Red Chicken Noodle Soup A Comfort To The Soul

 Red Chicken Noodle Soup A Comfort To The Soul

The last couple of days I have not felt like writing. I have been coming down with a cold. I did something that was not too bright when we had the last snow fall.

I had just taken a shower and washed my hair when I head the snow plow outside. The man that does the snow plowing for the community I live in uses the lot next to mine to pile the snow from the other driveways and the roads during the winter. That means he has to plow though my double driveway to reach the lot. I didn’t think we had enough snow to be plowed but I was wrong.

I got dressed quickly and went outside wet hair grabbing a sweater that was on the chair next to the door instead of going in the closet to get a coat to keep myself  warm. I knew if I didn’t get out there right away I would regret it and didn't want to take the time to look in the closet for my coat that I seldom wear even in winter.

When I got outside I realized that the plow had already put a lot of snow in front of the car.

I have asked him repeatedly to just honk his horn and I would come out and move the car. I am perhaps the lightest sleeper anyone could imagine so yes I would hear him even if I was sound asleep since where he piles the snow is right under my bedroom window. You would think he could get that one little thing right but so far no he has not. I guess I understand. He has over seventy driveways and two roads in the community to plow so remembering to beep his horn must be way down on his list of things to do.

I was outside for about a half an hour clearing the snow in front of my car with wet hair and sweater freezing because I didn’t want to take the time to go back in the house and get dressed the way I should have been to do this task. I knew if I wanted to be able to get out later I had to shovel the snow that was packed in front of my car right there and then because the minute I went back in the house  to get my coat he would be back plowing more snow into the lot next to me. Then  I would be snowed in so I had no choice it had to get done while I was out there.

Later that night the house got very very cold. In fact at midnight I woke up because the house was so cold. When I put my feet on the floor to go check out why the furnace was not coming on my feet stung and burned  when they touched the floor. That was a bad sign and I didn't want my pipes to freeze up so I became very concerned about what could possibly be wrong.

 I have a new furnace and didn’t believe it could be that and I though to myself  maybe when I set the thermostat down for the night I had not set it correctly at least I hoped it was going to be that simple.

I turned on the light and looked at the thermostat. It didn’t read anything. The thermostat was not working so I opened it up and took it apart. I am comfortable taking apart a thermostat since I have installed many thermostats myself while I was flipping houses a few years ago. I realized when I opened the case it could be that the batteries had gone bad at least I hoped that was the problem. I would have to replace the batteries if I was going the see if this was the issue but first I had to find some.

Have you ever tried to search for batteries half asleep? The search didn’t go well. I could not find the right size batteries and gave up and decided to try the old radio trick I reversed the position of the batteries and knew that would work if there was any juice left in the batteries. I was lucky the thermostat began to work and the furnace came on. It was below fifty in the house when I finally got the thermostat working no wonder I woke up from the cold!

The next day I had to go out to get some things done that could not wait and new batteries were on the must have list.

By that evening I was sick and congested. I live along so it’s up to me to take care of myself (though I have to give my friend credit he did call and give me sympathy).

I took some decongestant to help with the cold but I wanted what my grandmother always made when I was sick. It is the only thing in all the years she was alive that I ever remember her cooking it was Red Chicken Noodle Soup.

Red Chicken Noodle Soup is not hard to make. I do an updated version of grandma’s soup. I used a box of chicken broth I buy at the dollar store then I added the chicken (dark meat works the best and if you don’t like dark meat this is a good way to use it up because it has more flavor than white meat and you get a richer broth plus you will never know the difference using it in soup) a can of tomatoes (that’s the red part) and whatever veggies I had left over in the vegetable drawer. This time is was onions and celery and one lonely carrot. I flavored the soup with salt and fresh grounded pepper. I put it all in my crock pot so I would not have to watch it and went off to bed.

The next day I had my Red Chicken Noodle Soup. This is the time to add the pasta or rice whatever you prefer. I prefer neither. I like broth so the soup was ready to eat later when I was ready for it.

At noon I was getting hungry and poured myself a cup of soup and made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Let’s face it this is the perfect sandwich with chicken noodle soup!

Today I am starting to feel a little better. That is obvious right? After all I am writing again.

If you are feeling under the weather give this soup a try. I don’t know the medicinal value of red chicken noodle soup but some doctors say it’s a good expectorant. I don’t know if that’s true but it is soothing to the soul if nothing else and when you are not feeling well that is part of what you need to get better. It’s not all about medication it’s about feeling comforted when you’re ill.

I know this is a great comfort to me and I hope it will be a great comfort to you as well.