Sniffly? Get soup!
Blog entry by Heather Froeschl today.
Cold germs are already making the rounds in our office, so when Lindsey asked me to pinch hit for her today I immediately thought: Chicken Soup! It’s cooler out today anyway and with winter just around the corner I figured a take on the traditional home remedy might be in order.
I asked around the newsroom to see who actually followed this age old advice and found most of us do. Though we go at it in different ways. Some of us, like me, prefer to just pop open a can of ready made chicken soup, the favorites include: chicken flavored Ramen noodles, Campbell’s Homestyle, and Knorr’s chicken broth. I never feel up to cooking when I’m sick, so give me a convenient way to do it. I’ll never live up to my grandmother’s homemade chicken vegetable soup anyway. The woman used home grown veggies and freshly dressed birds! I’m just not that domestic, try as I might, especially when feeling less than good.
One co-worker let on that he visits his favorite Chinese restaurant and gets some won-ton soup to go. Good idea! One of our dedicated staff does make her own chicken soup though, using her mom’s recipe and only cheating a little by picking up a roasted bird from Kroger. I bow down to her!
It may be a folk tradition but science does admit there may be something to sipping hot soup, in particular, chicken. It is said to be an anti-inflammatory, which is something every cold sufferer can appreciate. The feelings of nurture elicited from a hearty bowl of chicken noodle or fragrant cup of broth are sure to soothe us almost as if dear Mom were near by to take care of us. It’s a pampering gesture to make for yourself.
Some other things to ingest upon feeling a cold coming on, or to take in as you are getting the needed bed rest: ginger tea, hot black tea with honey, hot black currant juice, hot lemonade with honey, and hot ginger drink (recipe to follow). The hotness might be the key& soothing and steamy but there are medicinal qualities to the other ingredients. Look here:
Here’s a nice page that offers other tips: eating.health.com/2008/01/30/cold-fighting-foods/
So does chicken soup really help? However you can take in more fluids and soothe yourself to sleep is sure to be beneficial. And it tastes mm, mm good too!
Recipe for Hot Ginger Drink:
1 or 2 teaspoons of honey and lemon juice
1 cup ginger ale
Heat in microwave and sip until gone (or you feel better).
October 17, 2008 - 8:00 AM
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Grab a can of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup. Whack a clove of garlic, chop it up, throw it in the pot. Grab some hot pepper flakes, throw those in the pot. Heat and eat.
The keys to beating a cold:
Zinc
Vitamin C
Garlic
Hot Peppers
Lemons
Hi, Heather…homemade chicken soup is much easier to make than you might suspect. Since my husband has Celiac, we can’t use the canned product, so I’ve discovered what works for me. I’ll use a package of those skinless chicken breast strips, chopping them up and browning them in a bit of EVOO with chopped sweet onion,leafy celery bits, and those tiny sweet carrots. Then pour on a box of chicken stock (low-fat and low-salt).
Bring to a boil, and dump in (in my case) gluten-free noodles. Nine minutes later, Voila! And you don’t get all those additives and salt.
Well this is timely! I bought a roasted mesquite chicken from Kroger last night and had the legs along with mashed potatoes and peas for a quick dinner. My husband, who hates chicken, is gone this weekend, and I’m fighting a head cold or allergies, so I’m going to make chicken soup with the rest of the bird. Yum!
The hot ginger drink sounds good whether you are ailing or not. I used to drink hot Dr Pepper with lemon back in the day, haven’t had that in quite a while. But homemade chicken soup is always good on a cool day. I like to chop celery, carrots, and onions, cook in a little butter until the onion is transparent, then add chicken broth, the chicken, rice and some parsley or whatever herbs you might have on hand to season with, let it simmer for a while……..mmmmmmmm good.
On tonight’s menu at my house: Grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken noodle soup. Oh, I know purists will argue that tomato is the soup of choice to accompany grilled cheese, but I need the time-proven healing powers of chicken noodle soup today.
Heal me, oh savory broth of chicken, veggies and noodles. Heal me!
I’ve never heard of hot ginger ale… yumm-mmieee. I might enjoy that this weekend, and it’s so easy!
My husband does make a homemade chicken soup that he’s very proud of. He cooks an entire bird in a pot with water to create his stock. Then, he cut’s all the meat off the bone and into bit-sized pieces. Using the stock water he’s made, he will boil vegetables (a mirepois) for the soup next. Finally, he puts it all together with his own blend of seasoning.
Here’s his own personal trick though. Don’t tell anybody – lol. He cooks egg noodles seperately. Putting the desired amount in a bowl, he will then ladle the soup over top. This ensures the person eating the soup will have fresh noodles EVERY time.
The really sad thing is I don’t really like chicken noodle soup.
I am fan of roasted butternut squash soup. I may have to blog about this myself…
Amy! Giving away a chef’s secret? I’m sure John has a lot to be proud of!
Well, just don’t tell him I blabbed away his soupy secrets, okay? Be cool… lol.
After reading this, I had to make some homemade chicken soup for lunch. What a good idea for a drizzly day!
Ooooooh, yeah, Amy, my daughter’s neighbor made some killer butternut squash soup with croutons that tasted like cinnamon-sugar. To Die For!!!
Kathy, er Mom, I’ll have you know that my neighbor got that recipe from me!! And I got it from my husband’s cousin (since I’m giving credit where it’s due…). Which reminds me that I have a butternut squash in my kitchen right now…hmmmm, I think I need to heat up the oven!
So make your mom some soup!! and don’t forget the croutons!!
BTW, I tried the hot ginger ale; the first sip was…woh!..then it was..well let me try this again…it kind of grew on me. Maybe if I added a little more honey….the lemon juice made me pucker up. It was like a very tart hot Dr Pepper, only more ginger. Don’t worry, Heather, it was definitely different, and I will keep trying it until I get it right with my taste buds!!