TToT – Sick Tea and Chicken Soup Edition
The flu is running rampant in our state. At least that’s what the news keeps telling me. I wasn’t sure it was true, but then it decided to rear its ugly little head in our house.
At work on Monday, I was certain I was coming down with something – by the time I got home, I was pretty miserable. I went to bed with flu-like symptoms at 4:15 that afternoon and pretty much stayed there until Wednesday morning except for getting Kidzilla bathed and into bed at night. Was it flu? Maybe. Was it full-blown? Definitely not. So I’m thankful for that. Perhaps it didn’t develop much further because I had my flu shot? So I’ll be thankful for that, too. In fact, I’m certain that the Book of Secret Rules/Secret Book of Rules says if you’re thankful for your flu shot and two other people in the house also got flu shots then you should be thankful for those as well. So three and four are covered there. And perhaps my efforts to eat well and eat immune-boosting foods are paying off? Let’s call that number five. The Fab Hub handled dinner Monday night so I was off the hook and free to be under the weather. More thankfulness.
I felt better fairly quickly and Kidzilla was fine, but by mid-week, the Fab Hub actually did end up with a pretty nasty case of the flu after all – so should I be un-thankful for his flu shot? Hrm. While I am not happy that the Fab Hub managed to get the flu and was feeling miserable, I am very thankful that his nasty version has thus far stayed away from me or Kidzilla. He has been dutifully disinfecting everything he touches and wearing gloves if he touches anyone’s food when packing lunches or making breakfast – yes, somehow he managed to do those jobs anyway. The Hub did his usual duties to the best of his ability to get everybody to school, spent most of Thursday and Friday resting while we weren’t home – good choice. He finally caved Friday afternoon and called for backup to pick up Kidzilla and make the grocery run. I’m glad he was wise enough not to try and be a hero and drive when he was really in no condition to do so. For the last two nights, he voluntarily slept in another room in an effort to keep his germs as far away from my immune system as possible. I offered to move, but he wouldn’t hear of it. I’m pretty thankful for his thoughtfulness. Not to mention, it was just plain smart.
Then there was the part where the Hub admitted that he was sick instead of snorting and coughing and denying it for a week like he is usually wont to do. Could it be that I’ve convinced him to be more in tune with what his body is telling him? Huzzah! I decided that Thursday’s dinner would be homemade chicken soup because what better thing than good old fashioned Jewish penicillin to cure what ails you? The Hub insisted that for reasons of comfort and nostalgia, it must taste like Campbell’s canned chicken noodle soup.
…
Really? Canned soup? OK, I get it. I promised that I would do my best but did point out that it would most likely not taste quite the same due to the lack of chemical preservatives and all. I got to work. Sadly, I did not have any homemade chicken or vegetable broth left in the freezer (two bags of scraps ready to make some, but none ready to go) and so had to rely on a couple of boxes of organic broth from the market. It was fine enough. Into the pot went lots of onion, an obscene amount of garlic (because this is medicinal after all), sliced carrots, parsley, and some salt and pepper. I cooked up a few boneless/skinless chicken breasts with an excessive amount of lemon juice (medicinal again), white wine, and salt and pepper. Once that was finished, I shredded it and tossed it into the pot. We added homemade PA Dutch egg noodles from the farmers’ market deli and we were good to go.
![20140227_202316[1]](http://www.themeaningofme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/20140227_2023161.jpg)
The Hub proclaimed it the best soup he ever had and proceeded to eat two huge bowls of it for dinner, more for lunch the next day, and again with dinner on Friday. If that doesn’t cure him, nothing will. I’m thankful that the soup turned out so well and that he loved it. I believe he called it “perfect” at some point. Maybe it was just the fever talking. Zilla and I also had it for dinner both days and I think it was just the thing we all needed.
![20140228_201507[1]](http://www.themeaningofme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/20140228_2015071.jpg)
At Zilla’s request, we had it with grilled cheese sandwiches on Friday night – talk about a comfort food combo! The Hub had grilled American and Swiss. Not too adventurous. Zilla and I, however, had American and Swiss with avocado and tomato. Amazing. The photo above is pretty dark on the sandwich side. Let me give you a closer look here…nice, huh?
![20140228_201532[1]](http://www.themeaningofme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/20140228_2015321.jpg)
But wait, there’s more! After years of trying, I finally managed to get the Fab Hub to drink my famous sick tea! You heard it here first, friends. The first time I tried to give it to him, he decided that it tasted like feet and never took another sip. That was ten years ago. But this week he drank it in small doses over the course of two days. He even made a second home remedy I passed to him to help clear his head congestion. He made that and used it as well. I made a double-batch of the sick tea and Kidzilla and I drank ours as a preventive measure so we were all sipping the magic cure. I don’t have a photo of that for you here because mostly it just looks like a jar of urine lemonade. Not terribly appealing on the visual side.
Friday night we all went to bed super-early and slept super-long. Zilla and I still seem fine and the Hub’s fever is down quite a bit this morning without the help of an analgesic. He’s not quite out of the woods, but he’s sort of human and he’s upright. That’s progress.
We’ll be taking it easy this weekend – nothing planned outside the house for a change which is actually kind of nice. Kind of need a break from the birthday party circuit. Of course, we will need to prepare for yet another winter storm and do some post-flu cleaning but I’m OK with that.
OK, I’m pretty sure I’ve got ten things in there somewhere, so now it’s your turn – link ’em up and share your moments of thankfulness from this week!
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Ooooh, sorry to hear that you were sick! The flu is nasty business. The chicken soup looks delicious! Can you believe that I’ve never put garlic in mine?
I think that not everyone does garlic in their chicken soup – I just pretty much put garlic in everything. And given the medicinal properties of the garlic and lemon, it just seemed like a good idea. It tastes wicked good, though!
YUCK. So sorry you had a house of ick and sick! I’m glad it wasn’t too awful (like hospital awful).
that soup….omg….seriously my stomach is growling and I don’t even eat meat. Soup is my all time favorite. Stew, soup, yummy, comforting brothy goodness…….sigh.
Beth, you could totally do that minus the chicken – sauté some tofu and toss that in. Or just throw in a few extra veggies and go vegetable soup. The stuff you really want is the garlic and the steam, right?
I’m glad you got over the flu so quickly, and that the rest of the family is doing well or at least better. That noodle soup sounds delicious! When I read the headline of your post, I just had to go to the kitchen and make some sweet cream of wheat, comfort food extra-ordinaire 🙂 Enjoy your weekend and get healthy again, Lisa!!
Well, I’m feeling fine and so is Kidzilla – just working on the Hub but he’s doing great! See what happens when a guy listens to his wife? 😉
Oh, cream of wheat – I haven’t had that in years. I just may need to get some next time I go to the store. Such a great thing from my childhood!
I remember the birthday circuit….less than fondly. So expensive too!
Hope everybody is well and warm and happy!
Honestly. And please tell me how it’s possible that six of the sixteen children in the class have their birthdays so close together??? This is so not that much fun.
The girls in the house are well. The boy in the house is on his way to well. We are warm and happy together! Waiting for more snow…
Ick! hate sick!but love soup! garlic takes care of vampires and anything else that ails you! you know because not all vampires are those sexy vampires from Twilight.
Yeah, and all those Twilight vampires are probably young enough to be my children…so that kinda takes away any potential interest. LOL. But the garlic is magic indeed – he’s nearly back to normal after just two days.
You’ve been sick, are still taking care of someone with man-flu, AND the html didn’t work for you? And still, you’re thankful! How did you manage that?
Love the description of your sick tea as looking like urine, er, lemonade. And your soup looks divine! Yum!
Imagine how much worse your flu would have been if you hadn’t gotten the flu shot? Or so you can tell yourself, because who has a crystal ball to know these things? Glad you and Zilla are doing so much better, that Fab Hubs is going to pull through, and that you have a weekend to spend with no social obligations!
I honestly wasn’t that bad – felt lousy, slept a day and a half, felt normal. I can’t explain it. Usually when I go down, it’s hard and for quite a few days because my immune system stinks. Maybe all this healthy eating has helped it do its job better?
And the truth is…I don’t know how I managed the Thankful because I was totally going to bail. I’m happy I didn’t and till this HTML nonsense is over and I put up a few items I had quite forgotten, I may even have a second one for Sunday!
Woot! Woot!
Oh, blech! What a week! Yay to the Fab Hub for completing so much while sick and then knowing when to throw in the towel.
Another winter storm, I know. We’re busy all day tomorrow so I am going to make a late run to the store for milk and other necessities. Maybe some good noodles because I’m suddenly craving chicken noodle soup. Wonder why?
Seriously, what a week. And the flu part is only the tip of it! But truly I was proud of him for trying to be a champ and finally getting past his stubborn streak and taking some advice about rest and fluids and the wife’s home remedies.
Definitely make some soup! I have to post the corn soup yet – we did that earlier this week but I haven’t had a minute to write it up yet. It was great! Stay tuned for that! 🙂
Tea that tastes like feet? Well I can’t BEGIN to imagine why he was leery about trying it again! Ouf! Glad he’s on the mend now, and what a kind and generous thing he did to sleep in the other room
So sorry the HTML was a pain in the ass for you. All Michelle’s fault. You can haul her over the coals later! Lovely that Fab Hub was willing to take a look, and I REALLY HOPE someone pays him soon for his work *sigh*
The soup looks really good. I can never decide whether or not I’m a fan of soup. I go through phases with it. But the grilled cheese with avocado and tomato looks DIVINE 😀
SO glad we’re all unsnaggled now.
Yes, it was pretty sweet of him to offer to move to the other room since he’s the one who is sick. But he didn’t want my RA bones out of my normal sleeping spot. He’s a pretty nice guy.
Whether old or new, I’ve got some sort of HTML up for anybody who wants to link up – good enough for me!
The soup was fantastic and it’s GONE! And yes, that sandwich was quite good – I highly recommend it.
Looks like some awesome soup! One of my favorites…especially using homemade Amish/Dutch noodles. My recipe’s secret ingredient is a bit of nutmeg. Sounds odd, but it’s the perfect touch! Glad all are on the mend!
Honestly, the homemade noodles make the difference between great and amazing! Nutmeg, huh? Will have to keep that in mind.
well done with nurturifying the family unit. sick is not fun, (most of the time), having everyone sick at the same time? ewww
My compliments! Rather adroit application of the Book of Secret Rules (the SBoR), to leverage a potent gratitude items into more.
bravo
I’m thinking of trying to formulate a career out of wielding the Book of Secret Rules/Secret Book of Rules in as many ways as possible. Wonder if it pays well…
It’s been such a rough year for sickness. I’m glad you are all feeling a little better. Your chicken soup looks amazing! I have a feeling it didn’t taste like canned but probably tasted MUCH better 🙂 I crave the Lipton Instant soup from the box when I’m sick…finally figured out it was because it is loaded with turmeric (among other less pleasant things).
Turmeric is such a great thing – I’ve been using it more and more since realizing just how many health benefits it has. Not to mention it’s a much better option for coloring food than nasty food dies.
Fab Hub really lived up to his name this week! Poor sick guy. I hope he begins to feel human again soon and that the rest of you remain symptom free.
That batch of chicken soup looked wonderful!!!! It always feels so good on sore throats and the steam helps with the sinuses. Kidzilla had a great idea to pair it with grilled cheese sandwiches.
Despite the fact that there was illness everywhere, you definitely found at least 10 things to be grateful for.
He’s feeling much better – he loved the soup and so it was easy to get him to keep eating it. So many good things in it to help a cold or the flu. Zilla is a great little kitchen helper – she loves to help, often offers great ideas, and the kid just loves her food. And we’re so happy that she enjoys good, healthy things and whole foods. Not a bad habit to have so early in life!
Grilled cheese with avocado and tomato is one of my favorite sandwich combinations. Your soup looks so yummy. There’s nothing like homemade chicken soup when a person is sick. I’m sorry the flu hit your house. My son had a runny nose yesterday, and I hope it doesn’t turn into more. Ever since the flu hit our house last year, I have become an obsessive hand sanitizer. I am seriously the hand sanitizer police when it comes to my kids, too. I always have a bottle on me. It sucks to get sick.
We are religious about hand washing, but clearly something got through here! I am convinced the sick tea and soup cured him – his fever is gone and he’s feeling much more like himself!
That soup looks magnificent! Fresh PA Dutch egg noodles sound like something to be thankful for for sure. Glad your hubby is on the mend. Hope to hear by next weekend that he’s back to his old self.
Indeed, he’s just about his regular self today – fever broke completely sometime last night and he’s much more like his usual today. I suspect the cough will linger, but that’s to be expected.
The noodles were fantastic and I’m about to put on a second batch of this soup right now. 🙂
Oh, that soup looks delicious! I want to be a cook, knowing how (and being brave enough) to just throw things into the pot to make a delicious meal.
I’m so sorry you all have been feeling sickly. We’ve had some nasty colds around here, but thankfully no fever or flu-like symptoms. (I’m ferociously knocking on wood.)
Here’s to a healthy week ahead!
Sick tea and chicken soup are magic, I tell you. Kidzilla has remained unscathed by the germs. I was not nearly as down as I could have been, especially given my crappy immune system. The Hub got hit hardest – which is completely out of character – but his fever is gone and he’s much more himself. I’m about to put on a second batch of the soup mostly because I have so much chicken to use and it was so good and I have no other inspiration for my Soup of the Week post.
I promise you could make this – it’s completely easy and if you mess it up, so what? It will still taste like chicken noodle soup. It’s kind of foolproof. 🙂
If I lived near you, I would break my vegetarian vows (it has been 9 years) because that soup is the most amazing soup I have EVER SEEN, and like a recipe you read and know what it takes like because you can cook, I can tell it is great! What a wonderful family you have, You all work like a team. It is sweet to read this!
I love your sandwich too! It looks delicious. !!! You are SOME COOK and a great mom, wife and writer.
xox jean
It really was amazing, Jean. But you could totally do this non-meat. Saute some tofu or just go totally veggie and leave out the chicken – it will still do the trick! Although I have to tell you the chicken was particularly good – SO lemony and great with the white wine.
Thanks for the sweet compliment – I think my family is wonderful, too. 😉 We really do work as a team.
OH, WAIT! There’s more nice stuff here at the end of your comment – how awesome! Jean, really thanks – you have no idea how great that last bit made me feel tonight. WOO HOO! That just made my night.
Ugh! So sorry to hear about the flu outbreak in your house. We all got it last year and I still remember that it just hurt. I hope everybody continues to improve. I have to tell you that the chicken soup looks soooooo good! Have a great week, Lisa!
Well, mine was minor, Kidzilla escaped it. The Hub was the only one who really went down hard, which is so unusual for him – he’s the guy who never gets sick! The soup was really great – planning to make a second batch just because. 🙂
So sorry to hear that you had to deal with the flu this week 🙁 That said, you soup really does look amazing – and so glad to hear that your hubs took your remedies – hope it all helped the weekend run as smooth as it can with people under the weather.
The kind of bizarre part was that the Hub was the one who went down – he’s the guy who never gets sick. The soup was awesome and we’re kind of back to normal. Now if only it were spring…
Wow- I wouldn’t mind being sick if I got some of that soup! Hope everyone is back to 100% soon!
Haha – it almost makes it worth it, doesn’t it? I just made a second batch tonight to keep us all back on the road to 100%. Chicken soup is just so terrific.
Yup, the tricky part with flu shots is that they can make you sick as a dog.
There is no cure for flu but a good old fashioned soup. So I hope your soup chases away the last lingering germs!
Well, he had the shot months ago, so I think he just plain old caught a strain that the shot didn’t cover this year. The soup and sick tea totally did the trick – he’ll never admit it, though! We made another batch tonight just to keep any residual stuff from resurfacing.
Knock on wood we have not been sick all winter so hoping we dodged the flu. I have made lots of homemade chicken soup this winter- maybe that is the trick to staying well!!
I definitely think chicken soup is part of what helps! I just made another batch of mine tonight.
I’m sorry to hear that you were sick. That’s awful. I can’t remember the last time I got really sick so I guess I should be thankful for that.
That’s definitely something to be thankful for, Steve. Being sick is never fun – no matter how minor or otherwise. I was actually pretty happy to have had a short-lived bout of whatever it was. I’m usually the one who goes down hard and for many days. This time the Hub got the worst of it, though, and he’s the guy who never gets sick. Hard to say why. But I pumped him full of chicken soup and my sick tea and he’s much more like himself again. I think we probably aren’t out of the woods just yet – those germs can hang around and resurface, so I’m still Lysol-ing away at the house.
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