Hi and welcome to Wholicious. Today’s episode is one of my favorite topics ever. Gut health baby. I’m Amber Caudle professional chef, holistic lifestyle advocate, and your host of the show Wholicious. And this is my best girl Sadie. I will help and coach you on how to have a healthy relationship with food in your body.

What’s Our 2nd Brain?

Our gut is considered our second brain? 

Your vagus nerve is the nerve that goes directly from your gut to your brain and is responsible for healthy communication between your gut and brain. But it also controls almost every aspect of digestion. If your gut is unhealthy and suffering from any gastric issues or leaky gut, this can affect your mental health and emotions as it did for me for almost 30 years. Along with gut healing delicious recipes that I’ll show you later on in my Wholicious kitchen, you can also watch my episode with my guests, Dr. G. We talk a lot about gut health and make sure you check my episodes specifically on immune boosters if you haven’t already. 

Visualization Technique

Okay, so today, we’re going to use a fire visualization technique that will activate your self healing powers. The only side effect I’ve experienced visualization is that it will create a new self image and increase your self esteem and inner freedom. Sometimes I do a quick one in the morning for a couple of minutes after my meditation or sometimes I’ll do it before bed. Okay, so before we start, before we pick our intention, I like to clear my space clear the energy. So right here I’ve gotten some sage. 

Sage

Sage is really great to clear any unwanted energy. I like to light my sage sick, and then kind of just clear around me all over my body, any other energies that are kind of like stuck on me that need to be cleared. 

Palo Santo

And then what brings in the energy is Palo Santo. So palo santo ring and some nice beautiful energy. So I like to light this after I light my sage. And as I’m getting ready to pick my intention. 

Select Your Intention

So today, because our episode is all about gut health. My intention today is going to be to have perfect elimination and perfect digestion. And because so many people, including myself have struggled with constipation in the past, I think this is a really great intention. So you’re going to sit in a comfortable position, you can sit in a chair, you can sit on the floor cross legged, you can close your eyes and you’re going to take your hands and you’re going to place your hands right over your belly button. 

Now we’re really going to focus on the solar plexus which is about three inches above the belly button. Okay, so start to take some deep breaths in and out of your nose, exhaling out of your mouth and really start to picture a warm fire a warm light in your solar plexus. Really growing with every breath that you’re taking. 

You can start to visualize feeding and fueling your body with the right foods. You can take a couple seconds really sitting in quiet, having gratitude for your strong beautiful body. After you finish for 2, 10, 30 minutes visualization, I like to sit with my palms face up on my knees. Ah I take a couple deep breaths to finish my meditation visualization, really allowing my mind body and my soul to connect and really allowing any clarity or insight that wants to come in. 

Today’s Episode

Our fire visualization is a good foundation to now jump into my Wholicious kitchen and start on dishes that are going to support a healthy gut. Okay, this is a bone broth episode, which is my favorite thing to talk about. We’re going to start with bone broth. Then we’re going to make a creamy blueberry bone broth jello smoothie. I know it sounds weird, but it’s amazing. And then we’re going to make cauliflower rice with bone broth with a soft cooked egg, peas and a bunch of herbs. Okay, before we get started, the equipment we need today is a crock pot and of course my handy Vitamix. 

What is the #1 Thing I Use for My Gut Health?

Bone broth.

Gut Microbiome

Let’s talk about our gut microbiome. So all of the healthy good bacteria in our gut is responsible for absorbing and storing all the minerals and the nutrients that we need in our body. This means that we have a healthy gut flora, which will help us fight inflammation in the gut. So I drink bone broth every single day. So let’s jump in and get started. And I’ll go over a little bit more of the benefits because I can talk bone broth seriously all day long. 

What Causes an Unhealthy Gut, Unbalanced Flora?

Processed food, lots of sugar, too much alcohol, too much caffeine, not enough fiber.

Bone Broth: Step One

Now, I’m going to use a crock pot today. It’s easier, we’re going to cook this for 24 hours, we’ll put it on low and you can walk away and go. So we’re going to first talk about the bones. Okay, don’t be creeped out, because we’re using some chicken feet today. These little guys are a little creepy, but they’re loaded with collagen. So we’ve got organic chicken feet, and I’m also using some beef Morrow bones, you can also use any cut of beef bones that you can find at your butcher. But it’s really, really important that you find pasture-raised, grass fed, organic beef bones. You don’t want to make a bone broth when your bones are dirty. So really pay attention to where you’re sourcing your bones. That’s a big, big thing. This is so easy. It’s a little bit of a labor of love. But getting started is very easy. 

So what I’m gonna do, so I’m going to put all my chicken feet and all these bones in my crock pot here. Okay. All right, then, the key and the tip is for bone broth, is pour your water where it’s about one inch above the bones. Okay, I’m going to do that nestled even here. Perfect. All right. 

Next, I’m going to use some apple cider vinegar. So the apple cider vinegar helps extract the minerals and the nutrients from the bones. Really important. I’m going to do about two teaspoons. Okay. And then I’m going to do about one teaspoon of sea salt. So I’ll just do that. Alright, so that looks good. Let me show you. See how I have the water just right above the bones. Okay, that’s going to cook on low for 24 hours. Peek at it after about 12 hours and if the water looks like it’s resting right under the bones, just go ahead and add a little bit more water. Depending on the strength of your crock pot and how hot your crock pot is. You don’t want too much of the water to boil down. Okay, so 24 hours, bam. 

Step Two

Okay, this is step one. Step two, after 24 hours, I then take this and I strain the bone. So I’ve already done this. And now here I have my strained hot bone broth. So my bone broth is going to go in the refrigerator for 24 hours. And what’s going to happen is in the morning, you’re going to have this thick layer of fat, which is actually the beginning of making tallow. This is actually really, really healthy fat to cook with and the fat rises. And then what you can do is with your spoon is kind of pull away the fat it’s so easy, just like this. Okay, and I actually like to save this fat and use it for cooking my fish and meat and it’s delicious for cooking eggs. And, you know, cooking with oils is such an important topic too. This is such a healthy oil and fat to cook with because it won’t burn and turn toxic in our body. Okay, so I’m scraping the fat and I’m left with all this jello. Look at this bone broth jello. This makes me so excited. 

So about six months ago at my restaurant at Hermosa Beach, The Source Cafe, I decided, you know what, what is a way that I can get bone broth in to some of my customers that are kind of terrified of bone broth that they don’t like the flavor. So I was like, What about a bone broth jello smoothie? I know it sounds so weird. But it’s become kind of famous and it’s a daily drink of mine. 

Why Do I Drink Bone Broth Y’all?

A happy gut, happy brain. Okay, so there’s one. Two great for hair, skin and nails helps repair the lining of the gut. High in available minerals and nutrients. Loaded of course with protein. It’s high in glycine. And glycine is an amino acid that actually helps with sleep and with depression. And glutathione which is the body’s master antioxidant. Very high in that. So you’re getting all these amino acids instead of taking pills or protein powders.

Bone Broth Jello Recipe

So we’re gonna get right in here, we’re gonna put about a cup of the bone broth jello. And you’ll notice that at the bottom of the bone broth, there’s a bunch of the marrow and stuff. And this is actually really, really amazing. There’s so many amino acids and vitamins and y’all if you’re feeling sick, you’re fighting a cold, get into the bone broth. Then I’m going to do about one cup of blueberries. I’ve done frozen mango. It’s delicious with frozen mango and frozen strawberries, but I really prefer the blueberries. 

Collagen

I’m actually adding a little bit more collagen because I want about 40 grams of protein in this. So this is grass fed Vital Proteins is the brand and I love it and it’s clean and so I like to add a little bit more collagen to it. 

Cinnamon

I’m adding cinnamon. One because it’s my favorite and it tastes amazing. But two, it’s really great for fighting inflammation and great for circulation. And I do have to say that if you’re sensitive to the bone broth flavor that the cinnamon will hide it a little bit. 

Low Sugar

And then we do need just a little bit of either maple, raw honey or stevia. And to keep this low glycemic and no sugar, I’m going to do a little bit of just a couple drops of organic stevia right there. And then for the fat because actually, bone broth is not a high high fat product because we’re scraping all the fat from the top. It’s loaded with protein and minerals and vitamins. And it does have a little fat, but I want this to be really nice and balanced with the fiber, protein and fat and it’s going to make it so creamy. So I’m going to do a big scoop of avocado. And we’re gonna blend, okay, and you’re gonna see how freaking creamy and delicious this is. Okay, let’s see, I’m so excited for you to try this. 

Look at this. And the first time I made this in front of my friends, I thought I was crazy and then tasted it was like, “Oh my gosh, I cannot believe how good this tastes.” And I’m telling you, you can’t even taste the bone broth. Like it really is an amazing way to sneak it in. Look at this. Look how creamy it is. It’s fluffy. It’s like a mousse. Oh my gosh, obsessed. It’s so good. I drink this every day and people comment all the time. Oh my god your skin you’re glowing? Well, you know what glowing from the inside out, nourishing and fueling our bodies with the right food right, but collagen baby bone broth. So super jazzed to share that with you. 

Cauliflower Rice Recipe

Next we’re going to make cauliflower rice and I want to show you how to make cauliflower rice using our bone broth jello. Now first, what we’re going to do is we’re going to actually use some of that fat that I scraped off from the bone broth, might as well and use it to cook our cauliflower in. So I’m going to put a couple tablespoons in there. Yep, that’s great. And then I’m going to add our cauliflower rice. Now I rice this in the food processor, but I usually get lazy myself at home and I just buy it frozen, or you can buy it non frozen. They have both options at the grocery store. If you don’t want to rice it yourself. This is going to take under 15 minutes. I’m gonna give this a little stir. We’re just going to brown the rice cauliflower for about 30 seconds to a minute. 

Seasonings

Okay, and I’m going to add all of our spices. We’ve got cumin, paprika, and add a little crushed red pepper. And put all that in there. Alright, perfect. And now we’re going to use our bone broth jello. So I’ve got about a cup and a half here. We’ll add our jello. I’m going to add some fresh oregano. I’m going to turn this down now to about medium low and add a little squeeze of lemon. Okay, now we’re gonna cover this for about 10 to 12 minutes. Okay, we’re gonna let this baby cup. 

What Does Soft Boil Mean? 

I boil the water, add the eggs and set my timer for six minutes. And then as soon as that timer goes off, it’s really important that you have a small bowl with ice water. And you take your egg and you put it in the ice bath and immediately stop cooking. That way you get a really nice medium yolk.

Sexy Runny Yolk

So let me show you. Oh my gosh, look at that. How it’s a little bit runny. Oh my gosh, so good. This is how I eat all my eggs. Okay, we’re going to finish this cauliflower rice today with a little bit of red wine vinegar, some fresh parsley and some peas. So right here I’ve got about one and a half cups of frozen peas. And the reason I add my peas at the end is because I don’t want them to turn to mush. And I still like to have like a little bit of crunch to the pea, okay? Perfect. That is cooking, baby. Okay, all right. So let’s add our peas here. I’m also going to finish this with a bunch of fresh parsley. Okay, I’m going to finish with a little drizzle about two teaspoons of red wine vinegar. That’s about it. I don’t really measure. This looks amazing. So I’m going to let this go for about 30 more seconds. Okay, great. So I’m going to finish it with a little squeeze of lemon. 

I’m loving it. It smells delicious. And all right, I’m gonna get going a little bit. We Oh yeah. Perfect. I’m going to put our egg right on top. I mean that’s sexy. A runny yolk is so sexy. I’m going to take a little bit of more parsley leaves, and I’m going to put some parsley on top like this. And I’m going to do a nice drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, right across the egg. Oh yeah, pinch of Malden seasalt right here, and then sumach sumach. If you’ve been watching my episodes, I basically put it on everything. It’s a shrub and it will add a nice lemony zing. And I’m going to put that right there across the egg, just like that. And that’s it. Oh my gosh, check out this amazing cauliflower rice with bone broth, peas, fresh oregano, parsley, and that six minute egg. You can eat this warm, you can eat this cold, you can add this to your eggs in the morning. Really delicious. If you want to add any sauteed meat to this, you can serve this with some roasted fish on top if you don’t want the egg. There’s so many options. 

So I hope you got inspired today and learned a ton about gut health and how to take care of your gut. I can’t wait to know how you love the bone broth smoothie. Subscribe to my channel and comment below because I love staying connected with you especially if you have any questions. Okay, I’ll see you next time. Bye!