Had my chicken and boiled the rest to make chicken soup. Heres how it works: Old man winter is back and hes got an agenda! He wants to make us shiver and be susceptible to cold and flu viruses. Besides becoming obsessive with hand sanitizers, what can we do when we or one of family members get sick? In my house, winter is the season for chicken soup. Chicken soup the universal healing elixir. For generations folks have used home remedies to treat the common cold Long before there were drive-up pharmacies or electric vaporizers, there was chicken soup. As early as the 12th century, trusted healers started to prescribe the broth of fowl for their ill patients. It was during that time that Egyptian Jewish physician and philosopher, Rabbi Moshe ben Maimonides, started to write extensively about the benefits and healing properties of chicken soup. He wrote, The meat taken should be that of hens or roosters and their broth should also be taken because this sort of fowl has virtue in rectifying corrupted humours. More recently, studies have shown chicken soup actually does possess health benefits. Dr. Stephen Rennard, MD at the University of Nebraska Medical Center set out to do this work. He states, Although it isnt a cure for the common cold, the proof is in the pudding that it does indeed provide relief from the symptoms. All of the research agrees that soup helps to break up congestion and eases the flow of nasal secretions. Chicken soup also inhibits the inflammatory response causing sore throats. Heres how it breaks down: Chicken contains an amino acid called cysteine. It thins out the mucous in the lungs making it easier to cough out. Hot chicken broth vapors have been proven more effective than hot water vapors in cleaning out the cold in your nose. Carrots are a great source of beta-carotene. The body converts this into vitamin A, which helps prevent and fight off infections by enhancing the actions of white blood cells that destroy harmful bacteria and viruses. Onions contain quercetin, a powerful antioxidant that is a natural anti-histamine and anti-inflammatory. Enough already with the chemistry lesson! How about if we just make some soup? Start with chicken parts that have bones. That is crucial. You can start with fresh vegetables or save the trimmings and peels of vegetables used in other dishes. Theyll be put to far better use in your stockpot than in your wastebasket! Things like organic carrot peels, parsley stems and celery ends are all fine in your stock, as you will be straining them all out in the end. If it takes you a while to compile enough of those ingredients at one time, you can freeze them all in a zip lock bag. When the bag is full, pull the frozen veggies out to make broth. How much of everything do you need? A good rule of thumb is roughly equal parts of solids to equal amounts of water. You will need the following: 4-5 lbs chicken parts or meaty bones 1 large onion, chopped 3 large carrots, chopped 4 stalks of celery (the leafy tops are great in stock) 1 handful of fresh chopped organic parsley ¾ teaspoon thyme leaves Salt & pepper to taste Combine all the ingredients in the water and simmer at least 2 hours periodically skimming off any foam. Strain. Let chill a few hours and skim off any hardened fat. Pick the meat off the bones and add back to the stock. Add more carrots, celery, potatoes, parsley and organic egg noodles. Simmer until all the ingredients are tender. Dont wait until somebody is sick; make it now. Eat some and freeze some…think of it as an insurance policy against the ills of cold and flu season. Thank you Freshlife!
Posted on: Fri, 20 Jun 2014 18:40:43 +0000
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