We’re not escaping this brutal flu that’s been going around.  Two Krums have been down this week with high fevers, aches, and awful coughs.  Kayla and I had a couple of sit-on-the-back-steps-in-frigid-temps sessions last night to help open up her airways, as her cough was getting very croupy, and she was getting panicked over not being able to get a good breath.  Ugh. That is no fun to experience or to watch, and I really thought we were headed to the emergency room. {We’ve done this many times over the years with each kid!} She made it through the night without a hospital visit, and I’m so thankful for answered prayer and protection.  Needless to say, she did not get to go and see The Hobbit last night at midnight, which is something she had been looking forward to for weeks, but her daddy has promised to take her when she feels all better.

Speaking of feeling better, there are a few home remedies that we’ve used which really do seem to help.  One is a “creamy” chicken and rice soup which has lots of  hidden veggies and garlic in it.  Garlic is a natural anti-microbial/bacterial/viral.  I’ve made the soup for sick folks who are not too keen on veggies, and they’ve enjoyed it. My family doesn’t really mind veggies, but they love this soup!  The “creamy” part is a whole head of steamed cauliflower, sauteed onions and celery.  There is no milk or any dairy products in it at all.

1 whole chicken or 1lb chicken breast, baked and shredded
1 1/2 cartons GF chicken broth {6 cups}
1 cup rice, uncooked
1 large onion
3 celery stalks
4 carrots
1/4 cup olive oil
4+ garlic cloves
1 head cauliflower
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Cook chicken and chop/shred into bits.  Cook rice according to instructions and set aside.  The rice will be one of the last things to go into the soup. Cook in water or steam cut up cauliflower.  Saute chopped onion and celery in olive oil.  Place cooked cauliflower and softened onions and celery into blender, and blend on high until creamy and white.  Pour chicken broth into stock pot and add sliced carrots, chicken and blended cauliflower mixture.  Add spices and let simmer on medium low until carrots are tender.  Press 4 or more garlic cloves into soup and add rice.  Stir and serve.

I added peas and corn to mine as well as you can see.

My bloggy and Facebook friend Cinnamon messaged me last night to remind me of another home remedy called GOOT. It stands for “garlic oil ointment” and is a mixture of coconut oil, olive oil, and garlic.  Kayla fell asleep last night before I could mix this up, but this morning she’s been sitting around with this stuff slathered on the bottoms of her feet and Ace bandages wrapped around them!  She actaully doesn’t mind, and prefers these “natural” treatments to medicine and impending trips to the emergency room, of course.  Here’s the recipe:

GOOT
3 Tbsp coconut oil
3 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp minced garlic {or 4-6 cloves pressed garlic which takes up less space than minced}

Stir it all together ~ or blend it if you like.  I put mine in the freezer for a few minutes to make it easier to spread on her feet.  The bottoms of our feet are direct entry ways to the blood stream, and the garlic juice can more easily do its job there, but you can also rub this stuff on congested croupy chests. A glass container would be much more ideal for storage than this plastic one, but it was handy and the right size, and is now sitting in the frig awaiting it’s next patient.  This ointment can be used in MANY ways.  Be sure to click on Cinnamon’s name above and read all of her posts about different ways she’s used it.  Check out this post about GOOT as well.

 Eucalyptus oil is another way to open up and heal congested airways. We’ve been putting drops of it on a warm, wet washcloth and wrapping it around necks or on chests.  You can put a few drops in a warm bath as well as in your humidifier, and evidently you can also rub it on the soles of your feet to prevent and heal a cough. Here’s one of MANY convincing posts I read about using eucalyptus oil to stop a cough, and I definitely prefer using this to the menthol rubs that are mostly petroleum oil/products.

Kiddo number three is headed downhill now, and I hope he only has a touch of what the other two have had.  Parents are healthy so far.  I suppose I’m glad we are walking through this now rather than during the week of Christmas.  We’ve done that before, too, though.  It was Kayla’s first Christmas.  She was 6 months old and so sick ~ as were the rest of us.  You should see the pictures!  We tried to do the stockings and gifts, but everyone had glassy eyes and red cheeks.  It was pretty sad.  I walked into the pediatrician’s office at 8am with all three children on the 26th of December 2000, and the receptionist asked cheerily “Who are we seeing today?”  “EVERYONE!” I declared, feeling miserable myself.

Oh, the memories!  ☺

Thankful, though, for these miraculous bodies designed to heal themselves in spite of their fallen states.  It really is all grace.