You are here: Home » Chicken Soup

Chicken Soup

Dec

One of the children is sick. Very sick. And the washing machine has packed up. It’s cold. Everyone is tired, it’s nearly the end of term and, as my four-year-old complained, “Christmas is taking ages to come”.

Rootling through the fridge, I think I’ve come up with something to make it all seem better. Chicken soup. A hearty warming variety which can sit on the stove top simmering away and everyone can help themselves when they come in. Great for these wintry evenings and of course it is traditionally known for its medicinal & soothing qualities. There’s some meat left from the Sunday roast, and I have boiled up the carcass for stock There’s also a bowl of rice over from yesterday’s curry and half a tub of creme fraiche. In the veggie rack there’s a sweet potato, a sad old leek and a load of carrots which can go in as well.

If I needed any more encouragement to use up what’s left in the fridge, Jane Clarke writes in The Mail Online about the health benefits of leftovers. For instance, did you know that beta-carotene, an antioxidant vitamin that protects from free radicals, is more easily absorbed from cooked carrots than from raw ones? No, nor did I. So there we are – leftovers are good for you.

But if the washing machine man doesn’t show up today, he’ll need more than chicken soup to protect his free radicals!