Friday, November 21, 2008

Rx - A prescription for a cold and the budget


A cold is a nasty thing. The stuffy nose, the hacking, the sneezing, can't sleep. The best thing I've ever found for an old fashioned cold is a good, old fashioned bowl of chicken soup, and I don't mean one of those found inside a red and white can!

Yesterday, H and I were out doing a bit of grocery shopping and I saw they had whole chickens on sale for .89 cents a pound. I picked up a small one for $3.50 and after getting back home, proceeded to throw it into the old stock pot along with a laundry list of other ingredients. I'm sure every one has their own favorite recipe, but here is mine. It includes lots of flavorful antioxidents and fresh or dried herbs.

Cover the bird with cold water and bring to a boil. While the water is heating, add:

3 whole carrots, peeled
3 stalks of celery
1 large onion stuck with 3 whole cloves
a large handful of fresh parsley
2 large sprigs of fresh sage
1 Rosemary branch
2 or 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
10 pepper corns
3 bay leaves
1 tsp turmeric (antioxident and gives the soup a beautiful yellow color)
3 or 4 slices of fresh ginger (also a great antioxident)
1 tsp red pepper flakes

Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 2 - 3 hours (I do this on the wood stove - saves propane).

The aroma filling the house is marvelous and will soon put you into a deep relaxed state while waiting for the soup.

After the requisite amount of time, let the bird cool and pick off the meat. Feed the scraps to the crows - hey! They gotta eat too, ya know.

Now, take the breast, cut it into large dice and make a great Curried Chicken Salad for tomorrow's lunch or dinner. This bird's breast made enough for two meals of chicken salad for H and me.


There was enough meat left for plenty in the soup and then some left over for chicken enchiladas later on this week.

Chop the veggies and with the meat, add to the chicken stock......

Voila! You now have a wonderful, nourishing soup, guaranteed to unblock your stuffy nose and warm your belly. Not only that, but you have leftovers for lunch tomorrow, two meals of chicken salad and enough for the enchiladas. That's a lot of meals from one small chicken!

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Oh, and let's not forget that the "boys", Spike and Sluggo also got a treat in their dinner bowls!

Life is Good with soup!

Hugs, Giddy

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hope you are feeling better soon. That soup looks like it will do the trick! Thanks for the recipe, I'm going to try it soon.

Giddy said...

Hi natural notes, glad to see you are settled in your new home. I'll be checking in with you often, and maybe one day we can meet for a walk on the beach as my son lives in Dunedin and we do visit every once in a while!