Megan's get well soon chicken soup for the common cold

So, I've been sick. Actually, I was getting sick right before I left for Germany, and I took Tuesday off of work so that maybe I could have an enjoyable time while I was there. Well, it didn't work. I mean, I did have a great time in Germany, as usual, especially with my sister around, but I was also getting progressively sicker. Walking around the Frankfurt Zoo in freezing rain and hiking in the woods with soft hail falling from the sky were both fun, but only exacerbated my illness. I didn't want to complain though, because we were only there for a week (actually, 6 days), and my sister has never been to Germany before. Suffice it to say, by the time I got on the plane this past Thursday (March 22), I was miserable, had a fever and only wanted to curl up in a bed while someone less ill took care of me. The trip home was a nightmare. I came home, cooked some chicken soup and was passed out in my bed, heavily medicated with fever reducers and antihistamines by 7:00. Now it's 11am on Saturday, and thanks to the insane amount of sleep I've had, orange juice, and my trusty chicken soup, I'm already starting feel much better. So, I thought I'd share the recipe with you all. I should have started this as a photo log, but I didn't think of it soon enough, so you'll have to use your imagination for the preparation.

Ingredients
You will need:

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  
• 1 small fresh onion
• 2 large fresh carrots
• 2 large stalks of celery
• 3 small red potatoes *
• 1-2 cups of broccoli *
  
• 6-8 cups of water
• 2-4 cubes of chicken buillon *
• 2 large pieces of chicken -- it can be any type of meat, but the chicken must have it's skin and bones. This is important!
• A bit of black pepper, cayenne pepper, and a tiny bit of garlic powder
  
• 1 tablespoon chives
• 1 large pot

Preparation

1. Finely chop a large handful of the onion. You don't need that much, about half a cup is fine. If you like onion a lot, you can add more.
   
2. Chop the carrots and celery. Wash and peel the red potatoes. Be sure to remove sprouts and bad parts! Then chop the potatoes into small cubes.
   
3. Heat the olive oil in the pot.
4. Add the onions, and cook them until they are translucent. Be careful not to brown them, but your soup won't taste horrible if they end up brown anyway.
   
5. Add the potatoes, carrots and celery.
6. Add 6-8 cups of water, depending on how much broth you like in your soup, and how much chicken you are cooking. My chicken breasts were very large this time around, so I used 8 cups of water.
7. Add a teaspoon of black pepper, a teaspoon of red pepper and a very tiny dash of garlic powder.
8. Turn the heat up high and bring your concoction to a boil!
9. Once boiling, add the the chicken. You can chop your chicken before hand, but be sure to put the bones and fatty chicken skin into the boiling water. This is essential for making a good broth. Remember, you're making chicken soup for someone with a cold, not a stomach flu.
   
10. Boil the chicken in the water for 10 minutes. You don't want to get food poisoning on top of your cold!
11. After 10 minutes, turn down the heat so that your "soup" will come to a quick simmer. Cook for another 10 minutes.
12. At this point, you can add the broccoli. Cauliflower is also a good addition. Cook for 3-4 for minutes.
13. Now, taste your broth. (** You might want to check the temperature of your chicken if it is especially large and you didn't chop it) Be careful, because the liquid will be hot! By now it will taste decent, but there won't be any flavoring. This is where you can add your bouillon, or your own seasonings. I find that the chicken bouillon sold in stores is often too salty for my taste, so while the directions recommend using 1 cube of bouillon for eveyr 2 cups of water, I used only 2! You may want to add the cubes slowly until the broth taste right. Of if you prefer a more bland broth, you might not want to add anything. The vegetables already add their own flavoring to the water, and it is a slightly spicy because of the pepper you added earlier.
14. Add the chives.

Fresh, hot, homemade chicken soup

Of course, what good chicken soup is not accompanied with a fresh cup of hot tea in your favorite mug?

Fresh hot tea