Flu Flu Go Away, come back again some NEVER day....(from an old nursery rhyme)
Chicken Soup with an Anti-Flu Boost.
Ingredients: free range pasture-raised chicken, organic rainbow carrots, shiitake mushrooms, shallots, green onions, cilantro, Real salt or pink Himalayan salt, ghee, coconut oil, or olive oil, granulated organic garlic powder, Great Lakes organic gelatin powder, and Bragg's (or other organic and raw) Apple Cider Vinegar.
First make the base chicken bone broth. This step will take a day or two so plan ahead. Bone broth is not the same as boxed broth! Bone broth has minerals from the marrow.
Find a truly range-raised chicken. Chickens are not vegetarians. Most of the chicken found in American stores that is labeled "organic" is raised on a diet of corn. Non-gmo, organic, but still corn, diet. Corn-fed. You wouldn't eat corn-fed beef right? Right? So don't eat corn-fed chicken when you can help it. Chicken will eat bugs, insects and grass. Omega 3 builders. (Corn diet builds an over abundance of Omega 6 in chickens as well as in us.)
Okay now you have your free range pasture-raised chicken. Roast it first and make a Sunday dinner with the meat and save left over shredded chicken meat for lunches for the week. To roast the chicken, rinse it off in the sink and take out the inside pieces if the ranch has left you with the neck and liver (keep these), then truss up the legs close to the body, salt and pepper the skin and put it in a 375 degree oven for about an hour and a half or until the meat temperature is at least 165 degrees.
After you have pulled the meat off all the bones, throw the bones into a large crock 7 quart pot, along with the neck bones if you have those. The bones don't have to be clean. Extra bits of meat will be fine.
Add a couple chopped unpeeled organic carrots. The dark purple rainbow colored carrots will make a better tasting soup than the bright orange variety.
Fill the crock pot three quarters full with water. Add a tablespoon of Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar. The vinegar helps pull the minerals out of the bones.
I don't add onions or garlic to my bone broth base. That way the broth can be flavored as needed later and I can also use some of the broth for my dog's food (good for her too!!).
Let it cook on low heat for 24 hours. When it's done, strain the broth from the chicken bones and carrots and now you have your chicken bone broth base for your anti-flu soup. You should have enough base soup for about 4 to 5 large bowls of soup.
To assemble a serving of soup, put about 2 cups of bone broth in a sauce pan along with a half cup each of chopped shiitake mushrooms, chopped cilantro, and about an quarter cup each of chopped shallots, and chopped green onions. Add a tablespoon of the gelatin (I use the beef gelatin), and salt and garlic powder to taste. Use as much of the garlic as you can stand! You could even add in some raw chopped garlic at the end for a super boost. Add a tablespoon of either olive oil, coconut oil, or ghee. Bring the soup to a boil and then simmer for about eight minutes to combine all the flavors.
All of these ingredients are immune system boosting, virus fighting goodies. Per Christa Orecchio, nutritionist, shiitake and maitake mushrooms will boost the immune system 300 percent!
And it tastes amazing!
