I’m from small-town Minnesota and from an early age, I adored being in the kitchen. I grew up in an era where children ate what was placed in front of them, so I figured out pretty quickly that I had a better shot of eating my favorites if I had a hand in their making.
I also grew up right at the edge of the transformation of American food, as the trend shifted away from home-cooked, whole ingredients and toward more processed, convenient, and fast food eating. I feel pretty lucky to have had one foot in each world, not because I think processed food is great, but because I understand the appeal of food designed to push all the flavor buttons without the effort of cooking AND I understand the reality: human animals need the real food we evolved to eat, just like any pet or animal in the wild, to be optimally energetic, slim, and healthy.
Food is delicious. Food is family. Food is fun.
Food is delicious. Food is family. Food is fun.
But food is primarily the source of nutrients our bodies use to build, run, and repair. Put bad fuel (sugar, industrial oils, flour) in the system, and you get bad results.
I don’t need to tell you that America is seeing a lot of bad results from our current food system! The price for outsourcing cooking and ingredients to corporations and fast food restaurants is high: diabetes, heart disease, cancer, obesity, dementia, and autoimmune disease are now common. Health care costs comprise an ever-increasing chunk of our budgets. Neither were true a couple of generations ago.
Many factors figure into health - stress, sleep, pollution, substance use, community, genetics - but no one eating poorly is vibrantly healthy for long.
And no packaged food or drug is going to change that.
I know that figuring out what to eat can seem complex and confusing. Food is tangled up in so many things: culture, politics, health care, relationships, money…basically everything. It’s both fascinating and maddening!
I understand the collective desire to check out and outsource.
But I’d like to suggest another option, somewhere between overwhelm and denial. I’d like us all to open our eyes, and see that the food that we eat - the way we fuel our bodies - can actually be simple, delicious, and nutritious.
If we’re willing to opt out of the current food system and cook most of our own food from whole ingredients, we really can have it all.
Yes, good old fashioned cooking is my solution to our very modern food and health problems. Please don’t stop reading quite yet!
I’ve come to think of it this way: like driving, grooming, or getting along with people, cooking is a necessary life skill.
I’m not talking about complicated, gourmet cooking by the way. Not at all.
I’m talking about super basic preparation of food that’s whole and tasty.
Meals based on a bounty of vegetables, meats, eggs, fish, fruits, nuts, and seeds, seasoned with healthy fats, herbs, spices, and condiments. Meals that leave you satisfied for hours. Meals you can prepare ahead and stash in the freezer for busy days. Meals you can make with your kids while teaching them how to cook and feed themselves. Meals that improve your health and weight and relationship with food.
How can we add fast, fresh flavor to real, nourishing food? How can we make it easy and fun? How can we keep or recover our health through cooking seriously nutritious food? I’ve been sharing my thoughts and experiments on my food blog, Fresh Tart, since 2006. I’ve shared how I’ve used food to heal myself and how along the way I’ve met so many wonderful friends.
Out of all of this thinking and cooking and experimenting and writing has emerged...Healing Green Broth.
What more fun, delicious way is there to get fast results from basic cooking than combining bone broth, greens, fresh herbs, healthy fat, and collagen protein into one superfood, vibrantly green, savory mug-o-yum? I can’t think of one!
The best part is that anyone can do it, it happens all the time. Do you know how happy it makes me to see someone post about making bone broth for the first time and loving it?
So unbelievably happy.
With my whole heart I believe in the power of cooking to transform health and then whole lives. I believe it because it’s happened to me and to so many people I’ve gotten to know on my cooking, healing, and teaching journey.
I am honored to share Healing Green Broth with you. Thank you for joining me on this adventure. I hope that we can reclaim cooking real food together and share the bounty with our friends and family. And have a hell of a lot of fun along the way.
