Hot Links: Curried Squash & Chicken Soup

My mom is kind enough to forward me emails containing recipes she thinks I'd like.

I found this one in a list of chicken soups. And it's Paleo! Yeah!

Curried Squash & Chicken Soup, courtesy of Cooking.com.

A few notes:

- I suspect you could use a canned pumpkin, or just roast your own squash if you are so inclined (I usually am so inclined for dishes like soups. If I make a pumpkin pie, I use canned pumpkin because most people can't tell the difference).

- I would use dark chicken meat. I have never had great success keeping white chicken meat from becoming tough in a soup-type application. Plus, the dark meat is where the flavor is! You can probably find some boneless thighs in a decent grocery's meat section.

- I would eliminate the brown sugar in the recipe. Two teaspoons won't make any difference in such a large soup, and if you use a fresh-roasted squash, I bet it'll be sweet enough! Might as well not get your body in a fuss over such a small amount of sugar, anyway.

- You could easily substitute Swiss or Rainbow chard for the spinach in this recipe. Whole Foods often has them even pre-cut in the produce section (at least, the Whole Foods in the Roosevelt neighborhood in Seattle does). But spinach also has plenty of vitamins, so I wouldn't worry too much.

This recipe intrigues me; I think I'll have to try it on Sunday (my traditional day to cook up food for the week).

***

As some brief life-happens notes... I came down with a cold last Saturday evening. It began as a sore throat, and went from there. I definitely credit doing Crossfit regularly with reducing the severity of the cold. What used to happen with me was when I got sick, I invariably got a respiratory infection of some sort, and went on antibiotics regularly.

I haven't been to the gym since last Thursday, and I am really anxious to get back. I knew that going would delay my return to wellness, so the only exercise I really got last week was meandering around my neighborhood after work. And I worked from home, too, after taking a sick day on Monday. I am grateful that my job allows for that (both sick days and telecommuting), and that my coworkers weren't subjected to watching me use piles of Kleenex and taking a nap during lunchtime.

Other mitigating steps I took to keep the viruses and bacteria at bay were taking tons of natural supplements:

- daily multivitamin
- 2 x 1000 mg vitamin C pills (you just pee it out, so I take one in the morning and one in the evening until the cold is gone, then I revert back to a daily 1000 mg)
- echinacea tincture (1 tsp, twice a day)
- oregano oil (2 drops, twice a day)
- cat's claw tincture (1 tsp, twice a day)
- twice-daily nasal wash using X-Clear nasal wash (saline + xylitol)

Apart from that, I drank tons of fluids - mostly iced herbal tea, hot herbal tea, and unsweetened flavored fizzy water. I tried to eat well, and last Sunday I made a chicken soup using ginger, lemongrass, and plenty of garlic. I also added sriracha sauce (an Asian hot pepper sauce) to help clear out any remaining sinus gunk. I avoided dairy because milk thickens mucous. (Another point in favor of So Delicious coconut milk!)

However, I had a couple of relapses... when I'm sick, I admit - my willpower goes to hell. I had a few sweets.. *sigh*.

Oh well. Back on the wagon!!! Nobody said it was easy, but I hope my blog at least helps make it more palatable.