According to my acupuncturist, I have kidney yin deficiency. This is Chinese Medicine’s way of saying that I’m aging, which sounds a lot nicer than “you’re getting old.” I prefer this diagnosis to general aging because I feel that I can do something about it. If I am kidney Yin deficient, then I will make it my goal to tonify my yin, balance out my yang and slow the hands of time. Well, at least that’s what I’d like to think. There are lies I tell myself and never believe but they make me feel better nonetheless 🙂

In addition to regular acupuncture treatments and Chinese herbs prescribed according to my pulse, the appearance of my tongue and other esoteric factors, I naturally turn to food on my quest to balance my yin and yang energies. Thankfully, I love black beans, avocado, coconut, miso, walnuts and eggs, all beneficial to strengthen kidney yin. But the absolute best food to tonify yin is bone broth, something I had often read about and even tried, but had never made myself. When I turned 49, I decided it was time to learn how to make this health promoting broth.

Bone broth is the foundation of the GAPS diet (Gut and Psychology Syndrome diet developed by Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride), which has been successful in treating a host of conditions ranging from allergies to Autism, because of its ability to heal and repair the gut. Rich in minerals, particularly calcium, bone broth is also a good source of amino acids that support healthy muscle tone. Additionally, it contains glucosamine and chondriotin, which have been shown to prevent and manage arthritis. It also contains collagen, making it great for bone health as well as the appearance of your skin. What this adds up to is a medicinal broth that can help you look and feel healthy, vibrant and energized, reduce joint inflammation, improve immune function, strengthen bones, hair, and nails, while nourishing your skin. All that in one delicious tasting broth!

I’ve been making my own vegetable stock for a while now, and have found that the scraps of vegetables and herbs unique to each, turn every batch into it’s own culinary treat. Each stock is different in color and flavor, enhancing my soups by 100%. Sunday wouldn’t be the same without a batch of broth simmering in my kitchen, sending its delicious aroma wafting throughout the apartment. I love it.

Now that I’ve made my own bone broth, you can be sure I’ll be adding this nutritional powerhouse to my diet regularly. It’s easy to make, and one batch yields about 3 to 4 quarts of broth. If it promises to balance my yin and help the appearance of my skin, then I’m all in.

So now I want to hear from you! Have you ever made bone broth? Has your health practitioner recommended it to you to help improve your health? What was your experience with it? I’d love to hear in the comments below.

Wishing you a happy and healthy day and a wonderful week!

xo
B

Bone Broth

Ingredients

• 1 large organic chicken or two small ones
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic (or to taste)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon Himalaya salt
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

 Directions

• Place all ingredients in a crock-pot and fill with filtered water.
• Cook on high setting for 3 hours.
• Remove chicken. Allow to cool in order to be able to handle it and remove the meat from the bones. Use the meat later to make chicken soup.
• While chicken is cooling, remove all vegetables and store in a glass container to use later for chicken soup.
• Place bones back in the crock-pot and continue to simmer for 24 hours. (While I was home and awake, I kept the crock-pot on a high setting, and while sleeping or at work, on the “simmer” setting. You will also need to replenish water as it evaporates).
• After 24 hours, turn off the crock-pot and allow broth to cool.
• With a slotted spoon, remove all the bones from the stock and discard them. You can also pass the broth through a sieve to remove any small bits that you may have missed.
• Store in glass containers if you plan to use it right away or in plastic containers if you are going to freeze it for future use.

Chicken soup

Ingredients

• Bone broth
• Chicken meat from broth
• Vegetables that you used to make the broth
• Kelp noodles (kelp noodles are carb-free and also great for tonifying yin. If you can’t find them or prefer to use regular noodles, then you can go ahead and do so, and cook according to package instructions. If you use kelp noodles, they don’t need to be cooked separately. You can just add them to the pot and heat all ingredients together).
• Pesto (I used the lavender/basil pesto I had on hand)

Directions

In a large soup pot, place the bone broth, vegetables, chicken meat and noodles. Simmer to warm up ingredients and then serve with a dollop of pesto. Enjoy!