Sick!

I am a big baby when I get sick. My ex-boyfriend knows this because he used to have to bring me red Gatorade, ginger-ale, and crackers while I laid miserably on the couch watching shitty reality television. The snacks may have changed, but when I am sick I still get pretty miserable. I came down with a cold on St. Patrick's Day of all days, and continued with my plans against my better judgment. Come Thursday morning, I was starting to feel really awful. Luckily, I had taken a bunch of vacation days to spend time with my sister. I always seem to get sick when I have already taken off of work for something important. I powered through a day of visiting on Thursday and managed to get my sister to the airport on Friday afternoon, but afterward I was completely wiped. I spent my Friday night in bed watching Garden State with soy ice cream, but at least I also had this amazing soup. It's made in a slow cooker, so it's really easy to throw everything in there and turn it on. Then, you can go back to sleep and wake up to the smell of health in a bowl. If you don't have a crockpot, feel free to use a heavy-bottomed pot on low. I use lots of carrots for their vitamin c and a healthy dose of garlic.

Easy Peasy Vegetable Soup
4 small white potatoes
1.5 c. sliced carrots
1/2 c. frozen peas
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1/4 tsp. cumin (the spice will help clear your nose)
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 cloves minced garlic
2 c. vegetable broth

1. Layer the potatoes and then carrots in the crockpot. Add 2 cups of vegetable broth, minced garlic, and then enough water to cover. Stir in the rosemary. Place on high and let cook for 3 hours.
2. Reduce heat to low and add the frozen peas, cumin, and garlic powder. Let cook for at least another hour, but it will keep until you are ready to eat.
3. The optional step here is to add some sort of dumplings. I was feeling really, really lazy so I took a serving of Trader Joe's whole wheat pizza dough and dropped golf-ball sized bits into the soup. You could also make your own with baking powder, soy milk, and flour, or you could add some already cooked noodles. It's just something to make it extra filling.