Recipe: Instant Pot Bone Broth on a Budget

I love bone broth. What is bone broth you may ask? 

It's a broth that is rich in minerals that supports the immune system and contain healing compounds like collagen, glutamine, glycine and proline. The collagen in the bone broth heals your gut lining and reduces intestinal inflammation.

Long story short, it's really good for your gut, has amazing things in it that will help improve your digestive system, strengthen your hair and nails and the list goes on and on.

I'll be honest, buying organic bone broth in the store can be a bit pricey. Yes it goes on sale sometimes but you can save SO much money by making it yourself at home!

How? Every time you cook use veggies... save your scraps! I keep a on going zip lock freezer bag in my fridge that I put the following scraps:

-onion 

- celery 

- carrot 

- bell pepper 

-garlic

-zucchini

-squash

-mushrooms

-herbs (parsley is my favorite to keep for this)

Also the day I am planning to go to the grocery store I will take out any veggies in my fridge that will be going bad and set them aside to use to make my bone broth. 

Then when I got to the grocery store I pick up an organic cooked rotisserie chicken from the deli. I don't know about you, but I'm not a big fan of cooking a big dinner after grocery shopping and putting everything away. So the day I go grocery shopping is always chicken night with a salad and some other simple side dish. At our store an organic cooked chicken is $9.99 so not only am I feeding my family of four dinner for under $15, I am also going to use that same left over chicken to make my bone broth the next day. Do you see where I'm going with this?

A store bought container of prepped organic bone broth is typically around $7.99 where I live for usually 20 oz. Making it myself at home will not only save money but I can make over 65 oz (sometimes 90oz) with this one chicken and my saved veggie scraps. I don't have an exact total amount saved, but you can see it's definitely a lot.

So now I'm going to tell you how I make it!

First add your left over chicken into your instant pot. (I have a 6qt duo)

Then add all your veggie scraps. No exact science to this, just add the scraps you want. I like to throw in some extra baby carrots, some fresh parsley and a little extra crushed garlic when I have it on hand. 

Next I fill up the instant pot with water. No exact amount.. I just make sure I cover the chicken and most of the veggies. Then I'll add a little Himalayan salt and ground pepper and sometimes a tbsp of apple cider vinegar. (But not every time, just depends on the what I'm in the mood for. The Apple Cider vinegar gives the broth a little kick)

Then I seal the lid, make sure the pressure valve is closed and then Instant Pot to Manuel High for 90 minutes.

After it's done I release the valve for a quick release (so right away) and take the lid off and turn the IP off. Then I let it cool for awhile. 

Afterwards I get a large glass bowl out and put a strainer inside. I slowly pour the instant pot mixture into the bowl through the strainer tell it's full. After it's full I lift the strainer out an pour the glass bowl full of broth into a 1/2 gallon glass mason jar. Then repeat the steps again tell I empty out the entire batch of bone broth from the instant pot. I let that batch fully cool in the glass bowl.

Once it's fully cooled pour the rest of the bone broth into a freezer bag. Then just lay it flat in your freezer and wha-la! Not only do you have about a half gallon of homemade delicious bone broth to use in your fridge but you have EXTRA in your freezer to use when needed. 

**Bonus Tip: Save the plastic container your rotisserie chicken comes in. Once you have strained the broth you can toss the veggies and chicken bones into the plastic container, seal the lid and dispose of. Then it's not all lose in your trash can.

I get asked often when and how often do I drink bone broth? I drink a coffee mug a day usually in the morning while we do school time. I used to have a cup of coffee then but now I love drinking this instead and it's much better for me!

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Recipe: Oh So Good Paleo Friendly Teriyaki Sauce

I really love making sauces from scratch. As someone who spent her early 20's living off of spaghetti o's and top ramen I didn't think I'd ever say that. 

One of my favorite go to meals is making meatballs from scratch and then cooking them in the Instant Pot. Only takes about 7 minutes to cook and it's pretty versatile! I typically make them with marinara sauce, but I do like making them with sweet and sour sauce too. 

Paleo Friendly Teriyaki Sauce

What's In It:

·         ½ cup coconut aminos (or braggs liquid aminos)

·         ¼ cup fresh orange juice or water

·         3 tbsp honey

·         1 TBSP crushed Garlic

·         1/4 tsp chili flakes

·         2 tsp arrowroot flour (if you want it thicker)

How to Make It:

In a small saucepan, mix everything BUT the flour and heat it over medium heat. If you are using flour, mix it with 2 tablespoon of cold water and add the mixture into the sauce and cook until it has thickened. If not using flour, just simmer on low the sauce until thickened.

That's it! I poured my sauce over a batch of raw meatballs I made. Put the meat balls in the Instant Pot, poured the sauce over and then cooked on Manuel High for 7 minutes with a quick release. 

Served it over brown rice I had cooked in my Instant Pot earlier and zoodles. Super easy and tasted like a treat meal!

For those of you using the Fix Containers: 1 orange container full = 1 orange! 

Want more recipes like this? Want more recipes like this, meal prep tips and/or to get started with a fitness routine? I would LOVE to be your coach! You can reach out to me by going to my Facebook page by clicking the picture below....

Have a blessed day!

My Pantry Favorites: Part 1

I did a Facebook Live today showing some of my favorite pantry items and I thought sharing here would be fun too! 

I plan to do more of these types of posts in the future so I'm only sharing a few things here today. These are definitely some of my top favorites for sure.

 Coconut Aminos: I love this stuff SO much. I used to use Braggs Liquid Aminos, but with my PCOS I have bee trying to cut all soy from my diet.  I LOVE soy sauce so finding an alternative that is tasty and healthy was huge for me. I use this for stir fries and my combination fried rice.

Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar: Oh man where can I start on this awesomeness? Helps prevent flu and other stomach illnesses, reduces acid re-flux and hear burn, good for your hair, skin and gut. I could go on and on and on. I love using Apple Cider Vinegar to "pickle" veggies. Add 1 cup of AC Vinegar, 1 cup water, 1/2 red onion sliced and 1 cucumber peeled and sliced. Store in a mason jar and chill in the fridge. A great "crunchy/tangy" snack when you are craving chips or crackers!

Organic Stoneground Mustard: I love to make "egg salad" with this or even use it to dip chicken sausage in. 

Local Organic Honey: No brand for this one, key word is LOCAL. When you digest local organic honey from your area it will help with allergies! Crazy right? I started eating a few tsps a week of local honey about 2 years ago and was able to stop taking allergy medicine. Check out your Farmer's Market and enjoy! I love using mine in my favorite Shakeology Recipe: Honey Nut Latte.

Homemade Seasoning: The two I have right here are staples in my pantry. The "21 Day Fix Taco Seasoning" from the 21 Day Fix Nutrition Guide and the "Mediterranean Blend" from the Country Heat Nutrition Guide. I use the Taco Seasoning like it's going out of style! It's my go too when making tacos and sometimes even chili.

Want more recipes like this? Or even, meal prep tips and/or to get started with a fitness routine? I would LOVE to be your coach! You can reach out to me by going to my Facebook page by clicking the picture below....

There are kinds of fun things coming to this blog and my Facebook page this fall! I hope you come back and see what's happening :)

Recipe: Sweet Potato Chili - Instant Pot Edition

You might not know this, but I LOVE Fall. 

Not just Pumpkin Spiced Lattes... I love the season Fall. The crisp air, the leaves changing, leggings, warm boots, hot cups of coffees and hot delicious comfort foods in the evening. 

This recipe is making me really excited about the season changing. I made this recipe this week and my family loved it. When I first told them I was making sweet potato chili they turned their nose up at it. Then when it was time to eat, they were pleasantly surprised! 

I can't tell you how happy that made me! 

This new recipe will be a staple in my house from here on out. The best part is how EASY it was to prepare/cook! I hope you enjoy this recipe.

(This recipe is Dairy and Grain Free)

Ingredients:

2 lb organic ground beef

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic gloves, pressed

1 small red onion, chopped

30 oz organic tomato sauce

2 cups organic beef stock

2 carrots, chopped

3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 tbsp cup chili powder (or less if you desire *wink*)

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp thyme

2 tsp sea salt

 1 1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions:

Set instant pot to saute and wait tell it says "hot". Add  1 tsp of evoo then ground beef and brown. Once beef has browned add onion, garlic and let simmer for a few minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients in. Stir well. Seal the lid and set the mode to "meat/stew" and it will automatically set for 35 minutes. Make sure the valve is set to sealed. Once done let it "natural release" in warm mode for 10 minutes. Stir well and serve.

Makes 8-9 servings

*Note if you aren't eating this "dairy free" you can add some shredded cheddar to the top. My kids love this!

*Note again: If you want more of a "kick" to your chili, you can add red pepper flakes to taste. 

Ahhh Fall, my happy place :) 

21 Day Fix/Country Heat/Portion Fix Container Equivalent:

1 Red 1 Yellow  1 Green 1 Purple

*Note I measured out my serving with 1 cup

This Instant Pot recipe was easy, a huge time saver and DELICIOUS! Stay tuned for more healthy comfort food recipes coming soon.

 In the mean time...

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Have a blessed day!