A lot of recipes call for the use of “stock,” “broth,” or “bouillon” (dehydrated stock) for flavor – and not just when making soups. Sure, you can always go buy packaged stock at the store (even we do) – but you don’t have any control over what exactly is in it when you do that. Even the best organic stock contains things like cane juice (sugar), higher (than I prefer at least) salt, and ingredients labeled merely as “flavor” (what exactly is “organic chicken flavor” ???). And if you get your hands on a “quality” gluten-free bouillon, you’re still going to see things like soybean powder, yeast extract, and “natural” corn syrup crystals.
If you made the pot roast this past weekend, or did a traditional oven-roasted turkey for Thanksgiving, you know that when you had carved all of the meat and removed all of the veggies from the roasting pan or crock, you were left with a bunch of water, juices, fat, and little bits of herbs and veggies, along with an assortment of bones with little bits of meat still attached (or lots of marrow inside of the roast bones). The more resourceful of you may have taken some of the liquid and added a bit of arrowroot powder to make a nice primal gravy, but most people end up dumping the majority of it down the drain and out in the trash… Continue reading
I suppose you could stick with the “eyeball” method and just say “that looks about right,” (I actually like this method), but sometimes it really becomes necessary to pay attention to the amounts; especially when trying a new recipe as I want to make sure I get it right because if I don’t like it, I know I can’t blame it on the fact I wasn’t wearing my glasses that day. 
