Ginger Soup, it's good for what ails ya...

[Locut0s]

Sitting here at my comp at 2:20AM trying not to think about just how fucked up my life is right now after my breakdown, well in general really. One of the many little things that help in times of stress and anxiety is a hot drink (well helps a little bit anyway).

Some swear by hot milk, chamomile tea, the venerable Captain Picard seemed to have a fondness for Earl Gray Tea, "Or as he ALWAYS put it to the replicator Tea, Earl Gray, Hot". If you like any of these let me add Ginger Soup / Tea to the list for you. It couldn't be simpler to make.

Ingredients:

Ginger root (1 makes about 4 cups or so depending on how strong)
Powdered Albino Asian Unicorn Horn (Optional)

Preparation:

Slice ginger root as finely as you can, a mandoline can come in handy here. Place sliced ginger in about 3 - 4 cups of water. Bring water and ginger to a medium boil. Turn down to a simmer and boil for about 20 mins. Pour through a course strainer to remove the roots, you can eat the root too if you like it.

Prepare for an extra spicy tea!! It's good for calming the nerves (again only mildly). It's also very very good for soothing an upset stomach, assuming spicy things don't upset you too much. It has the interesting side effect of removing gas from your intestines, that means you will be farting a lot LOL. If you are gassy and bloated this is a good remedy.

[pinboy3niner]

1. I've used ginger tea as a sore throat/cold remedy

It doesn't actually remedy anything, but it does feel great when your throat is messed up.

I'd have to look for where I put that recipe because I haven't used it in a few years, but besides the nice bite of fresh ginger it also includes cayenne. And for a touch of citrus, some lemon juice.

Another biting alternative, especially good in cold weather, is cream of mushroom soup doctored with a couple of teaspoons or so of bacon drippings and generous doses of cayenne and a good, fresh-ground black pepper. Be sure to forget the spoon and sip it out of a mug. Aaahhh...

[Locut0s]

3. Thanks for the recipes :P...

Those are interesting home remedies I've never heard of before. I hadn't thought of adding cayenne before but when you have an entire ginger root boiled down it's pretty spicy already. Though I suppose for a sore through the spicier the better in this case.

[pinboy3niner]

6. Many years ago I learned a great tip about black pepper

This works for the run-of-the-mill big brand black pepper that's been in the cupboard for a year as well as the good types, and is recommended even for the "fresh" pepper you've just brought home from the store.

Whether it's peppercorns or ground, put it on foil or a baking sheet in a very slow oven for a little while to bring up the flavor. It refreshes the flavor and also gives your kitchen a wonderful pepper aroma for a while.

[DFW]

2. We don't use ginger for soup

But my wife uses fresh ginger a LOT in her cooking. Sometimes it gets a bit intense when biting into a big chunk of it, but adding little sautéed ginger and garlic to a poached fresh fish filet is a quick, cheap and heart-healthy meal that is hard to beat.

*Heart healthy is a big deal to someone like me, who doesn't break down cholesterol, has two stents in already and one heart attack on my resumé.

[Locut0s]

4. I had really high cholesterol numbers a while back too...

Overall cholesterol was a 7 or 8 whatever that means. I brought it down over the summer. But now that I've had that breakdown I'm back to binge eating horrible stuff, need to stop I know. Good luck with that, a strict diet isn't east to follow. But it sounds like you have some tasty meal options on your menu.

[DFW]

5. I have no earthly clue what 7 or 8 means

I get 3 readings--LDL (the bad stuff), HDL (the good stuff) and overall, which includes a third number the cardiologists never pay a lot of attention to. If you're as badly off as I am, they want your LDL to be under 100, preferably well under it, and your HDL to be at least half of the LDL, preferably more than half. With medication, plus being married to a master chef, plus access to some of the purest, best olive oil in Europe, I have managed to survive these last 9 years, where I had a solid appointment with the Grim Reaper on April 30, 2004. I have missed stuff like ice cream, cheese, meat, and meals cooked with butter, and so on, but being alive to bitch about it was definitely the better option.

My wife knows how to make just about anything taste great, even if it's horribly healthy. When I say she has saved my life, in this sense, it can be taken literally.

[pinboy3niner]

7. We're happy you're still here to bitch about it, DFW :)

I hope you'll still be bitching about it--and contributing here--for a long, long time.

[DFW]

8. I'll be bitching about that for as long as I can bitch, fear not

As for contributing here--well, I'll be around for a while, anyway. Circumstances change, things get old (besides me), but as long as there are more good people to interact with than damaged ones to avoid, I'll be around every now and then (day job and time zone difference, etc.).

Whether that's good news or bad is in the eye of the beholder!

Thanks for the kind vote of confidence in any case!

[grasswire]

9. I am of the school believing noted cardiologists who now say..

....that cholesterol is not the problem; inflammation is the problem. It is inflammation that causes CAD. The Mediterranean Pan Asian diet is recommended for that as well, along with special modifications that are anti-inflammatory.

Incidentally, are you taking CoQ10?

[DFW]

12. My cardiologists in Germany and Dallas say it's cholesterol with me

I was told to go off my blood-thinning drugs for ten days prior to a minor procedure two years ago, and one of my stents clogged right up again and I had my very first heart attack.

I stick fairly close to an Asian-Mediterranean diet anyway.

I do not take CoQ10. Yet, anyway. It is not universally recommended, although some sing its praises.

[csziggy]

11. A tip I saw somewhere for using 'fresh' ginger

Use a spoon to scrape the outer layer off, then freeze. When you want to use it, grate it with a microplane grater. If a recipe calls for a 1" piece of ginger, I grate that much off the main root.

You get lots of ginger flavor without biting into big chunks - and it lasts for a very long time in the freezer.

For me, it's safer and easier than trying to slice or mince ginger.

A couple of years ago I bought a big section of ginger root from a local grower. I planted half, froze half. The half I planted came up the first year but not last spring. Same for the turmeric root I bought from the same grower - and I use it the same way. With the turmeric, I hold it with the plastic bag I store it in - otherwise I have yellow fingers for days!

I need to try to go to the farmer's market next spring and see if I can get more fresh roots to grow. Maybe this time I can keep it going past the first year.

[Arugula Latte]

10. I love ginger tea, errr, soup. You can add lemon and coconut oil, too.

[Callalily]

13. I just bought some fresh

ginger for a recipe that I was making over the weekend. I've got plenty left, so will definitely try your tea.

[LiberalEsto]

14. I drink ginger tea at the first sign of a cold

If that doesn't help, I chew a clove of garlic.

Can't remember the last time I had a full-fledged cold.

BTW, when you chew garlic, chew it with your back teeth and take sips of water to take away some of the intensity.