Quart Size Crockpot Wild Rice Soup

My little crock holds just over 4 cups of water... or soup at a time. Finding a recipe suitable for such a small one was rather difficult, so after looking at several recipes for mass amounts of soup, I came up with a recipe of my own!

My recipe involves making a white sauce at the end, so even if your crock is small, you can make about 6 cups of soup at the end.

Ingredients for crock pot:
3/4 cup wild rice
1 diced onion
2 cloves minced garlic
2 chicken bullion cubes
2 small chicken thighs or 1 small breast
1 cup frozen veggie mix --carrot, green beans, corn and peas mix, or similar
1 1/2 bay leaves
1 tsp sage
1 tsp thyme
2 cups water

Add all ingredients to crock pot. Cook on high for 2 hours (or until you have to leave the house or something) and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Add water if it starts to look dry. Try to keep the crock pot mostly full without letting it bubble over.

Ingredients for white sauce:
1 1/2 TBS butter
2 tsp flour
2 cups milk

Melt butter in a stockpot on medium heat. When butter is melted, mix in flour, stirring quickly and constantly so that flour is not scorched. As soon as all is combined, mix in milk. (I used 2%).

Add the soup to the white sauce you just made and heat through. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Mom's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here is a recipe that I have to thank my mother-in-law for!
Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 cup cold butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup apple sauce
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups  oatmeal
1 ½ cups flour
8 oz chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix butter and sugar. Add in egg and apple sauce. Add rest of ingredients, and mix thoroughly.
 
Place golf ball sized balls off the dough on cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

Rosemary:

Rosemary tends to split into two different branches of tales and folklore. The first, is a tale of remembrance. While nowadays, students combat fatigue when studying for tests with energy drinks and coffee, ancient Greek students tied bits of rosemary in their hair. Caffeine may help the weary exam-crammer remain conscious, rosemary was said to help the student actually remember what was studied. Besides just aiding memory for exams, rosemary was also thrown into graves to symbolize that the dead would not be forgotten.

The second branch of legend comes from a tale about the virgin Mary. It is said that once she laid down to rest and her blue cloak was placed on a nearby branch with white flowers. While Mary slept, her cloak turned the flowers on the plant blue, and so rosemary forever afterward had blue flowers. This branch of legend celebrates rosemary as a lady's herb, one that would ensure love and faithfulness in a marriage. For this reason, rosemary was often seen at luxurious weddings, dipped in gold, as wedding favors. Even today, many brides wear rosemary in their hair on their wedding day. 

On a side note, feminists, it is told that a woman with a flourishing rosemary plant also "wears the pants" in the marriage.

Rosemary was also seen as an cure for all sorts of ailments throughout time from colds and flu to coma and a prevention against the black plague.

Rosemary, in recent studies is shown to have anti-oxidant qualities, which makes it a healthy herb to consume. Research does warn against consumption by those with anemia, as it can block some iron absorption.

Rosemary was traditionally used in cooking to enhance the flavor of meats. Here is a recipe that 

http://rosemaryherb.blogspot.com/2009/12/legends-myths-and-folklore-surrounding.html

http://www.bespokespices.com/rosemary-herb.html

http://www.adlunamlabs.com/History_of_Rosemary.html

Cinnamon: The spice of gods and kings

image found: http://www.123rf.com/photo_13184619_bunch-of-cinnamon-sticks-horizontal.html

Many spices have a rich background filled with folklore, legend and  interesting tidbits of history that many people are unaware of when using them in the kitchen. Here's a brief history of one of my favorite spices: cinnamon.

Some legends say cinnamon came from the sea at the edge of the world, at the mouth of the Nile. Others say that the exotic Cinnamon Bird carried cinnamon twigs from a mysterious land to Arabia to build their nests, and that the clever Arabs were able to trick the birds into giving up the precious nests. Most of these tales stemmed from Arab merchants who widely spread tall tales to keep their cinnamon source a secret.

Cinnamon has been a prized spice throughout the world for a long time. It was mentioned in Chinese texts as early as 2800 BC. It is also mentioned in the Bible, Exodus 30: 23, “Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon..." 

Cinnamon was considered a precious spice fit to be a gift for both kings and gods. It was used as an anointing oil by ancient Israelites, and for embalming ancient Egyptian kings. Emperor Nero burned a year's supply of it to ease the guilt of murdering his pregnant wife, Poppaea Sabina in AD 65. Since it was worth its weight in gold in the 15th - 19th centuries, many countries fought to control the power of cinnamon trade including the Portuguese, Dutch and English. At this time it was mostly used to mask the taste of old meats.

Cinnamon has great antiseptic qualities which has made it an ideal spice to be used to cure ailments. It was and is used medicinally to cure all sorts of problems from flatulence to toothaches, from temporary colds and flu to more permanent ailments like arthritis and diabetes.

And of course, cinnamon has the added benefit of being absolutely delicious! Cinnamon is still a widely beloved spice for use in the kitchen for both main dishes (particularly in parts of Asia), and in desserts.

Cinnamon may not have been flown to earth from mysterious Cinnamon Birds, but the spice still contains a delicious aroma and flavor. Here is a wonderful dessert bread that will allow you to experience some of the magic of cinnamon. 

cinnamon bread

 
Ingredients

2 cups flour                                                      1 cup buttermilk
1 cup sugar                                                       ¼ cup oil
2 tsp baking powder                                         2 eggs
½ tsp baking soda                                            2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbs & 1½ tsp cinnamon                                4 Tbs butter
1 tsp salt

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Grease 9x5 loaf pan.
3. In large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, 1½ tsp cinnamon, buttermilk powder, and salt.
4. In separate bowl, combine water for buttermilk, oil, eggs, vanilla. Beat well.
5. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Mix until combined.
6. In third bowl cut butter into small chunks, add 1 Tbs cinnamon, combine into pea size bits.
7. Fold cinnamon butter mixture into batter.
8. Pour batter into loaf pan.
9. Bake 45 minutes. Insert toothpick, if isn't clean or bread seems unstable, cook another 5 minutes. 

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamon

http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodlore/a/cinnamonlore.htm

http://www.indepthinfo.com/cinnamon/history.shtml

http://www.helpwithcooking.com/spice-guide/cinnamon.html

Chocolate Chip Cookies n Cream Ice Cream Bowls

OMG these things are delicious! Half baked oozy gooey cookie bowls topped with french vanilla ice cream and all the toppings: chocolate syrup, caramel, peanuts, walnuts, whipped cream, peanut butter, and anything else you can think of! Sorry for the blah photo but I was halfway through inhaling it before I thought to take a picture to share.

Anyways, this recipe is super easy, just make your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe (or experiment with another favorite cookie) and instead of putting them on a cookie sheet, you place them in muffin tins, and press a little hole in the middle to encourage a bowl shape to be created. Cook them about 3-5 minutes less then you normally would to ensure ultimate gooeyness. 

Then simply add ice cream and toppings to the fresh-out-of-the-oven cookie bowls and you are ready to go! Note: a real bowl will also be required as this food makes a delightful mess of sugary goodness.

Hot Cocoa Oatmeal Scones

Yum! Just a twist on an old favorite! In lou of chocolate chips, my fiance suggested adding a packet of hot cocoa mix and it turned out DELICIOUS!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cup oats
¼ cup sugar
1 Tbs baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup chilled butter
1 packet milk hot chocolate mix
1/3 cup milk
1 lightly beaten egg

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease baking sheet.
2. In bowl, combine flour, oats, sugar, hot chocolate mix, baking powder & salt. Cut butter into mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.

3. In separate bowl, combine milk with egg, add to dry ingredients, mixing with a fork just until dry ingredients are moistened. Knead gently 8-10 times.
4. Roll dough into 8 in circle and place on cookie sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes, until light golden brown.

Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta

Here is an absolutely delicious dish for a fancy night in. Light the candles, pour the wine, and put on some Italian music for a romantic (and delicious!) evening at home. Or just make it for a tasty alternative to the typical spaghetti night. Bonus, makes great leftovers!

Ingredients:
1 lb noodles
5 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 Tbs minced garlic
1 cup diced roma tomato
¼ cup sun-dried tomato
1 Tbs basil
1 cup chicken broth
½ cup white wine
3 Tbs butter
parmesan cheese
pine nuts

1. Cook pasta according to directions on package.
2. When done, drain then toss lightly with 2 Tbs olive oil.
3. While pasta is cooking, heat 4 Tbs olive oil in skillet. Mince garlic, then add salt, pepper, and garlic to skillet.
4. Dice tomatoes and lightly chop sun dried tomatoes.
5. Add tomatoes, dried tomatoes, basil, chicken broth, and wine to skillet.
6. Bring to a boil.
7. Add butter and sauce to the cooked and drained pasta. Toss to combine.
8. Serve topped with parmesan, pine nuts, and basil.

Onion Rings

Such wonderful tasty deliciousness! Just don't let your oil get to smoke point! We smoked up the house good before we got the oil (peanut) to the right heat. This recipe was adapted from this website.

Ingredients:

1 large onion

1/2 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon baking powder

oil for deep frying

 To Make:
     Pour oil into a frying pan and turn to medium-medium high. Wash and peel onions, cut into 1/4-inch thick rounds. Separate rounds into rings. In a bowl, combine flour, seasonings, and baking powder. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and milk. Dip onion rings into egg batter, then flour mixture, then egg batter again. When oil seems hot, drop one onion into the oil and see if it cooks too slowly or burns. Adjust accordingly. Fry until golden brown, turning to brown both sides. Remove to paper towels or brown paper bag to drain thoroughly. Sprinkle with a little salt before serving.

Yum!!

Recipe Box App

Hello everyone!

As some of you may know, my boyfriend and I have been working on the smart phone app, "Recipe Box" for the last 6 months. I am proud to say that we are finally ready to release on the android market! (sorry iPhone users-maybe in the near future) It will be available on the android market starting July 1st.

I am super excited about the release because any recipes I have posted in the past 4 or so months have used this app for ease of creation! 

So here's the basic rundown of the app. You can enter favorite or standard recipes on your phone for easy retrieval while in the kitchen. When you open the app, you can pick which recipe you want from a list, enter it in to the search menu, or search by category.

Once you pick the recipe, you can view a brief description, which category(ies) it is in, and how long it takes to prep and cook. 

Then you can switch views to see the ingredients or the instructions for cooking! This makes it easy to read and refer to while you cook.

This was a lovely app to work on together, since one of our favorite activities to do together is to cook! Recipe Box can help you too in the kitchen and on the go. Its especially nice because it all fits into something you carry with you everywhere rather than stuck at home in a cupboard or lost on an index card somewhere. The clean cut font also makes you never have to guess if your handwriting says tsp or tbs.

The Categories option helps you organize by categories you pick, like main dish, dessert, beef, etc. and since you can add multiple categories to one recipe, you can find a recipe like meatloaf both under beef and main dishes, depending on what you are searching under.

Ok sorry, enough with the self-marketing, I'm just super excited about the launch, and I hope you check it out and love it too! 

look for this logo!

And please, please pretty please tell us what you think, even if its not all flattering! We are hoping to develop it further and suggestions or complaints are very welcome! Rate it on the android market or you can comment here on this blog :) Thanks!

Vegan Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe these are vegan. I am not at all vegan though, so I may be mistaken. I made this recipe from a cinnamon oatmeal cookie recipe. I love peanut butter, and was wondering if I could use peanut butter instead of butter for this recipe. Then, since I had no eggs on hand, I went with applesauce as a substitute. I think that makes them officially vegan. Anyways, they turned out delicious and here is the recipe below.

Ingredients 

1/2 cup peanut butter

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup applesauce 

1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp bakingsoda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup oats

Preheat oven to 300 F. 

Cream peanut butter, brown sugar, applesauce and vanilla until smooth.

In a separate bowl, mix flour baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in oats. Combine with wet ingredients and mix thoroughly. 

Place on a greased cookie sheet. Flatten with a fork. 

Bake 12-15 minutes. (Underdone is tastier :)

Makes about 1 & 1/2 dozen. 

Another plus is salmonella free cookie dough!

Biscuits from Scratch

A lot has happened in the last two weeks! I got engaged to my boyfriend Wayne, and I graduated from college! Anyways, hopefully now I will have some time again to  post again. Regretfully, my skirt is still buried in a pile somewhere needing the finishing touches, so no part 5 on that yet. (Soon!!) But last night Wayne and I got cravings for biscuits, and being rather industrious, looked for a bit on the internet for a from scratch recipe until we stumbled across this delicious beauty. We ended up altering the recipe slightly, so I have reproduced it below for your perusal. These turned out delicious and I can't wait to make some more! 

Ingredients:
2 cups wheat flour
½ tsp salt
2 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs baking powder

5 Tbs butter
¾ cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Mix dry ingredients.
3. Cut in butter until resembles coarse crumbs.
4. Add milk. Mix until it turns into a loose, slightly sticky dough.

5. Knead 1 minute on a slightly floured surface and then roll out to approximately ½ inch thick. A pan narrow enough to keep your rolling pin on its lip works well for making biscuits with a consistent thickness.

6. Cut out biscuits using a clean, empty tin can. Press can straight down into dough, then twist slightly.
7. Ball up excess dough, knead slightly, then re-roll and cut out more biscuits until dough is gone.
8. Bake 12-15 minutes. 

Biscuits should be flaky enough to split in half without a knife.

Buttermilk Flatbread

My mother used to make this for my brother and I. We couldn't eat just one! Works very good for traveling because they are small and dense. We ate a lot of these in sack lunches.

1/4 c sugar

3/4 c butter

1 1/2 c buttermilk (dry mix works too)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

4-5 c flour

Preheat oven to 400F.

Cream sugar with butter. Add buttermilk (add water if using dry buttermilk). 

In a separate bowl, combine your dry ingredients, salt, baking soda, 4 cups of the flour (and dry buttermilk powder if you are using it). Add to wet bowl and mix, slowly adding more flour until the mixture becomes a smooth ball. 

Split into 4 parts, then split those parts into 5 parts. Roll to saucer size and place on a cookie sheet. Poke holes with a fork into several locations on each piece. 

Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Enjoy! 

Peanut Butter Play-Doh

Peanut butter Play-Doh. Yes, it can be used as play-doh, as the name implies. One of my favorite childhood snack, peanut butter play-doh is a snack I still frequently turn to for a quick energy boosting snack. It is very simple: 3 ingredients, 5 minutes to prepare. 

You will need:

about 2 TBS peanut butter (creamy or chunky)

dry milk

about 1 tsp honey

To make: 

Take one large blob of peanut butter and plop in into a bowl. 

Add about a teaspoon of honey. 

Pour a small amount of dry milk on top and smash with a fork to mix, adding dry milk until it becomes a play doh consistency. 

Enjoy!

Oatmeal Rosemary Parmesan Bites

I found this recipe on thekitchn.com. The writer describes them as cookies, but they are really more of a non-sweet sort of treat. Fairly healthy. I ate them with a cup of green tea last night and it was amazing! If people still invite guests over for tea, this would be something yummy to serve with. I love this recipe because it contains some of my favorite ingredients. Rosemary, Parmesan, and olive oil. 

Here is what you need:

1 cup oats
1/4 cup warm water
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp  salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Here is how its made:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.

2. Place the oats and water in a large mixing bowl.

3. In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, brown sugar and egg. Pour this mixture over the oats, stir to combine.

4. In another mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, rosemary, and black pepper. Stir in the Parmesan.

5. Gradually sprinkle the flour mixture over the oat mixture, stirring until combined.

6. Form 1 TBS size scoops of batter and place, evenly spaced on a greased cookie sheet. 

7. Sprinkle a pinch of salt on top of each.

8. Bake for 15-17 minutes, until the edges are slightly darkened. 

Note:

When I made it, I only had about a third cup of Parmesan, but they still turned out tasty. I will definitely try it with a full cup next time though.

Also, I would suggest breaking the rosemary into smaller pieces if they are pretty long, else it is a little awkward to bite into. 

Superfood Eats: Healthy Dark Chocolate Raspberry/ Blueberry/ Cherry Snack

For chocolate lovers everywhere, this is a spectacular snack that can easily fit into any diet plan. Combining delicious berries and divine dark chocolate, this is tasty treat sure to satisfy any cocoa cravings. To create this amazing snack you will need:

here is what I used

Frozen or Fresh Berries

Cocoa Powder

To make this lovely concoction, simply defrost a handful berries (if frozen) in microwave. Then sprinkle a small amount (1/2-1 tsp) of cocoa powder on top and mix gently with a spoon. Its that simple. Now satisfy your taste buds! 

The sweetness of the berries makes it unnecessary to add any sugar, although a small amount could be added to satisfy a sweet tooth type. 

As a happy side note, this recipe is super healthy because cocoa powder and berries are both very healthy. See article on cocoa benefits HERE and berry benefits HERE. 

Good luck!

Reusable Containers

I have seen tons of ways clever people have upcycled old bottles, cans, and various other items for anything from homemade lamps to pots for plants. Here is my small contribution to the mass of ways one can recycle ones old containers.

As I have discovered a love of baking this semester, I have had to keep more things like flour and sugar on hand. However, living in a house with four other girls means that there are not a lot of Tupperware available for continuous storage of baking supplies. In addition, I am a professional paper bag ruiner, especially when it comes to flour and sugar bags.

Enter empty oatmeal container and peanut butter jar. These have saved my life from a fine dust of flour and sticky surfaces inside my cupboard! In addition, the peanut butter jar works wonderful for pouring the sugar directly into a measuring cup, no scooping necessary. However, a scoop saved from an old cappuccino mix (which is now holding my rice supply) provides for any sugar scooping needed and decreases the endless supply of silverware to be washed!

Other containers I have been using is an old applesauce jar for popcorn kernels, and a plastic yoghurt container has held both granola and cookies.

Windowsill Vegetable Gardening from the Grocery Store

Not many people know that you can continue to grow many of the leftovers from vegetables that you buy from the grocery store. Its not even too difficult to do. So far we have gotten green onions and a kale to grow quite successfully. (Mr. Kale died only just recently due to an over-watering fiasco :( Sorry, Mr. Kale!)

The green onions lived in water only for a couple weeks, but it made the transition to soil quite nicely. Now, whenever there is a recipe with green onions, we can just chop the heads off the one in our windowsill instead of buying a huge bunch from the store that mostly just goes to waste.

The kale also lived in just water for a couple weeks. It wilted a little when we added the soil, but came back as strong as ever until about a week and a half ago when we decided to add a whole mugful of water to his tiny cereal bowl size pot. Oops :/

The newest addition to our garden is an old potato that was quite insistent to grow inside of the pantry. We saw his potential and decided to give him some water and see what he could really do! Here is a picture of his roots after about 2 or so weeks of loving. Once he sprouts leaves on top, into the soil he will go! 

Has anyone else tried to grow grocery store plants? If so, how did you do it, and what plants were you able to grow?

Fancy Pants Oatmeal

Ahhh oatmeal. Warm and gooey, the epitome of breakfast comfort foods. For me, oatmeal was one of the first foods i was allowed to eat after overcoming the flu, the special treat my mother would bring to me in bed on special occasions, the promise of its tasty warmth warming me up from the inside got me out from under the covers on cold winter mornings. Though I have always enjoyed the tasty prepackaged Quaker Oats mixes, (Apple Cinnamon, Maple and Brown Sugar, etc) recently I have taken to buying the large tube at the grocery store. However, preparing the oatmeal according to the package directions can be boring and bland. As a result, I have been experimenting with various combinations of wonderful things to make oatmeal a bit more special, because lets face it, even if you grew up liking oatmeal, it can get boring. Here are some of the delectable combinations I have come up with.

Hot Cocoa:

 Mix about a teaspoon of cocoa powder, tablespoon of sugar, a dollop of butter and a wee bit of milk to turn a bland flavor into a magical burst of winter warmth.

Peanut Butter Nutty Goodness:

 My current obsession. Mix a spoonful of peanut butter, a spoonful of brown sugar, and a sprinkle of pecans to one serving of oatmeal. Easy, and oh so tasty! No worries if you don't have pecans, any nuts you like work, and sans nuts is tasty too.

Before you write this one off as a weight gainer that should be avoided, look at THIS study.

Pumpkin Spice:

 Sprinkle a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg over the oatmeal while cooking. Add sugar and a tablespoon of canned pumpkin.

Maple and Brown Sugar:

You can copy the maple and brown sugar flavor by simply adding brown sugar and some maple syrup. Shocker, right?

Apple Cinnamon:

Add applesauce and cinnamon or cinnamon flavored applesauce. Taste test before adding sugar, the applesause is already sweet.

Hearty Raisin:

Add brown sugar and a sprinkle of raisins or dried fruit of your choice. Add a sprinkle of cinnamon if desired. This tastes absolutely divine if you have cream or whole milk to pour on top.

Berry Oatmeal: (pictured above)

While water is heating, microwave a handful of frozen berries to thaw them out to make a healthy breakfast full on antioxidants.Add honey or brown sugar and sprinkle granola on top for a finishing touch. Delish!

If you have granola, sprinkling a bit on top can enhance the oatmeal with a bit of crunchy sweet texture to any of these recipes!

Happy breakfast!

Lovely Comfort Healing Tea

Along with the Tomato Soup from the last post, here is a comforting tea to soothe the sniffles and sore throats away. Boil some water and add these ingredients to make a tasteful remedy to scare away illness.(sorry, no pictures)

1 bag Green tea

Full of antioxidants and fights bacteria

1 TBS Honey

Remedy for sore throats, also increases energy and helps recover the immune system

Squeeze of Lemon

Contains vitamin C and helps protect the body from free radicals

Small amount grated Ginger (or powdered ginger in the spice cabinet)

Helps with sore throats and chills

Hopefully this warm beverage will put you back on your feet soon just like it did me! :)

Note: I am not in any way a doctor, nor do I assume to know any risks involved with this or any other natural remedy, though I can't imagine any of these ingredients to cause serious harm to the consumer since they are all common kitchen ingredients. Just ingest at your own risk. I did research all of these ingredients though, so my descriptions of their supposed benefits should match up with any found on other webpages or natural healing literature that you may find. 

Common Cold Hurry Up Remedy~ Tomato Soup

 Feeling a bit under the weather, I decided to stay home and mix up one of my favorite comfort foods, tomato soup.  Here is a couple things you can add to the soup to make it a natural remedy. It may not speed up the cold, but it sure helps make it more manageable. Just add these ingredients to a regular can of tomato soup to make a tasty alternative to pills and Vick's.

1 clove garlic, chopped 

Garlic combats infection as it is antibacterial. In addition, its spicy kick help clear the sinuses. Just put it into the tomato soup, it should still taste a bit raw when you come across it in the soup, but this increases the sinus clearing and is more effective as a healer. If your stomach is a bit weak, I would suggest skipping this ingredient or sauteing it a bit, as I have heard it may upset the stomach in some. I have never had this problem.

1 tsp Oregano

Oregano is packed with antioxidants and vitamin K. Fresh or in oil form is more ptent, but dried is fine and tastes great in this yummy soup.

1 Green onion, chopped

Green onions aid in recovering immunity and healthy digestion.

1 bay leaf

Said to aid digestion, lower blood sugar levels and is anti-fungal and antibacterial.

Crushed red pepper (the kind used on pizza)

Also increases draining of the sinuses. In addition, it increases blood flow, decreases any pain, and boosts the immune system. Put enough in to be able to notice the kick. I probably put in 1-2 tsp.

Add ingredients and heat according to directions on the can of soup. 

Now sit back and enjoy the healing properties of your old spice cabinet. I suggest pouring the soup into a large mug and sipping it directly. Spoons are too much work when you are sick :)

Note: I am not in any way a doctor, nor do I assume to know any risks involved with this or any other natural remedy, though I can't imagine any of these ingredients to cause serious harm to the consumer since they are all common kitchen ingredients. Just ingest at your own risk. I did research all of these ingredients though, so my descriptions of their supposed benefits should match up with any found on other webpages or natural healing literature that you may find.