So for the past couple of days I, Michelle, have had a terribly dry, sore, scratchy, and painful throat. When I wake up in the morning it hurts to talk and drink water. By afternoon, I feel better. What I really want when I’m sick is some good soup.
I really love this soup that my mom cooks. Its basically a Filipino version of chicken noodle soup. I don’t remember if my mom put vegetables or not in the soup when she made it but some of the recipes I found online did. The more vegetables, the better – especially when you’re sick. I don’t like normal chicken noodle soup because it’s too chunky and salty. Also, I will not eat soup from a can.
To make this soup you basically make your own stock from chicken breast, a carrot, a stick of celery, onion, and seasonings. Then you saute in another pan garlic, ginger, onion, cubed carrot, and cubed celery. You add the chicken and broth, season with salt and pepper, and boil until carrots are tender. Then, you add 3 cups of pasta and let cook until tender. Remove from heat and add 2 cups of heavy cream, half and half, or non fat free milk. Its so easy, why would you eat that stuff from a can?!
I wore Vivian on my back in a carrier while I was making it. She kept leaning over to see what I was doing. It was too cute. She ate half a bowl with me for lunch, had another half a bowl along with dinner, and had leftover with me today. We absolutely love this soup, especially if we let the noodles soak up the broth and milk until its soggy. =P
Another thing we’ve been really loving around here is chicken stir fy. It is one of the easiest things I know how to make, and I can’t believe I didn’t try making it from scratch earlier. The cool thing is you only need to use one chicken breast to two bowls of vegetables – cheap and healthy! I think the key is marinating your chicken first. Our absolute favorite vegetables to add are mushrooms, carrots, and baby corn. I love zucchini but Curtiss hates the texture. You could also do broccoli, cashews, eggplant, bell peppers, or beef. Stir fries are really versatile. To make it saucy, add some cornstarch and sugar.
We have really been loving home cooked meals. I think at least 85% of what we eat is homecooked. I’m still learning how to make our own bread. I have some good recipes, but looking for the perfect baking stone. When we do eat out, its mostly stuff from the bakery which isn’t horrible since at least its fresh. I remember one day, we were really busy and didn’t go grocery shopping soon enough so we ate out for lunch and dinner. That made Curtiss and I terribly nauseous. Cooking for yourself let’s you control your sodium and sugar intake – such a big deal considering my family’s history and eliminate food dyes (been linked to causing hyperactivity in children), high fructose corn syrup (cheap version of sugar that a lot more exercise to burn off ), preservatives, and fillers. We are also staying away from bleached white flour because of the unhealthy bleaching process so we don’t use those little baking kits in boxes. They really don’t taste as good as homemade either. You can substitute whole wheat flour in most recipes by using half the called for amount in whole wheat flour and the other half in unbleached flour.
Oh and by the way, GROSS:
I saw this video months ago and I still shudder every time I come across it.
