OH NO! mommy is sick...

It really is inevitable. No matter how many multi vitamins I take, healthy fruit shakes I drink, gym classes I attend or well balanced meals I consume, eventually I will come down with something. Now I just lied about all of the above. I forget to take the vitamins, I drink way to much coffee and my main meal of the day is dinner where I consume way to many calories in just one sitting. As for the gym, I’m still on the fence. I have lucked out and I rarely get sick enough to warrantee a doctor visit. In the past I have called out of work for the day, stayed holed up in bed and pumped myself full of anti-cold/cough/vomit/whatever medicine and have been right as rain in just a couple of days. But having a child completely changes how I can take care of myself in the event I do get sick. Because no one is around to take care of sick mommy. There should be a service you can call that will come drop off all your necessary sick needs. Medicines, drinks, ear plugs ect. Because all baby wants to do is play with the loudest god damn toy he owns, throw everything around the room so it lands with a loud THUNK and shriek his head off because he thinks its so funny. Loud annoying noises don’t go to well with your splitting headache. Thank god I can control the food he eats so when mommy feels to sick to her stomach because of the stomach bug she caught from somewhere somehow, baby gets to have three meals a day of oatmeal because that doesn’t smell. And ha, baby can’t talk yet so baby can’t complain. Cheese is ok because that doesn’t smell too bad; mozzarella sticks have little to no odor. Poor mommy. I beg and plead with my baby to please take a super long nap so I can whine and cry and feel bad for myself on the couch but at least it is quiet so my head isn’t pounding all that much anymore. I wish I had some ginger ale or Gatorade but I cant leave the house until baby wakes up and the very thought of having to wrestle him into his jacket and bundle him in the stroller and push the stroller down the block to CVS makes my stomach hurt even more. I guess ill just have to wait till my husband comes home and he can take care of me. Or at least he tried...

He first offered me Chinese food because that is what he and his dad were ordering for dinner because sick mommy really had no energy to make dinner that day. I told him that was the last thing I could possibly choke down but he was convinced that as soon as I smelled that tantalizing Chinese food smell (seriously no matter what Chinese food smells amazing! The wonder of msg..) I would be starving and I would eat some. Or at least I would eat plain rice. Poor mommy had to smell the scent of Chinese food and I wish to god I had a mask because I really thought I was going to run to bathroom every five seconds. Lesson there hubby, people who have a stomach bug do not want to eat Chinese food. He offered me tea and I tried that. He told me to take a bath but I said the tub is too small and there is nothing worse than a too small tub with a too big person and their knobby knees poking out of the water. He then promised me a big Dani size tub one day. I lay on the couch and he offered me some Motrin, I choked that down with some tepid water because he forgot to add the ice. 3 hours later I feebly whispered that maybe I could handle some toast with butter, could he please make me some? Hubby jumped up to make me that toast but stubbed his toes hard into the steps leading up to the kitchen. He howled in pain and lay in a heap on the floor clutching his probably broken again toes so I had to get off the couch and get him an ice pack. I had him sit down for a few moments before I could get my toast. He brings me my toast a short while later but the toast isn’t too toasted; its full of holes and the butter is in little cold chunks. He told me to eat it anyways, he really did try. I fell asleep on the couch so he changed the channel to his video game and left me there sleeping because he says at least if I’m there while he is playing his game its still like we are hanging out.

Needless to say, I am more prepared for next time. I have Gatorade in the basement, chicken soup in the freezer and a plethora of cold medicines and tissues. BRING IT cold!!

Supposedly nothing heals better than Jewish penicillin, also known as chicken soup. Everyone has their own recipes and their own shtick when it comes to making the perfect pot. So here is my rendition passed on to me via my sister to my other two sisters from my mother from my grandmother. None of these women use measurements when making the soup so I did my best to come up with some sort of standardization adjust any seasonings you see fit.

I use an 8-quart soup pot, you will get about 4 quarts of soup.

Four Sisters Chicken Soup

· 1 pkg of beef bones

· 2 pounds chicken bones

· 1 pound turkey necks

· Now I know its weird that I use no actually chicken but rather just the bones but I find that I get a much more concentrated flavor and it is much cheaper! Feel free to add in any stray frozen chicken pieces from your freezer, I usually have a bag of trimmings reserved from when I clean the chickens before roasting.

· 1 large onion, skin on but washed (this is the secret to a golden chicken soup)

· 5 large carrots, peeled and cut in half

· 3 stalks of celery cut in half

· 2 small turnips peeled and cut in half

· 1 whole garlic bulb

· 2 bay leafs

· 1 tbsp. whole peppercorn

· 2 tbsp. or so of kosher salt (keep in mind that kosher meat is salted so go easy on the salt because you can always add more to taste when you are warming up the soup.)

· 1 tsp. dried thyme

· Handful of fresh parsley

· Handful of fresh dill

·

· Place all the ingredients in the pot and add cold water to cover. Bring the pot to a boil and skim off any of the gross meat bone crud. Lower the flame to a simmer and simmer the soup for four and half hours. That is the real secret to a good chicken soup, the longer the simmer the better the soup!

· Allow the soup to cool and strain into containers. Throw out the bones and you can save any of the veg if you have a small infant that can eat mashed carrot or turnip. My niece is coming to visit so that container is reserved for her! If not, it goes in the garbage because those veg have worked hard and have done their job.

· To warm up, bring soup to a boil and throw in some fresh carrot chunks and thinly sliced Portobello mushrooms. The carrots add freshness to the soup while the mushrooms add an earthy undertone.

· Serve the soup with carrot pieces, mushrooms and of course the essential noodles and matzo balls.

· I wont post a matzo ball recipe because I use the good old boxed matzo ball mix. I’ll whip egg whites for a cake but not for the matzo ball. Sorry dude.