Chicken noodle soup for the soul

I had no idea that after leaving Minnesota that we'd have such a winter wonderland again. Well, it hasn't been such a wonderland to us this go round.

We are missing our precious Kenyan babies even more and more so we're taking this as a big shove for us to get out of the country! I miss our kiddos the most but we are also missing that 80 degree weather everyday with sunshine. It is dry season there right now which means a lot of dust and dryness but it does mean warmth. The picture I have in my head is all of our family out in the soccer field, excuse me, I mean "football pitch", and us running around with all the Mattaw kiddos with the sun kissing our heads. (which reminds me to stock up on sunscreen before we leave)

Why this has NOT been such a fun winter event with all this snow and ice where we are at in Texas is mostly because we've all been sick and have not left my parents house in a few days. I do have to say it's been nice to cancel everything and not do anything for a few days. But having sick babies is NOT cool. Thankfully we have not been sick once the entire past 9 weeks that we've been in the states. That's a miracle only Jesus could have done! But it hit us hard this week. Claire first got the stomach bug while we were in Joplin, MO. It was awful. I felt so bad as well since we were staying in someones house and her projectile vomit got all over the sheets and floor. She was up at 4am and 6am and then was fine from then on. We decided the day after to leave a day early since it was %100 chance of a record snow storm blowing in. It ended up being a wise decision to leave. We had a house party for Mattaw that we had to cancel that I really wanted to have but God knows what's best and hopefully next time we'll get to have it! It just happened to be at a families home that is going to be coming to Kenya a few days after us to visit and help at Mattaw Children's Village. SO, at least we're not missing out on hanging out with them ;-).

Anywho, back to our sick stories. So we drove back and I still wasn't sure what it was Claire had. I thought maybe she was allergic to the formula. (i had accidentally grabbed the sensitive one instead of gentle. which i am SO glad to get back to Kitale and give her fresh milk since she'll be turning ONE the week after we are back!)

But the morning after we drove back, I woke up to Elisha throwing up on me and over the side of the bed. Lovely. That was a HORRIBLE day! Eli does not handle being sick well. I mean, who likes to be sick anyways but he is pretty dramatic. And that's OK. I held him a lot and rocked him and enjoyed that part of it. I was just thankful we drove back a day early and I could be in my parents house where he threw up and pooped 7 different places in the house. We carried around carpet stain remover and Lysol all day. I think we got it all cleaned up by now. So then Bud got it the next day. He was out for a day. Now he's better.

Unfortunately we then passed it on to my mom and dad. BUMMER. My dad hasn't thrown up in about 10 years and that was when I took him to eat in the mall and we both ended up with food poisoning. Dang. I'm just thankful I didn't get it full on. No vomit here. Thank goodness so I can take care of everyone!

I'm so sure you wanted to read our documents of our one time being sick while in the states!

Yesterday was the first time since we've been back that I roamed around the house trying to find something to do. It was strange.

I watched a lot of cooking shows, the movie ground hog day (since it was ground hog day and I would assume you get to have 6 more weeks of winter?) and some kiddie movies with Eli.

We also had nothing for lunch and everyone was in bed but me so I searched around my parents kitchen for a good light lunch. I was pretty impressed with my discovery so I though I'd share it. I made homemade chicken noodle soup. Sure, I could of popped open some cans of it, but from scratch is ALWAYS better. Always.

Chicken noodle soup

(i looked at about six recipes and came up with this from what I had, so technically I can call this recipe mine right?? i got them off allrecipe.com, tastykitchen.com and pioneerwoman.com. my husband and mom said not to ever change a thing next time I make it so I'd call it a success. this recipe is great for people who don't like a lot of the extra chunky "stuff" in their food)

(but what I love about soup is you can taste as you go and adjust it to your liking. you can also add or take away to your liking.)

-1 package of chicken

(my parents only had boneless skinless thighs, i would prefer white meat though)

-half package of egg noodles

(pioneer woman has a homemade recipe that looks good but I didn't have time... Click HERE)

-water

-big pot

-1/4 bag of baby carrots

-1 can chicken stock

-salt

-pepper

-sage

-onion flakes

-garlic powder

-dash seasoning (or any poultry seasoning)

Get a big pot and put all the chicken in it. Fill with water just enough to cover the chicken. Sprinkle salt, pepper, a pinch of sage, sprinkle some onion flakes (i would have used fresh had i had one and sautéed it in olive oil in the pot before adding everything else), and sprinkle some garlic powder)

Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes.

While it's boiling, dice up the carrots. I cut them once length wise and then chopped them up.

Take chicken out after 30 minutes. Pour in a can of chicken stock and put in carrots. Dice up the chicken. Once it is diced up, the carrots should have had some time to boil a bit. If you want to cook exactly how long I did, you could go find a sick child to give 7up to and a sick baby to change their diaper a few million times ;-).

Throw the chicken back in and pour in noodles. Bring to a roaring boil and put in more seasoning. About the same amount as the first time. And sprinkle in some all purpose poultry seasoning.

When noodles are cooked, take it off the stove and let it sit awhile. Best when served fresh and still warm. Makes peoples' tummies and hearts warm :-).

Bon Appétit!

(p.s.... found this online Chicken soup has cysteine, an amino acid that’s released by cooked chicken. It’s chemically similar to a bronchitis drug, acetylcysteine, and it works with other soup ingredients to reduce inflammation. Salty broth also helps thin mucus.)