Traditional Recipes: Bringing Back the Home

While the Traditional Recipes page will be growing as Boholistic Mom grows, sharing the most basic traditional recipes is a great place to start! Please browse the page to see the newest recipes and gain information about reinstating a traditional diet in your home.

Why Eat Traditionally?

In the past, families spent time, money, and energy preparing their food. The time spent on food cultivated the culture of the family. They spent time together in the kitchen. Food was treasured not just because it sustained the body, but because food brought life to the family.

The money spent on food one hundred years ago was much more than what is spent on food today. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Americans have decreased the amount of money that they invest in their food by 29.4% from 1901 to 2003.¹ Is the decrease in money spent on food directly related to the increase of cancer, heart disease, asthma and other ailments that are become more common than in the past? Joel Salatin, the author of Folks, This Ain’t Normal, You Can Farm, and Salad Bar Beef, definitely thinks there is a connection. He states, “If you think organic food is expensive, have you priced cancer lately?”²

The energy that families used to spend on their food has also decreased. The invention of the microwave was the permanent reduction of energy most families spend on food preparation. Consider this, if families spent more energy (calories) in food preparation would Americans begin to have less obesity? Rather than spending less energy making food, American should happily spend more energy preparing food, growing food, gathering food, and even seeking out healthy food for the American family.

Chao, Elaine L. “100 Years of U.S. Consumer Spending.” Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Department of Labor, May 2006. Web. 29 May 2013. <http://www.bls.gov/opub/uscs/report991.pdf>.

“Largest Natural Product & Organic Food Event in the Midwest.” Largest Natural Product & Organic Food Event in the Midwest. PRWeb.com, 21 Apr. 2013. Web. 29 May 2013. <http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/4/prweb10654702.htm>.

Additional Resources

Characteristics of Traditional Diets

Traditional Chicken Bone Broth

Ingredients

1 whole chicken with as many parts as you can get including necks, gizzards, livers, feet, etc. (about 2-3 lbs) (preferably an organic, free range farm raised chicken)

1/4 cup Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar

Water (enough to cover chicken)

1 large onion, chopped

2-6 carrots, chopped

3-6 celery stalks, chopped (fennel stalks will also work)

2 bay leaves

Parsley

How to Make

Depending on the size of your stock pot either stick the entire chicken in the stock pot and cover with water or chop into pieces and submerge. Add the vinegar and leave to soak for an hour. After soaking, bring the chicken to a boil and remove the scum that rises to the top with a spoon. Lower to a simmer and continue to cook covered 6 to 8 hours, the longer the better. 2 – 3 hours before completing your stock add the onion, carrots, and celery to your broth. Consider taking the chicken meat off the bone after 4 hours in order to use the chicken in another recipe; return the chicken bones to the broth and continue to simmer. Add the parsley 1- to 15 minutes before finishing the broth.

Strain the broth into a large bowl. Pick the chicken from the bones (if not done previously) and consider eating the vegetables or using them in another dish.

If the chicken is pasture fed and farm raised (or you use plenty of chicken feet, gizzards, and necks) your stock will actually congeal when placed in the refrigerator. Once this occurs, skim off the top portion of the broth to attain the chicken fat, if desired. Drink the broth for a healthy snack or breakfast or use in recipes to increase the nutrients in other recipes. Freeze the broth to save for recipes and for times of sickness.

More Resources and Recipes for Traditional Bone Broth

Broth is Beautiful – Weston A. Price Foundation

Easy Recipe: Mineral-Rich Bone Broth – Balanced Bites

The Joys of Stock – Seeds of Health

Traditional Foods 101: Bone Broth, Broth & Stocks – Nourished Kitchen

The Benefits of Bone Broth – Nourished Kitchen

Perpetual Soup: The Easiest Bone Broth You’ll Make – Nourished Kitchen

Fresh Chicken Broth: Achieving a Solid Gel – Nourished Kitchen