Eating with the Seasons: Nourishing Stock

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October 22, 2024

Technology allows us the luxury of buying almost any food all year round.

After generations of easy availability, we have become disconnected from the rhythm of the seasons. We begin to believe that, without modern technology and supermarkets, we would be unable to feed ourselves.

But we belong in the cycles we see all around us on and in the Earth. All around us, we can find the wisdom of our ancestors if we're willing to pay attention. Eating with the seasons reconnects us with the health of nature's original design.

This is the time of year to make use of produce that stores well: potatoes, squashes, apples, onions, carrots, garlic, beans, and legumes. We should be making comfort foods that warm the kitchen, our hearts, and our bodies. It's time to cook chili, quiche, oatmeal, pies, roasted chicken, beef, pork, and lamb. Bones from the roasts will make nutrient-dense stock. And the stock is a base for an endless variety of soups.

My go-to reference for stocks and broths is Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. You can find many of her recipes on the Weston. A. Price website.

I start my stock with the first frost and keep it rolling until spring, simmering it every day, replacing old bones with new ones from the roasts that I save from dinner.

My grandmother used to soak the bones in vinegar before she made stock. I’m not sure if she knew why, but she never skipped this step. I know now that the vinegar helps to extract the minerals from the bones as the stock simmers.

When it’s finished, the broth is rich with minerals and all that’s left of the bones is a hollow, brittle matrix that crumbles under the gentle pressure of your fingers.

Sometimes I drink a cup of plain broth with salt. It has collagen, glucosamine, chondroitin, and hyaluronic acid, all playing a role in healing the gut, repairing joints, and promoting healthy skin, hair, and nails.

Other times I drink it with a meal. As a hydrophilic colloid, it aids digestion by attracting and drawing digestive juices to food in the gut.

Once or twice during the season, I change from a poultry-based stock to a red meat stock, or vice versa. That’s when I make soup from the old broth in order to empty the stockpot for the change of bones. I eat some right away and freeze the rest for later.

Keeping stock handy during the cold season is an effective way to enhance your immune system in
case you come across any toxins that you need to clear. What a delicious way to stay well!

May you be deeply nourished.
- Susan

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Seasons Change

Seasons do change; that is the way God designed the natural world to work. What season are you in?

Why Choose Fermented Foods?

My grandparents on my father’s side used to make sauerkraut in wooden barrels in the basement. My mother’s side made cheese and salami. I could smell these concoctions throughout the entire house. Fermenting is part of your national heritage, no matter your family’s country of origin. Alongside nourishing grass-fed/grass-finished pastured meats like Polyface raises, every person should include real fermented foods into their diet. This method of food preservation goes back farther than most realize, reconnecting us with ancient traditions, long before the refrigerator-freezer was invented. Every culture consumed something fermented every day. Here are the reasons why I like fermented foods. Fermentation preserves food without using high pressure, high heat, or chemicals, so it both conserves and increases them. The nutritional value of fermented foods lies mostly in the pro-biotic bacteria that are present, and byproducts of their digestion. The bacteria’s digestive “waste” is a collection of vitamins, enzymes, and co-factors needed for every system of the body. These include: Vitamins B1, B6, B12, C, and K2 Superoxide dismutase (SOD, an antioxidant) GTF chromium (assists sugar metabolism) Glutathione (a potent detoxifier) Phospholipids (cell membrane building blocks) Digestive enzymes Beta 1,2 glucans (present in shiitake mushrooms; modulates immune system) Fermentation neutralizes or eliminates these: Phytic acid (present in seeds, nuts, beans, legumes) Enzyme inhibitors (also present in seeds, nuts, beans, legumes) Nitrites Prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide) Oxalic acid (binds minerals) Nitrosamines (known carcinogen) Glucosides Probiotics and enzymes in whey neutralize phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors, allowing your digestion to access the nutrients in the food. Enzymes are proteins. Proteins are delicate molecules with very complex structure and shape. The structure of the enzyme gives it its function. Without structure and form, the enzyme will not do its job of catalyzing biochemical reactions. Without enzymes, biochemical reactions would cease. Enzymes are denatured (unraveled or broken down) by high pressure, high heat, acidic conditions, toxic chemicals, and electrical disturbances. Once denatured, they lose their form and shape, therefore they lose their function. Unlike canning and commercial processing, fermenting occurs at atmospheric pressure and room temperature, encouraging beneficial bacteria to thrive. Temperatures above 117 degrees Fahrenheit denature enzymes and kill probiotic bacteria. If you wonder what 117 degrees feels like, it’s the temperature at which you cannot touch an object with your bare hands and hold it for a few seconds. If it’s hot, but you can still touch and hold it in your hand and not pull away, it’s under 117 degrees. This innate protection mechanism (i.e., reflex) prevents your own protein (i.e., skin on your finger) from being denatured. It’s also a good indicator of when your food is hot enough to kill probiotics and denature enzymes. For best results, fermented foods must be eaten raw, never hot or cooked. Fermented foods are safe and protective against pathogens. USDA scientist Roger McFeeters, who oversees a fermentation laboratory, says, “The lactobacilli can number a billion per gram of tissue at the height of fermentation. The bad bacteria can't compete." According to McFeeters, lacto-fermentation has caused no known food-borne illness. "As far as we know, it's been going on for thousands of years. It's perfectly safe.” The sauerkraut that my grandparents made had a layer of raw pork chops embedded in the salted cabbage. When the sauerkraut was done, you could safely eat the pork chops raw! They were pre-digested by the bacteria, and “cooked" by the organic acids in the kraut. Probiotics prevented pathogens from establishing. None of us ever got food poisoning. My grandmother lived to be 100. Fermented foods have anti-carcinogenic properties. They normalize blood pressure and heart rate, help to break down fat in the liver, and maintain healthy systemic pH. And they are quite tasty. In the supermarket, look for fermented foods in the refrigerated section, not on the shelf with canned foods. Shelf-stable canned foods were subjected to high temperatures. The probiotics and enzymes have been denatured. Look for “live cultures” or “live probiotics” on the label. Eat something lacto-fermented every day, like your ancestors did. Just a tablespoon or two of sauerkraut or an ounce or two of cheese is enough to have the desired effect. Choose a salad dressing made with raw apple cider vinegar, or a tablespoon of a fermented condiment such as ketchup, mustard, or mayonnaise. Try a fermented beverage, like kombucha, beet kvass, or ginger ale. (Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon has some great recipes for all of these.) The original condiments were digestive aids. They’re easy to make. Try it. May you be deeply nourished! Susan

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Eating with the Seasons: Nourishing Stock

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Seasons Change

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