Eat Some Kimchi and Call Me in the Morning

I have been battling a nasty cold for the last several days. By nasty cold I mean that my nose has become a snot spigot with my sinuses groaning in pain from the mucus over load and having sweating spells every two hours. And by battling this cold I mean that I have been prostate in my bed, smearing vick's menthol rub under my nose, blowing though a large box of Puff's Plus in 48 hours, and watching one and a half seasons of Psych.

Early in this battle I realized that I actually felt better when the snot could flow freely. And so to that end, I had some weird ideas of what would ease my symptoms -

1  Inhaling chopped onions. I did this as I put dinner into the crockpot before I allowed the cold to win. Several
    healthy whiffs of the onions cleared out my sinuses for a good five minutes.
2  Participating in my tae kwon do class. Working up a really good sweat made me feel like a new person for
    the duration of class. The buzz lasted until I drove out of the parking lot.
3  Putting Korean red pepper flakes in my hot chocolate. I was really onto something with this one. The
    steaminess of the beverage coupled with the fieriness of the red pepper flakes made me feel better for at
    least an hour. Note to self - use at least half a teaspoon of the red pepper to get the desired result.
4  Chicken tortilla soup from Rubios. This was a really good idea, better than plain old chicken noodle soup.
    There was enough spice in the soup that it kept my sinuses from clogging up, it was nice and steamy, and
    the chicken almost melted in my mouth (which is nice when your face feels like it has a drum beating
    inside of it).
5  Drink plenty of fluids. At first, my fluid of choice was orange juice, but then I started to crave something
    fizzy. Orange juice mixed with Perrier was OK but even better was lemonade, orange juice and Perrier
    mixed together. I look forward to my next cold to enjoy that happy blend of tastiness.
6  Kimchi hot pot. This is absolutely better than all the above remedies. Steamy and spicy. Lots of flavor and
    vitamins from the kimchi, a good dose of protein from the pork and the tofu, and the goodness of garlic
    mellowed by slow simmering. Just smelling the stuff made me feel better -

So here's a big thank you to my family who has taken good care of me and especially to The Crafty One who accompanied me on my excursion to the Asian market to buy a bucket of kimchi and who ultimately made the delicious soup that has eased my pain.