HEALING (& DELICIOUS!) BONE BROTH

Your grandma was right -- chicken soup IS a cure-all.  Whip up a batch once a week and store it in jars in your fridge to use as a base for soups & stews, or just to drink instead of your morning cup of coffee (as shown above).  I don't peel my vegetables for this, so I always try to make sure they are grown organically and/or locally.  And it goes without saying that the chicken should be pasture-raised and organic (and dare I say local? Fleisher’s has nice ones) as well!

1-2 chicken carcasses, ideally from locally & pasture-raised chickens
1-2 tablespoons Himalayan sea salt (I use 2 tablespoons if I have two chicken carcasses in the batch)
1 tablespoon whole peppercorns
1 onion, cut into quarters (OK to leave peel on)
2 carrots, unpeeled and cut in half
2 parsnips, unpeeled and cut in half
1 head of garlic, unpeeled and cut in half
2 stalks of celery, cut in half
1-2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (to help pull the nutrients from the bones)
5-8 stems of parsley, dill, thyme or whatever else you like (optional)
1/2 cup grass-fed gelatin (optional)
2 chicken feet (optional)

Dump all ingredients into a slow cooker/crockpot or Dutch oven.  Fill pot with water until the chicken carcasses are just about covered (I leave about a 1/2" sticking out because I don't like my broth too watery and the carcasses fall apart and go under the water anyway).

If using a slow cooker, cook on high until you're going to bed, then on low overnight and back to high in the morning -- for a total of 24 hours (12 hours is fine, but the longer you cook it, the more nutrients are pulled out of the bones).

If using a Dutch oven, cook until boiling, then lower heat and simmer for 24 hours (again, 12 hours is fine, but the longer you cook this broth, the more nutrients are pulled from the bones).

Drain, discarding everything but the broth.  Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks or in the freezer for much longer!