March 17 2020
Fertility Superfood: Bone Broth
Ingredients
- Chicken bones, Whole chicken (cut into pieces), or chicken wings/parts
- 1 T oil suitable for heat - grapeseed, oil, butter
- 4 quarts cold filtered water (or more as needed)
- 2 Tablespoons of vinegar
- 1-2 large onions, coarsely chopped
- 4-5 whole celery sticks, coarsely chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
- Several cloves garlic
- Dark leafy green, one bunch
- Optional vegetables: cabbage, broccoli, green beans
- Aromatic herbs to your liking: thyme, oregano (can be tied together during cooking)
- 1 bunch parsley
Instructions
Place bones or chicken into a heavy stockpot
Add oil or fat (or omit if your bones have some meat/fat on them already)
Brown on med-high heat for several minutes - careful not to burn - just enough heat
to bring out the flavor
Add onion, celery, carrots, garlic, and continue to brown for several minutes with chicken bones, meat (again - careful not to burn or overheat)
Add vinegar and stir in with veggies and bones
Add greens, herbs and other veggies
Add water and bring to a boil
Skim off any scum that rises to the top - occasionally do this through the cooking process
Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 6-24 hours.
Check regularly and add water if you are losing water volume during cooking
10-15 min before finishing your stock add parsley.
If you used a whole chicken for the stock - after about 1 hour of cooking time - remove meat for another use and keep bones cooking in the stock.
When broth is complete - strain the stock into another pot or large bowl.
Once the broth is in the refrigerator the fat will rise to the top - this can be removed or you may keep in your broth
You can store broth in glass mason jars in refrigerator or freezer
High-quality bone broth is an ideal food packed with fertility-boosting nutrients. Fortunately, the benefits of bone broth have had recent health acclaims and high-quality bone broths have become widely available. This is one of our Cultivate Fertility Superfoods and we hope it is something you incorporate into your fertility journey.
When we studied Chinese Medicine, our professors taught us the benefits of a warming broth and encouraged us to drink it throughout the day to help maintain our vitality. We came to learn that this broth was the perfect way to revitalize our minds and bodies and kept us feeling healthy and strong.
Bone Broth is a true fertility superfood! When properly prepared bone broth is highly nutritious as minerals are extracted from the bones and vegetables during the slow, long cooking time. Bone broth is packed with magnesium, potassium, and gelatin, which are essential for cellular growth and health and are assimilated easily through consuming broth. Gelatin is rich in amino acids and helps to soothe the digestive tract, making it less reactive and inflamed and has a similar impact on your reproductive organs. When your broth cools it will thicken, this is the gelatin and it will liquefy back into the broth as it is warmed.
At Cultivate Fertility, we want to show you how an easy way for you to make bone broth, so you can always have it going on your stove. You can drink it on your way to work, you can drink it when you’re feeling a little hungry, or if you need a pick-me-up. It always makes the perfect afternoon snack! It is also a nutrient-dense staple to have in your kitchen and use it as a base for grains and soups.
There are two different ways you can make this broth.
The first way is you can collect bones as you’re going. For example, if you’ve made a whole chicken and you want to save your bones you can put them in a plastic bag and put the bag in the freezer until you are ready to make your stock.
The second way is you can use whole chicken parts from the store (wings or chicken legs/thighs). You can remove the meat after 45-60min of cooking to use in other recipes. Please be sure your chicken is organic!
To start your fertility bone broth, you’ll want to get a great big stock pot (you could also use a slow cooker or an instapot) and put a little bit of oil or butter on the bottom so nothing sticks. Then throw your bones into the pot.
Next, you’ll want to “brown” your bones which helps to release the gelatin and minerals. This also dramatically improves the flavor of the broth - it is totally worth the extra time this step takes!
Now chop up some of your favorite organic vegetables, like organic onion, cabbage, celery, and carrots and just throw it in with the bones. This is the perfect time to use any of the vegetables that need to be used in your fridge!
We love celery as it adds natural salt, folate, and potassium to the broth.
Carrots are a great addition because they add some natural sweetness along with vitamin A and beta carotene.
Cabbage is rich in folate and vitamin C which are hugely important nutrients for women who are trying to conceive.
Garlic or shallots add fantastic flavor to your bone broth. It’s easy to just throw the whole head of garlic or shallot into the mix. Garlic is anti-microbial and high in sulfur-containing compounds that are used in cellular detoxification.
Basically, the more variety of vegetables you have in the broth, the more minerals you’ll have, and the healthier and heartier the broth will be.
When it comes to seasoning, we don’t salt our broth. We make our broth and then use salt and seasoning at the end to taste. This makes your broth more versatile to use in other recipes.
You’ll want to leave the veggies and the bones on the stove to caramelize and brown everything and blend on the flavors for about 10-15 mins. Then add a splash of vinegar. Adding a little bit of acid helps to extract the minerals from the bones. Just a couple of tablespoons of vinegar are enough! If you don’t have vinegar, you could use lemon juice. The acid is just that important factor to help gelatin and mineral extraction.
Now pour filtered water to cover the bones and vegetables. When making bone broth, it is important to use filtered water as we want minimal toxins or heavy metals in our medicinal broth.
The secret to making your bone broth really nutrient-dense is the length of time you allow for cooking. When you’re making this fertility superfood, you’ll want to cook this broth on the stove for 6-24 hours.
If you don’t want to leave your stove going for that long, you can transfer the bone broth to a slow cooker. You can put the cooker on low for a 12-24 hour cycle.
Over the cooking cycle, you might want to add some extra water as it’s going if it starts to cook down.
Right at the very end, we like to add some fresh herbs to the broth. Some of our favorite herbs to use are oregano, parsley, dill, and thyme. The fresh herbs add nutrients and flavor to the broth.
Once the cooking cycle is complete, drink and enjoy!