Laddeling my way back to good health

Anyone who knows me knows that I swear by my vitamin regimen.

The way I see it, I'd rather spend the time and money NOW with preventative measures, than have to hash-out cash or years of my life because of an illness or injury.

Every week, I alternate my days and take a combination of these vitamins before my morning coffee: Echinacea, Beta-Carotene, Fish Oil, B12, B6, Zinc and Olive Lead Extract. Seems aggressive - I'm aware. But fact is: I went this entire winter without picking up a single cold and managed to avoid the flu.

Until last Wednesday (enter face of defeat here).

Sometimes no matter how many vitamins you take, or how much sleep you get, if it's going to get you, it'll get you...hard.

:30 Pity Party

Thursday morning I woke up and was pretty sure I had succumb to a bacterial infection that was going to kick my ass. Either that or I had accidently swallowed a baby chicken in my sleep. My voice level was in and out, and down to a 3 (I'm usually at a solid 11). Bottled water tasted like the Schuylkill; and around lunch it hit me: you've got yourself a fever sister.

After work, I went and bought your standard decongestant to take care of the cold, but didn't give up on taking my vitamins. I upped the ante on the Zinc and Echinacea, drank lots of water and made a vitamin enriched soup of carrots, roasted red and yellow peppers, EVOO and onion.

This is one of my absolute go-to soups when I'm feeling icky or need a good immune boost after a long weekend of pizza and beer. 

Step-by-Step:

- Plop about half the pack of peeled carrots into a pot of boiling water. Be sure to season the water with salt first. It'll bring out all the flavors.

- While they're cooking, chop up the peppers in thin slices, drizzle them in EVOO and ground black pepper.

- Heat the oven to 370* and space the peppers equally apart. I use a cookie sheet and line it with foil so the clean up is easy after they're done cooking.

- Once they're well and roasted, join them in the pot with the carrots and take a hand-blender to them to purée it all smooth. I top my soup off with extra EVOO and my favorite hot sauce.

Vitamin supplements are great, but nothing beats getting nutrients straight from food ;)