Bone Broth and Why I'm Not a Vegetarian Anymore

When I started this blog over five years ago, I was a vegetarian and had been for years before that. Like many vegetarians, I avoided meat because I felt it was healthy to do so. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy meat as a child or that I was a staunch animal rights activist. I simply just wanted to be healthy and live longer and had read that a vegetarian diet would help me achieve that. And for many years, my vegetarian diet served me exceptionally well. I was a competitive long distance runner throughout high school and college who rarely, if ever, got sick. I learned all about vegetarian cooking techniques. I worked in vegan juice bars, cafes, and a vegetarian kitchen of a huge health food co-op. I ate what I thought to be a picture perfect diet full of colorful vegetables, fruit, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and plant-based fats. All was well. Until it wasn't. I felt that something was missing and my hormone levels were way out of whack.

After about 8 years of being a vegetarian, I slowly began incorporating high quality animal products like pastured poultry and grass-fed beef into my diet. I still ate primarily vegetarian, but adding just a bit of meat started to make me feel better and balanced and strong. It also greatly improved my severe cystic hormonal acne that I was suffering from.

I got pregnant when I was 24 and throughout my pregnancy, I ate exactly what my body craved. Luckily, I craved healthy whole foods (which included meat) and lots of them. I had a healthy pregnancy (with perfect glowing skin throughout!), a natural uncomplicated birth, and a beautiful baby. All was well. Until it wasn't.

The stress and exhaustion of having a baby took it's toll on many aspects of my health and wellbeing. Heck, it still does! But what I have noticed is that adding mineral-rich bone broth to my already healthy whole foods diet really helps in a variety of ways. I make the broth from bones I buy at the farmers market. Grass fed beef bones, pastured chicken bones and chicken feet all make my broth exceptionally rich and nourishing. Broth was the first food I gave to my daughter and she still loves it. It has become an important part of our diet, in addition to all of the beautiful produce, legumes, whole grains, eggs, and meat that we eat.

I don't need to go into all of the insanely amazing health benefits of bone broth here. You can read that from many other places in far greater detail than I could write here. All I can say is that bone broth has changed my life (something I would have laughed at during all those years as a vegetarian) and I wouldn't have it any other way. I encourage you to give it a try.

Bone Broth

Pumpkin Spice Granola

I totally get that spring is almost over and summer is right around the corner . I don't really expect you to make this granola right now, but here's the thing. When autumn rolls around, pumpkin spice everything pops up everywhere. And honestly, it's easy to overlook recipes flavored with the spices of pumpkin pie when every other food blogger is posting recipes about said spices. So do yourself a favor and  bookmark this incredible granola recipe for the fall before your overwhelmed with pumpkin spice recipes. You'll be so glad you did.

Ingredients

1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
6 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup slivered almonds or pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup dried cranberries 

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. In a large mixing bowl, combine pumpkin puree, honey, coconut oil, pumpkin spice and salt. Add the oats, pecans and almonds. Stir well to evenly coat the mixture.
2. Pour the granola mixture onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the granola is golden and crunchy. Stir the mixture once or twice while baking to encourage even browning.
3. Remove from the oven and add the cranberries. Allow the granola to cool completely before storing in an airtight container at room temperature.

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Grain-Free Almond Butter Cookies

Goodness gracious, it has been far too long since I've written here. In the past six months, we've moved to a new house, travelled across the country twice, said goodbye to a few dear friends and family members, welcomed new beautiful friends into our lives, and overall just grew emotionally and spiritually as a family of three. My little Hazel is turning two(!) in less than a month and I am constantly in awe of how she grows and changes daily. Life is magical.

 I've been meaning to share this incredibly simple and tasty treat with you all for awhile now. These almond butter cookies whip up in literally less than five minutes and they are completely grain-free and refined sugar free, as well. They're a perfect snack for a toddle and an especially lovely snack with a cup of tea while said toddler naps. Do let me know if you make them, and next time I do, I just may add some dark chocolate shavings to them.

Almond Butter Cookies