Recently I was hit, like so many of my coworkers, with viral gastroenteritis - stomach flu - and am just starting to feel back to my normal self again. Besides a few sniffles and a cold this season, I am thankful that I didn't have too many major complaints this winter. However, this bug was something else!

It started with me feeling extremely tired and unable to focus last Friday. My head, eyes, entire body felt heavy and moving took real effort. Over the weekend and the early part of this week, it ran its course, seeing me in the bathroom way too many times and with that awful, constant malaise hanging over me like grumpy clouds. Come to think of it, I felt like a grumpy cloud myself.

You can imagine the food I've been eating as of late has not been the most vivid, but it certainly does the job, and that's what matters. Chicken soup, mashed potatoes, applesauce, bananas, toast, and coconut water got me through the worst of it. Now I'm moving on to foods like rice porridge, noodles, chocolate pudding, mild potato and carrot curry (Japanese style, so it's very creamy, thick, not the least bit irritating, and very filling).

It's wonderful to be eating more substantial and vibrant foods, and I'm looking forward to really saying 'sayonara' to this virus so I can get back to the greens and fruits I am missing right now. In the meantime, I am writing this in appreciation of the seemingly-humble and powerfully comforting foods we call upon when we are sick. These foods offer versatility so you can dress them up or down as much as you need, but more importantly, provide nourishment so your body can fight off the illness.

Frozen mashed potatoes that you microwave, dot with butter, mix with milk, transforming into a fluffy mush of potato goodness? Done, and please give me more :) Chicken soup - in lieu of freshly made because you're too tired to cook - from a can, from store-bought broth, or from the cafeteria, retains its virtue and healing properties, and offers electrolytes, starch, and protein to keep your body humming. One more bowl, please. And rice porridge, with some mushroom and chicken, soothes and warms you up. I'll be having seconds. Don't forget that little cup of Jell-O chocolate pudding, Kozy Shack rice pudding, or applesauce, and a fruit popsicle for dessert. Revisiting simple childhood joys is a real treat with these.

Here's hoping you are staying healthy and bug-free :) Some suggestions for livening up sick-time food should you ever need it:

1. Adding a bit of fresh lemon juice, herbs, and garlic to your chicken soup - it really brightens the flavor. If you roast the garlic, it is particularly good for keeping things together gut-wise, shall we say..

2. Adding that roasted garlic to instant mashed potatoes.

3. Making ginger ale and fruit juice popsicles - equal amounts of ginger ale and fruit juice mixed together, poured in molds and frozen with a stick - good for when your stomach isn't feeling up to eating that much. I would avoid orange juice and apple juice, the acidity isn't good for a very sensitive stomach. White grape juice is probably one of the safer bets.

4. If you're going to buy fruit popsicles, try to go for the kinds that use real fruit juice and don't have too much extra sugar added. Welch's makes nice fruit bars.

5. Toast, with peanut butter and sliced banana :)

**When you are sick (which is hopefully very, very rarely), what foods do you reach for to get you through? What do you do to 'keep things interesting?'**