4 Tips for Staying Healthy During Cold & Flu Season + Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

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Disclosure: This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Vicks at Walmart. The opinions and text are all mine.

 

We’re now in the midst of cold & flu season with the constant changes in weather and the temperature dropping and so many of our friends have been getting sick with the crud. Thankfully we have not gotten sick in our family yet, but we are taking steps to make sure we stay healthy & are prepared in case we do get sick to stay on top of it right away!

The key is to be prepared – we can’t keep sicknesses out of our houses, but we can do everything we can to keep our immune systems strong so if an illness does hit, we will have stronger systems to be able to fight the infections. Plus, having the necessary supplies in our medicine cabinets on hand if we need them.  I’m sharing 4 of my top tips for staying healthy during cold & flu season.

4 Tips for Staying Healthy During Cold & Flu Season

Get More Sleep

One of the best ways to stay healthy during cold & flu season is to work on better sleep & making sure you are getting as much sleep as possible at night. With the longer nights & more darkness in the winter, take advantage of kids going to bed earlier & head to bed earlier yourself. If you have trouble going to sleep, I find reading a book will help to make me sleepy or I run my diffuser with essential oils like lavender & cedarwood.  Those of you with little ones, this is not always possible as these are the years of little sleep. But try to find times to rest when your little one is resting to try to at least keep your body rested more even if not sleeping. The more rest you get, the stronger your immune system will be to fight off infections.

Immune Boosting Foods & Recipes

Prevention is key during cold & flu season and one of the best ways to keep your immune system strong is to eat healthy. Getting extra fruit & veggies into your diet as well as your kids’ diets is so important. It can be harder during the fall & winter with fewer produce options, so we love to use green smoothies as a way to pack in those healthy fruits & veggies. Our girls think they are a treat, so they enjoy smoothies for breakfast or a snack during the day or after school.

Another important immune booster is chicken noodle soup. This is a great soup to keep on hand for lunches to keep your immune system strong. Once you start feeling the signs of a cold or flu coming on, though, this is the time to make chicken noodle soup, because it is one of the best foods for helping you feel better faster. Any of the liquid broth soups will help with a cold as the hot fluid will cause the blood vessels to dilate, which speeds up the movement of mucous in your nose clearing everything out. But chicken soup has special properties as it has been found to reduce inflammation with colds or the flu, which can also give you some relief of your symptoms. It’s important to stay hydrated when sick, so soup will help you by giving you that extra water that you need.

We are sharing an easy Chicken Noodle soup {below} that you can add to your recipe binder to keep on your lunch or dinner rotation, as well as to pull out when someone in your family starts feeling that pesky cold come on or the start of the flu.

Regular exercise

Once the cold & rainy weather hits, it makes it harder to think of exercising, but this is the time it is critical to stay on top of regular exercise. Exercise keeps your immune system strong, so keep it up even when the weather is dreary. Use a fitness tracker to track your activity level daily & try to set a goal for yourself to hit each day. On those rainy days, get your kids involved in a fun dance video game for a cardio activity or rent an exercise DVD from the library for some variety in your exercise routines.

Clean out & stock medicine cabinet

Staying stocked up on supplies for cold & flu season is critical so you can stay on top of it when you first feel those signs of a cold or flu coming on. It’s important to keep that medicine closet cleaned out regularly  – go thru all your medications to make sure to throw out expired medications and make an inventory list of what you need to keep your medicine cabinet stocked. You want to stock up now before the time may come that you need it & then you’ll be making a late night run & have to pay full price.

Right now, you can take advantage of savings on Vicks products at Walmart to help stock your medicine cabinet with over-the-counter essentials for cold & flu season.

Vicks Savings at Walmart:

• $1 off any Vicks product at Walmart (except drops, Sinex & ZzQuil) – this is a BrandSAVER coupon from the 11/25 newspaper
• Stack with $1 off Vicks Nyquil at Walmart (iBotta offer)
• $.75 off Vicks VapoDrops at Walmart (iBotta offer)
• Stack with Bonus $1.25 rebate when you use both iBotta offers

Easily get essentials when sick by using Walmart Online Grocery Pickup :

One of the best options available from Walmart in the last few years is online grocery pickup. I can’t tell you how many times I told my husband how I wished that this was an option when my kids were little so I wouldn’t have to get them out of the car. It was also difficult whenever they were sick, as you couldn’t run to the store & would have to wait to make evening late night runs, which often meant getting a slower start on over-the-counter meds.

Thankfully, online grocery pickup is now available in most areas from Walmart. They just recently started online grocery pickup from Walmart in my area and I love it! Order your items online when you have time & then choose the time for pickup and your order will be brought out to your car – no having to run into the store at all. Plus, they offer this service for free! Not only do you get to pick it up at a time that works best for you, but you can also purchase your items at the same price as in store, so they are not charging more for the online pickup items. My store offered the pickup times from 9am – 8pm, which is so nice that they offer times both during the day & after work.

The other thing I love about Walmart’s online grocery pickup is the fact that they don’t just offer groceries, but they offer a variety of categories of items you can pick up thru online grocery pickup, so you can order Vicks using online grocery pickup too. Items range from arts & crafts, camping items (coolers, air mattresses), kitchen tools & cookware & so much more.

 

When a bad cold or flu hits, grab those essentials with Walmart online grocery pickup such as Vicks VapoCool  or Vicks Nyquil to give you some relief & rest from your illness. Plus, you can stock up on the ingredients needed for Chicken Noodle soup, too!

Immune Booster Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe:

Ingredients:

For the Chicken:

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Spice Mixture:

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt

For the Soup:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 32 oz chicken stock
• 4 cups water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 ½ cups elbow macaroni noodles
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/3 cup fresh dill, stems removed and chopped small

Directions:

Combine spices for the spice mixture in a small bowl. Sprinkle evenly on both sides of chicken.

Heat oil in a cast iron skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken and brown both sides, cooking until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear. Allow chicken to rest for 2-3 minutes before chopping into bite sized pieces. Set aside.

While chicken is cooking, start the soup by heating a large stock pot on medium heat. Add oil.

Add carrots, celery and onion to the stock pot – and stir to coat with oil. Cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add garlic and cook for 1 minute before adding salt, chicken stock, water and a bay leaf.

Adjust heat to high and bring soup to a boil. Once boiling, adjust heat to a medium-low temperature and simmer soup for 8 minutes before adding noodles. Taste broth and add salt if needed. Continue cooking according to noodle package directions to get an idea of doneness.

Once pasta is al dente, squeeze the juice of 1 lemon into the soup. Stir in chicken and fresh dill. Serve.

Printable Recipe for Chicken Noodle Soup:

Make sure to print off this recipe to put in your recipe binder.

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What are your best tips for fighting colds & the flu? 

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Vicks. The opinions and text are all mine.