Bone Broth (again)

I can't find enough words to convey my love for bone broth. I started making varieties of it earlier this year, around February. That was when I had committed myself to losing the baby weight (and then some), while not breaking the tiny sad very small figurative bank. So while looking at low carb, cost saving recipes, I started reading about saving your chicken bones to make stock. Great. I tried it once and realized right away that I liked the broth more than the poor roast chicken itself. So I started reading more about it and realized what a miracle this stuff is. Since the first batch of chicken bone broth, I've branched out into Beef bones and like those more - for one, they have more surface area for marrow and other good stuff, and also, grassfed beef bones are easier for me to find and cook for a low price than pastured chicken bones. Finally, my dog Jackson loves him some bone chewin' and cooked chicked bones just won't do.

I'm still playing around with my recipe, but I've been in love with the way I do it below. I drink a bowl pretty much every day or at least 5 times a week. It keeps me feeling full, gives me energy... I basically feel like I'm drinking liquid gold. I'll finish up this post with a link or two to other postings that get way more specific about all the benefits, and really, they are numerous and amazing.

My broth in jars:

Are they not amazing? With the amount I was able to jar here, it cost me roughly 35-40 cents a bowl. Here's what I do:

I buy about 2.5 to 4 pounds of grassfed beef bones. If you're in the Bay Area, Berkeley Bowl has great ones, so does Farmer Joe's. If you're not worried about them being grassfed, any asian store should have them, and my local safeway usually carries some as well. I also buy a meaty shank or two for flavor, so:

2.5 to 4 pounds grassfed beef bones
1-2 large shanks with marrow bone
1-2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
Water

That's it.

I put the above in my crockpot, cover with a couple inches of water (making sure it's not filled ALL the way to the brim), and turn it on low for 20 hours. That's the maximum setting on my crock. What do I do when that 20 hours is up? I set it for 10 more, sometimes 15 more. I haven't done 40 hours yet, but I've done a lot of reading about people going up to 72 hours. Sometimes, after hour 20, I take out my shanks, pick out the marrow, and eat it like a savage in the dark, hunched over my crockpot. Don't judge.

Once I'm done with the low cook, I remove the bones, pick off more meat and marrow and make my dog happy. I let the broth cool and then pour it into jars like in the picture above. After letting it cool on the counter, I refridgerate them over night. The next day, a hard layer of fat will have formed on the top of each jar. I remove that fat and save it to cook my greens and veggies in, but that's for another post. I leave the fat layer on in each jar until I'm ready to get to it - and I think that helps it keep longer.

Anyway, that's it. Once I have it in the jars, the uses are endless. It can be used as a stock/broth the way you'd use any store bought stuff. It's GREAT for making homemade pho (another post coming shortly) or french onion soup in particular, if you ask me.

I often remove the fat layer, pour it into a giant bowl, add salt, pepper, a tiny bit more of the vinegar to taste, heat it up, and drink it. Every day. I really do feel like I'm drinking some magic fountain of youth health potion. At the very worst, I'm drinking awesome meat soup every day.

Taco Salad

I have to say, the grassfed part of Paleo has been a challenge. Not because it's not plentiful here in the Bay Area, but because it's expensive and we don't have money to spare (who does?). Needless to say, we've been having a LOT of meals made up of grassfed ground beef--which I can score for about 5/pound at Farmer Joe's. But after a multitude of dinners of burgers and sliders (not that I'm complaining), I've started trying to get creative. Cue dinner the other night: Taco Salad! (Triumphant music plays)

1 head butter/gem lettuce

@ 1 pound ground beef

Beef seasonings: chili powder, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, minced garlic

1 can green peppers

1 avocado

1 small cucumber

1 cup organic salsa (I like Costco's -- no additives, just tomatoes, onions, peppers, etc.)

A couple ounces shredded cheddar for the hubby's salad -- no cheese for me this time

I sauteed the beef for a few minutes with the seasonings above and let cool to just above room temperature. After that, it's just chopping and assembling the other ingredients. 

I tossed this with my default homemade dressing of olive oil and red wine vinegar. It was a huge hit and very filling. I think you could also add corn, sour cream, fresh tomatoes, and a lime dressing if you were so inclined.

Chicken Drumsticks and Kale

This has been another goto for us with Paleo, since it's extremely affordable and delicious and good for you. A pack of chicken legs is under 3 dollars for about 6 legs, and if you buy in bulk it's even less. Kale is in season and I can find a giant bunch at my farmer's market or Farmer Joe's nearby for a couple bucks (or less).

6 chicken drumsticks
Olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika

1 large bunch kale, olive oil, salt, pepper
A few garlic cloves, to taste

For my chicken, I just preheat my over to 400 and lay the chicken legs out in a baking dish. I coat them in olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika and pop them in there for about an hour until they're done. They come out crispy on the outside, moist inside, and delicious.

For the kale, I take my garlic and slice it thinly, then sautee in olive oil until it's soft. I just toss the kale on top of that and sautee until it's soft enough for me-- just a few minutes. I add homemade chicken stock if I feel like it's getting dry. The sauteed garlic in oil really makes this dish though.

Avocado Egg

I think I'm overdue for more actual food and cooking posts here. I'm still "doing" Paleo. But I hate saying I'm "doing" it or "on" it because at this point, it's really just my lifestyle, which is eating whole and unprocessed food. Yes, all wheat products are processed. Anyway, here is a picture of an avocado with an egg baked inside:

I just sliced and avocado in half, removed the pit, and then cracked an egg into each one. Next time, I think I would use the smallest egg possible since these ran over a little bit. I think I would also doctor it with some hot sauce and garlic too, but we were so overcome with our avocado egg, we didn't add much:

1 large avocado

1 small egg

Salt, pepper

Shredded cheese for the husband

Crack the egg into each avocado, salt and pepper it to taste, adding cheese if that's your thing.

Bake until the egg is cooked to your liking at 350 degrees. I think ours took about 15-20 minutes.

We loved these for breakfast, and now pretty much all I want to do is find ways to stuff avocados and places to crack eggs into.

Crossfit -- Day 2

Day 2 was yesterday, and I have mixed feelings but the mixed part is all my fault! We learned deadlift form, and push presses. AWESOME. This is exactly what I've been waiting for. We worked with weighted ball overhead throws and goblet squats. Then, our WOD:

3 rounds for time:

200m run
10 goblet squats
10 overhead ball throws
5 burpees

All fine, except I ran so slow :( I don't know why running is such a mental block for me, I get out there and by my third 200m, instead of sprinting like I should have I was out of gas. There's no excuse for being out of gas on the 600m of the day, so it's something I have to work on and overcome. Which is exactly the reason for taking CrossFit in the beginning-- to overcome all kinds of things.

Woo!

Can't wait for tomorrow's 7 am class.

Crossfit -- Day 1

So yesterday I started my Crossfit "On Ramp" program: 4 weeks, 3 times a week, MWF, 7 AM. I might be crazy.

Yesterday, we did some warm ups, discussed form for certain moves, practiced basic moves, then we did a workout for time:

Run 200m

15/12/9 (3 rounds of that many reps): 8 LB Dumbell Squat Thrusters & Pushups

Run 200m

I finished the above in 9:31 which is really neither here nor there. During my last set of pushups, I had to move to the wall pushups because my arms were failing on the ground. And I was only using 8 LB dumbells, which seems ridiculous. And I was most likely hungover (ooops).

Today I'm thankfully not as sore as I thought I'd be all over. I tried to drink plenty of water (and bone broth!), eat protein, and stretch yesterday, so today the only part of me that's TRULY messed up are my glutes. Evil evil squats.

I love it though, I'm curious to see what my results will be for the same workout above on the last day of class in 4 weeks.

I'm curious to see how much overall will have changed in the next 4 weeks -- I really want a workout I can give my all that's more than just a check-in and check-out at a normal gym. Hopefully I've found that place.

Turkey Bolognese (ish) and a disclaimer

What does one do when they are swept up into a new way of eating, but their husband is like "meh, I'll kinda do it with you, but I like all foods thank you" ? They devise and scheme up new dinners where one half of the couple can eat like a happy cavewoman and the other half can gorge like modern man and they both can live happily ever after.

Disclaimer: I'm excited for my new diet. It probably shows. I'm down a healthy amount of poundage and I feel good. But I don't want to turn my little blog into a religiously Paleo type thing. It's working for me and I believe it will continue to work for me until I am happy with my weight again. At that point, like I've said, I may have the occasional burrito after a big workout. I can tell you I'll never go back to my old ways again though. Having said my piece.....

Turkey Bolognese!

My favorite start to anything I make: Onions sauteeing in a little oil.

Did I say that was my favorite? Add in some fresh garlic and ground turkey...

Throw in some red chili flakes, salt, pepper, saute and saute and saute....

Throw in a large can of organic choppoed tomatoes or tomato sauce and some frozen spinach...and voila! The husband can top this over a bowl of pasta and throw on some cheese, while I can pour this into a bowl and eat it while making happy grunting sounds. Everyone wins!

Turkey Bolognese

1 pound ground turkey

1 large white onion

3-5 cloves garlic, crushed

1 large can crushed tomatoes

1/2 to 3/4 bag frozen organic spinach

Liberal amount of red chili flakes

Salt, pepper, olive oil for sauteeing

Use a  little olive oil to coat the pan, add your onion, some salt, and saute until soft. 

Add your turkey, your garlic, a touch more salt, and let brown a little. 

After the turkey has mostly browned, add in the remaining ingredients and bring up to almost a boil. 

Turn the heat down to low, cover, and saute for up to an hour on low heat to let all the flavors come together. 

I recommend eating it as is!