The sun is shining, everyone’s enjoying themselves outside and I’m… ill.

I’ve been feeling sorry for myself all day today with blocked sinuses (ow) and a constantly streaming nose. Although I don’t remember my mum making me chicken noodle soup when I was poorly as a child, I do remember her making other soups. There’s nothing like the feeling of comfort from a homemade soup, even if it hasn’t been made by your mum.

Yesterday we had roast chicken with salad for tea. As I was feeling pretty rotten, I started off making a chicken soup for the following day, but ended up abandoning it in favour of my bed at 5.30pm.

When I eventually crawled from my sick bed at 11am this morning (needs must when you have a nursery run to do) I finished off making the soup, in the hope I could heal my poorly sinuses and give myself a hug in a bowl.

Here’s what I did. It’s incredibly easy – if I can do it then you can too. I’m no culinary expert, so it says a lot that my own version is edible.

1) Make the chicken stock by putting the carcass of a roast chicken in a deep saucepan, adding some veg (I used a carrot, roughly chopped and an onion), some fennel seeds and thyme, salt and pepper, before covering with water. Simmer on a low heat for a couple of hours, stirring occasionally.

2) Drain the stock. By this point, most of the meat should have fallen off the bones and the veg should be a bit mushy. All you want is the juice though, so use a colander to strain the liquid from the rest of the stuff in the pan.

3) Sweat onions and carrots over a medium heat in a pan with a knob of butter and some salt and pepper.

3) If you have left-over roast chicken, now is the time to add it. If not, then cook some chicken in another pan and add it to the veg once cooked.

4) Pour in a couple of pints of your homemade chicken stock.

5) Add frozen peas and some vermicelli pasta or glass rice noodles. For a Thai twist, add some bok choi and soy sauce.

6) Simmer for a couple of minutes until the noodles have softened.

7) Eat and feel sorry for yourself.

This is only the second recipe I’ve posted on this blog in over two years, so I’m no Nigella. That said, I do like eating, so if you have any suggestions for ways to make chicken soup even more tasty, I’m all ears.