New Year and No Resolutions

New Year and No Resolutions

As one year ends and a new year quickly approaches, it’s easy to get bogged down with the stresses of what that entails. Lofty goals, drastic resolutions, and unattainable results. On December 31^st we all have all made those pacts with ourselves that on January 1^st, we are going to the gym, going on some crazy diet, run 5 miles a day, cut out this or cut out that…no matter what the “new thing” is, it rarely lasts. Typically, by the second or third week of January, we’ve already given up. I actually looked it up and according to google, only 9% of people have stuck to their goals after the second Friday in January, which so happens to be called Quitters Day. Look it up…it’s there.

So, this year, I’m doing something different. I’m not making lofty resolutions that I know I won’t stick to. I’m making a plan to simplify my life. Sometimes simplicity doesn’t mean the easy way

but can actually mean making things a little difficult and uncomfortable so that simplicity comes afterwards.

What I mean by this is that my goal for myself is to be an ingredient household. I want to eat cleaner, swap out store bought items and make as many things from scratch as possible, eat out less, garden more, declutter my home, and enjoy the quiet moments. Less time consuming my Instagram feed and more time consuming the word of God.

The noise of the world can be very overwhelming. I found when I wake up, make my cup of coffee, and sit down to read my bible instead of scrolling on social media first thing, that the noises of the world are little less loud.

On today's episode, I’m taking the quiet moments of the morning to start something that I have found I love to make. Chicken Bone broth. Now because I said I want to be an ingredient household, one of those things I’m swapping out is store bought broth for homemade. It’s really a simple process and it’s easy enough that you could do it too.

And to maximize my time, I’m killing two birds with one stone, pun intended, and prepping chicken casserole for dinner while I’m making the broth. I cut a whole chicken and placed it in my instant pot along with different spices such as salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder and then filled it to the max line with water. I pressure cooked this for 1 hour on low. While this is simmering away, I’ll cook my rice.

There are so many health benefits of bone broth that I’d like to share. It’s are good source of nutrients such as amino acids, collagen and minerals. The gelatin helps support gut health and improves digestion. The collagen supports joint health and reduces inflammation, and it also can help boost your immune system.

Once the chicken is done, I’ll remove the meat from the bone and then place all the bones, skins, everything back into the instant pot along with a frozen chicken carcass that I had saved from earlier in the week. I also add some veggie scraps I’ve been saving as well. As I’m prepping veggies throughout the week, I just add to them a bag and freeze. I’ve added celery tops, and onion and garlic skins. You could also use carrots as well. I also add an additional spice such as turmeric which not only adds a beautiful golden color, but it has numerous health benefits such as its anti-inflammatory properties, it’s rich in antioxidants, it may help enhance brain function (which I desperately need), and heart health, there’s evidence that shows it can help regulate blood sugar, helps aid in digestion, and also may help with your mood. That’s a very powerful spice if you ask me…not that anyone is asking. I’ve also added a little apple cider vinegar which helps break everything down and extract additional nutrients from the bones and I added more water until it reaches the max liquid level for pressure cooking. Cook on low or high for 3 hrs. I say low OR high because one recipe says do it this way and one says do it that way. Honestly after 3 hours, I don't think it really matters. I have found that if you cook it on high for that long, the bones get as soft as cooked celery, and you can literally mush it between your fingers.

Now, because this is a low acid food, I will be using a pressure canner. We’ll go more into that later, but, if you don’t have a pressure canner, you can easily freeze the broth when your done or you stick it in the fridge. Just know that the fridge will only keep for about 7 days max.

And when it comes to pressure canning, an instant pot will not work in this case. Although the instant pot might reach the proper pressure, it lacks the consistent temperature control to ensure safe processing times and the last thing you want is to do all that work just for it to spoil or make someone sick.

Now, if you don’t have an instant pot, you can make bone broth in a large stock pot on the stove. You’ll just want to cook it low and slow for 6 to 24 hours.

You can watch me make it here!