Here’s the deal. You’re sick. You’re tired. You can’t breathe.
You don’t want to cook and you don’t want real food. While Thai Chicken Coconut Soup sounds amazing right now, you’re just too exhausted, too sore, and too sick to bother gathering ingredients and standing over the stove while it cooks.
Enter Ghetto Gluten Free Cold Busting Soup. This soup doesn’t necessarily taste fantastic (though I have acquired a taste for it), but it’s chock full of good ingredients to clear your sinuses and have you feeling better in no time. I make this all the time but the exact ingredients vary depending on what I have on hand.
That’s my ginger steeping on the side. It ain’t pretty, but it works, I promise.
Here’s what you need:
- Herb-Ox bouillon
- Fresh ginger or in my case, some brewed ginger tea.
- Two or more minced cloves of garlic.
- Boiling water
- Splash of lemon juice
- Cayenne pepper, as much as you can stand.
Assemble all the ingredients in a bowl, pour boiling water over it and stir until everything is blended. Remove the bag of ginger, if you’re like me and took the really lazy route.
Here’s Why It Works:
Ginger is known to have immune boosting and anti-inflammatory effects. Due to its “warming” nature, it can promote sweating, releasing toxins from your body. [Source.]
Garlic has antibacterial and antiviral effects as well. WHFoods says, “While garlic may not be able to alter the course of infection itself, there may still be health benefits from garlic in helping to regulate the body’s response to that infection.”
Lemons contain Vitamin C, an important antioxidant and critical to a strong immune system. Extra Vitamin C can help to fight off colds or the flu. [Source.]
Cayenne Pepper The heat generated from cayenne pepper is created by a substance called capsaicin. Anyone who has eaten spicy food can vouch for its ability to clear and drain sinuses. Due to its high content of beta-carotene or pro-vitamin A, it helps boost immunity and fight off infection. [Source.]
Throw some skinny rice noodles too, yum. Thanks for the quick version! I need that even when I’m not sick, ha.
-Dana
Yes! I do sometimes add rice noodles or rice. Back in the day when I could have gluten, I’d throw in the noodles from a package of Ramen! haha.
Does this mean you’re sick now? Get well soon, if so! I’ll be passing this recipe on to a friend of mine who has the sniffles.
I don’t think I was actually sick. Sometimes my allergies are just so bad that it feels like a sinus infection/cold but isn’t actually. Who knows! I feel better now, though
That’s good! Glad to hear it.
I have a similar recipe but instead of cayenne I’ve been using honey. I will definitely try the cayenne, maybe both!
Awesome! It works, doesn’t it?! I used to make something similar, more in tea form, with honey … But then honey started bothering my stomach … Maybe I’ll give it another shot though
thanks for stopping by!