Chicken Mew-dle Soup

As those of you on Facebook know, Mr. Butters is home sick with a kitty cold. This, of course, is opposed to what he would normally be doing (i.e. trading stocks online, writing poetry, and visiting his poo igloo, which Matt and I have fondly named First National Feline. Butters goes here to make deposits and get change for a clump).

I became aware that Butters was under the weather when he woke me up with one million tiny kitty sneezes this morning at 4 a.m. This passed without incident, and I really wasn't alarmed until I woke up at nine o'clock and Butters had not woken me up recently to tell me that it was kitty kibble time. Which happens like clockwork every day at 7:30 a.m. So Butters has passed the rest of the day snuggled under our covers, which is not a luxury he would typically enjoy, as he tends to make me itch like a fiberglass bathrobe. So, this is love.

First, he aked me to make him a hot toddy. I refused. Not just because whiskey is not exactly what you would call healthy for cats to imbibe, but also because it is hard to seperate me from my Fireball. Not to mention that if Butters drank too much whiskey, we all know who would be scrubbing the walls of First National Feline. This kid. That's who.

I believe I'll compromise by making Butters my potent cold-remedy soup that I recently discovered when Matt was feeling similarly...

(Note: I obviously will not be feeding Butters Chicken and Sausage soup... so cool your PETA engines, he's going to eat science diet and chicken Temptations cat treats like all other sick kitties.)

What you'll need:

2 large chicken breasts

3 hot and spicy sausage links, skins removed prior to cooking

2 stalks of celery, chopped

3 large carrots, cut on the bias

1 head of broccoli, cut into inch chunks

1 large onion, roughly chopped

enough water and boullion or stock to cover all your ingredients and fill a big stock pot about 3/4 full

Noodles of choice, preboiled and set to the side

olive oil

Spices of choice (I chose mustard seeds, garlic, black pepper, a little salt, onion powder, and basil, but when you're feeling poorly some things just don't taste right, so I like these because they are spicy)

Start by browning your sausage in the bottom of your pan, once finished, remove from pan and set to the side. Add a little olive oil, and cook chicken breasts (I like to cut them into 2 inch chunks first so they cook evenly and all the way through, but you can cook them whole and cut them up late if you like...), remove and put to the side with sausage. Put ALL your vegetable into your pot, allow them to wilt and become translucent, adding more oil if necessary. Now, dump everything back into the pot, and add stock/water and boullion mixture. Add chosen spices, and let come to a simmer. Pour over (warm) noodles, and let the healing begin! This is particularly good served with garlic toast. Which I make like this:

You'll need:

A crusty loaf of something, like sourdough

Olive oil

garlic cloves

Kosher Salt

Turn on your broiler. Baste slices of bread on both sides with olive oil. Place under broiler, allow it to become evenly brown. Remove from oven, let cool slightly. Take cloves of garlic and rub them all over both sides of bread, sprinkle with salt. Try and be sick NOW! You're gonna smell so garlic-y you also will lower your chances of spreading your disease! No one will want to come ANYWHERE near you! YOU'RE WELCOME!