Healing Veggie Soup (and a little about Bone Broth)

With flu and cold season upon us, we’ve found that one of the best ways to avoid falling victim to the dreaded germs is to keep our bodies happy and immune systems strong by giving them all of the nutrients they need. It never fails that as soon as we go several days relying on all of the processed, ready-to-eat convenience foods in our busy lives, we fall ill with something and wonder why we got sick, right? This soup is packed full of detoxifying veggies that will help keep your body feeling nourished and strong! It is similar to what is known as the “Cabbage Soup Cleanse”, but we’ve adjusted it for more flavor and added the beneficial fat that comes from homemade chicken stock/bone broth… it’s really more healing that fattening ;)
A little bit about bone broth:
“Bone Broth is an amazing addition to your diet. Full of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur, collagen and trace minerals -as well as the stuff that builds glucosamine and chondroitin. And this is only the beginning.

Bone Broth also contains amino acids to make strong hair and nails as well as very absorbable nutrients that make for strong bones, cartilage, tendons and all of the connective tissue in the body.


We are Supposed to eat bone broth!!


In the ‘olden days’, meaning anywhere from 50 to 10,000 years ago- we ALWAYS used every part of the animal. A bone broth recipe was ever present and ever changing as animal scraps would go into the eternal pot simmering on the stove.


While this was mainly for the economy of having meat when there was not much of it, people understood that these bubbling pots contained important nutrients that you just can’t get elsewhere.


In fact, some nutritionists believe that Bone Broths were (and still are) an absolutely essential for building bones and connective tissue in cultures that don’t drink milk.

So, start making a Bone Broth Recipe today!

A Bone Broth is simple and doesn’t take much time. If you have a crock pot, they are even simpler as you just throw the ingredients in and leave them for a day or two.
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Basic Bone Broth Recipe

* Depending upon your preference, take the carcass of a chicken or go out and buy the MARROW BONES and Knuckle Bones of Beef from the butcher. Everything MUST be Organic, Free Range, No Hormones, etc.

* Put them in a large stew pot or crock pot with water to cover at least 2 inches over the top of the contents.

* Bring to a boil.

* Turn down to simmer and leave it alone.


* Cook for 12 to 24 hours for Chicken Broth OR
24-72 hours for Beef Bone Broth.


* Pull all of the large pieces out with a slotted spoon, then strain all through a fine mesh strainer, a coffee filter or cheesecloth. Discard the chunks, compost them or feed them to a pet.

* Refrigerate for several hours and skim off the fat when it is cool


*You can refrigerate the broth for several days or freeze for several months. Freeze the broth in ice cube trays then transfer to zip loc bag for ease of use.


* Season as desired and use to make soups and stews, Miso Soup or use as a base to make rice or any other grain that requires water to make.” Kerri Knox, RN
(Read more: http://www.easy-immune-health.com/essential-bone-broth.html#ixzz1bBr1yswj)

Veggie Soup:


What you’ll need for the Veggie Soup (you can even make a bigger batch and keep some on hand in the freezer!):

6 large green onions (also called “spring” onions)
2 green peppers
1 or 2 jars/cans of tomatoes (diced or whole)
3 carrots
1 container (10 oz. or so) mushrooms
1 bunch of celery
half a head of cabbage
1 bunch cilantro (cilantro is a natural chelator)
1 clove garlic (minced)
1 teaspoon sea salt
6-8 cups chicken broth (ideally bone broth with all of the fat)
1 48oz can Low Sodium vegetable juice (optional)
Season to taste with pepper, parsley, curry, garlic salt, etc.
Directions:

Prepare chicken stock in advance (the longer you can let it cook, the better).

Slice green onions, put in a pot on medium heat and start to sauté with cooking spray. Do this until the onions are whiter/clearer in color (about 4-6 minutes).

Cut green pepper stem end off, then cut pepper in half to take out the seeds and membrane. Cut the green pepper into bite size pieces and add to pot.

Take the outer leafs layers off the cabbage, cut into bite size pieces, add to pot.

Clean carrots, mushrooms, and celery, cut into bite size pieces and toss them in. Add tomatoes now, too.

If you would like a spicy soup, add a small amount of curry or cayenne pepper now and all of your other spices to taste.

Use about 2 cups of water, the 6-8 cups of chicken/bone broth, and the 48 oz of Low Sodium V8 juice, cover and put heat on low. Let soup simmer for at least 2 hours or until vegetables are tender.
Enjoy!