Sick, sick, sick

What's Valentine's Day for anyway? To eat at a fancy restaurant and share sweet nothings with your significant other. Nah. That's not how we run in my house, especially yesterday. It just so happens that I spent Valentine's Day at home yesterday annoying the crap out of my husband by making him do all sorts of stuff while I sat on the couch sick (and subsequently, whining about being sick). It was a thrilling Valentine's Day, let me tell you.

I knew the cold was coming Saturday and ran to the natural health store to get a refill of my Sovereign Silver nose spray. I took that back in October when I felt a cold coming on it and fought it off, much to my surprise. Somehow, the silver disinfects everything- and it feels that way too. Much to my disappointment, the natural health store was completely sold out of it, so I settled for the Cold and Flu remedy with collodial silver you see on the left. It sounds promising with silver, echinacea, goldenseal, pau d'arco, red clover, peppermint, and lemon, but I think it's better as a preventative. I'm still taking it, but I'm not sure it's doing near as much as the Sovereign Silver nose spray would have done. Sunday morning I woke up with a ridiculously sore throat and went straight for the Throat Coat tea. That stuff is a miracle tea, and when rotated with the Gypsy Cold Care, you are sure to be feeling better in no time. I, however, wasn't so good about continuing to drink it through the day so it's no surprise I still feel awful today. Adding to the mix, I've been taking my homeopathic Cold and Flu remedy which contains seven different forms of zinc. Good news, not taking any OTC cold remedies that jack with your heart or liver and feel functional. Nonetheless, I'm still sick. Hoping tomorrow is better.

Anyway, we hadn't planned on doing anything for Valentine's Day, cold or not. I'm not a big fan of lavish displays of gift giving and affection so the key to my heart is to tell me what you want to eat and if I think it sounds amazing to me too, I'll make it for you. No gifts, no flowers (allergic anyway), no chocolates. I'm pretty straight forward and don't like wasting money on Valentine's Day gifts, but will spend stupid amounts of money on a fabulous meal- at home or at a restaurant, depending on the year.

This year we had already planned on doing dinner at home, which worked perfectly given my awful cold. Dinner was Vietnamese Pho Bo, which I hoped would kick my cold's butt in to remission. Interesting note, the majority of the ingredients in the Gypsy Cold Care tea are the same as what is in Pho Bo stock! Sadley, yesterday's Pho Bo wasn't my best effort at making it, so it wasn't as effective as it usually is. Happens when you're sick and you are relying on your hubby to help you in the kitchen (which is not his strong suit).

That aside, I did make a pretty awesome dish to eat this week. Again, keeping with the idea of kicking my cold's behind, I went for something with some spice and detoxifying properties. What better than a curry, right? Onion, cayenne, garlic, ginger, cilantro, cumin, serrano chilis and corriander equals a whole lot of detoxification. Oh, and flavor.

The dish? Coconut-curry lamb meatballs, also known as a little bit of heaven. The smell in the kitchen was exotic and just inhaling the aromas was enough to make my cold dry up. My husband was chomping at the bit waiting to taste it while I was making it, as was I. Even though I made the dish with the intention of not eating it until today as single meatball wasn't enough. Once it was done cooking I took two meatballs out for us to taste test. I ate both of them, practically licking the curry sauce off the plate. Took two out for my husband and he did the same, and before I packaged up to put in the fridge we each at one more. The heat is mild, tamed by the coconut milk, but the curry still shines through and warms your whole body.

For lunch today, I reheated the meatballs and served them over a bed of whole grain, high quality, brown rice. The recipe I followed said the curry would taste better the next day and it wasn't kidding, that was quite possibly the best meal I've had in a long time. While I was eating it, my cold symptoms all but disappeared, and it stayed that was for almost an hour afterwards. Even now, seven hours later I know that dish has lessened the severity of my cold. I'm going to keep that recipe in my back pocket for the next time I get sick. I can't wait to eat more tomorrow.