Beef Bone Broth (Keto friendly)

Its Monday, and for us that means a “fasting” day, so we made up a batch of Beef Bone Broth to help sustain us. On my blog and Instagram people always comment on my photos of delicious food and say “How can you eat like this and not get fat!?”

Our secret is intermittent fasting. For us this means 8 hours of eating and 16 hours of fasting. We prefer to stop eating at 8 pm and start again 16 hours later at 12:00 noon. We do this 5 days out of 7. We do this because, after all, we are living in Italy where the cappuccino and cornetto (cornetto is a breakfast pastry like a croissant) is part of the daily ritual. Part of living in Italy is to enjoy life and a cornetto and cappuccino is both a social part of life and an enjoyable part of life! So me must partake at least twice a week!

This is what I love about the fasting life style. You aren’t restricting everything you eat, like “I can’t have carbs or sugar or wheat or fat” We can eat it all, just not during certain times. I have been doing this type of fasting for over two years now and it has enabled me to eat what I want and maintain my weight.

Recently my husband got serious about losing weight. He lost 25 pounds and 4 inches around his waist. I also lost around 10 pounds. We did this by “upping” our fasting times. My husband went on a four day fast that really catapulted his weight loss.  During this time he only had black coffee or tea, apple cider vinegar, water and beef bone broth. I did the fast also, but I had a nice dinner each night. So I lost less than my husband, but still significantly.

Since then we have practiced the 5-2 fasting which is eating regularly for 5 days a week and doing a 24 hour fast for 2 days a week. We do this while still doing the 16/8, in other words, not eating breakfast. Other than skipping breakfast, we eat normally every day of the week and twice a week we fast for 24 hours. For us, it is Monday and Wednesday. We stop eating on Sunday evening, for example, and start eating again by eating dinner on Monday. Dinner is our only meal of the day on those two fasting days.

Its very important while fasting that you do not eat the slightest calorie. Not sugar or honey in your coffee, not an orange or juice or even a breath mint. This will spike your blood sugar and make you ravenously hungry! If you remain in a fasting state you should not get shaky or a headache or feel spacey. You may feel hunger in your stomach but not in your head. Sometimes in the beginning when you are getting used to fasting you may experience more drastic symptoms but most bodies will adjust to this new eating schedule. If you are hungry, drink water and wait 20 minutes, it will pass. You can do it!!!

Eating like this is good for your body, it gives your organs a rest and isn’t as hard as you would think. It’s actually the best diet because it saves you money on groceries, saves time in cooking and prep and allows you to eat gloriously on all other days of the week. If you want to learn more about Intermittent fasting, here is a good YouTube video on fasting from Jason Fung.

Beef Bone Broth plays an important role in this fasting. It gives you vital minerals and collagen and health benefits from old fashioned slow cooked foods.

Of course we aren’t doctors and can’t advise people on their particular needs or constitutions. Fasting may not be for everyone but it works for us. If you are interested in trying Beef Bone Broth for fasting or any other health reason or even just for a good stock base, here is our recipe:

Beef Bone Broth

Ingredients:

2-3 beef bones (see your local butcher or some grocery store sell them if you inquire about it)

3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

celery, carrots, onions, garlic

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions:

Roast the beef bones in a 400 degree oven until golden brown, about 30 minutes. It will make your house smell delicious! Add chopped vegetables and continue roasting for an additional 20 minutes.

Place the roasted bones and vegetables  in a large stock pot and add vinegar. Stir to coat. Add water to cover and add salt and pepper.

Use a pressure cooker to reduce cooking time to about four hours. Otherwise if you are cooking it in a normal pot it will cook for 8 hours or longer. It is important to extract all of the marrow and minerals from the bones.

You will know it is right when you pour the broth into a glass jar and refrigerate. The next day it should have congealed and look like gelatin, this means you were successful!

Enjoy the comforting warmth of a dense rich beef broth during your fast. Just preparing it will be a comfort!

Sip your warm broth while dreaming the fabulous dinner you will eat later that evening!