Cure for a Cold

Well sorry for the hiatus lately.  Like a lot of people, I came down with the flu last week.  According to Google Trends the flu in the US is currently in a “severe” state (you can check it out here).  For the past three days I have been all sniffles and complaints.  This flu completely wiped me out; I was so tired I could barely get up off the couch. So when Nick called me after work on Friday to ask what time we were meeting for our date I regrettably had to cancel.  I felt horrible.  We were supposed to go to one of our favorite places and have a date which we hadn’t had in quite a while.  He told me not to worry about it and he would just pick up some take out or something for himself.  So a half hour later when he walked in the door I was pretty surprised to see a bunch of grocery bags.  “Nothing to worry about – just a few things we needed,” he said.  And then, while I laid on the couch watching reruns of Chopped he clattered around in the kitchen for a bit.  A few minutes later he came out to ask the difference between chicken stock and chicken broth and I knew something was up.  I went into the kitchen and laid out on the counter were all the ingredients for chicken noodle soup as well as the wikipedia entry for how to make chicken noodle soup up on his iPhone.

 

He gave me perhaps the world’s most adorable sheepish grin and said, “Well I figured chicken noodle soup was what you needed and I knew you wouldn’t fall for any of that stuff from a can… so I’m making it!”.  I smiled at him and went back into the living room and watched TV while he made me homemade soup.  I did turn around every now and then to check on him.  Normally it looked like the Swedish Chef was in my kitchen grumbling and throwing things into the air.  Soon everything began to smell absolutely delicious.  After about an hour he emerged from the kitchen looking like he just ran a half marathon with bites of cut up vegetable stuck to his shirt but he smiling like a Cheshire cat as he presented me with a bowl of the most delicious chicken noodle soup there ever was.

There is something particularly special about a homemade bowl of chicken noodle soup when you’re sick.  It’s healing powers are surely magnified by the time and effort of the person that loves you spending their Friday night at home slaving over a hot stove just to make you something to try and banish your illness.  Did it cure my flu?  No, not really.  Did it make my night and remind me of the reason why I feel in love with this boy?  Of course.  It was one of the nicest gestures and took my mind off the headache and runny nose.  So if someone you know is currently sneezing and sniffling try out this recipe that isn’t too hard and will surely be worth it.  Trust me, they will appreciate all your efforts more than they can say.

So a big thanks to my sous chef, who definitely graduated into head chef on Friday with this from scratch creation.  Isn’t he just the cutest chef there is?

Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

Ingredients
yields 4-6 restorative servings
1 small rotisserie chicken from the grocery store
1 (48 oz) container chicken stock
3 large carrots, peeled
3 celery stalks, peeled
1 small onion
1 T. olive oil
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 (10 oz bag) egg noodles
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1) Chop the carrots, celery, and onion.  Try to get the pieces to all be of similar size for even cooking.  Remove the skin from the chicken, take the meat from the bones, and shred the meat into bite sized pieces using your hands or a fork.

2) Heat olive oil in a large stock pot, or dutch oven, over medium heat.  Saute carrots, celery, and onions until they become tender (about 10-12 minutes depending on the size).

3) When the vegetables are tender add the stock and chicken and increase the heat to high until the soup begins to boil.

4) After the soup has begun to boil add in the noodles and cook until noodles are al dente (the package should give you cooking time). When the noodles are ready add in the parsley and serve with a spoon, an advil, and some tissues.  Perhaps some orange juice on the side.  Hope you feel better soon 🙂