Basic GAPS Chicken Broth

Broth.

I think the very word is synonymous to most people as... boring. You know, that part of the soup that is the absolute least thought of. It is what happens when you mixed the over-chemicaled-over-salted- condensed soups with water. Or, if you are brave, it is what you, in our busy modern life, open a carton for when you make " homemade" soup. Perhaps if you are recalling the 70's it may be even what you put a cube of practically nutrition-less bullion into a hot cup of water to drink as a diet food.

Not so with GAPS.
In the GAPS diet, broth ( Chicken, duck, beef etc.) is a staple, and here's why. True broth... REAL broth, is a very easily digestible food that is extremely high in nutrients for it's digestibility (and lack of bad-bacteria-feeding-sugar.) In fact, it is one of the best and most healing foods. So, at the beginning of the GAPS program, she has you start with LOTS and lots of broth.
But Dr. Campbell-McBride wants you to have REAL broth; not the chemical-infested, over-salted, artificially flavored and uber-preserved junk. ( are you sick of my hyphens yet? )
Dr. Campbell-McBride has you do broth the old fashioned way. So my recipe today, is doing chicken broth... like your grandparents did it when they were kids. ( excepting maybe the use of an electric stove and kitchen shears. ;)

So here is the recipe. " GAPS friendly", simple and imho the absolute best way to drink it. =)

Basic GAPS Chicken Broth (Sarah's style)

Start with a 1 1/2 gallon (or 6 quart) kettle or crock pot. ( Yes, this recipe makes a lot... But it goes quick when you're on the diet)

Fill it with pure (non-city) water, leaving a little space at the top of the kettle for displacement.

Add:

1 to 1 1/2 TBS salt.

15-20 whole black peppercorns. Cracked, not ground. ( We, honestly, put them in a little plastic lunch bag and smack them with a hammer a few times. ^_^ It works great!)

AAAaaand of course the chicken.
In this case, 1/2 of an organically grown (thawed and rinsed) chicken.
(The easiest way to end up with half of it, that we have found, is to cut it right down the middle with big pair of kitchen shears. Put the other half in a baggy in the freezer and save it for later. )

(This could also be done with about 3 lbs of organic chicken legs, and thighs etc. (approximately 6 of them)

So yes.. All of this goes into the kettle, and you put the kettle and turn it on. When it boils turn it down to a simmer, put the lid on the kettle and let it boil for at 3-4 hours. (8 hours or so on low for crockpot) Turn it off, make sure the chicken is tender. Strain the chicken and peppercorns out, and voila! You have homemade chicken broth!
*nom* It can ( and for GAPS is supposed to be) drunk as it is. It can also be made into any chicken-based soup you wish. It can have various fresh herbs added (to broth or soups ) for different flavors, or simply left plain, cooled and stored in the freezer for use at a later date.
Enjoy! =)

Note: For old style, "bone broth" once you have removed the boiled chicken from the bones; (to eat or put in soups) save the bones, skin and gristle; put them back in a kettle of fresh water; follow the same recipe as for the chicken broth with everything except put the bones and skin in instead of the chicken. Let this new kettle boil for 6+ hours, strain out the bones and you've got yourself another entire pot of broth! =)

Another Note:
Organic chicken, or better yet locally grown free-range chicken is FAR FAR Better than the anemic store-bought kind. Not just for the chemical content either. No lie. My mother and I did several pots of broth, and you can literally see an extreme difference in color of the store bought normal chicken vs the organic or free-range chicken. The taste and nutrition difference is profound as well. The broth I have pictured is made from a local free-range chicken. It is covered in golden fat ( that is full of vitamin A) and tastes positively amazing compared to any of the broth I've previously made. =) =)

The (almost) Epic start of the GAPS diet

Sooo... My life has been a little bit... insane for the past while since I have posted last. (My mother having cancer; my sudden trip to Ecuador with her to get natural treatment; her eventual healing; and simply trying to re-prioritize and make life work since then... etc. etc.) In spite of those excuses though, I apologize for not posting for all this time! I also apologize for not yet posting some of the recipes I promised a few of you! ( I still plan on it though!) Please be patient with me! I will get them up eventually!

Otherwise though, this post is basically to introduce a new set of posts that I will be doing. This past year, my mother and I started doing research on the GAPS diet. ( For those of you who do not know, GAPS stands for Gut And Psychology Syndrome) It is based on the studies and research of Doctor Natasha Campbell-McBride MD, MMedsci(neurology), MMedsi (nutrition)
All of those letters put into other words, she is a doctor who is also a medical scientist in the fields of neurology and nutrition.

Dr Campbell-Mcbride studied the relation between many of the neurological diseases (Autism, depression, dyslexia, ADHD, Crohns, Celiac etc.) and other digestion issues, made some amazing discoveries and healed her autistic son. She basically, goes through and shows you what to do to use the proper nutrition (in ways that a compromised and weakened body can handle) to heal the body of digestion problems and a lot of those neurological problems as well. Amazing right?
You can find the book on Amazon here.
Or see a website explaining more about the GAPS diet here:

So, like I said, essentially, she shows you how to heal your digestion. (from intolerance, food allergies, parasites, non-beneficial bacteria overgrowth, yeast overgrowth etc.) and helps you learn to feed your body the proper nutrition to heal not only your digestion, but so it has the building blocks to re-build the rest of your immune system, including a compromised neurological system, hence aiding greatly in the healing of those diseases.

Because I am someone with A) Multiple food allergies (and other digestive issues) and B) other chronic health issues. When I found someone who basically put every bit of research I had found valid over the many years of searching and studying concerning things that I had (as well as what many other people had) and what I should to to recover/heal from it... Iiiiii was pretty excited! She not only puts a lot of the medical research into fairly shirt-sleeve English, but she combined what I already knew and gives a step-by-step on what to heal from it.
My mother and I found this diet that basically teaches how to be healed from almost every food allergy, as well as parasites and such ( which I have fought with endlessly over the years) So that they don't come back. So, since it doesn't contradict most research I've done, (and actually supports practically all of it) you better believe that I am going to do it!

... Ok, sounds vaguely interesting, but kind of complicated, and NOT like a recipe, right?

Let me bottom line why I am telling you about all of this. *stands on a shoe box and proclaims * HENCEFORTH, All recipes on this blog (unless otherwise clearly stated) are going to be what I and my family have dubbed " GAPS friendly"! ^_^ They may not be * as* interesting to some of you. I apologize if that is the case, but I hope that many will still be... fairly interesting!
For anyone else wanting to heal from food allergies or digestive issues, or if you are otherwise wanting to implement the GAPS diet --
Here is the recipes for what I made and am making, so, if you wish, you can do them yourself. Also, at my new blog will be (a revised version of this post) AND the extent of my path and (a probably greatly simplified version of) the day-to-day happenings of living on the GAPS diet, as well the process of my gradual healing. I'm doing this in order for anyone wanting to do the GAPS diet themselves to see what I am doing, how it works, and what tips there are that I would give any fellow GAPSters from my journey towards a healthy- allergy free body. =)
*Woot!* =)

(P.S. for anyone actually starting the GAPS diet, I would also highly recommend the "GAPS GUIDE" book, as it is a bit more of a comprehensive guide to actually implementing the GAPS protocol. )