Today I stayed home from work because I am sick, I’ve been a little run down lately and every now and then I seem to need day dedicated to doing nothing at all to make my body catch up.
So I thought I might do a short post on what makes me feel better when I am sick.
Today I wanted three things:
1) Game of Thrones
2) mostly flat lemonade
3) chicken and veggie soup.
Let me explain.
1) Game of Thrones: What could be a better way to rest than passing out on the couch watching this epic brutal fantasy? I have seen season one, by the way, and am up to season 2. I won’t put spoilers here but man this show delivers. And Arya stark, I’m keeping my eye on you. You are my potential new favorite.
2) Mostly flat lemonade: I don’t know if it’s a placebo effect from my childhood, but whenever we had upset stomachs mum gave us mostly flat lemonade. That has turned into honey/lemon tea as an adult, but today I had huge cravings for actual lemonade. Soda water (made with our new soda stream, purchased with the direct intention of dealing with my fizz addiction without all the added sugars etc, of softdrink) and a slice of lemon just didn’t cut it. So I caved and brought a bottle of lemonade. And it made me feel better.
3) Chicken and veggie soup: Chicken soup makes everyone feel better when they are sick. When I’m unwell I make it with tonnes of Garlic, Ginger, lemongrass and chili because they really help boost your immune system, they clear your throat and they also taste awesome. I was home alone today so I made the soup myself, in between dozing on the couch and listening/sleeping to The IT Crowd season 2. Best thing about chicken soup is that you can let it simmer away for ages and it only gets better.
Recipe is as follows (makes a large batch – I made this in my 10 litre stockpot):
Ingredients are in Bold.
1 – wash a whole chicken (or pieces, whatever you prefer). Boil it in enough water to cover, then a bit more. Boil it for an hour or so, until cooked through and the meat is falling off the bone. Drain it, reserving the water to add back in to the soup. I then ran the cold tap over the chicken to make pulling it apart easier.
2 – while the chicken is cooking, chop your veggies. I tend to use the following: 1 Leek, 1 Swede, 1 parsnip, a few carrots (i used 3 today) and 3 or 4 stalks of celery. I was also going to put broccoli in but I forgot about it. I also sliced up about a quarter of a cabbage to see how that worked. You can put pretty much anything you want in, But i’d avoid mushrooms or tomato because I don’t think the texture would work that well.
See all the yummy goodness?
3) Chop/mince some garlic, finely grate a piece of ginger, and finely grate a stick of lemongrass. I used about a whole head of garlic, 2-3 cm piece of ginger, and a large stem of lemongrass for this batch. It’s a matter of personal taste really. I would also normally put fresh Chili in, but being winter I had to rely on my dried and flaked superhot chili that we grew in summer. I put maybe 2 teaspoons of that in. It’s hard to tell exactly how much, and again Chili and experience of “hotness” varies so go with the personal taste option.
this chopping board smells awesome.
4) put the chicken water back into the pot with the veggies. Time to throw in some “soup mix” dried beans. It’s a mix of a bunch of different beans and split peas. I feel like I didn’t have enough in this one. I then also topped it up with a little hot water and powdered chicken stock, Just enough to give everything room to move.
5) Get into the chicken with your hands and pick all the meat off the bones. Toss the carcass, as it’s already made the stock for you. Chop up the meat and throw it back in. Add some salt and pepper, and let simmer for as long as you like – the beans take about an hour without prior soaking.
6) Extras: I added a generous splash of soy sauce near the end, and a few torn coriander leaves when I dished it up. I’m also eating it with fresh bread from the bakery.
Also, the soup mix is found with the dried beans in the supermarket.
yum. Here’s hoping my sick stomach doesn’t reject it!
Keep out of direct sunlight 