Stumbling around

I feel like a drunk sailor. I’ve never been a drunk sailor, but I hear that expression often. Cough medicine hangover means I didn’t get much accomplished today. I’ve been chained to the house by the same doctor I have seen 11 times in the past 3 weeks. I really don’t want to see him again, so I’m following orders…to the best of my ability.

See, my ability got the best of me. I made a very quick trip to town to get some basic stuff to make soup. When I’m sick with sinus crud, I want soup. I didn’t realize that hot soup does not help a sore throat. I’m trying to juggle strep throat and sinus and what feels good for one is not the best for the other.

Exhibit A.

See this carton of fun? That’s for my throat. But it doesn’t help clear away sinus funk. Water and very clear broth does that. But hot soup and broth right now just hurts. I even took Tylenol (insert trademark thingy) for throat pain. Sheesh.

After the ice cream, my throat felt a LOT better, so I got busy making soup. I did my favorite cheater pants potato soup. I used frozen hash  browns instead of chopping potatoes. This took maybe 30 minutes.

• 1 cup of sliced onion and celery (1 cup total, not 1 cup of each)
• 1/2 bag of diced potatoes from the frozen section—thawed completely.
• 1/2 cup of flour-white or wheat, oat, spelt.
• 4 cups of HOT chicken broth-I heat in microwave with Better Than Bullion paste.
• 2 slices of bacon
• 1 cup of milk
• 1/3 cup of shredded cheddar.
• parsley to garnish

1. In a large pot, fry bacon. Remove, let cool, then chop finely. Drain any leftover bacon drippings. Leave enough to very lightly coat the bottom of the pan. I used center cut bacon so I didn’t have any left over. Regular bacon usually leaves a LOT of drippings.

2. Pour in potatoes and cup of celery and onion. Sauté in the bacon drippings for about 5 minutes.

3. Add flour. Stir to evenly coat the vegetables. Let that cook 5 minutes on med heat, stirring often to keep flour from burning.

4. Pour in broth. Bring to a simmer, let simmer 10 minutes.

5. Turn heat to low, pour in milk. Stir. Add cheese and chopped bacon. 

6. Turn off heat, keep lid on and let cheese and milk distribute. Add any salt and pepper as needed. Potato soup usually needs a lot of salt, but we get enough from the bacon.

Garnish with cilantro or parsly, bacon crumbles that may be left on the board. I used some croutons as well. I let them get soft in the soup. I will definitely do that again.