Easy Step Towards a More Nourishing Diet: Buy Meat with Bones & Make Stock
Previous steps:
- stick with traditional fats, part 1
- stick with traditional fats, part 2
- add cod liver oil
- cut back (or out) sweets
- don’t change your meal, change your ingredients
When we buy meat from the grocery store it usually comes precut or ground in a form that doesn’t resemble the animal it once was. This is unfortunate on many levels, not the least of which is the loss of nutrients when we abandon the concept of eating the whole animal.
The organs and bones of animals are possibly even more nutrient dense than the meat itself. At the very least they are complimentary to the flesh and have been used for thousands of years because of their nutrient density as well as their ability to stretch the grocery budget. A great article on the nutrients found in bone broth is Broth is Beautiful.
I should probably back up and tell you why our family eats animal products. Then I should tell you what we look for when choosing animal products.
So if you can, pass up the boneless, skinless chicken and go for the whole chicken, roasted or stewed. Then you can easily make chicken stock in your crock pot. You can also purchase whole, half or quarter cows which will come with bones for making stock.
Or purchase the bones separately to make stock for soups, stews, sauces and cooking grains and beans in. The stock can add a lot of minerals to your diet as well as gelatin which aids in both joint pain and digestion.
You can find local farmers to source your meat from at Local Harvest or you can order bone-in meats or bones from my resources page.
Great post Shannon. I agree that we should become inspired by the habits of more traditional cultures, like Native Americans, who put great emphasis upon the eating of the organs of the animals, including the wall of parts of the digestive tract. Much of the muscle meat of the animals was fed to the dogs or thrown away during times of plenty!
Whole chicken is so delicious roasted, and you can usually stretch one bird for 2-3 meals (or more) and then get several quarts of broth to boot! For me, whole chicken is the easiest way to get broth, though if I happen upon beef bones I’ll use those for broth, too. Chicken has a milder flavor though, more palatable for the kids I think.
Awesome broth article. I just fixed a stew last night all from our root cellar with canned pork chops, pork broth, carrots, green beans and potatoes. I didn’t realize what a nutritional value the broth was. Thanks!
Susan
Thanks for this post!
I have had severe joint pain for the last year, but since I’ve added homemade chicken stock to my diet in November I rarely have any pain at all now. Not sure if stock will work for everyone, but it really has improved my quality of life.
Tammy
I made some fish stock and I need ideas on how or what to prepare with it. I can’t seem to figure out anything to do with it. I simmered it for close to 24 hours so it should be very nourishing.
Thanks very much.
I love freezing broth and use it to cook my veggies in, use for a soup base and just drink with my lunch. Just having a cup of warm broth really recharges my batteries! I swear I can feel the nutrition migrating throughout my system!
Mmm, stock. I’ve got the dregs of a roast chicken in my fridge just waiting for it’s turn on the stove!
So glad to have come upon your blog. We’re on the TF path as well. I occasionally post TF tutorials on my blog as well (http://www.lusaorganics.typepad.com). Thanks for the inspiration!