Weekend Update: Bone Broth and Men's City League

After I finished charting on my last client yesterday, it finally dawned on me - it's the weekend!

We have a laundry list of goals to do - including laundry. But I knew I needed to start with the whole chicken in my fridge.

I have never roasted a whole chicken by myself. I do have a probe meat thermometer (that connects via cable to a hand-held screen with alarm), so the temperature of the inside of the chicken tells me when it's done. Otherwise, I'd rely on guesswork and that never works out for me.

I had no idea how long an entire chicken took to cook - for me, 2 hours. I was late to the first Haines Men's City League game, but I got to watch (and keep score for!) the second one.

This chicken needed to be cooked for two reasons: it was thawed in our fridge and I wanted to make a good chicken stock for soups (another thing I've never done before).

So, today I'm making bone broth for the first time. I had this grand intention of not wasting any of the chicken.

There has been great media attention around food waste for the past few weeks - new estimates how many pounds of food is wasted per person per year and tips to avoid wasting food. So, I followed Ghandi's advice:

I know that my type A personality could easily get the best of me and I could go overboard with this "no food waste" goal. In an effort to make this pattern last as long as possible, I will go with moderation - starting with using the chicken bones for broth.

Thinking about this Ghandi quote also got me thinking about how important personal small changes are. Although it's just me making this bone broth, it makes a difference.

 

 

 

It's also easy for me to think "my actions don't matter - I am but one person, and this small pile of chicken bones won't impact anyone". But then Emma Watson's quote from her UN speech came into my mind.

So, consider this a call to action. Changes don't need to occur everyday or with every opportunity. Small, consistent adjustments lead to monumental changes. This applies to all levels of life - our own personal health, our community's health, or our environment's health.

For example, Kyle has been working diligently with three other men in the community to get the Men's City League started - their first games last night were exciting for everyone involved.

These guys made the change. They acted locally. They took action and made strides in elevating the community. And it came together to create an energizing atmosphere of fun, competitive basketball.

What difference do you want to see in the world? What small changes have you been making (or want to start making)? Can you start locally? How can I help you?


Kate Fossman, RDN, LD

October 17, 2015