While you're frying up some eggs and bacon, we're cooking up something else: a way to celebrate today's food holiday.

The current winter flu outbreak is the worst in more than a decade, and seems like everywhere you look someone is sneezing or coughing. Being sick often means a lack of appetite, but it’s important for your body to get the nutrients it needs to fight the flu virus. That's where National Homemade Soup Day comes in.

Soup is an easy vehicle for nourishment to reach your aching body. With a little planning, you can be enjoying a steaming bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup in almost the same amount of time it takes to pop a pre-made one in the microwave. Here are some tips:

• Make soup when you’re healthy and freeze it in individual serving sizes. At the first sign of a throat tickle, move one portion from the freezer to the fridge.

• Cream-based soups freeze better than broth-based soups, but both will keep in the fridge for a few days.

• Make your own broth. Making vegetable or chicken broth is easier than you think and will pay off in the long run. With homemade broth, chicken noodle soup becomes as easy as heating some broth and frozen vegetables up in a pot and adding noodles.

• Soups don’t have to cook for hours and hours. If you don’t have the time but want all the flavor, try roasting your vegetables before adding them to the broth or liquid.

• If you’re making a blended soup, the longer it sits on the stove, the thicker it’s going to get. Keep some stock on hand to thin it out.