The cold and flu season is upon us, everywhere that we go doors and windows are closed and air circulation is reduced. Indoors, people sneeze and cough and generously share their viruses. There are a few foods that I rely on during this season to make me feel better, do they actually protect me from a cold, some, would say, yes, some no and others I don’t know.

I do not count on these foods to keep me from getting a cold or developing the flu but I do find they warm me up when I come in on a cold night and that warm feeling makes me feel stronger and that is nothing to sneeze at, pardon the pun.

My favourite virus season food is homemade chicken soup just like my grandmother used to make. I also like a good old fashioned beef stew and find hot sauce of any kind indispensable.

Homemade Chicken Soup:

Equipment:

Soup pot

Sharp knife

Cutting board

Ingredients:

5 chicken legs, legs are cheap

½ green pepper diced

1 medium onion sliced

6 mini-carrots sliced

4 cloves garlic

5 cups water

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Hot sauce if you want,

Besides liking my food spicy, hot sauce can make you sweat and sweating is good for your health.

Preparation;

Add water to soup pot

Add chicken legs and onions

Cook 75 minutes

Strain broth into a bowl and set chicken legs aside

Put broth back into soup pot

Add all the other ingredients

Cook for another ten minutes and serve.

The chicken legs can be eaten cold, put into a lunch, used for a stir fry and a number of other uses. We usually have then for lunch the next day, either to take to the office or enjoyed at home with a salad.

I like cold chicken more than I do hot, just like turkey, there is something about either bird that simply tastes better cold, especially in a hot turkey or chicken sandwich but then that is a hub for another day.