Jell-O drink. That’s what my mom called the concoction of red Jell-O powder mixed with hot water and served in a mug that she gave us whenever we were sick. Looking back, I’m not sure if it was an actual recipe intended to soothe and heal rather than an attempt to stop the whining of a sick kid while using only what she could find in our depleted pantry. While it won’t win any health awards, it was so sugary delicious that no matter how sore our throats were she could still get liquids into us.
I was reminded of Jell-O drink recently when my kids came down with the flu. Yes, the influenza flu. And yes, I got a little panicky. I’ll admit it. My eldest had a fever of nearly 104 and his zombie stare was freaking me out. So I did what any good mother does when a child is sick and you feel completely powerless to help – I tried to feed him.
Remember the old adage of “feed a cold, starve a fever”? I never put much stock in that. How are you supposed to recover if you are starving? My poor feverish sons though were completely on board with that. The more they refused food, the more I tried to get them to eat. At last, when I went back to the store for the 4th time in 2 days to get more medicine, in my desperation to get them to ingest something, anything, I bought them all the things I think of as “sick food.” Popsicles, root beer, pudding, juice, ice cream, Cheez-its (um, what??) and of course Jell-O all went into my cart. (Side note: I was terrified I was going to see someone I knew and they would see all the crap in my cart and judge me.)
My kids thought the swine flu was the best thing that had ever happened to them. The last time we had soda pop in the house was when everyone had the stomach flu a year ago. You’d think they’d never seen white bread before from the way they devoured an entire loaf in an hour. Long story short, they ate nothing but cold and/or sugary confections for three days straight. My relief that they were taking in calories and the much-vaunted fluids was quickly usurped by the fact that everything they were eating was nutritionally void. The homemade chicken soup I made? Untouched. Yogurt berry smoothie? Left to rot (or become more yogurty because, you know, it’s already bacteria laden). Even my whole wheat pumpkin muffins – usually a five star favorite around here – were ignored.
Ah, mother guilt. Despite the fact that everyone healed up quite nicely, my shame persists. Surely if there is ever a time a body needs healthy food, it is when it is sick! Right? And yet when I get sick generally all I want to eat is plain Cheerios and hot Tang. Seriously, Tang is like crack to me. Especially the sugar free garbage; I love me some hot aspartame.
It got me thinking, what do you all eat when you are sick? Are you all about the brussells sprouts and salmon to bolster your weakened immune system? Or do you have a comfort food too? Is there such a thing as a healthy comfort food? Also – anyone else ever think that everyone is looking at what you buy at the grocery store and silently judging you??
Hmm. I don’t really have a go-to comfort food if I have the flu. My mom wasn’t one to hover when we were sick, and if we were puking, we didn’t want to eat anything and I think she was pretty okay with that as long as we were coherent and not delirious.
When I was pregnant (which isn’t sick, but it’s the only time I’ve puked since the flu when I was 15!) and puking, I would chew gum like crazy.
If I have a sore throat, I love hot chocolate and white bread toast with butter practically dripping off it.
I’m totally going to Amy’s house when I have a sore throat…
For me, it would depend on what kind of sick. Achy, fever-y, flu-like would be soups, maybe some bread if my throat didn’t hurt too bad. Always Wheat Thins. But my kids? Yeah… any junky crap I can get them to eat. I am Food Nazi until they feel bad… then it’s bring on the processed junk and carbonation! Whatever they will eat.
We were strictly on the BRAT diet as kids – Bananas Rice Applesauce Toast. I have no idea where that came from, but it’s pretty well ingrained in me. I could never remember if starved a fever or a cold … neither way really sounds right.
I don’t know where that came from either but I totally always think of that too!
For me there are cultural foods I prefer: (1) atole, which is kind of like oatmeal (2) ultra spicy soups, usually Won ton or hot and sour soup with sriracha (3) lemon and honey tea (with garlic if I’m really sick).
Mmm… I love spicy soups!
I second that, when I start getting flu-y I head for a pho shop and add a few extra dashes of sriracha. If I was planning ahead I’d make a really spicy batch of chilli in the crock and live on that until I could think enough to consider cooking again, but spicy soup in a pinch. I think I got that from my dad, when he was feeling unwell, out came the tabasco sauce and raw garlic cloves, he’d drop those like candy until he “burned away the bugs” as he put it. Made for an interesting couple of days…
Soup is my ultimate comfort food- when I’m sick, when I’m cranky, etc. Bonus, it can totally be healthy, depending on ingredients.
The judging thing at the grocery store is a constant problem. That being said, it does help me limit my purchases to healthier foods.
I’ve never had Tang. I should research that warm aspartame-y goodness….
No, no, stay away from it! I’m sure it’s awful for me lol
My mom gave me the hot jello thing too. And she was a nurse. I loved it, but I don’t know if it helped at all.
I totally worry people will judge the fold in my cart. Especially when I’ve got road trip food or something in it.
My mom is a nurse too! Maybe it’s a nurse thing…
Gotta be marmite on toast! My mum would cut each slice into 16 little squares for me…
I have never tried marmite but I want to!
My mom always gave us toast (*dry) and flat soda *(warm). Ew
Now that I’m an adult with a car and money – it’s Taco Bell or a lot of bacon. Not that that is really any better!
Whenever I have a stomach bug, I always crave pretzel sticks and coke. That’s what I was fed as a child, and old habits die hard. Other comfort foods when I’m sick are soups, mostly plain rice soup, or pancake soup, or rice pudding with a buttload of cinnamon and brown sugar. Mushy food goes down easily. Usually, when I have a cold, I want to eat anything in sight, mostly sweets and chocolate. Seriously, my appetite is out of control!
Oh yeah, a very common ‘cure’ for the cold in South Germany is warm beer with honey. Grossest thing ever!
What is pancake soup?? And yeah, pretzels usually sound good to me too.
Well, you make a few plain, thin pancakes, more like crepes, cut them into thin stripes, and put them into vegetable broth. Here’s the more detailed recipe: http://sueintraining.wordpress.com/2011/02/17/recipe-pancake-soup/
Canned tomato soup and crackers. Or canned ravioli. with cheese on top (which my mum used to make for me when I was little) I normally get genuinely excited about the amount of vegetables in my diet, but as soon as I’m sick I can’t face them. When I was recovering from norovirus earlier this year all I could eat were McVite’s digestive biscuits. Until my stomach decided it didn’t want them in there anymore. Now I can’t look at another one (and neither can my husband, who witnessed their reappearance)
Px
Oooh norovirus is the WORST. The one time we had that it was absolutely brutal. And took over a month to totally get rid of it.
When I ‘m sick I definitely want any sugary, salty bad food around! Especially ice cream. It doesn’t even matter what kind!
And I’m always wondering what people are thinking when I go grocery shopping and reach the register with pounds of bacon and red meat and vegetables and heavy cream. I’m sure they are thinking I’m going to die of a heart attack while I’m judging their gluten-laden baskets.
Hahah good point about people not understanding your food philosophy. I once had someone’s jaw drop at the grocery store when I bought a half gallon of heavy cream. She asked if I was having a party and I told her no that I just eat it every day. lol.
It used to be Campbell’s beef with barley soup (until a most unfortunate episode as a teen while recovering from anesthesia and all 4 wisdom teeth removal – 20 years before I could even THINK about a can of that stuff!). Now, it’s homemade chicken soup for me and ramen noodle soup for kiddo with oyster crackers. I KNOW – RAMEN! argh! Oh, and flat ginger ale, Canada Dry only, please.
For some reason, I have very very wacky food cravings after anesthesia. And that never ends well.
I’m with you on the anesthesia thing! After my surgery in 2006, I woke up wanting an In N Out burger and a chocolate milk shake. My super nice brother got it for me, and after a few bites of each, I threw it up. Took a LONG time to want In N Out again!
My comfort food has always been broccoli- as strange as it sounds. I crave it. (although I’m not sure that is always the best thing for the stomach) but I boil it til it is mushy. Either that or peanut butter on rice cakes which cures all. 🙂
So I think there is healthy comfort food, definitely!
-and I totally think about people judging me at the grocery–although hopefully they are more interested in their shopping….
Hope your boys are feeling better!
My mom gave me a mug of liquid jello too, and I think the slippery gelatinness of it felt especially soothing to a sore throat. Also pudding pops!
The only comfort craving I can think of is for cheap, salty ramen soup when my stomach isn’t feeling well. There must be something about salt that helps an unsettled tummy.
When we were kids, we usually had ginger ale, gatorade and toast when we were sick. We’d get a glass and be told to sip, and if we could keep it down, we’d get (wheat) toast. But we did get to rent videos, especially if it was more than a one-day stomach bug! That was more of a treat than anything.
No food comforts me when I am sick 🙁
Pasta has long been my favorite comfort food. Pasta is not a high calorie food, by the way, it’s the toppings that make it high calorie.
Mmm…Tang. Used to love that – not the aspartamey kind, sugar all the way for me. The only thing I really remember my Mom giving us when we were sick was juice or hot lemon (Lemon juice + sugar + hot water = neo citran without the drugs). Probably we ate toast and maybe soup. My grandmother & mom used to can homemade tomato soup which is way awesomer than any canned soup you could buy at the store.
I will still do the hot lemon now if I get sick, with honey instead of sugar. And juice – I don’t often drink juice, but when I’m sick I want it. I will often mix it with club soda or gingerale. And soup. I actually am not much of a soup fan, or rather I should say there are only specific soups that I like. If I’m sick (and I can’t have my Mom’s homemade tomato soup) I want Thai Hot & Sour Chicken Soup with Rice Noodles. Oh yes I do. And my husband will even make it for me. He’s a keeper. 🙂
Mmm… homemade tomato soup is a totally different food than the canned kind! I’m jealous! Your Thai soup sounds really good too!
Growing up in the bay area California, my mom worked next to the best Chinese restaurant outside of China. When I was sick she would bring home hot and sour soup. It is my absolute go to sick food.
Mom always gave us Campbell’s chicken noodle soup in a mug with a straw. Suck all the juice out and then the limp, mushy noodles were left to eat. YUM! And, of course, Canada Dry ginger ale (is there any other kind???). And hot lemon juice with a little honey. Luckily my boys are 20 & 23 and I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve had to administer any of these “remedies”. We (knocking wildly on any wood I can find) just don’t seem to get sick!
I ALWAYS worry about what the checkout lady is thinking as she scans my groceries. You have “my” half of the basket, fresh/frozen fruit, veggies, salmon, whole wheat pasta & bread. Then you get to my son’s half of the basket. Kraft Mac & Cheese, white bread, chocolate milk powder, hot pockets, CHEAP raspberry soda, etc… Whatever. We live together and get along great cuz of our #1 rule. DO NOT JUDGE. (grin)
When I was sick, my mom would always give me toast and scrambled eggs, and that remains one of my favorite sick meals today. My comfort foods, however, include a lot of potato chips and cookies.
And yes, I’m constantly afraid of people judging me at the grocery store. In fact, whenever my roommate and I would be buying a lot of junk food for a party, road trip, or wednesday, we would make sure to make it look like one of us was upset or crying so people thought that it was just post-breakup comfort food rather than us just pigging out.
This: “we would make sure to make it look like one of us was upset or crying so people thought that it was just post-breakup comfort food rather than us just pigging out.” totally cracks me up! Oh the things we do…:)
My mom called it Jello drink, too, and so did I when we gave it to my now-adult son. I had NO idea anyone else did. I am very rarely sick, but when I am, it’s simple carbs all the way, baby. Protein or vegetables when I’m ill is nausea-inducing all on its own.
Sooo interesting that so many other kids had Jell-O drink too!
Bread. I always envision it soaking up the “bad stuff” in my stomach and making it go away. Placebo effect? Totally. But I always feel a million times better afterwards.
Also, please share this pumpkin muffin recipe! I’m looking for some sort of “healthy” pumpkin bread type treat to make.
It’s from a lady in my ward – I’ll have to e-mail it to you!
Generally when I “get sick,” it’s the “my stomach hurts and I never want to think about food again” kind of sick — so eating anything at all isn’t likely. I might eat some saltines, ginger ale if I have it.
As for fever/flu sick…hm. The last time I was that sick was during college (during the swine flu scare, actually, but it wasn’t that). I don’t remember what I hate, honestly, I was in such a fevered haze the whole time. I’m guessing a lot of soups.
I say that if you’re sick, you eat whatever you want. If you’ve got a craving for something, that probably means your body needs whatever’s in it, so go for it. Even if it’s processed garbage. :p
Good call on the stomach flu – I don’t know that anyone wants to eat during that awfulness!
My comfort foods for when I’m sick are not too far from yours: saltines (sometimes with a touch of peanut butter), hot Nestea lemon tea, and the (very) occasional cup of hot Lipton cream of chicken soup (yup, has to be the salt-laden instant package re-hydrated in hot water that I would never think of eating unless I’m puking for extended periods of time). Sounds awful, but it got me through 4 pregnancies. I still say that’s why Joshua has never like peanut butter – it’s the only protein source I could keep down when I was pregnant with him 😉
BTW, the saltines and white bread are actually perfect for the sick stomach…the carbohydrates absorb the excess stomach acids and helps neutralize; personally I figured it was just to give me something to bring up instead of just having dry heaves LOL!
This is off topic a bit but it fascinates me to hear what women ate when they were pregnant as compared to what their kids like now. The kid who I was a vegetarian through most of his pregnancy is the biggest carnivore in the house now and his brother with whom I craved nothing but big macs will only eat ham on rare occasions and no other meat, lol.
My absolute favorite sick food is matzoh ball soup. Or, if that’s not available, sizzling rice soup from the nearest Chinese restaurant.
When I was a kid, it was all Jello, applesauce, and ‘Nilla wafers. Which is probably why I cannot stand any of them to this day, lol!
And, yes, I always think others are judging me by what’s in my cart.
Ah, I go through exactly the same dilemma when I’m sick … all I want is mashed potatoes and cookies and baked French fries. I always have really good intentions and make myself something really healthy like soup and baked chicken, but, nope! Can’t stomach ’em, it’s gotta be the junky stuff 🙂
My kids tend to be pukers whenever they get sick (strong gag reflexes I guess), so if they don’t want to eat I’ve learned to just let it be. Then after they get better I feed them chocolate milkshakes to put some of the weight back on 😉
I crave crackers when I’m sick and yes I worry about people judging my grocery cart when on those rare occasions I buy a bunch of treats.
I had never heard of jello drink until I met my Mister. His mom made it for him when he was sick. I think the jello coats the throat a little, and makes sore throats feel better temporarily. Maybe? 🙂
I like toast with butter, cut up into bite sized squares. My mom used to make that for us when we were sick. My grandmother would bring a plate of crackers and cheese, and apple slices that had been peeled. Best things ever. Mostly because of the love and effort that went into peeling the skins off of all the apples.
Too funny about the jell-o drink! I always thought it was just a family thing but apparently not! And I love that you remember the apple peel detail even now:)
Anything made by my mom is what makes me feel better when I’m sick, especially chicken noodle hotdish and mac and cheese with hotdogs.
I don’t care what people see me buy…ever! I’m shameless like that.
Food just grosses me out when I’m sick. I’ll try to make myself eat but generally it just ends up being canned soup and wheat toast. When I was a kid sick days were the only time we ever had soda in the house since my mom was trying to get fluids in us. These days though I try to go towards the hot tea route. Drinking 12 mugs of tea in an hour is good, right? Flush it out or something.
Last time the boyfriend had the flu I had to go to 3 grocery stores to find otter pops for him. He ate those, saltines, cinnamon toast on wonderbread, ramen noodles, and drank diet 7-up for 4 days and then was pretty much fine. Maybe there’s something to this junk food thing!
And yeah, I get so paranoid that everyone in the grocery store is judging me. I’ve been known to hide ice cream under the fruits and veggies in my cart, throw it on the cashier stand at the last second, and then dump it in a bag as fast as possible. Like anyone actually cares!
I’d laugh at your hiding the ice cream except that I’ve totally done the same thing!
Ok if you know me you know I’m a BIG ice cream eater so normally my ice cream is especially special (ha you like that one lol) when I’m sick since a sore throat normally plagues me when I’m sick.
When I’m sick I’m all over hot chicken oxo in a mug and arrowroot cookies. Sometimes gingerale. My supersecret sick weapon is a potion I make myself: boil ~2 L of water and toss in a cup or so of cranberries and boil until they pop (about half a bag). Take off the heat and toss in some green tea bags. After the tea has brewed, take out the bag and blend it all up and then strain it and add honey and/or lemon to taste. Superdelicious healthy sickly beverage. Good hot or cold. I admit I make it even when I feel good 🙂
Mmm…
I love cranberries! I’ll have to try this with herbal tea – thanks for the recipe!!
Ginger ale is a good sickie drink for me–hooray for carbonated high fructose corn syrup! But it soothes my stomach somehow (that’s disturbing, now that I think about it) and relieves a sore throat. I also like toast with jam when I’m sick. I’m not a big sick eater though. I pretty much just want to lie around and be miserable and catch up on food when it starts to taste like food again.
Yep, gingerale, gatorade, or sprite (full sugar kind), ritz crackers, toast, ramen, chicken noodle soup if I’ve got a tummy thing. I think we crave these things because they’re easy to digest – for the same reason why we DONT eat them normally. It’s just like – if it’s between a donut or nothing for breakfast, eat the donut (aka, even crappy food is better than skipping meals). If it’s refined flour and HFCS or nothing, better to get something in your system to keep your energy up, IMO.
When it’s just a cold, I find I generally eat the same things (but usually I have less of an appetite, sick = not working out = less appetite), but I try to up the spicy when I’m home to flush the snot out, and of course tons of soup to soothe the throat.
My mom used to make me chicken soup whenever I was sick, so whenever anyone in the house is under the weather I instantly go into soup mode. I pretty much throw in tons of veggeis and chicken breast meat, add some rice and potatoes and cook cook cook. If I get sick i always want soup. I wouldn’t be opposed to stuffing though…oh how I love stuffing.
Then I had a child and wow how things can change when they are sick. You just want to make them happy and feel better so you give in to anything that makes them slightly happy. I do the popsicles and juice galore. We make her boxed mac n cheese, try soup (which never goes over well) and let her raid the fruit snacks/cookies. Then just like you, I feel terrible because I worry she has no nutritional value in her diet while she’s sick. I try to make her healthy things and they all get rejected. My husband always has to remind me that as long as she’s eating and drinking fluids she will be fine, even if it’s Junk for a few days.
I’ve never really thought about other people looking into my cart and judging me. Yikes, now I’m going to be looking out of the corner of my eye to see if anyone is eyeing my cart. Usually I’m the most critical of what our shopping cart looks like. Oh dear. I usually look at other people’s carts and have grocery envy, so i never thought about the judging. Oye.
Wooops! I didn’t mean to give you a complex! For the record, I don’t think most people judge what’s in other people’s carts – we’re all too worried about people looking at us;)
Since I was a tot…..sick=oatmeal and peanut butter toast!!!
Ooh yes, PB toast is the best!!
Here in Jamaica when one has influenza the following is prescribed;
Pumpkin Chicken Soup.
Coconut Water (lots of it)
Jamaican White Rum rubbed over the face and poured into the mole of head (children) drink a shot of it (adults)
Works like a charm!!!
Now I’m curious about pumpkin chicken soup! Going to go see if google can find me a recipe…
Oh the jell-o drink…how I miss thee! Yup, between that and ginger-ale…those were the go-to items mom always gave me when I was sick. Now, when I’m sick, I want junk food: Hoho’s, cheezits, and Oreos with ice cream. Vegetables? No way!
I think I’ve read this post before – have I? Because I remember telling you that I use to grab sugar free vanilla coffee mate creamer (the liquid, not the powder, blech!) and hide it under the rest of my groceries fearing that someone might recognize me from my blog…um yeah, that never happened. Anyway, I finally kicked the Coffee-Mate habit, but only because I now drown my coffee in cream and vanilla stevia drops.
Whenever I’m ill, I always crave toast with peanut butter. Always!
P.S. Growing up, my best friend loved Tang, but only the Tang juice boxes. Not the powder. She was devastated when they stopped making them.
Sometimes I recycle post concepts – my life is like one big hamster wheel most days;) I love whole cream! I’m so glad we get to eat it now:)
It depends. When I have a stomach thing, I just want plain vanilla ice cream. When I’m fluish, I want grilled mozzarella cheese sandwiches and really icy coke.
As a kid, it was a whole different story… Ginger ale or lemon lime soda & always soup!!!
As an adult, I tend to eat whatever feels right at the time & I do try to stay healthy, drink fluids.. water & such. It really depends on how I am feeling & what settles with my tummy OR maybe nothing does & I go for soup. That is a go to for me….
I will never forget in college, the only time I got mono (Not from a boy kind)! 😉 Anyway, the only time in my life that I did not feel like eating a dang thing Surprised me too!
It depends! If I have a sore throat or congestion-y type thing, I try to bolster my immune system as much as I can by eating lots of good healthy foods. BUT if it’s a stomach virus…bring on the orange popsicles!
I am perpetually the weird one. I rarely lose my appetite when sick (if anything I usually become absolutely ravenous), though my tastes change when I’m really sick. I normally love to eat plain tofu with syrup on it, much to the horror of my family, and recently when I was sick all I could think about was wanting tofu with syrup (and sometimes I mix in crumbled cookies, delicious to me but totally not health food). I took out three blocks of it in three days easily. I was also craving ice cream and yogurt at that time but it’s mainly out of a desire for cold and creamy/soft foods than anything else I think (though my desire for the taste of the tofu did trump everything else, even ice cream)..
When we were sick as kids, my mom would make white rice, and then pour milk over it. We topped it with a little cinnamon and sugar. It’s like a poor man’s rice pudding. But it’s super good, and I still love to do it if I have leftover rice (although I only ever make brown rice, and it just isn’t the same). As an adult, I always want spicy soup – usually hot and sour, or the pho from this really great Vietnamese restaurant in our area.
When I’m sick, it’s gotta be Kraft mac & cheese, Malt-o-Meal, and ice cream. Preferably prepared for me by my parents (even at teh age of 29!)
When I was a kid, my mom ALWAYS gave us Ramen noodle soup when we were sick. It’s fairly nutritionally void, but I think the theory (similar to with chicken soup) is that the sodium is good for regaining electrolyte balance and stimulating thirst if you’ve been throwing up. Oh and we also always got Rice Krispie treats. I don’t think there’s any theory behind that one.
My comfort food? Soup!
And yes, I do think people are judging my groceries; and why not? I always judge theirs…
The starving thing doesn’t make that much sense to me either… because when I’m sick I usually don’t have the energy to eat. You know what happens? I tend to be sick longer than most people. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. at all.
For me pumpkin anything is my comfort food. Truly. Pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pecan parfait, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin pull-apart monkey bread, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, pumpkin smoothie, literally (nearly) anything pumpkin.
You can add egg to ramen to up the nutritional value. 🙂 My mom gave us jello water too, I had totally forgotten about that. Whenever I had a stomach bug, after the puking was done, I would CRAVE Chef Boy R Dee Ravioli. My mom never let me have it, but I tried to talk her into it. What she would make was egg and milk on toast. An egg cooked in milk on top of buttered toast. May not sound good, but I LOVED it and it always settled at that point.
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Pancakes and oatmeal! I just can never seem to get enough of those two when I have a sore throat or a stomach ache. But sadly my body can’t deal with too much sugar so usually the pancakes have a drop of vanilla, with some Stevia and no syrup. I remember when I was younger I went to this school and it was literally in the same building as a restaurant (actually in the room beside it), we would always have free lunch at the restaurant and I would always get their pancakes when I had a sore throat! Then there is the raspberry tea with honey (cold Raspberry Zinger is my fav!) and my vanilla ice cream combo for nighttime!~I completely love these foods! I usually get the Arctic Zero Ice Cream because of my sugar-to-stomach issue…
Homemade Potato Soup hands down! My body craves it when sick. I’ll take cream of anything soup too.
When I was sick as a child , it was warm orange Tang. I use to get a lot of sore throats. Also jello when semi soft mixed with whipped cream or cool whip. Blend together and let set. It turns into a soft parfait. My kids got home made chicken dumplings with or without the milk They loved the broth. Now I use equal parts of fresh lemon juice, honey and whiskey. Mix it well. Take a spoon ful couple times an hour it breaks up congestion , soothes coughing and soothes sore throat and inflammation For children use warm Dr. Pepper with lemon and teaspoon of honey mixed together.