If there is one thing I hate the most about parenting, it would be when my children are poorly. The "Fear" you feel once they are born is intensified and you don't want to let them out of your sight for one minute for fear that something bad will happen. Now I am not a paranoid mum and I definitely do not wrap my children in cotton wool, but the slightest sniffle sends me into overdrive with the thermometer, continually checking temperatures, making sure we have enough supplies of Calpol, saline spray and Snuffle Babe to get us through the latest illness!

Since he was born just 4 months ago, William has had a cold 3 times and the last one was a real corker, with so much mucus he could give a snail a run for its money and a cough that made him sound like a 40 a day smoker. Because he is so young, I have been able to do little to relieve his symptoms and just let it run its course. 2 products I have found so helpful have been a saline nasal spray, which made William sneeze every time we used it and therefore cleared his nasal passages easily, and snuffle babe menthol rub, which I applied to the soles of his feet, back and chest. After a couple of nights of using these he began to sleep really well. During the day I would pop him on a mat on the bathroom floor, shut the door and take a long hot shower, mainly so that he could breathe in the steam from the hot water and help his cough a little.

Grace started being poorly this week after school, having really high temperatures and a sore throat which made her so upset. This week she definitely needed her mummy and I really could not resist letting her sleep in our bed, actually it was the best nights sleep I have had since William was born! I do love a cuddle with my babies! Also this week we have let her eat whatever she fancies so plenty of ice cream with chocolate sauce, cookies and my special heal-all chicken noodle soup!

My recipe for chicken noodle soup actually comes from my husband who learned from his dad. One day we will have a competition to see whose is best, though we all make it the same way so they will probably taste exactly the same!

Chicken soup is probably the easiest dish to make and all you need is a chicken carcass left over from your sunday roast, a couple of carrots, celery, an onion and a couple of stock cubes. The noodles I buy from the Chinese supermarket, rice noodles I find work the best and have that awesome slurpable quality (the only time I will allow slurping at the dinner table!).

What dish do you guys prepare for your children when they are poorly? Or do you have a childhood cure all dish that you remember having yourselves? Mine was Lucozade and a bunny blanket!

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients

1 chicken carcass leftover from a roast, any remaining meat stripped and kept aside for later
1 onion cut in half, unpeeled
2 carrots halved, unpeeled
2 sticks of celery, halved.
If you have any leftover veggies from your roast add those too.
2 chicken stock cubes
Rice noodles ( I haven't put a quantity here as it depends how much liquid you have and how full of noodles you like your soup to be, I tend to use a whole pack of rice noodles as I like the dish to be filling)

Method

Pop the chicken carcass in a large saucepan or stock pot, add the vegetables and cover with cold water until just covered. Bring to the boil then turn the heat right down so that the water is at a gentle simmer.

Simmer for 3-4 hours (yes it takes a long time but it is so worth it, we have cooked this overnight before and it was delicious) and then drain the soup through a colander into a large bowl. You should be left with a clearish stock, discard the carcass and vegetables.

Let the stock cool completely and place in the fridge to cool. Once cool you will notice a layer of fat will have settled and solidified on the top of the stock, remove the layer of fat and pop the stock back into the stock pot to reheat.

Add the chicken meat, noodles and stock cubes and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until the noodles are soft and the chicken is cooked through. Serve immediately and slurp away at those noodles!

Serves 6