It’s winter and we all want comforting food. Life is busy so simple meals that are warming, healthy and that you can prepare ahead are ideal.
We know that people with IBD have different dietary restrictions and some or on a specific diet. C to C co-founder Stacy’s son Lowell has been on many diets, most recently the Crohn’s Disease Exclusion Diet (CDED) diet which is a recently researched very specialized diet that is to be used in conjunction with patients who are getting 50%of their calories from formula feeding through a G Tube, nastogastric tube or just by drinking the formula. The diets is supposed to work in the same way as if the patient was on 100% enteral nutriion but at least allows them some food. For more about this diet, click here.
It was a lot of chicken, rice, potatoes, apples and eggs, and figuring out ways to make the ingredients allowed into interesting dishes was a challenge.
He now still avoids the things they recommend to not eat, processed foods, sugar, etc but he is not following this diet as strictly as he was in the fall, and has added foods back in. We have a few go to recipes we make that are nourishing, flexible, and can be prepared ahead and heated up during the week.
I make a chicken bone broth which is a longer cooked chicken broth so more of the collagen from the gelatin from the bones permeates the broth through longer cooking. Bone broth benefits may include helping reduce inflammation, strengthen bones, improve hair skin and nails and for people with digestive issues it can help strengthen the lining of your gut. I am sure you have noticed all the collagen/bone broth supplements and powders available now and I have no idea if any of these are helpful and I don’ think there is enough data on their benefits. Please note that these potential health benefits are being studied but we cannot yet say these claims are evidence based and in no way am I saying if you take collagen, your IBD will be improved.
But there is certainly nothing wrong with a long cooked chicken bone broth that I then use as a base for soups. It tastes really delicious and you can also just sip it anytime like tea! Lowell prefers a vegetable soup made with this nutrient dense bone broth or sometimes I just make good old fashioned matzo balls with the broth.
Basically I cook a whole cut up chicken in a large pot on a stove covered with water for about 2 hours at a medium simmer. You can also make this in a slow cooker but people seem to be all Instant Pot and Air Fryer crazy so not sure the slow cooker is still a thing. I do have one but honestly, I prefer making it on the stove. Check to make sure the chicken is cooked then remove it from the pot and let it cool until you can take the meat off the bones You can put the chicken pieces back into the soup but we prefer just vegetables. (Mostly I give the cooked chicken to our dog Ruby) You can make bone broth with other animal bones, Ihear bison is supposed to be healthy, but we don’t eat any other types of meat.
Once you put the bones back in, add onions, carrots, celery and I love parsnips or another root veggie like rutabaga, add salt and pepper, bay leaves and some garlic cloves. Parsley is also good too, but throw that in about 20 minutes before you stop cooking the broth, at the end. Also a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar which supposedly helps the bones release more of the minerals in the bones. Cook this on your stove for as long as you can on a low simmer and ideally for up to 12 hours. I cool it, then put in the fridge overnight. The next day, I skim off the fat and freeze 2 tupperware full for later, and use the rest to make the soup. You can use any combination of vegetables and beans you want. Always start with onions and sauté them them, add the other veggies when onions are soft, cook stirring for a few minutes. I also add ground turmeric at this point because again, it might help reduce inflammation. Then add the broth and cook until veggies are cooked and the flavors come together. Note though that some veggies cook more quickly like green beans, spinach and corn, and those I add closer to the end of cooking. I also add fresh herbs toward the end like parsley, thyme, whatever you fancy! Some people might like a tomato base so adding a can of diced tomatoes or fresh tomatoes with the other veggies after the onions are cooked, is a great idea.
Our favorites combos are
onions
carrots
cabbage
green beans
fresh parsley
We used to add frozen corn but now he is avoiding corn so not using it.
Another combo is
onions
carrots
spinach
a can of white beans.
fresh thyme
Then to make it more hearty, cook some elbow or other small shaped pasta and add it to each bowl. Gluten or free works great. Or you can add cooked rice to each bowl as well.
The great thing is you can make it on a Sunday and leave it in the fridge for a quick lunch or dinner with a salad. Some people with IBD have a hard time with cruciferous veggies such as cabbage but Lowell does okay with it and my kids have always liked cabbage in stir fries, soups and salads. You could easily make this soup to your liking, even just adding back the cooked chicken and white rice if you are on a low fiber diet, for example.
Enjoy soup time. Relax. Breathe. Always good reminders.
