This week the Facebook status feed on my page has been filled with updates on people and families who have been hit with different illnesses, including several with H1N1. We are also around alot of these people in real life, and two of my boys are in a college setting and ride public transportation. So I am sure our family is being exposed to lots of nasty germs every day.
I remember staying home sick as a teenager. One thing I did that made me feel comforted was making myself chicken noodle soup (I hate to confess it was often Top Ramen!) and watching Perry Mason at 12 noon.
Did you have any special things you did, or do you do any certain thing now, if you or one of your family members gets sick?
Of course I am praying we don't catch anything. I have lots on hand to boost our immune systems, as well as items on hand to help if we do happen to catch anything.
One thing I do believe helps for both prevention and for actual flu and cold symptoms is bone broth. You've heard the addages about chicken soup -- and they are true. However, the most healing benefits come from the bones. I believe that adding a well made bone broth to a well made vegetable broth makes a delicious as well as nutritious and immune supporting soup.
I found some free range chickens on sale at a local health food store and ordered a case so I'd get a further 10% off. This helped me get my 12 chickens for $70.00. This works out to $5.83 each, which is a pretty good deal for free range chicken bought from a source I know and trust. I can find cheaper chickens, but I feel it is important to do my best to buy local, free-range and, if possible, organic sources for meat.
I have worked on my basic chicken soup recipe for several years now and have decided to share it today for Soups On Saturday. My recipe is formulated for an 8 quart pot, so please scale your ingredients accordingly.
~ Rinse one chicken and place it in an 8 quart cooking pot (I found my red Le Creuset 8 quart at Costco and used my refund check for it a last year!).
~ Season with desired seasonings. I always use lemon pepper liberally, and sea salt to taste. I also usually use garlic. But keep in mind that if you use too much garlic and you are making the soup for someone with a stomach flu, they may not be able to eat it. I add other seasonings after the chicken has been boiled and has simmered.
~ Pour cold water over seasoned chicken. This is where the size of your pan makes a difference. If it is a larger pan, you don't want to fill it as high. You don't want your broth to taste watery. For my 8 quart pot I fill until chicken is almost covered.
~ To this I add about 1/4 cup of white vinegar. This helps to extract the calcium from the bones. Most people add about 2 tablespoons , but personally, I like the taste it adds to our broth so I add more. And I feel this is the secret to how wonderful the soup tastes when it is done. It gives it a tang that is delicious.
~ Cover pot and bring to boil. Then turn it down to a simmer and cook overnight.
~ In the morning when I get up, I remove all of the larger pieces of meat I can fairly easily remove with a spoon or fork, let them cool and refrigerate for later.
~ Skim any of the "sludge" that has raised to the top of the broth.
~ Then I add a variety of vegetables, whatever I have around that sounds good. This is to make the vegetable broth. This always includes celery, carrots, cabbage and onion. It may also include mushrooms, zucchini or winter squash, turnips, etc. To my last batch I added beet greens for an hour of the simmer time then removed them so they would not add too strong of a taste. It also added just enough of that wonderful color only beets can add!
~ Bring broth back to a boil then allow to simmer several hours.
~ Pour the whole mixture through colander over another pot. Pour strained broth back into original pot. Separate out the veggies, pick out all bones and skin from colander and discard. Remove any chicken meat pieces you can easily pull out and add them back to the broth.
~ Run boiled veggies through your blender, adding some of the broth to help it blend more easily. Then add the mixture back to the remaining broth and stir well.
~ Now I add tarragon and more sea salt and lemon pepper to taste. I also usually end up adding a little more vinegar to get it to just the right tanginess. Sometimes I also add fresh squeezed lemon juice.~ This is when I cut up and add back the chicken meat I formerly removed, and more veggies. I add more onion and carrot, mushrooms, zucchini and cabbage plus whatever else I might have around that sounds good. Right now I have alot of winter squash so I dice some of that up (raw) and throw it in.
~ Bring back to a boil then simmer only until veggies are to desired tenderness. Don't let them get mushy.
~ Now you can add whatever else you like. Sometimes I make my great grandma's noodle recipe and add those in. My family also enjoys dumplings so I sometimes add those. But usually I prefer to serve it over rice, couscous or cooked pasta rather than add it in because I don't like the starch to soak up all of the broth.
Do you have a favorite broth, soup or stew that you eat when you don't feel well? I'd love to have your recipe!
NEXT WEEK: Soups using SAUSAGE. Yum. I can't wait to try some recipes! 
