This past week I heard two things about onions and garlic that I never knew before. Actually, I need more information because I don’t understand the reasons behind the suggestions I got about onions and garlic.
With my husband sick, I made him chicken soup with lots of garlic and onions. I divided the soup into a portion for me and one for him in tupperware that I left on the front steps for him to pick up. It was delicious and I cooked a second batch yesterday afternoon.
One friend told me that her mother-in-law would place sliced onions throughout all the rooms of the house when somebody was sick. She did that decades before COVID, but I’m wondering, what would it hurt? Then again, what would the purpose be?
I talked to another friend and she asked me for my recipe for chicken soup. I explained that it’s quite simple:
4 chicken thighs with skin and fat
5 cloves of garlic minced
1 large onion sliced
baby carrots and chopped celery
1 box of unsalted chicken broth, add equal parts water
Put in a pot and cook until done. Salt and pepper to taste.
My own throw it together chicken soup recipe
That’s it. My “throw it in a pot chicken soup recipe.” My friend suggested that I let the sliced onions and chopped garlic hang out together before cooking them.
“Why?” I asked.
She explained that it brings out healthful “properties” in the onion and garlic when they mingle.
However, I do not know what these properties are or how hanging out together changes anything. A quick google did not help. But I tried it anyway, I left the garlic and onions together on the cutting board to blend and rest together before throwing them in my new big red soup pot from Target.
I did find out that garlic and onions are in the same family and they are helpful anti cancer foods:
The Allium genus includes garlic, onions, shallots, leeks, and chives. These vegetables are popular in cuisines worldwide and are valued for their potential medicinal properties. Epidemiologic studies, while limited in their abilities to assess Allium consumption, indicate some associations of Allium vegetable consumption with decreased risk of cancer, particularly cancers of the gastrointestinal tract.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25586902/
What do you know about garlic and onions and their healing properties? Would you put slices of onions around the house when someone is sick? Do you think it kills a virus, or the virus is attracted to onions and is absorbed by them? I remember reading about placing sliced raw onions in a sick persons socks. Maybe there is something to this?
I know this from one article I read that cut onions have the property to trap germs. So leaving out cut onions can reduce the risk of illness. By the same logic, eating cut onions that’s been sitting exposed to the air isn’t a good idea as it has trapped germs in it! All this I got from the article I read some time ago. It hasn’t been verified by me.
It’s interesting. But I’m not sure how valid it is either.
Yes, I couldn’t validate it either
I know garlic has something in it that rids something in your body…not just vampires, but I’m assuming it’s where that particular take sprouts from. Never heard that about onions. There’s really no good way to get over a cold, but I am a believer in warm baths and anything that makes your nose run
I need to find out more. I found it fascinating that two friends on the same day gave me tips about onion and garlic.
👍
All I know about onions and garlic is that you can never have too much of either. 🙂
I agree 100%!
I’m not sure if they have any medicinal powers, but soup made with lots of them and tons of veggies sure does make me feel better.
That’s what I think too. I’m enjoying my soup.
That’s really interesting!
Years ago I heard a nurse refer to garlic as “nature’s penicillin.” I’ve been using garlic in almost everything, especially during cold and flu season!
I’m using a lot more garlic in my chicken soup than I usually do. I like the term nature’s penicillin.
Me too!
My step son’s wife swears by this remedy with wearing socks with onions to ward off colds.
I think I read about it in novels, but didn’t know anyone who tried it.
I need to make chicken soup next week when my husband comes home after his cancer surgery.
Good luck to both of you! 🙏🏼
Thank you!!!!
My Mom always covered our chests in gobs of Vic’s Vapor Rub, then she would tie a scarf around our necks for extra warmth. To this day I rub on the Vic’s at the first sign of a cold, I believe it is more reminiscent of my Mom, then it serves any medicinal purpose. But, what the hell, memories of Vic’s and chicken soup aren’t so bad? Hugs, C
My mom was a Vick’s Vapor Rub acolyte too. So is my husband. I should pick some up at the store! If it’s in stock. My mom was a huge homemade soup cooker, too.
Yes I have heard about the health benefits of onion and garlic. They have antibacterial properties.
Good to know. I love to add onion and garlic to most dishes.