I am home from the grocery store.  I stare at the kitchen counter – there is the pot roast that I just purchased, and the bones are sitting there beside it.  The vegetables and herbs – onion, garlic, celery, carrots, green beans, cilantro, and parsley are in their respective bags.  The salt, pepper, and cayenne powder stand at attention. Here is where I attempt using my crock pot for the third time – God be with me.

It’s not that I am afraid to cook – it is that I know my limitations.  But, it is a new year – and I have been promising to make my own goodness to nourish my body for years.  So, I better get over it, and get used to it.  I will conquer – and if I don’t conquer, I will drink more beer.

I have chosen an Oatmeal Stout from Breckenridge Brewery (Colorado) to help calm my nerves.

First, I prepare my vegetables by cutting them into smaller pieces, and avoid making a trip to the ER, so this is a great start.  Next, I put about one cup of water on the bottom of the crock pot.  I then place the grass-fed beef roast in there.  Next, goes a couple of bones from the butcher – these bones are also from locally-raised grass-fed cows.  I pour in the vegetables, herbs, and spices.  Then add more water.

Setting the crock pot on “low”, I let the conglomeration of ingredients set and stew together overnight, for about eight hours.  When I wake up the next morning, the house is full of an aromatic bouquet of my bone broth stew.  A success!  It is so good, I have a bowl for breakfast.

The reason that I wanted to stew my meat and vegetables with these bones, is for the nutrients that can be pulled from the bones.  This includes protein, proline, and glycine – all good for your connective tissue and ligaments.  The glycine in bone broth can also be beneficial for people with acid reflux, irritable bowl syndrome (IBS), or even FODMAP intolerance.  I have a sensitive gut, and decided to try a bone broth stew for this reason.

Bone broths have been a part of cooking for centuries, and the addition to my weekly crock pot experimentation has been a fun success.  I hope you will research more about these  and how you can take back your Food Freedom by cooking for yourself!

– Tisha T. Casida