Coming down with a cold? Grandma was right when she said to eat your chicken soup! Amazingly, science has shown chicken soup to alleviate upper respiratory infections because the nourishing ingredients decrease migration of a type of white blood cell called a neutrophil, thereby reducing inflammation. In addition, the steam from a hot cup of soup clears out mucous, the broth keeps you hydrated, and the salt helps replenish electrolytes. Plus, it’s such a warm, tasty, comforting meal. I’m probably not the only one who starts to crave chicken soup as the temperatures begin to drop! Below is my favorite chicken stock recipe. I make a batch regularly and freeze for later use in the chicken soup recipes shown here. Enjoy!

Chicken Stock from Nourishing Traditions

Directions:

1. Put chicken bones and carcass in a big pot and cover with water.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of any vinegar and let sit for 30 minutes before turning on the heat.
3. While the pot is sitting, chop up the following vegetables and add them to the pot:
   • 1 onion
   • 2 carrots
   • 3 celery sticks
4. After 30 minutes, bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer 6 to 24 hours — the longer, the better. Check periodically for any scum that may rise to the top and skim it off.
5. When you are done cooking, strain it over a pot and set aside the veggies and carcass to cool. I usually go over the carcass at this point for any bits of chicken left on there that I can give our dogs. They love when I add the left over veggies and bits of meat to their food, and cats would love this, too!

Our Kids’ Favorite Chicken Noodle Soup

Gluten Free

Ingredients:

• 8 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups chicken meat
• 2 cups diced veggies (we like carrots, celery, snap peas)
• 1 Tbsp dried minced onion
• handful fresh parsley
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1/4 tsp thyme
• 2 Tbsp Better Than Boullion
• 2 Tbsp Perfect Bovine Gelatin
• 8 oz uncooked brown rice/quinoa pasta, cooked very al dente

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients, except the pasta, and cook until the veggies are tender.
2. Add pasta and serve. We have Parmesan cheese on the table because it rocks in soup.

This recipe could easily be turned into Chicken and Rice by substituting the pasta with rice. Cook up 1 cup of rice and add it in the last step as above.

Hearty Spicy Chicken & Sausage Soup

Paleo, Gluten Free

Ingredients:

• 8 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups cooked chicken meat
• 6 cooked Italian sausages, cut into bite size pieces
• 6 carrots
• 1/2 lb spinach
• 1 small diced onion
• 1 Tbsp Better Than Boullion
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/4 tsp thyme
• Your favorite hot sauce, to taste

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients.
2. Cook until the veggies are tender. Again, we like to add Parmesan cheese to our bowls. YUM!

By Kerrie Bross