Our go-to is chicken noodle soup with a grilled cheese sandwich. Sometimes I add baby carrots for the crunch factor. If I’m craving sodium I’ll add potato chips like I did last night.
It HAS to be chicken noodle. The cheese has to be yellow. I don’t care if it’s American or a cheddar.
We were out of butter when I came down with this horrendous cold a couple of days ago. Used mayo on the sandwiches instead. They grilled up nice and crisp, if a little too brown. There’s a richness there you cannot quite place if you didn’t know mayo was used.
Tonight we’re having scrambled eggs with hot dog coins. Cut up and cook the hot dogs first, set aside while you do the eggs. Add the hot dogs before the egg sets enough so you can scramble them in. Serve with toast.
The sodium craving has always fascinated me. I don’t use very much of it in my own cooking. I’ve heard that it’s because one cannot taste anything when one’s ill but one can always taste salt. I’ve always wondered if it’s because you suddenly have an electrolyte imbalance…?
My go to is Lipton’s Chicken Noodle Soup with real diced white chicken meat. IOW, lame broth, barely any noodles, a few parsley molecules, and a bit or two of dried chicken meat. If I tolerate that will I’ll move up the food quality ladder.
After a period of not eating, I sometimes get back online with a bowl of oatmeal. And if it’s not really time to start eating yet, well, it tastes about the same when it comes back.
A thing I never allow myself in daily life, but only as a treat when I’m sick: soda. I don’t know that it does me much good physically, but mentally, it’s cheering that I get to have that special thing.
Cup after cup of hot tea with milk and honey, because I’m prone to dry, hacking coughs. It helps melt my nasal passages, too.
Other than that, the kind of comforting, carb-driven stuff you mention. Grilled cheese is very good. Pasta with salt and butter. Ramen, with fried eggs on top if I have the stamina, and a shot of Sriracha again to melt the nasal passages.
My father used to make me a hot toddy when I had a bad cold. Lemon juice, honey, water as hot as you can stand it and two shots of whiskey. You’re still as sick as ever but so drunk off your ass you don’t mind.
My mother was all about the dry toast and unsweetened tea. No fun at all.
Chocolate any thing is always my go to. When I broke my jaw, and it was wired with just a small gap between my teeth as a opening, I lived on chocolate Carnation instant breakfast. If I have an upper respiratory type thing I usually lose my appetite. Chocolate Shakes help my mood though.Tummy issues? Insta-fast!
When I get sick I lose my appetite so it’s protein shakes I make with unflavored protein powder, scrambled eggs, and applesauce. Not all at the same time.
I always offer smoothies, which are always agreed to. I make them with frozen fruit, juice, and plain yogurt. I was sick with the flu a couple weeks ago and my husband made me one, and damn if I didn’t feel better.
Cream of Wheat is the #2 sick-food, followed by rice and broth, and ice cream.