Beautiful & Bountiful Blessings...

I am so grateful for the Bountiful and Beautiful Blessings of this earth.

As I sit here and eat my lunch I can't help but be filled with love and gratefulness for all that our Mother Earth provides for us, for me, who has been struggling so much with my health. As I have taken my own digestive health struggles into my own hands, throughout the years I have found many answers and figured out many things that have made me so grateful for life. Yes, it has been so painful, hard, I wanted to give up, but I was never going to stop fighting and I am winning. Throughout these years I have read and read and read many many books about food, about our bodies, about good health, about being positive, about respecting and loving ourselves, about serving, about loving, about finding peace, about being strong, about having no more than we need.

This humble bowl of chicken soup means so much to me. For me to prepare food for myself I have to do most of it the old fashioned way. But, it's providing me with the best nourishment and strength that so many foods just don't do because my body can't digest and absorb the nutrients properly. At one point I was eating oatmeal for two months straight. Everything else hurt quite bad. I lost a crazy amount of weight, which for those of you who know me, would understand how bad that is and I love to make and eat all kinds of foods. 

But after much prayer, walking in faith, reading and learning, talking, and just plain going out and doing I am slowly making progress and can't wait for the day when I really take off because yes, one day I will be stronger than I ever have been because of this experience. One day I will reach the top of my mountain. I will look down and remember how hard I fought to get to the top, how much I struggled, how I wanted to give up, how I fell and fell and fell, but got up again and again and again, to keep moving, to keep putting one foot in front of the other and...

How beautiful my view is becoming each and every new day.

We have a such a beautiful earth and it provides all that we need. Just by glancing around I know that there is a Great Creator above and that He is all loving, knowing, powerful, and giving. As I make my own homemade bone broth out of organic humanely raised chickens to use the bones and meat and cut and chop the vegetables I can eat and drop the tasty herbs in I am so thankful! I have a deep love of this land and will continue to walk in beauty. 

Follow here on how to start learning and making your own bone broth at...The Wellness Mama.
The nutrients it provides our bodies is astounding, especially the things it does for small growing children.

My Soup:

• I bought two organic whole chicken and baked them, separated all the meat from the bones. Used some meat for dinner and then put then rest in the freezer for future meals.
• I use my awesome Instant Pot to make my bone broth: added carcasses and bones of the chicken, also added some carrots, parsley, sea salt, and a little bit of ACV (apple cider vinegar), and filled with filtered water.
• After my broth was done I let it cool down and when completley cooled I put in the fridge overnight to let the fat solidify at the top for me to take it off with a mini hand held strainer. (I can't handle that much fat, so if you can handle it enjoy it!)
• I chopped up a little bit of celery, some carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, and more parsley. (Put carrots in first to cook a little bit longer along with the parsley to get more flavor, and then add in other veggies according to how fast they cook.)
• Put chicken meat in near the end, so it won't over cook because rubbery chicken is never pleasant.
• I made some rice or you can add pre-boiled noodles in very last. They will soak up a ton of the broth if not cooked before.
• Add sea salt to taste. 

***You should add lots of other veggies like garlic and onions for more flavor. Sadly, these two things are on my no no list because they contain fructans in levels too high for my body to process. 

***Change up your herbs and spices to see which are your favorite. I love thyme, oregano, basil, rosemary, turmeric, and much more. But just not all in the same pot ;)

Enjoy!