Think spring, think spring, think spring, think spring...

Yahoo!  It's February!  Hooray!
I'm taking some sage advice to "look at the bright side" and in this case, as of today, there are only 46 days left until SPRING!

Forget that on average in NJ, February is the coldest, snowiest, and dreariest month (although it's going to be hard to top this past January).  Forget that there is a sheet of ice on my window thick enough to obscure the view outside.  Forget that the driveway is lined with a 3 foot high piles of snow on either side.  I'm not going to think about any of it - I'm only going to focus on visions of green grass, crocuses, tulips & daffodils.  Open windows and warm breezes warming my cold, stuffy house.  Three smallish children frolicking around the rich green backyard with flowers in their hair, never uttering one iota of whine, complaint or demand....

Ok, ok - back to reality.  Plus, my son would never go for the flowers-in-his-hair thing anyway.  Spider webs, maybe...flowers, definitely not.

So as we move into the home stretch, I'm thinking I'm going to also focus on ways to try and keep us as healthy as possible.  Every Feb. there's always - ALWAYS - some horrible affliction that hits the kids and then on up the food chain to ME (my husband seems to have a super-human immune system).  Last year was the most insanely horrendous GI bug.  The year prior was an upper respiratory doozy...So this year we're going to fight fire with FOOD!  The following foods will be part of breakfast, lunch and dinner every day this month, although not all at once or my kids will revolt (cue the science-geek part):

1.  Carrots, sweet potatoes, sweet peppers (red, green & yellow), kale and broccoli.  These all contain lots of Beta Carotene which is converted to Vitamin A once ingested.  Vitamin A is a potent antioxidant - stimulates and enhances the immune system and fights off free radicals.

2.  Cantaloupe, grapefruit, lemons, oranges, pineapple, strawberries, asparagus, avocados, kale, onions, green peas, sweet peppers (red, green & yellow), radishes, and tomatoes.  This group has loads of Vitamin C, which stimulates white blood cell production, which are the primary defense against foreign bacteria, virus and fungi infection.


3.  Vegetable oils: wheat germ oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, corn oil, and soybean oil.  Nuts, seeds, dark green leafy vegetables and sweet potatoes.  These all contain Vitamin E which is also a powerful antioxidant that stimulate B-cells (antibody production) and "natural killer cells" (yes, these are actual cells circulating around your body that seek out and destroy bacteria and cancer cells!).


4.   Oats, tuna, onions, tomatoes, broccoli, garlic, chicken (white meat), whole grains, eggs (specifically the yolks) and brown rice.  These foods are a good source of Selenium, an antioxidant proven to boost white blood cell function, fight cancer by stimulating cancer fighting cells.


5.  Poultry, wheat germ, brewer’s yeast, pumpkin seeds, eggs, fish, lentils, soybeans, sunflower seeds, whole grains, soy lecithin, and mushrooms.  These all contain Zinc, which like Selenium, Vitamin A and Vitamin C boost the immune system by stimulating white blood cell production, specifically B and T cells.


This, by all means is non-inclusive of all the good stuff out there, but it's a good start of foods to choose from - and none that will make you gag (I deliberately left liver (Selenium) and Brussels sprouts (Vitamin C) off the list...feel free to indulge if that's your thing - ick!).

And don't forget that garlic (see my first post)!

The BEST Chicken Soup:
Time consuming, but oh-so-GOOD!
Approx 8 servings, 1.5 hours

For the broth:
1 smallish chicken - whole
Water
2 carrots, thickly sliced
1 yellow onion, cut in half and thickly sliced
4 cloves of garlic, mashed (you can either press with a garlic press or just press down on each clove to smoosh it a bit)
3 celery stalks, thickly sliced (with leaves)

For the soup:
3 large carrots, chopped into nice, bite-sized pieces
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
2 tsp dried oregano
Chicken meat from whole chicken (above), chopped or pulled into bite-sized pieces
1/4 lb dry pasta (such as farfalle, or bowtie)
Salt, to taste
Freshly grated parmesan or asiago cheese

To prepare the broth:
Place whole chicken in large pot and fill with water to just cover the chicken.
Add carrots, onion, garlic and celery - cook on med-high until just boiling, reduce heat to simmer approx 30 mins until chicken is 90% cooked through.  Remove chicken to a bowl and let sit for a few minutes.  In the mean time, strain all vegetables from liquid in pot (you can strain the broth through a cheesecloth if you want the broth to be very clear) and return the broth to medium heat.

To prepare soup:
Add raw carrots, onion, celery and oregano to broth.  Cut up all meat from cooked chicken and return to pot, raising the heat to med-high until boiling.  Add pasta to soup and cook until pasta is al-dente.  Add salt to taste.  Ladle into a bowl and top with grated cheese...YUM!