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Waging war in my kitchen on a cold virus

Wagging war with a cold

 in my kitchen.

My sweet husband brought  home a cold virus from his recent trip to Oregon. He caught it at a nursing home he was at every day visiting his parents in Wilsonville, OR. He was very susceptible because he was stressed and worn out from work when he received the call to hurry to see his parents from a hospice nurse. When you combine stress with anxiety and exhaustion,  your body doesn’t have much to fight off any type of virus or infection.
Long story short, he came home ill, sad and stressed to the max. I immediately began to nurse him back to health and a week later, he is much better but I am now starting to feel that tickle in my throat and the sneezing and runny nose.  I am a bit panicked because next week is a very important week for my business. I am working for 4 days in Anaheim for a company who is sponsoring a booth at the convention center. We are expecting 400 visitors  a day to our booth and Artful Chefs has been hired to make appetizers for them. I cannot be sick, I must be 100% with all energy and mind focused on this event.

 

So here’s the battle plan…

It’s 8:00am now: Gather everything that will boost my immune system and quickly get it into my body.

1. Oranges: That’s easy. Everyone knows that vitamin C is great for colds, sliced up 2 of them and ate them immediately. Vitamin C reduces stress on your system and helps your body to fight off colds.

2. Make a shake with the following:

  • 3/4 cup frozen organic blueberries, highest in antioxidants of all the berries. They also have vitamin C.
  • 3/4  cup frozen organic strawberries, Strawberries are very nutritious – packed with vitamin C, phyto nutrients and antioxidants.  Strawberries are rich in vitamin K, vitamin B6, vitamin B5, omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, copper, riboflavin, potassium, manganese and folic acid.
  • 10 ounces of Almond milk (I make this myself now, see my blog for how to make this very easily and less expensively than the store bought stuff ): Almond milk is a good source of protein but more importantly for my war today, it contains a great source of Zinc.
  • One tablespoon of coconut oil: The coconut oil helps  the anti-inflammatory response of your body’s immune system. It will keep the mucus from getting thick and causing congestion.
  • One tablespoon of raw cocoa powder: In its raw state, it contains more antioxidant flavonoids than red wine, green tea and blueberries. Raw cacao is high in fiber and vitamin C and a good source of iron and protein.
  • 1 tablespoon of raw honey and Honey has anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-microbial properties. Many studies have shown that it is effective at fighting external and internal infections.
  • ½ teaspoon of Organic Ceylon Cinnamon: Ceylon cinnamon has anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and antioxidant properties.

Blended all of these together for two minutes.
Delicious and I feel better already. It’s now 9:00 and I have finished by shake and taken a nice hot shower. Back to the battle!

3. Next I need to make some chicken soup: Homemade chicken soup helps because it is an anti-inflammatory, bolstered by the fresh ingredients which I make the broth with. I slow cook it so very little of the nutritional value is lost.  It   Here is how I make it and the reasons why each ingredient is very important in this healing recipe :

Ingredients for Chef Pharrell’s Healing Chicken Soup Recipe:

  • One large red onion, I used a large red onions because they have a flavonoid high in antioxidants and inhibit histamine production. They have the same properties of strawberries. When onions are simmered to make soup, their nutritional value does not get degraded. It simply gets transferred into the water part of the soup. By using a low-heat method for preparing onion soup, you can preserve the health benefits of onions.
  • 5 cloves of fresh garlic, finely minced: if cooked garlic has sulfur-containing compounds, which have anti-microbial activity which helps to fight infection. Raw garlic is the best, but I don’t like the taste. Again, using a low heat method will help the garlic retain its healing properties.
  • 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil: This is loaded with vitamin E  and K  great healthy fats
  • 3 stalks of organic celery, sliced ¼” thick Celery is a good source of vitamin K, vitamin C, potassium, folate, and fiber. It also contains molybdenum, manganese, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, and tryptophan
  • 3 large carrots: peeled and sliced ¼ “ thick . Carrots are an excellent source of beta carotene, which gives them their bright color. One of beta carotene’s jobs is to support the body’s mucus membrane, which lines the respiratory and intestinal tracts, making it harder for bacteria to enter the bloodstream.
  • 1/3 cup freshly chopped sage leaves: Sage has excellent antibacterial and astringent properties
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 8 cups organic chicken broth, regular not low sodium
  • 1 ½ pounds organic chicken breast with skin and bone attached: Broth made with the bone of chickens inhibits infections and it fights inflammation. It also contains an amino called Glycine which has calming effects, allowing you to rest and recuperate better.
  • 4 bay leaves: Not sure about these, they just make the soup taste much better.

So I put everything into my slow cooker and put it on low.  It will cook for 8 hours and be amazing when it is finished.

I feel better already, just writing all this down and thinking about everything I can do for myself  to wage a war on this cold virus makes me feel but better. I will report back in a couple of days to let you know how I am doing.

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Our Client Reviews

“What an awesome team of professional, knowledgeable chefs, who were led by Chef Pharrell that helped us build a team cooking event into a very friendly competition and helped our teams work together to plan, execute against the plan and prepare a variety of meals, which were shared and enjoyed by all. Thank you so much for helping make a successful event for our group!”


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Aphrodiete T, San Diego, CA

“We hired Chef Pharrell for a Mothers Day dinner for our family. Very simply, she did what she said that she would do! She was easy to work with to create the menu and very accomodating to our dietary issues. Food looked great and tasted great. It was appreciated by all and made the day all that more special.”


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Craig R., Vista, CA
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