Feel Better Soon Chicken Soup

This last week my husband had the flu, I had some sort of weird food poisoning thing and my kids were full of snot...'tis the season, right? We are all generally healthy people, but sometimes, an immune system needs a bit of a boost. Enter Chicken Soup for the Run-Down-Sick-or-Just Freezing-Body. It's full of spices, veggies that are super packed with nutrients to keep you well and help you feel well when you are sick, Garlic plays a big role in this soup. Not only is it packed with things like vitamin C, Manganese and B6, it also has been shown to reduce the length and symptoms of colds and flu.  Turmeric is amazing in the way it reduces inflammation and the ginger fights infection and can calm upset tummies. Chicken is easy on the tummy and provides good protein while the veggies give flavor and fiber to keep your systems moving...even if you aren't eating much. Use bone broth for it's amazing healing properties including collagen, glutamine, glycine and proline. Check out more awesome stuff about bone broth here. 

What you need:

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 cups carrots, chopped
• 3 cups celery, chopped
• 1 Rotisserie chicken, shredded (you can use whatever chicken you want...this is just so easy)
• 6 cups chicken bone broth (you can get this in almost any grocery store in the health food section)
• 4 cups water
• 2 TBSP minced Garlic
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 1.5 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 bag riced cauliflower
• 1/2 TBSP basil
• 1/2 TBSP parsley
• 3 TBSP Soy Sauce (or coconut aminos if you have them on hand...I didn't)
• Sea Salt and Pepper to taste

What to do:

1. In large stock pot, saute the onions in a splash of chicken broth with all the spices (garlic, ginger, turmeric, basil, parsley) for about two minutes or until onions are a bit translucent. 
2. Add the rest of the chicken broth and water as well as the chopped veggies and riced cauliflower and bring to a boil and then simmer for a few minutes (I shredded my chicken while this was happening)
3. Toss in the chicken, soy sauce, salt and pepper
4. Bring back to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer until veggies are as soft as you want them. 

This re-heats amazingly well. Feel free to play with the spices and such. I gave mine a shot of cayenne for fun and to warm me up a bit further and clear my stuffy nose. 

It's about 100 calories per cup (without broth) and has 7 grams carbs, 4 grams fat, 12 grams protein and 2.5 grams fiber.

Enjoy...and feel better soon!

I adapted (and made easier) this recipe from this one.

Playlist to keep you warm in the chilly December weather