Gelatin

Here is my first food recommendation.  There is a load of information on gelatin.  Beef or pork gelatin is made from cows or pigs.

At this juncture in life, if you are planning to add this to your diet -which I can’t recommend enough- purchase the good kind; free of antibiotics, free of added hormones, 100% grass fed animals.  You want 100% pasture based animal gelatin (organic).  Click here  to purchase the kind I recommend.  It’s more expensive than your regular store kind but trust me, the quality is poor and you will not get the performance you so richly deserve.

It is good for bones, skin, hair, and teeth.  No, not good, it is great for you.  Some evidence says it helps with stomach problems.  It helps regenerate your body from stress. Read Sarah Wilson’s blog about all the great things gelatin can do for you.

Don’t overdo it.  Gelatin is a” yin” substance which generally means that it is a rich food;  loaded with essential nutrients but best digested in small amounts.  As a food it is best added to soups, like ever wonderful chicken soup.  Or you can make jello, a dessert favorite.

One way around buying gelatin is to make bone broths which provide the same nutrients since bone broth does the same thing; creates gelatin!!!  Some argue that nutrients can be lost in the making of powdered gelatin so making your own bone broth is a superior food.  I say do what works for you instead of worrying about doing the perfect thing.

The trick to adding gelatin to your diet is what is called “blooming.”

“Blooming gelatin is a step integral to ensuring the smooth texture of a finished product. It involves sprinkling the powdered gelatin into a liquid and letting it sit for 3 to 5 minutes. Then, when the mixture is heated, the gelatin will dissolve evenly. You can bloom gelatin in just about any liquid.” -from whatscookingamerica.net/gelatintip.htm

Therefore if you add gelatin to soup, you need to bloom it first.  I take a cup of soup broth (you can use vegetable or meat broth or water) unheated, sprinkle a tablespoon into the unheated broth as a set aside.  Once the unheated broth has bloomed the gelatin, add it back in after a few minutes so that it dissolves beautifully instead of lumpy.

If you hate soup (I can’t believe how many people do.  My son hates it.  How can that be???) , all is not lost.  You can make dessert.  Yes, many people will eat jello!  So easy to make and gelatin disguises perfectly in jello.  You will taste only the fruit.  And if you have to make a dishonest introduction to it for a family member you think needs it but won’t appreciate it in its unadulterated glory; serve jello!!!

There are many recipes on the internet so feel free to surf away.  This one was given to me by Amy, a great person and long time patient.  This is in honor of her and our great friend Barbara who passed away recently.

Fruit jello

Take 2 cups of unheated fruit juice that you think will make a great jello.  Sprinkle around 2 tablespoons of gelatin on top and let it bloom for 3-5 minutes.

While that is blooming, take 2 cups of juice and bring them to a near boil (mostly it just needs to be really hot to properly dissolve the gelatin).  Pour the heated juice into a casserole dish and immediately mix the bloomed juice/gelatin in, stirring thoroughly.  Let cool for a bit and put in the refrigerator just like you would the inferior “made from a box” kind.  Once it is completely gelled, cut it up as you like and eat.

Bone Broths

Pork, beef, chicken and duck all make delicious bone broth.  You game hunters out there, don’t forget to use the bones of venison, pheasant, turkey or whatever for bone broth. Oh, and fish makes an excellent broth.

And I can’t emphasize enough you how great it is for your body.  I am a long time maker of bone broth.  And I am a huge advocate of eating soup or stews for breakfast.  It is warming, easily digested and nutritionally rich.  Some people find great join in their diets from drinking just plain bone broth (I love vegetable broth too but it does not have the same nutritional and yes, energetic underpinning).

This is a nice video on making chicken and beef broth.  Use the same concept for pork broth (honestly it is my favorite) as you would beef broth but keep in mind the surrounding meat is more fatty so you will have to skim extra, extra.  For making turkey and duck broth, use the recipe for chicken broth.  Duck like pork, is very fatty so that will require some extra skimming as well.  It is SO delicious!

I have not watched the entire video but be aware that you can make broth from leftover dinner bones.

http://www.westonaprice.org/beginner-videos/stocks-and-soups-video-by-sarah-pope/