure. One of my favorite meals made with leftover ingredients is my Roasted Chicken and Veggie Salad. This is a salad that could easily be whipped up for lunch but is also hearty and filling enough to be dinner. Even if you’re not a ‘salad person’ you really should give this a try. It’s sooooo much more than just a salad. And it only takes 5 minutes to make! Ingredients:
Directions: Toss all ingredients into a bowl and eat!  Homemade fruity vinaigrette recipe:
Directions: Combine all ingredients into a jar with a tight fitting lid. Make sure lid is well sealed and shake vigorously to combine. Dressing can be stored at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the refrigerator for months. “Bone broth isn’t just broth. And it isn’t just soup. It’s concentrated healing.” – Kellyann Petrucci  When we talk about food being the best medicine, bone broth is near (or at) the top of the list. And the beauty is that it’s not hard to make. The key though, is the ingredients you use. But we’ll talk about that later. Right now, let’s talk about the reason we should all be consuming this amazing tonic. 9 Reasons Bone Broth is AMAZING! 1. Helps heal your gut. The gelatin in bone broth (a hydrophilic colloid) helps to seal the lining of your gut by protecting the mucosal lining. 2. Promotes healthy digestion and nutrient absorption. The gelatin also keeps your digestive juices where they’re supposed to be, aiding in the digestion of nutrients. 3. Reduces inflammation. Which for many of us is a major key to health. Bone broth is a natural supplier of glucosamine, which can help stimulate the growth of collagen and reduce joint pain. It is also full of amino acids that have been found to have anti-inflammatory effects (glycine, proline, and arginine). 4. Encourages bone repair and growth. The calcium, magnesium and phosphorous are great for healthy, strong bones. 5. Helps prevent and fight disease. Not just an old wives tale, research has shown that soup indeed has medicinal qualities for fighting infection by reducing the number of white blood cells (which cause flu and cold symptoms). 6. Good for strong hair, nails, and healthy skin. Both the gelatin in bone broth and the broths ability to stimulate your own production of collagen increases the strength and health of our hair and nails, and can reduce wrinkles and increase firmness of skin. 7. Helps you relax and maybe even get a better night sleep. The amino acid glycine has been found to have calming effects, which can help lead to relaxation and better sleep. 8. Better than supplements. Bone broth is cooked at a relatively low heat, which preserves the nutrients in a way that high-heat extraction used for many supplements doesn’t. It is also more comprehensive in it’s makeup of nutrients as it’s made from whole foods, and isn’t just the parts that we’ve deemed as the “healthy” bits. 9. It’s cheaper than buying broth, and very easy to make. As long as you can get your hands on good bones and a crock pot, the set up takes about 15 minutes and then you just leave it be until it’s done (4-48 hours). And it’s a lot less expensive than buying cartons or cans of broth, which don’t have nearly the same health benefit!  So, how do you make this magical potion? If you search online for bone broth recipes, you’ll find oodles of them. But they all have a few key components: Good bones (i.e. from free-range, organically fed animals is best), a few veggies, water (filtered if you have it), and time in a slow-cooker (4-48 hours depending on the type of bone you're using). You can cook bone broth on the stove, but then you have to be home and watching it occasionally which can be a hassle considering how long it cooks. A slow-cooker or crock pot allows you to set it up, and walk away until it’s done. Here’s my go-to recipe: Chicken bone broth:
Dump everything into your slow cooker except the fresh herbs. Turn on and leave for 6 - 8 hours. Add the fresh herbs in for the last hour. You will likely notice some frothy bubbles at the top of the pot after a few hours. Scrape this up with a large spoon and discard. It’s normal, and totally fine. When it's done cooking, strain through a colander, and distribute the liquid into quart jars to refrigerate or freeze. If freezing, make sure you leave enough space at the top for the liquid to expand, and freeze with the lid off to avoid the glass breaking. If you have a dog, you can throw the cooked gizzards onto their food for a seriously tasty treat. And I can usually pick off enough meat from the discarded bones to make a chicken soup. For other types of broth (beef, fish, pork, etc.) I follow the same recipe but you’ll need to increase the time the bigger the bones. Fish bones (using a whole fish is the best) = 4 hours; Pork & Beef bones = 24-48 hours. Large bones should be hollowed out by the time you’re done cooking them. Don't be shy! If you have questions feel free to leave them in the comments below, or shoot me a note. But I promise you, if you give it a try, you'll be so happy you started this habit of broth making. The broth is delicious! Much better than anything you could buy in a store. And it will likely become a staple in your house like it is in mine! |
