Hello! I figured I would kick this blog off with a BONE BROTH post. And yes, this is refurbished from my previous website, so sorry if you’ve read this before, but the important part is that I’m giving y'all the facts about bone broth.

Anyways, bone broth is magic. Holistic magic. And I wouldn’t be The Holistic Blonde if I didn’t talk about holistic stuff right? And honestly, truly, in my opinion, bone broth is as holistic as it gets.

It’s like a combination between a weird process (boiling bones), delicious flavourness (again in my opinion) and some pretty rad healing properties. Which is where the #holistic comes into place.

Or else I’d just be @theblonde and there wouldn’t be any value in that. Unless you like blonde jokes, I’d definitely be throwing those out there.

So bone broth. What’s healing about it? What’s tasty about it? Why is it so beneficial for your skin, hair, guts, and joints? Why is it the superfood of our time and the single most important thing that I could never cut out of my diet? (and let’s be honest, the real reason I can’t commit to being vegan).

Just kidding it’s goat cheese. I’m not vegan because of goat cheese.

Bone broth isn’t a fad. In 10 years we aren’t going to all find out it’s a toxic substance that is detrimental to your health and if you consume it you will get diabetes, heart failure, and live a hopelessly depressing life. It won’t speed up aging, give you cancer, or make you gain 100 pounds simply by looking at it on the shelf. If I had to throw out a negative thing about bone broth I guess I could say the cooking process could get messy but really what’s wrong with stirring up a big pot of liquid gold feeling like a badass witch and knowing you’re about to give your body the wholesome nourishment it craves?

It’s medicinal and healing properties are so vital that I am surprised companies like Boned Broth, Organic Bone Broth, and Bo and Marrow aren’t swimming in some serious cash after the hospitals beg for their recipes or buy them outright to supply their patients with only the most nutrient rich solution that begins healing and speeding up recovery after only one mug.

Okay that was a run on sentence but you get the gist, Bone Broth Heals. It won’t be long before Bone Broth Bars are popping up and you can grab your ‘medicine in a mug’ and be on your merry way with your day. Spicy broth, classic broth, pho broth, chicken no noodle soup broth. I think we might have something here? I can just see it, Brothtails, or Brothtail Hour. In the evenings you can meet your GF and grab a mushroomtini or a borscht bellini! Okay maybe we will keep it a day time thing and skip out on the bone broth cocktails. I’m thinking big picture though..

BENEFITS

Personally, my skin has improved immensely. It has moisture and elasticity and plumpness and I live in Canada. And it’s winter. I mean it HAS to be from the broth! I also have been adding Sproos Collagen to my coffees and drinking 3 L of water a day-2 other important practices to implement if you are on the whole anti-aging train. I am mainly speaking to myself and any others that have recently turned the big 3-0, although the earlier you start brothin’ the earlier you start reversing the aging process. Now who doesn't want to look 25 again?

I digress. My hair is silky smooth, my nails are stronger, and I recover way faster from workouts. I know this because I hike/run stairs everyday, lift heavier kettlebells, and I am able to walk normal the next day. My digestion has also been flawless. I have been sick significantly less since bringing bone broth into my life, if any sickness at all. I literally cannot think of a negative thing to say about the old witches potion/grandmother's chicken noodle soup!

Bone broth heals and seals the gut, as well as reduces inflammation along the intestinal lining, and the glycine in bone broth can even enhance cognitive function. It boosts the immune system, strengthens hair and skin, and decreases joint pain, again by reducing inflammation and contains powerful therapeutic compounds such as glucosamine, hyaluronic acid, and chondroitin sulfate. If you don't know what any of those mean, just trust me, you want more of them in your life and consuming bone broth will ensure this happens.

THE PROCESS

Bone broth is the easiest thing to make. Like have you seen the process it takes to make like, cashew cheese or homemade pasta? Now that is something you might have to slave over (but I know totally worth is and both have benefits compared to their processed original recipes.) As long as the flour is imported from Italy and the cashews are soaked in filtered water. But there is a huge benefit to creating meals with love and pouring your heart into it, especially when enjoying with others. Cooking is an art. Including creating the masterpiece of bone broth.

Throw the bones in a slow cooker, press on, and just hope we don’t have a scene from This Is Us and I don’t get sued from this post. If I have to watch that fire scene that ultimately takes Jack Pearson's life one more time I am going to be swimming in my own tears. Why you have to give Crock Pot’s a bad name NBC?

We were talking about making bone broth, right. So buy 1-2 pounds of bone marrow bones. These beauties hold all of the nutrients. The collagen, amino acids, and fats that provide the riches that our bodies need to heal and prevent illness and overall optimize wellness, yep those guys. I buy organic bones from a health food store or T-bones, and it’s a pretty normal thing now. No weird looks. Just grab your bag-o-bones and head home to create some magic. You can also boil a chicken carcass (vegans, I apologize for my vocab) or any other bones really, I just love the marrow bones and hope to one day eat the marrow because that’s a whole nother’ can of holistic healing I don’t have time to get into.

Now it’s crock pot time. You could use a big pot and keep it on the stove but chances are you won’t be home for 24-36 hours to watch it boil in case it burns down the house. But I guess we’ve established crock pots have that same ability so this is my fair warning that making bone broth could result in a catastrophe that devastates TV audience almost as much as when Ross “cheated” on Rachel.

So if you have the time—meaning you don't have children like me and have all the time in the world to do extra curricular activities like write in your journal, hike AND workout in the same day, and keep up to date on your PVR (speaking of This Is Us, this season is just as tearful as that awful night with said Crock Pot)—then make sure you roast the bones first. This gives the broth more flavour and richness, leaving you with a more savoury and concentrated soup.

Next, the bones go into the crock pot. Then, cover the bones with water, pretty much to the top. Now I warn you, this is not a pretty sight, especially when the marrow starts breaking off and floating around and you’re wondering why the hell you listened to The Holistic Blonde in the first place. Trust me, it will turn into a glorious solution, just you wait!

Don’t miss the next very important step. There is a special, essential ingredient that must go into the pot or your anti-aging, gut healing, immune boosting potion won’t be as beneficial as they promise.

Apple cider vinegar. Now I’m not saying chug the stuff because ACV shots too are a popular thing in the moment, (but if you have it out, by all means take a swig) but pour 1-2 T of the distasteful acids into the pot. This helps leech (what a beautiful word) all of the nourishing vitamins and minerals from the bones. This is imperative and if you miss this step you miss the point of drinking bone broth for breakfast (or lunch, or dinner.) We are hunting for aminos, vitamins, and minerals, and ACV is the secret ingredient!

Okay so your basic broth is boiling away. If you are a typical Ugg wearing, pumpkin spiced coffee drinking, selfie snapping basic girl, then stop here. If you’re lucky there will be pumpkin spiced flavour bone broth for purchase (actually a good idea though) and you can skip this whole process. But if you aren’t as basic and want to get a little creative, this is where the fun begins. Go ahead and add all the things. Onions, celery, garlic, maybe even get wild and throw a bay leaf in there just make sure not to eat it. It’s poisonous they say. When I’m feeling frisky I add a multitude of different mushrooms too, because next on the list of holistic foods that cure everything is the family of fungi. Stay tuned for my mushroom post!

It’s up to you how long you want to boil the bones for. I try to cook mine for at least 36 hours. I have also taken my bones out and reused them for another batch, creating an equally nourishing broth. Once I turn off the crock pot and let it cool a bit, I pour it into a nut mylk bag (a nice $5 from Bed, Bath, and Beyond) and way better than a cheesecloth in my opinion! I store the fresh broth for 3-4 days in an airtight container in my fridge, drinking 1 cup per day. I add sea salt and pepper, and sometimes gluten free tamari or turmeric. It’s absolutely delicious and my body thanks me for it!

I hope this helps, and if you have any questions regarding bone broth, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Love your Guts <3

And heal from within

THB