Saturday, August 26, 2017

Chicken Bone Broth

Chicken Bone Broth (in a CrockPot)! Not only is broth delicious, comforting, and versatile, when made from healthy chickens and veggies, it's one of the most nutrient-dense substances you can consume! The boxed store-bought concoction is NOT real broth, and the real stuff is SO easy to make - you can do this! Your body and wallet will thank you!

Bone broth contains all of the valuable amino acids, collagen, gelatin and trace minerals (like calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur, & others) that most of us are lacking in our diets, and bone broth helps support: joints, gut, skin, immune system, detoxification, metabolism. 

If you #alimade a #wholechickeninacrockpot, just put the bones back in the crockpot, add whatever: veggies & herbs (I use onion, celery, carrots, garlic, italian seasoning, bay leaves), chicken feet (clip the nails for more collagen), organs (though this makes the broth strong: beware). It's important to add at least 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (to draw out nutrients from the bones). Fill the pot with water, and cook on LOW for about 24 hours. The longer, the better, really; just keep adding water if needed. 

Then, when you're tired of waiting to kick-start your health, turn it off, let it cool, strain the broth, discard the bones & stuff (eat the veggies if you want), pour into jars or baggies, and freeze until you need it for a recipe or want to drink it (like I and my baby do every day!). There's so much information out there on the multitude of benefits from consuming broth, but one of my favorites is from Dr. Axe.


Consuming a little bit of broth a few times per week can add so much fuel to your body! Your organs, joints, skin, energy, and immunity will thank you! Go for it!!



Roasted Chicken in the Crockpot

Roasted Chicken in a Crockpot! This has become one of my favorite weeknight meals because it's easy, inexpensive, beautiful, nutritious, and delicious. 

Easy: the crockpot does most of the work, and since it keeps the bird moist, it's almost impossible to overcook it! Plus, the potatoes are cooked with the bird, all in one pot! You don't have to crisp up the chicken in the oven, but this step is the money-maker in my book. Do it. 

Inexpensive: I purchased this organic, free-range chicken at Natural Grocers for $11, and it fed my hubby, 2-year-old, and me for 2 meals, plus left overs for my pizza the next night! That's less than $2 per serving! People are often deterred from healthy eating because they have been led to believe that it has to be expensive. Nope! 

Beautiful: I mean, just look at this gorgeous bird! If your family doesn't like bone-in, just pull/shred the chicken before you serve like I do. 

Nutritious: meet off the bone has SO many nutrients that we are deficient in, including higher collagen and other essential fatty acids, and the skin from a humanely-raised and minimally processed chicken is also packed full of nutrients that help you recover and age amazingly. Buy and eat the whole bird! And save the bones to make broth (which I'll show you how to do in the next video!). 

Delicious: this method of cooking gives you tender, juicy meat with a crispy skin to feast on. Mouth watering yet? I didn't do this, but you could also make gravy from the juices in the crockpot. Boom.

Are you ready for a winner, winner, chicken dinner?! 

Sweet Potato Pizza Crust

Sweet Potato Pizza Crust!
This 3-ingredient recipe is the easiest, yummiest, most pizza-est healthy pizza crust I've EVER made (and I've made a LOT of pizza crusts, y'all)! Wednesday night is Pizza Night in our house, and for the longest time I sadly ate my lame, soggy cauliflower crust, or had to spend hours making crusts, or just gave up and ate left-overs. 😭 And that made hubby sad, which totally defeats the point of Pizza Night! But then I found this gem... Because you don't have to precook the sweet potato, this crust takes about 10 minutes to make, no joke, with ingredients you probably already have in the kitchen! It does require 30 minutes to bake, so I usually make the crusts, freeze them, and then pull them out for pizza night. 

I top mine with homemade pesto, pepperoni, leftover/frozen chicken or ground beef, goat cheese, garlic, and Italian seasoning.



We grill pizza on the smoker at or house, and 8-10 minutes crisps the pizza to perfection. Probably re best part is you can pick this crust up and hold it, like a store-bought pizza!

This will change your life! Or at least Pizza Night!


Roasted Okra

Roasted Okra! Roasting veggies is my favorite because it brings out such great flavors, and okra is adds some shock-and-awe because most of us have only had it fried in mass-produced, sad-battered chunks. 😞 But not anymore!

Drizzle olive oil on clean, dry whole okra (found at farmers markets or even most grocery stores), then sprinkle with some sea salt. If you're feeling festive, add garlic and Italian seasonings as well. 

Then roast for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees, tossing once somewhere in there (I often forget this and it still turns out great πŸ˜‰). You can grate some Parmesan or goat cheese over the top, or just serve plain. I often take left overs for a snack at work and just eat them cold. So good! Try it and let me know how much you love it! ❤️ 

What other veggies do you love this time of year?

Plantain Chips

Plantain Chips! You have GOT to try this microwave chip maker from Bed Bath & Beyond! Avoid the oil, artificial ingredients of the junk chips, and save a ton of $ over the "healthy chips" by making your own! 

In addition to plantain, I've also made chips from banana, potato, sweet potato, apple, carrot, and zucchini, but it seems that any fruit or veggie is up for grabs! 

These plantain chips are my favorite go-to road trip snack for my two-year-old, and I feel so good about letting her crunch away!

Order the kit for yourself and let me know how it goes! ❤️ 

Fermented Salsa!

Fermented salsa! **note: I tried a wide-angle lens and it totally jacked up the audio. But I still wanted to get this to you, so I had to lamely voice-over this whole thing. Sorry! ** Salsa is one the tastiest ways to eat lots of veggies (that I don't normally eat otherwise). To avoid the junk in store-bought brands and enjoy fresher and more local ingredients, make your own! Plus, fermenting allows the nutrients to become more bioavailable, and adds guthealthy probiotics, deeper flavor, and a fun fizz! 
For more benefits than I could ever articulate regarding fermentation, probiotics, and gut health, follow my fermenting mentor (or as I call him, my "fer-mentor") @jaredsprobiotics. His website www.jaredspropops.com is a huge source of all things digestion. His list of 75 fermented recipes is where I found this gem! 
Back to the salsa, if you don't have a food processor (or just want a hand workout) you can chop all these veggies. If you're not into whey (or if Miss Muffet are all yours), at least 2Tbsp salt should do the trick to ferment. Make sure to tightly seal the jar, and let it sit at room temp for at least 3 days to ferment. 
Otherwise, adjust this recipe to your supplies or heat-tolerance. Try it atop eggs or pulled chicken, or of course with your favorite chips or any Mexican dish!  πŸ’ƒπŸΌπŸ’ƒπŸΌπŸ’ƒπŸΌ



Spaghetti Squash in the Crockpot

Spaghetti (Squash) in a CrockPot! I looooove spaghetti, but 1: Regular spaghetti noodles do bad things to the body, 2: Gluten-free noodles do bad things to my taste buds, 3: The prep and clean-up can be SUCH a mess. This one-pot recipe solves all those problems! Spaghetti Squash will blow your mind if you've never tried it before - when cooked right, the consistency really is just like spaghetti!
Now, you can roast spaghetti squash (400 degrees for 30 min or so), which I love, but the ease of #crockpotlife makes this busy mom go hallelujah (in Italian)! 🍝




Thursday, August 10, 2017

Ground beef... in a Crockpot!

Today #AliMade Ground beef... in a crockpot! This kitchen hack just dawned on me a couple weeks ago, and it's a huge time saver, especially if you brown ground beef in bulk (to freeze and use for various recipes) like I do! Once you start utilizing your crockpot for everyday tasks, you'll wonder how much of your like you spent splattered in grease over the skillet! πŸ³ 

I like to buy a bazillion pounds of grass-fed ground beef when it's on sale from Sprouts, or when I can buy a portion of a cow from my uncle or a farmer, and store the meat in the deep freezer. 

As a working mom, my crockpot is easily my favorite kitchen appliance. πŸ™ŒπŸ»In fact, my dream kitchen has a huge (I'm talking 10-quart) crockpot - that converts to a wok and and skillet and grittle - built into the counter. Does something like this exist??? Comment below if you've tried this or any other time saver with your crockpot! How did it turn out?

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Cashew-Macadamia Nut Butter

Cash-damia Nut Butter! This smooth, sweet yet nutty spread is one of my favorite foods to eat with apple slices, celery, pancakes (recipe soon!), or just on a spoon. 🀀Macadamia nuts are one of the -if not THE- healthiest nuts around, with all kinds of nutrients and a super omega ratio (see @drjoshaxe 's site for impressive health benefits that'll make you ditch your almonds). They're kinda pricy, so paring them with cashews makes this spread more economical as well as more nutty flavored and creamy.


If you tried to buy a jar of this nut butter, you may spend up to $20 per jar 😱, but you can make it for about $6 (if you buy nuts when they're on sale πŸ˜‰). Don't be daunted by the 24-hour soak time (I recommend this with all nuts) and the 15 min in the processor - you can DO this, and it's so worth it! But if you don't have a food processor (or the time), you could buy mine! πŸ˜‰ The next best thing to homemade is AliMade. πŸ’—



Saturday, August 5, 2017

AliMade a Change to Her Blog!

I'm so excited to start this new adventure!  I make 60-second video tutorials on healthy meals, snacks, drinks, and hacks to help you make your own food, feel awesome, and have fun! Follow me on instagram (@ali_made_in_60) and on Facebook for more daily videos and tidbits, but here is where I'll post the recipes (printable versions, woo!) and other insights!

Beware if you read the posts of my past... though you may glean some insight of my digestive journey, please understand that I have grown a LOT since my last insanely stressed posts of 2012! :) 

I'm convinced that the Lord has brought me though a plethora of maladies so that I can empathize with almost anything. I also believe that He made us to be resilient, self-healing organisms who can live life to the full with Him and the right fuel (adequate food, sleep, stress, movement, and love). :)

I love requests, suggestions, and feedback! How can I help YOU feel great?

"Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God. It is the quickening of the conscience by his holiness; the nourishment of mind with his truth; the purifying of imagination by his beauty; the opening of the heart to his love; the surrender of will to his purpose -- all this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable." ~William Temple