HCG 2.0 Recipe - Homemade Bone Broth

The recipe was actually inspired by Dr. Zach. He spent a year in Vietnam seeing patients and never shut up about the Pho. When he came home, he showed me how to make it. This particular recipe is only a quick guide for making the beef bone broth which is the base for Vietnamese Pho. Traditionally, it is boiled for hours to free the marrow from the femur bones, but this is an expedited solution to get nearly the same results in a fraction of the time. If you want to make Pho, you can easily find the spice combinations online. It's great in combination with Pasta Zero or Miracle Noodles for a low-carb version of the real thing that is served with rice noodles.  

Bone broth is highly nutritious. Yes, it's high in fat in its concentrated form, but it is healthy fat rich in collagen, selenium, iron, magnesium and vitamins A and K. You can thin it out by using water and beef bouillon to make it a fraction of the calories without sacrificing much on taste. The recipe says to discard the fat layer, but that doesn't mean the fat within the broth. That is where all of the nutrition is. This is how you stretch one femur bone into several jars of broth that you can freeze and use throughout your diet. 

In regard to the calorie count, it's so hard to determine with this dish. Thin it out as much as you can with beef bouillon and water until it's still a tasty soup, but without being able to taste the rich fat. When you get to the maintenance phase of the diet you can make a heartier version using a higher ratio of broth to bouillon/water. 

Ingredients:

2 lbs frozen beef bones 2 carrots*, chopped 2 celery sticks*, chopped 1 medium onion*, quartered 5 garlic cloves*, whole 2 bay leaves 2-3 whole sprigs of rosemary 1 TBS apple cider vinegar 1 tsp sea salt 10 whole black peppercorns 6 cups boiling water *not necessary to peel or trim any of the vegetables Instructions: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.Place beef bones, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic on the prepared baking sheet.Roast in the preheated oven until browned, about 35-45 minutes.Place roasted bones and vegetables into a multi-functional pressure cooker (such as Instant Pot). Add bay leaves, apple cider vinegar, sea salt, peppercorns, and boiling water. Close and lock the lid. Select Manual pressure for soup setting according to instructions; set timer for 120 minutes. Allow 10 to 15 minutes for pressure to build.Release pressure using the natural-release method according to manufacturer's instructions, 10 to 40 minutes. Unlock and remove the lid. Remove bones and vegetables and discard. Line a strainer with cheesecloth and set over a large bowl. Pour broth through strainer and discard any solids. Allow broth to cool. Remove and discard fat layer.