Immunity Boosting Foods - Our Top 3 Nourishing Recipes

Printable Recipes HERE

 It’s 4am and you hear “Mom!” Followed by a sound that can only mean one thing. Watch where you step. The first few hours are usually rough. Fevers run high, meds only get thrown back up. So first, I pray. I cuddle. Cool wash cloths to the forehead and cartoons on the couch (or in our case SciShowKids…he loves that YouTube channel). 

Next, I plan. I use the resources the good Lord has blessed me with and I get to work.  I’m thinking I might get sick too and my family needs supplies. I make a big batch of plain white flatbread (we’re whole grain people, but not when we’re sick. Easy to digest is what I’m aiming for). I load up on fruit and veggies. When hubs got home I broke out the ol’ mask and sanitizer (I’m not going to be patient zero at my local Whole Foods), and hit the essentials. For berries I always get frozen because they last longer and require less from me. Love it. For the early stages when zero food stays down it’s tea. We hear no spices when you’re sick, and somewhat sure… but we load up on these: Cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, black peppercorns. Why? They stop the vomiting and help us stay hydrated. Paired with honey and a few other ingredients and its pure gold. Sips of home-brewed spiced green tea almost always settle that first wave, and help tummies settle for some plain flatbread. Ginger, lemons, bananas, avocado, and all the veggies are on my shopping list. 

For the plan I’m thinking tea, smoothies, and soups. All are versatile nutrient powerhouses in compact and easy to store forms. 

A good tea can be used for the smoothies. A good smoothie makes great popsicles. And an amazing veggie soup base can be served plain, be reheated as an awesome ramen, or served over beans and rice as a stew. 

These are highly versatile/customizable recipes but I’ll just share what we do and hopefully it will inspire you. 

In my experience, the typical Illness has three phases with my family:

Phase 1- can’t keep anything down.

Phase 2- just starting to eat and drink, but still pretty tender.

Phase 3- Weak, but on the mend. Enter the nourish blitz (aka immunity boosting foods).

Three phases require three responses from me. These three “action” responses are always blanketed in the passive physical response of rest, and the spiritual response of prayer and meditation. But for the purpose of this content, I’m focusing on the “action”. Though I did want to quickly note that to care for our whole person it should be body, mind, and spirit… I don’t ever single out any one. They are all important. So, I’m not just working the whole time my family and I are sick. Not at all. I just am showing that part here today because it might be helpful to someone… but rest and spiritual time are deeply personal to each individual… and though it’s not shown here in this video, it is always my personal daily foundation. That being said… let’s get into it:

First, we have our Recovery Tea: Comprised of Fruits, roots, and warm comforting spices, aromatic echinacea, and probiotic honey… this is a perfect place to start. Cinnamon, Cardamom, cloves, and black peppercorn all aid in digestion, but also in the settling of nausea and vomiting. The same is true of ginger root, but not only that… ginger root is also a bit of a pain reliever (I can attest to this… as fresh brewed ginger root has actually helped me reduce my need for prescriptions for my migraine over the years). Cinnamon also boasts anti-viral virtues. And we all know honey’s power potenial.

Next, we have our smoothie. This is not your everyday smoothie (unless you want it to be). This is a fully balanced meal. With a fair amount of the afore mentioned tea, this also has an impressive resume of fruits, veggies, proteins, with notable mention going to the chia and flax. This can be enjoyed as a smoothie, or frozen into popsicle molds for soothing sore throats at will. 

And last but never least, the veggie soup base. This can be as simple or complex as you wish or, like a little black dress…both. You can make extra broth for the early phases, or keep it simple with veggies and maybe chickpeas… or you can bulk it up with rice and lentils, maybe make it ramen… add an egg. This can become chicken noodle soup. This is the perfect soup base. The best part is you don’t have to buy broth. If you want a veggie bouillon cube that’s great, but if you don’t have it… that’s okay. Because the veggies themselves make the broth. One of our favorite ways to eat this is over rice with some oregano (bonus that its a natural antibiotic), crushed pineapple, and chow mien noodles on top. So good.

This feeds us for days. Add or subtract or substitue as serves you. I hope something here is useful to someone. :)

God bless!

Casey :)

Printable Recipes HERE

Recovery Tea Recipe:

1 lemon

8 slices of fresh ginger

10 whole cloves

10 black peppercorns 

5 cracked cardamom pods

1-2 cinnamon sticks

2 tsp decaf green tea (or 2 bags)

2 tsp echinacea tea (or 2 bags)

Bring to a boil then turn off the heat and let it simmer for 15-30 mins

Strain and add honey and apple juice to taste to sweeten.

*be sure to set some aside for our smoothie

Revitalizing Smoothie recipe:

*all measurements as approximate only (I’m making this for 3 people)

At least 3-4 cups of our tea

1/4 cup frozen peaches

1/4 cup frozen pineapple

3/4 cup frozen blueberries

1/2-1 whole avocado (fresh or frozen)

2 ripe bananas

1/3 cup applesauce

1/2 a lemon *optional

1 med carrot

2 cups  (packed) Spinach

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp ground flax

1 tsp chia seeds

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger powder

1 heaping spoonful of almond butter

3-4 heaping spoons of greek yogurt

Blitz and serve. Leftovers can be kept in the fridge for up to 24 hours of poured into popsicle molds and kept in the freezer for three weeks.

Perfect Veggie Soup Base recipe:

The base is mostly the first three veggies and water. After that its pretty much to your taste.

1 yellow onion diced

4-5 stalks celery

2-3 med carrots

6-8 cloves of garlic

1/4 shredded cabbage

Mushrooms

Chickpeas

Sweet potato 

Yellow potato

2 veggie bouillon cubes

1/2 tsp white wine vinegar

1 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp salt

Black pepper

Pinch of red pepper flakes

1 tsp parsley flakes

Bring to a low boil for 20-40 mins then remove half into containers for future meals and finish the rest as you wish…either enjoy plain, or add ramen, egg noodles, lentils… whatever you like. A fun way to eat this is over rice with crushed pineapple and chow mien noodles on top. :)

Content by Casey Clark - http://cozyhomemakingvibes.blogspot.com

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