Bone Broth and Catching Up!

Here we are in the second week of March! I can’t believe that it is Spring Forward weekend already! Seriously! Where is time going? My last post was before Christmas! Yikes!

Here is a little bit of what’s been happening in my life:

1. We spent Christmas with our girl, her man, and the little man. I loved my time there! Looking forward to getting to return next month (next month already???) for the birth of the newest little man!
2.  We said, “Welcome home!” to son #1 from his deployment!  Yay!!!! So happy that the family is together again! You can see Little Miss Mia welcoming her daddy home here.
3. We said, “See you later!” to son #2 whom we now won’t see again until after his return from deployment.
4. We experienced a very, very cold spell back in January which lasted longer than usual. Here’s to hoping it killed all the yucky bugs!
5. We experienced a very, very warm spell in February which brought out lots of blossoms on the trees and flowers and allowed the honey bees to begin their search for pollen.
6. Now March is here with its bi-polar weather…we actually had frost the other morning which may have killed some of those blossoms that opened up in February!
7. We are in mid-March and we have not gotten the flu that seems to be hitting about every household! Other than colds/coughs in late-November and into early December, none of us have been sick…no fevers, no chills, nothing! We are truly blessed!
8. I haven’t done a lot of experimenting in the kitchen recently…no excuse…just haven’t done it.
9. We have Borrowers in the kitchen again. This time I can’t find 2 of my half-tablespoon measuring spoons and one of the knives from my fairly new knife block. Seriously?? I am the only one who does any baking in my kitchen, and 3 of my most-used items are missing? It definitely must be the Borrowers. If you are unfamiliar with Borrowers, give the books a read! My kids loved them when they were young!

Most of you know that I have been following the Trim Healthy Mama way of eating for several years now. I just love this eating style! I can’t get over how much better I feel when I leave the sugars and starches out of my diet.

I have been reading a lot about the benefits of bone broth, but I had never made any until last night. You can read all about bone broth here.

I had purchased a whole chicken at the store the other day, and cooked it in the Instant Pot for dinner. Once supper was over, and I was cleaning up, I decided to take the remaining meat from the bones and begin a pot of bone broth. After reading up on several ways to make it, I experimented and came up with some pretty great tasting stuff! And I love my Instant Pot!!! I just put everything in it before going to bed last night. This morning, it was finished! Here is how I made mine.

• bones from one whole chicken
• broth from cooking that chicken (maybe 3 cups)
• 1 medium onion, cut into 4ths
• 2 carrots, cut in chunks
• several cloves of fresh garlic
• salt and pepper to taste
• about 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• other veggies that you happen to have in the fridge: some celery, bell peppers, etc.
• herbs such as basil or oregano (I used about 1 tbsp basil)

Add everything to your Instant Pot and give it a few stirs. I added the ACV last, but I don’t think it would matter. Add just enough water to cover everything that is in your pot.

Set your Instant Pot on high pressure for 240 minutes. (Yes, you read that correctly!)Once the time is up, let the pressure release naturally. Since I did this before I went to bed last night, it was all done by the time I got up this morning!

Strain all the bones and veggies out of the broth. If there is a lot of fat with the broth, you can separate this. Pour it into jars or individual serving sizes. Drink a hot cupful every day! I got 3 quarts plus one cup once I had strained it and removed the fat. I drank the one cup before breakfast! It was very delicious!

Chocolate Smoothie with a Twist

Happy New Year and welcome to 2017! I know, I know…I am 12 days late on that greeting, but at least I’m here now writing a new post!

Last weekend we experienced winter. And it is now over and spring is here, at least for a few days. We had ice, snow, and sub-freezing temperatures for 3 days last week. Today, we are pushing 72 degrees! Tomorrow should be the same as today; Saturday will drop down into the 50s, but then we should have about a week or so with temps in the mid-60s every day! I just love life in the south!

I sort of fell off the proper eating path over the holidays when the hubby and others who shall be nameless brought delicious tasting, but oh-so-bad-for-you foods into the house! I am working hard at getting the sugars out of my system and eating right once again.

Although I was brought up in the south, there are some southern foods that I just never got a taste for. Black-eyed peas and collard greens make a traditional New Year’s Day meal, but not in my house! Okra is another southern staple that I just never enjoyed. However, now that I am trying to eat the Trim Healthy Mama way, I have discovered the health benefits of this southern veggie. If you are like me and need a little convincing that okra really is good for you, then read this article. You will be impressed!

The new THM cookbook has a few recipes in it using okra. I have made the brownies with it and was very impressed. Last week I discovered the chocolate smoothie! If you have the cookbook, you will find the recipe on page 415. Today I added a few drops of peppermint essential oil. Oh, my word! Ya’ll, this is amazing! If you didn’t know that there is a cup of okra in the smoothie, you would never guess it! I like it so much better with the peppermint than without!

Since I did change up the recipe some, I will share it with you here.

• 1 c. water
• 1 c. frozen, diced okra (I actually thawed mine some.)
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2-1/2 tbsp. Pyure sweetener
• 1 tsp. coconut oil, melted
• 3-4 drops peppermint essential oil
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 10 ice cubes
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder

Put everything in the blender except the ice and protein powder. I added the peppermint oil to the coconut oil first, and then added it to the remaining ingredients. Blend well…very well! Add the ice and blend again. Add the protein powder last and blend one more time.

Give it a try! You won’t be disappointed!

Summer Blues

Carolina evening sky

Well look at that… when did July happen?? Summers usually go quicker than cheesecake at a wedding, but this year has flown especially fast! Despite my best attempts to plan for family dinners, something always comes up that requires a hurried meal or no meal at all! With everyone running out the door at various times, the phrase “fending for yourselves” has become a family mantra. Hopefully life will slow down during the next 3 weeks before the wildness of school starts again. In the mean time, here’s a fun recipe I whipped up for a recent picnic. Enjoy and stay cool!

Creamy Cold Coleslaw
(sorry, my pictures got lost in cyberspace!)

3 cups grated cabbage
1 carrot, peeled and grated
1 tbsp. white vinegar
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. celery salt
1/2 tsp. salt

Combine cabbage and carrot in large mixing bowl.  In a smaller bowl, combine the remaining ingredients, mixing well (yes, it’s really that simple). Pour over cabbage and carrot mixture and stir to mix.  Refrigerate for an hour before serving.

Unbelievably easy, and a great side dish for any summer gathering. I usually serve this with grilled chicken and zucchini spears (hubby takes care of that), deviled eggs, and fresh-cut tomatoes for a healthy, filling meal. Absolutely no complaints from the picky eaters!