January Whole30: Clarified Butter and Broth

Clarified Butter

Last year, I had the hardest time finding Organic Valley® Ghee at my local grocery stores. I made several trips to Sprouts hoping to find it restocked only to discover an empty shelf spot. Recently, I made my own clarified butter and Holy Cow I did not realize how easy it is to make!

1. Use two sticks of unsalted butter.
2. Melt butter in a small saucepan on low heat - very important that it is low heat. 
3. The milk solids will start to separate and rise to the top. 
4. Skim off as much of the milk solids as possible. 
5. Pour into a bowl and let cool for about 5 minutes.
6. The milk solids will drop to the bottom as it cools. 
7. Slowly pour the clarified butter into a jar. 
8. Be careful not to pour the milk solids in the container. It's better to leave some clarified butter behind than to have the milk solids mix into the butter. 
9. Done! Two sticks of butter results in about 8 ounces of clarified butter. Store in the fridge for up to a month. 

Instant Pot Turkey Broth

Now that I have a decent amount of clarified butter, my next prep item is Turkey broth. This can also be done with a chicken but I'm using my leftover Thanksgiving Turkey carcass. Today is (unusually) warm for Denver in December so I've decided to make my broth using my Instant Pot® rather than the stove method which radiates heat in my house for hours.

Tip - freeze celery, carrots, or other vegetables for future broth making. 

                                       
Ingredients
Cooked Turkey or Chicken carcass
Celery
Carrots
1 Onion
Herbs* - Thyme, Rosemary, Bay leaves (Optional - Parsley)         
1 tbs Kosher Salt
Pepper
4-6 cloves of Garlic
1 tbs Apple Cider Vinegar
Water
*If you don't have fresh herbs, substitute 1 tsp of dried for each.

Instructions

Gather frozen ingredients. I'm using half of my Thanksgiving Turkey carcass, some frozen celery, and some frozen carrots. 

Place all of the vegetables into the Instant Pot®.

Add the carcass, herbs, seasoning, and apple cider vinegar.

Fill with water to the 12 cup mark.

Cook on Manual for 30 minutes. When done, allow to depressurize naturally.

Strain contents through a colander to remove the large items and use with a fine mesh strainer a few times to remove the smaller items.

Place bowl of broth in the fridge overnight to allow the fat to rise. Skim off as much fat from the top as possible.

Store in freezable containers. Do not fill to the top because the expanding broth can cause jars and containers to break which is a mess and annoying!

Stock-up Deals

This week King Soopers had my favorite stock-up deals. Boneless, skinless chicken breast and chicken tenders were Buy One Get One Free so I bought a few packs of breasts and tenders to freeze for future use. Saag's® sausage was also on sale for $4.99 which wasn't a huge deal but then I found a $2 off ecoupon on the King Soopers app dropping the price to $2.99! But be careful because the Chicken Bratwurst is compliant while the Chicken Apple Bratwurst is not.

Love my broth containers? Check in next week for my list of Whole30® kitchen must haves. 

~Cheers,

Staci

January Whole30: Prepping for Success

It's that time of year! The time of holiday parties, of grabbing a few drinks with visiting friends, and of tasting all the delicious goodies delivered to the office. What's a few bites here and there, right? As a foodie, this is my FAVORITE time of year. Unfortunately, my metabolism and body aren't quite in agreement. Can we talk about the realness of a slower metabolism after 30???  Despite my efforts to be mindful and healthy during the holidays, my social brain takes over my healthy brain and I over indulge....every.single.year.

Since 2014, I have been attempting (and occasionally completing) a January Whole30®. I like the structure of the program, the community support, and the challenge. Luckily, after 4 years I now have a few tips and tricks to share.

One Month Before Starting a Whole30®

Establish a community - It's not completely necessary to do this with people you know but there are several internet support communities. Start browsing Facebook groups and/or Instagram accounts and follow the informative ones. There have been many days when a stranger posted a funny, relatable meme which motivated me to push through the day's struggles and temptations.

Review the Rules - Before I start collecting recipes, I refresh my knowledge of the rules. The Whole30® website has a straightforward and detailed list of the rules. I make a quick yes/no list for easy reference which I post on my fridge and save to my iPhone notes.

Gather recipes - Pinterest is a brilliant site for collecting compliant recipes from a variety of sources. (Link to my Whole30 board) I also love to skim through my Paleo cookbooks for inspiration. Local libraries are another great collection of cookbooks.


My Paleo Cookbooks:
America's Test Kitchen Paleo Perfected
The Frugal Paleo Cookbook
Zenbelly Cookbook
Mediterranean Paleo Cooking

Look for Stock-Up Deals - When I first tried a Whole30®, I went to the grocery store the Sunday before my start date and bought a massive load of groceries. It was expensive and overwhelming. This year, weeks prior to my start date, I'm scanning the grocery store weekly ads and deals for stock-up items. Freezing meats ahead of time reduces my grocery costs during a Whole30®. This week I found a Buy One Get One Free deal on pork loin chops and a pork shoulder roast for $0.99/lb! Because what's a Whole30® without cooking at least one Nom Nom Paleo Kahlua Pork, am I right? 

Other stock-up deals to watch for:

• La Croix® - Buy when it's around $2/12 pack
• Larabars - Buy when it's less than $1 a bar 
• 505 Southwestern Green Chile Salsa - Buy when it's around $3/jar
• Olive oil, Coconut oil and Ghee

"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." ~Benjamin Franklin

Check back in for my next post about broth and stock preparation. 

~Cheers,

Staci