Super Easy Instant Pot Bone Broth

Heard Bone Broth is good for you but it takes too long?

 

I have a simple solution.  Instant Pot. Yes. You can make Bone broth in 2 hours instead of 8 in the instant pot. Literally fill, push button, walk away. I can’t even.

So far since buying this thing I think I am in love with it.

I know some of you probably bought this thing on Black Friday or Cyber Monday right?  Still in the box?

Ok, no worries… let’s fix that.

Bone Broth

So bone broth is all the rage in the health set and with Millennials… why?

Bone broth is rich in minerals, collagen, glutamine, glycine and proline… what it boils down to (like my pun?) is that it is said is good for the gut (decreases inflammation and is healing). Also the collagen is good for joints and minerals are essential for cellular activity.  Said to be good for joint pain, weight loss and a miracle cure for stuff (ummm prob not but…).  Really it’s an awesome source of good stuff.

So again, here is my theory – Our grandmothers knew stuff, we should really listen and do the stuff they said.  Mine made tons of soup out of bones and so did my mom.

Here is how

Ingredients for Bone Broth Soup

Water

Bones (beef, pork, chicken or whatever you have)

carrot or onion

Apple cider vinegar (the one with the stuff in it – it helps pull the minerals out)

 

Stick bones on rack in your instant pot and fill with water to just about an inch below the fill line.  Stick in carrot and a gulp of apple cider vinegar.  Set instant pot on high for 2 hours and leave, just walk away…. let vent naturally and that folks is it.  Flavour with salt to taste.

 

Here is the best part…  you can use the bones 3 times in the instant pot for soup!

 

Happy Soupping (is that a word?)

Easy and Impressive Creme Brule Recipe

Do you order Creme Brule only in Restaurants?

Think Creme Brule is a super impressive dessert?  Way to fancy to be able to make at home?  Would you believe me if I told you it was dead simple and that the recipe I have been using for years is so good that I don’t bother ordering it at restaurants now because mine is better?

Wanna impress a dinner party?

I’m a gonna give you my recipe because I’m nice like that…

You do need a few “hardware” kitchen gadgets before you start…

Here they are

6 Ramekins (the cute little white dishes they serve creme brule in)

kitchen torch and butane (don’t be scared its just a lighter on steroids – you can get this at any kitchen store)

large pyrex baking tray for a lasagne for example (9×11 will do)

 

Got it?

 

ok, lets go

 

Ingredients

Here are the food items you will need for creme brule

heavy cream (35% whipping cream) 2 cups

white sugar 1/2 cup

a whole vanilla bean (scrape out inside or use good quality vanilla paste)

5 egg yolks

 

Instructions

So while this is neither hard nor involved, making creme brule does involve some chemistry… please follow these directions exactly…

Preheat oven to 325 F

  • Temper cream and vanilla – this means just put it in microwave for 2 minutes stirring at one minute and make sure it doesn’t burn or boil.
  • mix sugar and egg yolks in a separate bowl
  • slowly add cream and vanilla to yolk mixture while stirring or whisking constantly.

Thats it. Really.  Now just pour into ramekins and put in pyrex dish and use the dish as a water bath and carefully fill the pyrex surrounding the ramekins with water so they are bathed up to about 2/3 of their height.

Bake 30 minutes or until the creme brule jiggles like jello when you take it out. Cool in fridge till cold (overnight) I usually put saran wrap on top of each ramekin…

 

Then before serving add a little white sugar to the top of each and tilt dish so it covers the top and dump out excess sugar.  Then caramelize sugar on top with the torch and serve!

Achy Neck and Shoulder Pain?

So are you ever in front of a computer?

Like most of us, you are probably sitting in front of a computer at least part of the day.  If not a computer, maybe a tablet or a phone (these are even worse since you probably aren’t in an ergonomically designed set  up for this).  If so, you probably have had some achy neck and shoulder pain in your time…

You know that achy bit of flesh between your neck and shoulders that you get people to rub?  That’s what most people mean when they come in to my clinic complaining of this so that is what a am going to talk about here.

Massage my neck please!

So that bit of muscle is made up of several muscles but the biggest one is called the Trapezius.  Usually, in my opinion, this isn’t the actual pain generator for this type of achy neck and shoulder pain.  I think in most people it’s another muscle called the levator scapula (but really who cares – it hurts so fix it …. right?)

If you have had this, I’m betting the first thing you did was rub it yourself, or get someone else to rub it for you. Right?

This makes sense because massage can help work out tired sore muscles and trigger points (aka knots).  These may have developed because of a period of overuse like sitting at the computer for a project for hours.

Been there right?

But it comes back…. so why?

 

Here is my perspective:

From my perspective as a chiropractor over use certainly plays a huge role, as does posture.  Staring at a computer or device for hours puts strain on our muscles AND joints.

At some point the muscles become overtired and can no longer protect the underlying joints.  The strain and stresses transfered to the joints begin an inflammatory cascade in the joint to add to that which is already going on in the muscle.

Inflammation bad.

It chemically irritates the joints and muscles further and then you get a decrease in range of motion of the joint and muscle as it is trying to protect itself further.  There is also inflammation in there.

Inflammation in the joint means there is more fluid in there.  This gets in the way of range of motion.  Think about surrounding your body in a thick snow suit and trying to bend your joints… same idea but inside the joint itself.

Ok so what can we do about it?

Again, my perspective as a chiropractor focuses on restoring normal range of motion to the joints.  When we do that the inflammatory response decreases and the pain dissipates…

We do that in my clinic in three ways

  1. Relax the muscle using muscle techniques
  2. Treat the fascia for adhesions (we will talk about that in a different blog)
  3. adjust the joint using various techniques

People respond to this type of treatment amazingly well – In fact in a poll in the USA recently conducted by Gallup 95% of past year users of chiropractic care said it is effective… that’s a pretty big number.  (97% of past year chiropractic patients said they were likely to see a chiropractor if they have neck or back pain – so I’m not sure what happened to the other two percent…)