Soupy Macs

Well, it happened.  After I came back from my trip, the weather was on and off for the whole week until finally, I dressed slightly too chilly and went out after work, which caused a sniffly nose, then suddenly, full blown cold.  I was irritated to say the least; I wound up missing out on MD’s birthday dinner/celebration at Son Cubano, with friends that I rarely get to see anymore (two of whom gave birth earlier this year), and I was laid up in bed all one beautiful Saturday because of a stupid mistake the day before.  Hmph. 

On the bright side, the soup I’d mentioned before during my melancholy “You can’t go home again” post called to me while I was sick, so I whipped up a batch, and what d’ya know.  I felt better immediately… kept drinking a bowl or five of this a day until I felt 100% better, which took no time at all.

Comfort food at its finest and simplest, no?

Thick slice or two of good ham, cubed
Chicken broth, low sodium
Macaroni, cooked to al dente
Frozen mixed veggies
Salt/pepper to taste

Heat up the broth with the ham in it.  Add frozen veggies, stir, bring to a low simmer/boil and then shut off heat.  Spoon liberally over macaroni in bowl and feel better immediately (if sick).  If not sick, but during winter months, feel warmed from head to toe, smile, and ward off sickness.  Just kidding!  I make no medical claims but I really did feel better right away. 

As always, happy eating!!!

Note: I mentioned this dish a few weeks ago to a few friends who claimed their parents also made something similar when they were sick as kids.  But I thought my mom invented this!  Well, they mentioned some other type of noodle/rice that went in it, so I don’t know, maybe it’s “ancient Chinese secret recipe” in lieu of chicken noodle soup.  In any case, after I made it, I told my older sister what I was eating and she responded that her husband’s family had also grown up eating something extremely similar, and had named it Soupy Macs.  So that’s where the name comes from- because growing up, if I wanted to request this, I called it “ham and macaroni soup” or something along those unimaginative lines, heh.