Rae lives and farms on Barr Farms with her family. She loves cooking healthy food, trying new things, deep conversations with friends, reading, learning, and playing, especially with her three children.
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One of the things I love best in the winter is the warming comfort of bone broth based soups. It's hard to overstate how nourished I feel when I'm eating freshly made bone broth soup. It's warming to the body as well as nourishing. For more on the health benefits, check out this article, but some of the benefits may include: joint health, gut health, reducing inflammation and possible better sleep, plus all the nutrients that you get from it, including zinc, manganese iron, vitamins A and K among others.
It's good to make on a day when you'll be home for the day. I like the feel of a slow paced "cooking day" when I'm making broth that will become soup for dinner, along with other food for the week. I also love to make the broth and share it with people. I usually make a big pot, so I have plenty to either freeze for later use, or share... say with someone who is recovering from surgery or an illness, or someone who has just had a baby, it's especially nourishing.
I use either beef soup bones, chicken feet, or the leftover chicken bones after I've made a whole chicken for dinner.
from a For beef stock, I like to roast the bones in the oven at a high temp for about 10-20 minutes, then transfer to a large pot of water. I add a Tablespoon or so of apple cider vinegar to help draw out the nutrients. I usually use either a big stock pot on the stove, a crock pot, or sometimes the instant pot if I'm in a hurry. But typically the longer the better... you can even leave it simmer in the crock pot up to 24 hours! The timing is very forgiving, so you can work it into your schedule. And the great thing about it is you don't have to do much to it once it's set up to simmer. If it's on the stove, just be sure to check it to be sure it has enough water in it.
When it's done, I take out the bones, and add veggies and spices to make the soup. (Alternately, I often freeze about half of it to use as stock for later. I typically freeze about 2cups at a time in separate freezer bags.) Sometimes I'll cook onions, garlic and spices in a cast iron on the stove and add those in, and other times, I just add everything straight to the soup pot. Spices often include a little turmeric, cumin, thyme or sage. It depends on what catches my fancy that day. Definitely garlic! Recently, I added potatoes, turnips, carrots and some leftover steak chunks to add a little meat to it. It's great served with homemade bread or cornbread.
It does take some time, but it's an easy process, especially after you've done it once or twice. If you haven't tried it, go for it! I hope you experience the same comforted, nourished feeling I get when I have it for a meal.