20 Cloves of Garlic

Working with kids, I get to deal with the excitement of the new year all over again, what with new clothes and supplies coming in, it's always a fun time. But the dreaded back to school cold always comes up to get you some how. Usually I can fight it out until October, but this year I didn't make it, I became one of the many to get that irritating itchy throat and stuffy nose in September.

My sick day essentials: Soup Book, Honey and Tea

So as I sit on my couch drinking all the tea with honey I can stand, my cough drops near by and reading my book, my tummy starts to grumble... I never know how to soothe my stomach when I am sick (you'd think the many years of practice would stick) but I am always scared to put the wrong things in my body.

There is always one answer though, and that's soup. I worked up the energy to make Garlic Soup, trust me this was one of the times I wished I had invested in one of those fancy schmancy food choppers... so if you don't have one, maybe go get one before you make this tummy satisfying, cold stopping soup. Worth it.

Along with the soup I made these awesome grilled cheese, tomato and thyme sammies. Eat your heart out pinterest.

Garlic Soup

Ingredients:
Serves 3

• 20 cloves of garlic (roughly 2 bulbs) minced
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 tblsp olive oil
• 1 tblsp parsley
• 1 cup of chicken broth
• 1/2 lemon
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 2 cups milk
• 1 tblsp flour

Note: I made this with only 1/2 of a tablespoon of flour and thought it to still be a little runny, I would suggest going for a whole tablespoon. Also the recipe told me to puree all of the ingredients minus the milk and flour, then combine all of it in a stock pot. I don't mind chunks of onion and garlic flavor so I skipped this step, also Im sick therefore lazy.

Directions:

1. First in a frying pan saute your onions and garlic in the olive oil.
2. While onions and garlic are cooking, place all other ingredients into either a stock pot or a crock pot and stir well. Set your heat to high if using a stock pot and wait until ingredients are boiling. If you chose to use a crock pot just keep the heat off until later.
3. When onions and garlic are finish place them into your pot. Stock pot users turn your heat down and let simmer for 1 hour, crock pot users let sit for 2 and half hours on low heat.

Grilled Cheese with Thyme Tomatoes

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 4 slices of whole grain bread
• 1 beefsteak tomato
• thyme
• salt
• pepper
• cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cover a cookie sheet with tin foil.
3. Slice about half of your tomato into not too thick pieces. Then sprinkle them with thyme, salt and pepper. Place them on your cookie sheet
4. Bake for 20 minutes.
5. While tomato slices are in the oven , cut your cheese into thin slices (this is where you decide how much you want on yours) and place them on half of each sandwich.
6. When slices are finished, using a fork place them on top of the cheese. 
7. Using the same covered cookie sheet place them in the oven for 5-10 minutes depending on oven, so keep an eye on them.

Serve these two recipes together for a mouth full of tasty goodness, I know I feel better quicker when my taste buds are satisfied. Happy Eating!

Had some tea with my happy concoctions!