RECIPES

I often recommend the ‘healthful’ benefits of home-made bone broth, which makes a fantastic base for stews and soups, as it is full of nourishing substances. So why is bone broth so good for us ? 

Bone broth, which is easily digestible, essential, anti-inflammatory, gut healing nutrients such as amino acids the building blocks of protein, easily absorbable forms of minerals such as calcium, magnesium, sulphur, silicon, phosphorus and chondroitin, glucosamine & gelatin which have been released into the water as the bones have been simmered.

Can how this stock be so nutritious?

• A healthy gut and healthy digestion; the amino acid glycine stimulates the production of stomach acid and glutamine, another important amino acid which helps to maintain and restore the integrity of the gut lining. There is a strong link between gut health and overall health.
• Joint Health from the strengthening nutrients including chondroitin, glucosamine, magnesium and calcium, together with proteins (including gelatine

Here's another recipe that Baka, my Croatian Grandmother would make for us. Stuffed minced beef and mushroom pancakes - Delicious! 
Makes 4 - 6 servings

For the pancakes

• 2 eggs
• 110 g plain flour
• 300 ml semi-skimmed milk
• small pinch of salt
• a little sunflower oil for frying

1. Place the flour and salt into a large bowl.
2. Make a well in the centre of the flour.
3. Place the beaten egg and a small amount of milk into the centre and slowly incorporate into the flour. Either use a wooden spoon or a whisk. Gradually add more milk whilst incorporating more flour. Beat until smooth.
4. Leave the mixture to rest 30 minutes.

In the mean prepare your filling.

• 500 g minced beef
• 100 g mushrooms, (sliced)
• 1 onion- (finely chopped)
• 2 tsp paprika
• 50 ml of cream
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp oil  for frying

1. Fry the onions and mushrooms on a low heat in the cooking oil, until the onions are translucent. If they start sticking, add a splash of water to the pan.
2. Once cooked, pour the onions/mushrooms out of the

Try this delicious healing stewed apple recipe which is great for gut health and supporting the immune system. Apples are a pre-biotic

Recommended Apple intake is: 2-3 apples a day for 3-6 weeks then 1-2 a day there after. 

The Recipe:

Ingredients

• 6 Bramley cooking apples (or apples of choice preferably grown organically)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup raisins/sultanas (for added sweetness and fibre)
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Method

1. Wash, peel and core the apples and chop them into small pieces of similar size
2. Ideally keep some of the peel on the apples as apple peel contains minerals and fibre
3. Add the ingredients in a pan (ideally heavy-bottomed) and cover, cooking for approximately 15 minutes.
4. Stir regularly and cook until soft with rough shapes / until you can no longer see the apple slices
5. The stewed apples can be eaten warm or add to ramekins, cover and store in the fridge.

Additional Ingredients

To make these recipe even more healing, consider adding the following:

• Saccharomyces Boulardii (250mg capsule

I grew up having this wonderful soup, it is such a clean tasting, simple, nutritious soup. 
My Baka (My Croatian Grandmother) would regularly make this soup for the family. We would have it either as a starter before each meal or whenever anyone was ill.

Now I make it for my children, if anyone has a cold, the flu or just when one of us needs something nourishing and warming, it just hits the spot. They will ask for it if they’re not feeling well.

To me, it’s like a super soup, like medicine in a soup. I now realise that Baka was giving us a great digestive soup before eating our main course. 

There will be family variations to this recipe but this is how I have made it for years.

Ingredients

3 whole chicken legs
1 tablespoon oil
2-3 carrots
1 onion
2 celery sticks
3 litres of water
½ teaspoon pepper corns
1 tablespoon paprika ( optional)
2-3 bay leaves
Salt to taste

Fine pasta and parsley (optional)

I’ve checked with my mum and sister and they use the ingredients as listed above, however

Sprouted seeds are easy to grow, are cheap and produce nutritionally dense food. They are perfect for salads, nori rolls, sandwich fillings and can be added to smoothies, soups and so on. So read on to find out more and easy they are to grow..

Why sprout?

Sprouted seeds are a powerhouse of nutrients – naturally vitamin and mineral rich, high in phto-chemicals, colon-healthy fibre, detoxifying chlorophyll, moisture, enzymes and amino acids that your body needs to build complete proteins.

Eating sprouted seeds on a regular basis has been used by many civilisations for centuries as a means of improving digestion, combating tiredness and stress and promoting health.

What is sprouting?

Sprouting is another name for germinating – essentially the sprouting process results in a partially grown or young plants. The seeds are the most nutrient dense part of a plant and therefore a sprouted seed is an entire plant packed into a suitcase!

Seeds themselves are well protected as they are covered in enzyme