Monthly Archives: March 2018

Bone Broth – 1st Batch

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Ta-daaaaaa! My 1st batch of bone broth is complete. And frankly….I’m not quite sure what to think. Lol.

It’s very dark. It looks like coffee. And feels rather thick when I drink it. It has somewhat of an earthy taste to it. It’s very rich.

I used beef marrow bones and let it simmer for 70 hours. I did NOT roast the bones first, which is something I will attempt with the next batch. It did not gel when it cooled, but from what I understand it’s because I didn’t use any bones with cartilage or connective tissue. Something else I will try with my next batch. I strained with some cheesecloth so it’s not cloudy at all, but it’s so thick you can’t see through it in the jar anyway.

I was surprised how much it cooked down. I started out with a little over 6 quarts of water to 3 lbs of beef marrow bones and I think I ended up with a little over 2 quarts of broth. I didn’t know if I should dilute it, or what. So I’m drankin it straight up. Lol.

If anyone has any words of wisdom with this bone broth making process, I would love to hear it.

So now I sit here and sip….and wait for all the healing properties to kick in. Any minute now….any minute now. šŸ˜šŸ˜Š

Trying My Hand At Homemade Bone Broth

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Trying my hand at making homemade bone broth. I bought 3 lbs of local beef bones yesterday at Steveā€™s Meat Market in DeSoto, KS. So thereā€™s the 3 lbs of bones, onion, carrots, celery, red and green bell pepper, pink Himalayan salt and black peppercorns, sitting in a large stock pot. I let the bones soak for 30 minutes in water and 2 Tbs of organic apple cider vinegar (the kind that includes the ā€œmotherā€) first. Now itā€™s heating up and it has to simmer for at least 24 hours. Iā€™ve been reading about the benefits of bone broth: gut healing properties, help with inflammation, relief for the symptoms of arthritis, joint and muscle repair. Itā€™s an excellent source of calcium and magnesium for people who donā€™t have access to dairy products. So THATā€™S how we got our calcium back in the day!! Back when we as Native people were the healthiest people on the planet. šŸ˜Š

Iā€™ll keep you posted on how it turns out.

Gut Health and Healing From A Cellular Level

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Some of the lifestyle changes I’m in the process making are about my health, and not necessarily about losing weight. I want my body to heal and to become strong from the inside out. I want to heal at a cellular level, if that helps explain my mindset. My desire to make positive change feels that deep. I’m making changes for healing my body, my mind and my spirit.

I’m not about making huge sweeping changes and being obsessive about cutting out types of foods. Except for artificial sweetener. That’s gone for good. I am absolutely loving being without artificial sweeteners. It’s 3 weeks now since I gave it up. I continue to not have sugar cravings. When I do eat something sweet, it’s a deliberate decision. Not one based on stress or other emotions. I am finding though that I am indulging in sweets very little. It’s really nice not to feel like I’m fighting cravings all the time. That was getting so frustrating. It was like a weight hanging around my neck that I couldn’t shake. That weight is gone and so is any guilt about indulging occasionally. The cravings being gone gives me some space in my head to think about whether I really want something, and also has helped my creativity in coming up with sweet treats made from real food when I want to indulge.

I’ve also been asking questions via FB messenger of a former coworker, a dietician, about artificial sweeteners. She told me how some artificial sweeteners can change the Ph in your gut, and may kill gut bacteria. Losing gut bacteria may lead to some gut permeability and then inflammation. In my case, inflammation leads to increased hip pain, but I also learned that it’s a big risk factor for heart disease and chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes, and possibly lupus and RA.

So then I had to look up “gut permeability” and found out it’s called “leaky gut syndrome”. I’d heard of it before but had no clue what it was. What I read wasn’t fun. But it made sense to me. That’s a whole ‘nother blog post because it’s very science-y. But it made me realize how quitting artificial sweeteners is the beginning of the healing process for my gut.

I remain surprised and grateful for the huge difference I’ve felt in my hip pain since giving up artificial sweetener. And if it’s related to healing my gut, then I want more of that. I’ve began drinking kombucha since last fall, and this weekend I’m going to give bone broth a whirl. Plain Greek yogurt is always in my fridge, as well as fruits, veggies, and healthy fats like avocados and nuts.

Friends and family, you have no idea how thankful I feel to finally start feeling better. I have a spring in my step for the first time in a long time. My mood has improved. And I appreciate the taste of food so much more than before. The changes feel good. And there are more changes we’ve been making that I will write about soon. Drop a comment below if you have had similar experiences. I would love to hear your stories.

Maybe I should follow up on some prior posts…..

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I was just reading over past blog posts on thee old health blog, and I realized I never followed up on the hip cortisone shot post that I wrote in July. As well as a few other items to follow up on.

Reader’s Digest version of the cortisone shot experience: The cortisone shot worked. And then it didn’t.

The hip felt great for about 2 months max. No pain, my and weight training felt better. But then, as I feared, since I have no cartilage left in my hip joint, the shot wore off faster than I had hoped. The hip started to ache again in late September and October. Last November and December were pretty brutal, and I gave some thought to moving my surgery up to spring or summer. I was so tired to being in pain, walking with a forward lean, not being able to run, and getting a cramp in my non-existent abs because I have to really use them to be able to reach my left shoe to tie it. Or to put my left sock on. Which led to…….

Smoking: Although I deluded myself into believing that I was a “binge smoker”, I “binged” for 7 months straight!!!! In October I learned that a friend of mine, a beautiful young woman with 2 small children, was diagnosed with breast cancer. She lives a healthy lifestyle and is a woman of faith. Learning of her diagnosis, and seeing her strength in taking cancer head-on, motivated me to finally quit smoking for good. October 20, 2017 was the day I had my last cigarette. I didn’t have to fight the urge to smoke, but I learned very quickly how long it takes for all those chemicals to get out of one’s system. I didn’t start feeling like myself until December. I was crabby, tired, had all kinds of food cravings….and I gained 20 lbs. I was happy to be doing something good for my lungs and heart though. I figure I can lose pounds and be back at a healthy weight, but I won’t have healthy lungs if I continued to do damage to them daily. Just last week I was really stressed about something and I had the urge to smoke. I went for a walk instead. šŸ™‚ One more week and I’ll be 5 months smoke-free. #YayMe

Medications: I have started to taper off one of my meds that I’ve taken for almost 2 years. Last year I tried to taper off of it, started taking a reduced dose, and my anxiety shot through the roof within a couple of days. Had to go back to the full dose. I’m at a month now of taking a reduced dose and all is well!! Going back for a med check soon to see if I can reduce it even more. My goal is to be off both of my meds by the end of the year.

FitBit Nation: Yep, I’m a member now. I bought a used FitBit from a friend of mine (former student of mine, and now my work colleague) and I L.O.V.E. my FitBit. I was all over it last summer, wearing it all the time, getting my steps in, etc. Then this past fall when everything you read in the paragraphs above happened, I kind of forgot about my beloved FitBit. I’m back to wearing it and even participating in some challenges my friend Shannon invites me to.

Social Work Career Goals: I have an approved training plan to get my upper level licensure and I’ve started accruing hours and logging clinical supervision hours. I continue to love my job and feeling more confident all the time.

And…..OMG….my big “5-0” birthday is coming up quick!!!!!!!

I am feeling really good. I’ve made some changes in addition to giving up artificial sweeteners that I am looking forward to writing about soon. Stay tuned……

Homemade Chai Tea Latte

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I’m still hanging tough with the no artificial sweetener, and I am still free of the strong sugar cravings I once had (M&M cookies from HyVee and Snickers candy bars were my go-to faves). I used to get a strong sugar craving mid-afternoon and I usually satisfied that craving with some kind of sugar-laden coffee from any number of the coffee shops here in my town. I have not had a sugar craving, but the weather got cold here 2 days ago and I wanted a hot, creamy, comforting drink. I didn’t want hot green or mint tea, and I didn’t want black coffee. I wanted something that reminded me of cuddling up on the couch with a fluffy blanket or my star quilt, and one of my big puppies. I didn’t necessarily want sugar, but rather some comforting beverage in a pretty mug.

Soooooo….I love Pinterest for times like this. I got to searching and browsing, and I came across this recipe from a young blogger’s site called “The Foodie Teen”. I’m not only amazed at her recipes, but her photography is just beautiful. And she started her blog when she was 14 I believe….I’m still reading her site and I highly recommend it for the photography alone. Lol.

http://thefoodieteen.com/almond-milk-chai-latte/

Here is how I prepared her recipe for an Almond Milk Latte. I always have Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk on-hand. I haven’t used regular dairy milk for a long time, although I don’t claim to be dairy free. I still eat cheese and Greek yogurt. I always read the labels of any milk substitute I buy and make sure it doesn’t include carrageenan, a thickener made from red seaweed extract, as I learned it promotes inflammation. If you want a thicker, creamier milk-substitute, I would use unsweetened cashew milk. I used that for awhile until I remembered my nephew has a tree nut allergy (hazelnuts, walnuts & cashews) so I keep it out of my house now.

I tried out the Zen Chai Tea bags, the caffeinated version. They are very flavorful! This turned out so sweet, and creamy, with just the right amount of sweetness….it hit the spot.

Almond Milk Chai Tea Latte* (from The Foodie Teen)

*I modified the amounts in some of the ingredients.

2 cups unsweetened almond milk

2 chai tea bags

1 Tbs organic maple syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pinch of ground cloves and nutmeg

Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it’s just starting to simmer and steam. Remove from heat and add the 2 chai tea bags. Steep for 5 minutes. Remove the tea bags (I use a tool to squeeze the tea bags to get all the spicy goodness out of them) and add the rest of the ingredients. I used a wire whisk to blend them in. Reheat the pan if necessary over low heat.

Use the maple syrup cautiously….I tend to think the sweetener is overdone in foods or beverages I buy. That’s what I like about making things at home when I can. It’s less convenient, but I can control and decide how much sweetener and spices according to my taste. I used 1 Tbs and added another small splash to my Latte.

I put my tea in a blender to make it froth up. What I really want is a small gadget that mitozan (my niece) HolyElk found to make milk foamy like in a coffee shop. I think I need to reconsider getting an immersion blender…..

This made my house smell soooo good. I haven’t had a craving for a warm, comforting drink since I made this. It’s good to know my cravings are still under control and that I have this wonderful beverage to satisfy it, if necessary. Enjoy!

Giving Up Artificial Sweeteners

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I’m not a photographer, but I wanted to add a visual to my post. Lol.

So….this academic year has a been tough on the immune system. It’s my 1st year working full-time in a middle school and I’ve been a magnet for viruses. My colleagues told me to give myself a year or so to build my immunity up and I won’t get sick as often. One of my friends led me to doing a little research on “gut health” where I learned that 70-80% of our immune tissue is located in our digestive system. Kombucha suddenly became my BFF.

My husband got really sick at the beginning of February. He was sick with an upper respiratory virus for 3 weeks. It was a scary time for him, as this was the sickest he has ever been in his lifetime. He has been a decades-long diet pop drinker, and has always used “the pink packets” of artificial sweetener in iced tea. While he was sick he really looked at all aspects of his health and decided to make some significant changes. The first on the list: over a week ago decided to give up all artificial sweeteners. No diet soda, no yellow, pink or blue packets in his tea or on his fruit. He started drinking water regularly and brews his own iced tea at home. He adds lemon juice and a little bit of real sugar for sweetener, no more than 1.5 tsp of “sugar in the raw” in a 32 oz container.

This was a significant change for my husband. It would be for anyone who has an ingrained health habit. I have that habit as well. I was a huge proponent of diet soda as a healthy replacement for sugar-sweetened beverages. I still believe that it’s a good transitional product for people trying to quit a fully-leaded soda habit. But I did some research on what artificial sweetener does to a body and it made me reconsider my own use of the little packets.

Here is a link to a good article that hits the major highlights of what benefits your body will experience from quitting artificial sweeteners. Please read, it’s rather eye-opening.

https://www.prevention.com/food/quitting-artificial-sweeteners

I quit artificial sweeteners a week ago, a few days after my husband. Here are a few things I’ve noticed:

  1. My taste buds woke up – I can taste the natural sweetness in foods, and all food seems to have more flavor
  2. I don’t have energy swings – I don’t have a mid-afternoon sweet coffee craving, and the snacks I keep in my office for my students no longer tempt me.
  3. I am perfectly satisfied drinking sparkling water with a hint of fruit flavor – I love the carbonation and it helps give my mood a lift for some reason.
  4. My skin looks better. I have more color in my face than I did a few weeks ago
  5. The darndest thing ever – my bad hip doesn’t hurt anywhere near as much as it did a couple weeks ago. I also have more range of motion in my weight training workouts.
  6. I’m not as hungry as I was before. I don’t feel the need to snack or doing my stress eating habit of making homemade popcorn at sitting on the couch after work.
  7. My husband reports that he is sleeping better than he has in years.

This is just after one week. I’m looking forward to seeing what other positive things I notice about my body and my health. I’m very grateful to my husband for leading the way with this change.