I can imagine many of you have been felled by the flu already this winter. If so, have you been able to eat or cook? Any sick food favorites?
I’ve had kind of a double whammy, so to speak, and little to no appetite. When I’m not food averse, I’m very fickle with what I do want to eat. Honestly I’m too tired to type out the whole story at present, but will provide more detail later.
How about you guys?
Yeah, my whole fam went down by turn for a couple of weeks over the holidays. Ugh.
We have a phrase that means “the taste has gone out of your mouth”… pretty accurate.
Soft and warm things, clear soups.
Chicken soup is a favorite for a reason… easy to make and eat, flavorful, and can be dressed up or just taken as broth. We also make a vegetarian version that has exactly the same ingredients, just without the chicken. Lightly spiced in both cases - whole cinnamon, clove, cardamom, peppercorn, plus ginger and garlic to the base of onions and tomatoes. Chicken pieces, lots of water, simmer for a while. Add halved potatoes halfway through. Just before eating, add whole green beans, cauliflower florets, and peas. Let it simmer just enough to cook the veg, then finish with cilantro and add with a generous squeeze of lime in the bowl. Good with bread to dip, or rice in the bottom of the bowl, or just as it with the potato lightly mashed in if that’s all you can manage. I’m about to make some…
I’m also a fan of hot rice with a bit of ghee or butter and salt. Some people like a bit of soy sauce too. Simple mashed potato (salt, butter).
Wish you good recovery, and soon!
Thanks @Saregama - the vegetarian broth sounds really good! Although I’m a dedicated carnivore, meat and meat flavors are off putting to me at this point. Think H will even make it for me. He’s been an excellent nurse throughout this ordeal.
Yes, feel better. When I catch a bug my go to is usually broth, cool drinks and warm lemon water. Appetite usually toast. I slowly move to a bowl of rice and a soft egg until I’m better.
I have to be nearly dead to lose my appetite. That’s when I know I’m really not well!!!
I did a big pot of stock and chicken soup this week. Extra fruit. Easy easy easy.
I hope you feel better soon.
Chicken soup is a comfort food for my wife but her Mom’s recipe ends up too fatty for me which is especially unpleasant unfortunate when I feel poorly. She can live on it until she feels better. I like hot & sour soup, chicken soup from commercial stock, matzo brei, toast, linguini and clam sauce (who knew?), and for some really weird reason kiwi and mandarin oranges. I definitely pick at food when I’m unwell. The crock pot is my friend.
Oh - Grand Marnier in a good black tea. You may not feel better but you won’t care. grin Actually it seems to help open sinuses and thin mucus. So it’s like Robotussin DM only more fun.
Feel better soon.
Oh yes! Building on that drink. I call it a hottie toddie which I found out very recently is wrong. Whoops. Hot toddie. Anyway. Tea, lemon, bourbon or whiskey.
Especially if I’m alone when I’m sick, good old Campbell’s chicken noodle soup comforts me - I usually don’t dilute it with a full can of water. I also like chicken broth heated with some slices of fresh ginger. Saltines. And hot toddy - tea, honey, lemon, and bourbon or brandy.
Hot and sour soup is a favorite when I’m sick. Chicken soup just isn’t my thing.
Also fresh fruit—any kind, really—and toast with or without peanut butter.
Hot tea is a must.
Thanks for all your well wishes, truly!
Couldn’t eat during the flu, even hot & sour soup, which is a beloved standby, sick soup. I did eat the 2 fortune cookies that came with it, and was able to keep hydrated. Recovered after being smacked down and in bed for 5-6 days. Felt like I had about 100 tetanus shots all over my body. Still, I felt lucky to escape without any respiratory complications.
Long story short, I developed a serious bacterial infection, not directly related to the flu. My immune system went crazy or something, my kidneys got mad and started to go on strike. I’ve been on IV antibiotics for 2 weeks, and may have another 2 weeks to go. I’m infusing at home, which is a lot better than going to the clinic everyday. Very little appetite, and no cooking due to medical hardware in arms. H is going to make a veggie broth tonight that @Saregama recommended. Ginger sounds wildly appealing. Going to have fresh rice with butter too. As if Mother Nature couldn’t resist throwing another nasty curveball my way, I also broke or cracked a tooth and am in excruciating pain from that. Luckily doc prescribed some pain meds until I can get to the dentist. This will at least allow me to eat something. No more Advil, ever, but doc does foresee a complete recovery, including kidneys. Not an auspicious way to start 2020, but things could always be worse!
Gosh! Hope you have a speedy recovery from here. What a road! Yikes!
Ugh, sounds awful, with dental pain one F’d up cherry on top. Hoping for full & quick recovery.
Always soup. I love soup all year long and especially when sick, preferably with pepper or something spicy, or even just a huge amount of ginger.
But these days I only get sick* from people’s perfumes, smells ( pollution/petrol/exhaust/cleaning detergents/chemicals etc). Since I started swimming and using the steam cabin right after swimming I never had a cold or flu again. That was 20 years ago.
(* I have potentially life-threatening allergies which give me symptoms of bronchitis and pneumonia when exposed to things mentioned above. There’s no cure or medication for my allergies.
Oh my, that’s a lot to be dealing with. Give yourself time to rest and heal.
Hope you have recovered since all of this havoc on your immune.
Rest up and take it light.
My word! Awful afflictions. Hope you feel better fast. And hope your February is a respite.
That is serious. I truly hope you will get better soon. And dental problem with the infections doesn’t help at all!
Try to eat whatever fresh food you can, some fruits for vitamin C if soup doesn’t appel. You need to a lot of liquid though. Since your kidneys aren’t well, avoid very salty food like charcuterie. Recover soon.
How perfectly awful. Get well soon!
When I got sick as a kid, mom would make me jook (Korean version of congee). Sometimes flavored with a savory something, like roasted salted seaweed crumbled on top or a swirl of soy sauce and sesame oil.
When I am sick, I too don’t want meat. It’s carbs and spice - broth with rice and red pepper or a dollop of fresh chili paste. Toast and tea.
My husband is getting over the cough that is going around and, in addition to bowls of turkey soup everyday (made from the leftover roasted bones with carrots etc.) he is wanting more carbs. He made his first hash brown breakfast casserole in the crock pot - and it’s exactly what he needs right now. I think when he starts craving a steak, I’ll know he’s really better : )
