When I made the decision to cut gluten and sugar out of my diet, I had to get more serious about reading nutrition labels. I’ve been a dedicated label reader for years, but cutting things from your diet requires a deeper level of scrutiny than before.

Most products in a supermarket offer a substitute if you don’t like the ingredients in a particular brand, but there was something I was having trouble with: chicken broth. It’s a common addition to the recipes in my kitchen, but all the brands I came across had sugar, and/or MSG, and/or other unpronounceable and unrecognizable ingredients. (I recently read that most “No MSG” labels are false. Not cool.)

I decided it was time to make my own.

First, I educated myself on the difference between broth and stock. I had noticed in the past that I purchased broth at the grocery store, but when people made it from scratch at home, they called it stock. As it turns out, broth is made out of the chicken’s meat, while stock is made from the bones.

Second, I purchased my first whole chicken. (Yes, that’s right. I’ve been cooking for years but I had never purchased a whole, raw chicken.) The instructions I followed remind you to remove the giblets, but the chicken I purchased had an empty cavity — no slimy bits to remove.

Finally, I needed to decide on the cooking method. Should I roast the chicken in the oven? Simmer the stock on the stove top? For my introduction to stock-making, I decided to take the easy route: I would use my (6 quart) CrockPot for both steps.

You really can’t ask for a simpler method of making stock. I located these instructions from The Happy Housewife, and followed them pretty much to the letter.

To cook a whole chicken in a CrockPot, this is all you have to do: Spray the CrockPot insert with cooking spray. Rinse the chicken. Put the chicken in the CrockPot, cover, and cook for seven hours. (The instructions recommend adding your choice of spices, but I left that out since I knew I’d be adding spices later to future dishes.)

After seven hours had passed, I removed the chicken from the CrockPot, allowed it to cool a bit, and stripped the meat from the bones. I used some of the meat for dinner that night and put the rest in the freezer for future meals.

By that time it was a Sunday night and I didn’t feel like cooking the bones, so I dumped the bones, skin, and anything else that didn’t look like delicious chicken meat into a plastic container and stuck it in the freezer. The following Friday, I took the container from the freezer and put it into the fridge to thaw. I would make the stock the next morning.

To make the stock, I dumped the contents of the container into the CrockPot and covered it with five cups of filtered water. It cooked for 10 hours on low, and after it was done I had this:

I strained the liquid (using cheesecloth to filter out any large particles) and put it in plastic containers. I ended up keeping the containers in the fridge instead of freezing them because I planned to use the stock in meals the following week.

In the end, I only had a few bones rattling around the bottom of the CrockPot — everything else had been used.

One thing to note: A few days later when I used the stock for the first time, I opened the container and removed the thin level of fat that had settled at the top with a spoon. Underneath the fat, I discovered that instead of the thin consistency I was used to with pre-packaged broth, my stock had settled into a jelly-like consistency.

Confused (and a bit worried I had done something wrong and wouldn’t be able to finish my dinner prep), I turned to Google. As it turns out, this consistency is normal (preferred, actually!). Since I had never made it before, I had no idea this is what’s supposed to happen to a good, well-made chicken stock. When you add it to whatever you’re making, the heat melts it back to normal and you’ll never notice the difference in the finished dish.

I’ve used this stock several times and I’m happy with the results. I love that it’s free of preservatives, sugar, sodium, and all of the unpronounceable ingredients in the stuff I used to buy at the store. I definitely plan to use this method again. In fact, there’s a whole chicken in my fridge right now, just waiting for the same treatment.

Gluten

I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism three years ago. In the medical world, this diagnosis isn’t considered a big deal. However, millions of people in the U.S. are taking medication for this condition (including myself) and it’s estimated that millions more just haven’t been diagnosed.

I’m tired of hypothyroidism’s side effects: Fatigue. Lack of energy/motivation to engage in physical activity. Inability to lose weight. Shortness of breath when exercising (feeling like I have to yawn in order to get enough air in my lungs). Tingling in my hands and feet. Irritability and mood instability. These symptoms are the biggest ones for me, although there are many more.

I don’t know why it took me so long to start researching possible nutritional causes for my condition, but I wasn’t surprised when I immediately found a ton of interesting and helpful information. I’m soaking it all in, taking notes. I’m not afraid to make changes.

I am gluten-free because research shows there is a connection between gluten and hypothyroidism. If you’re interested in reading more, I would recommend The Gluten/Thyroid Connection and Eating Gluten Increases the Need for Thyroid Hormones.

I have not been diagnosed with gluten intolerance by a doctor (nor have I ever been tested), but I did notice a physical difference within the first week of cutting gluten and refined sugar out of my diet. My mood swings are not nearly as drastic (I could go from happy to completely annoyed in the span of a few seconds), food cravings have diminished, and I’ve started to lose some weight that’s been lingering for the past few years — without any reduction in my daily caloric intake.

Sugar

Cutting out refined sugar can be a pain. I wasn’t a huge fan of sugar to begin with, but it hides in so many everyday products — even stuff that doesn’t taste sweet, like chicken broth. (When I wasn’t able to find acceptable pre-packaged chicken broth, I started making my own. More on that later.)

I would be okay with using unrefined sweeteners in my food on occasion, but honestly, sweet food doesn’t appeal to me as much as savory. I rarely made typical desserts at home before giving up sugar, so I expect this to remain largely the same. I do keep a supply of Stevia at home and at work, and use a packet every morning in my coffee.

As for sugar in alcohol, I still drink wine and liquor (mainly vodka or rum). My go-to drink used to be rum and diet soda, but once I gave up soda consumption I switched to vodka and club soda.

My Plan

I’ve always enjoyed cooking, but new restrictions on my diet have thrown food preparation to the forefront. As it turns out, I love the challenge. I’m scouring food blogs, picking out what I’d like to make, adding them to my digital recipe file, and creating new dishes. Along the way, I plan to share those recipes, my weekly meal plans, and my successes and failures.