Cooking for Health: Mexicali Stand-off Chicken Tortilla Soup

Sometimes soup is just the right thing. Oh I know it’s the middle of the summer for youse people out there in bloggyland, but that ain’t gonna stop me from steamin’ my house up with the sweet aroma of chili spice. I’m always affected by the weather, in particular high pressure systems (sunny days not me, I love the rain!)…. So here’s my answer to the seeming Evangelista Torricelli barometric shape of my olefactory caverns and their resulting difficulties (I chose to speak cryptically here so I don’t gross people out.) Anyway, hot and spicy soup is the answer for today, good for what ails ya!

I’m just not good at following recipes… so I always end up making my own:

Lightning Fast Mexical Stand-Off Tortilla Soup (This recipe makes one liquid ton, well capable of serving 6-8, or my husband for just one meal.)

2lbs Chicken tenders
1 Vidalia Onion diced or any onion ya got!
1tbsp olive or cooking oil
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies - mild or hot
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup frozen corn
(2) 32 oz. Chicken stock or Chicken Broth (College Inn is the best tasting)
1 7oz can chopped green chilies
juice of one lime
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumen
1/2 cup seriously smashed corn tortilla chips
salt and pepper to taste
hot sauce to taste
corn tortilla chips to add at the table

Roast up the chicken tenders by sauteing in a frying pan with the onions and the oil. Try to get a nice browning on them. Then add the chopped green chilies and let that groove for a couple of minutes. At this point, you should be able to chop up the chicken tenders with a pancake turner or other firm spatula or spoon. (I love it when you don’t have to put the meat back on the cutting board to chop it up!)   I actually did the sauteing in my giant non-stick soup pan, so I could gather up all that browning goodness.  Want to use a frying pan and then transfer to your soup pot?  Just wrestle out the tasty chicken brownings with your can of diced tomatoes for a minute on a fairly high heat.

Add chili powder and cumin, stir. Add chicken stock/broth, lime juice, the two cans of tomatoes, frozen corn, and smashed tortilla chips. Bring to heat. Now’s the time to taste your creation. If your soup isn’t deep enough in flavor, add 1 tsp of catsup and 1/2 tsp of worcestor sauce. If your soup is too acidic, add just a touch of sugar - 1/2 tsp. I added catsup and that balanced out the acidity immediately. Simmer this gorgeous soup for an hour or so to meld the goodness into paradise on wheels. Serve with more crispy tortilla chips on the table - I’m gonna smash mine right into the soup for a crispy crunchy heat-seeking groove.

Traditional renditions of this soup include hand-fried corn tortilla strips (who’s got time for that?). This soup is also traditionally served with sour cream or shredded cheese garnish. Yum!

This spicey rendition of a classic soup is good for your health. The capsaicin in the chilies and chili powder releases endorphins, the steamy hot soup will cure my pressure head, and capsaicin has been proven to help Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, CFS, sufferers both topically in creams and by adding a boost to your metabolism when ingested. Related article: Hot Peppers Add Zing (sorry about the stupid pop-up!)

Still Feeling Froggy - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, CFIDS

In my continual wonderment at how much my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has improved, I’m also just as perplexed at my own ever-present toxicity. I still feel foggy, which I call froggy (cuz I’m insane) and I know it’s because I’m no where near healthy. The pursuit of health seems so complicated by so many factors and yet at the same time, the answer seems universal to nearly any health issue.

My complications include: sugar addiction, wavering hormonal flux, reliance on caffeine, the energy that’s required to create natural well-balanced meals on a daily basis.

The Universal Health Answer: Have ya ever noticed that the natural response to nearly any health difficulty on earth is the same? The Dr. Dean Ornish Heart Health Diet, Cancer Recovery Diet, Detox Diet, Chronic Fatigue Diet, Losing Weight Diet, Yeast Ridding Candida Diet, Athletic Diet - Simplified: Eat mostly fresh veggies - both raw and cooked, and some fruit. Brilliant!

Gee that sounds so easy - Why is it so difficult? I know from my own experience that sugar is one serious evil-doer, complicating my blood sugar levels, hampering my efforts through continual cravings and overwhelming any rationale to eat my veggies. Supposing I’ve gone off sugar for three days to overcome that monkey on my back, I still become weighted down by an inexhaustible yearning for starchy carbs. I think that’s just my blood sugar screaming out for more, more, more. Wouldn’t it be great if I could tell my blood sugar to just shut up already?

The Pursuit of Happiness: My goals never change - I’d like to be able to work, play, and think like a normal human being! To quote Scripture for a second here: “As a man thinks, So Is He” - This is the first key to success: Point your mind in the right direction, and your body will follow. In order to achieve my goals of feeling better, acting like a normal person, I need to focus my thoughts on the detox veggie diet and stop revelling in fantasies about chocolate cake and brownies.

In this vain, it’s always most helpful for me to view sugary and starchy foods as “poisons” to my goal, and the veggies as “cleansers”. It’s not too extreme to call the cakes & candies poison - they’re literally robbing me, and have robbed me of my life for 17 years. So sad to even consider the complete effect of sugar addiction in one glance like that. I’ve also proven to myself that the cleansing effect of the natural vegetable diet is dramatic and enervating. And it’s always my thoughts that create the motivations to change or languish, resulting in good or bad behavior. I feel like Winnie the Pooh: “Think, Think, Think”….

Mitochondrial and Other Supplements: Imagining that I’ve managed to maintain a clean veggie oriented diet and that my blood sugar levels aren’t making me a slave to their whims, I know that nutritional supplementation is essential to create my health. I feel like I owe all of my CFS improvement to NT Factor - Lipid Replacement Therapy. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research has shown damage to the Mitochondrial Function of the cell, the area responsible for fueling energy in the body. While the phosphoglycolipids in NT Factor don’t repair the mitochondria directly, they do provide the pre-cursors for ATP production. This same treatment protocol has been adopted for fatigue among cancer patients as well with amazing results. D-Ribose helps with the fibromyalgia pain of daily living too, and although this has never been my primary complaint, I know it’s a major factor in many CFIDS sufferers.

Continual Health Resolve: Here I am again, still pressing on toward winning this life long battle. “Keep going Carrie, You Can Make It! - Think These Thoughts!”

1. Stay away from Sugar and Starch. They’re the nasty creeps causing your downfall!
2. Eat 5 Mighty cups of Veggies per day. (Other people can eat fruit too, I can’t - blood sugar.)
3. Maintain a constant influx of Supplements. This is where your energy is coming from, you ninny.
4. Drink 64oz. of water daily, before 8pm - I hate peeing all night.
5. Walk 3 times a week for 20 minutes - even if it kills ya.
6. Control Your Thought Life - stop thinking about Aunt Grace’s Brownies, think about swimming instead!
7. Go on a juice fast, gallbladder flush, or colonix cleanse again. I promise you’ll feel better if you do!

Ok, I’m done lecturing myself…. I’m striving to do better… I gotta get serious to get my total life back - I believe it’s truly possible now!

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Notes: Thanks to Marilyn’s Toy Pages for that amazing frog cut out picture. Also, “feeling froggy” in the urban dictionary actually refers to feeling lively or upbeat. If you’d care to know how one lovely girl that has lost her job due to CFS earns a seriously tiny income, you’re welcome to visit my Wall-E Toys. Thanks!

CFS: I’m Living a New Life

Quite honestly, I never thought that I could get this far. I barely even think of my chronic fatigue as a constant impediment to my daily living tasks. I am highly aware that my activities have to be limited or there will indeed be hell to pay, but on the other hand, my mind is no longer constrained by the constant fear of collapsing someplace or completely running out of steam when doing a specific task.

Earlier in my bloggyland I had mentioned my upcoming trip to Florida - It’s in the past now and I had such a great great time with my family. I went swimming every day! ME!!! (Good Lord, if you people knew me before, in the midst of my mollasses-ness (mollasiocity, mollastication?) you’d know how unbelievable that is…)

One of my big turning points was re-reading the label on the NT Factor - it now states: “For Severe Fatigue, increase to 9 tablets per day”… and I did - ANYTHING to feel mo’ better… This stuff totally works… I want to reiterate again, I’m not cured… I couldn’t work an 8 hour day for the life of me - if you suffer from CFS, you know well that getting up, showered, dressed is half of that battle… but lately, I’m thinking I could indeed work 20 hours per week. Yes, I really just said that… 

Anyway, NT Factor is a dietary supplement cooked up by clinical researchers in their quest to determine just what is causing Chronic Fatique Syndrome - aside from initial indications that it’s caused by a virus (epstein-barr, etc.).   NT Factor is a blend of probiotics and phosphoglypolipids that move into the cell wall and boost the mitochondrial function of creating ATP for your body.  That’s pretty heavy talk for some - translation:  for CFS sufferers, your cells are actually damaged - yup every ding dang one of them!  This is a supplement that supports energy production - getting your cells back to functioning and creating energy the way that they’re supposed to. 

So lately, I take 9 pills, and I’m still kinda flakey and dont’ take them every day.  One of my most serious limitations is that I still can’t handle stress or strong emotions.  Recently, a very very dear friend of mine passed away, and even though I could have gotten dressed and physically attended his services, the emotional strain of the circumstances left me completely weak.  I simply was unable to interact socially.  Emotions can be unbearable for me, still causing me to need to lay down.  I still have difficulty on the phone too.

But, on the good side: I walk now without thinking of sitting down… I do things… I proved my swimming longevity in Florida (I aint’ back to doin laps again, but I did wrangle, wriggle and wiggle into that suit and then freely frolic!). Yesterday I did housecleaning, including a serious scrub of da tub - my haunches hurt today, but I ain’t dead. Today I worked on my Kung Fu Panda Toys page, cleaned the kitchen (lordy what a mess!), then went to a movie with my brother, then went shopping for photo frames for my other brother’s handsome pic - that’s him up there - the reason for the Florida trip, Then I went to the grocery store, and I’m just now about to take a shower. 

My increased energy, sense of well being has decreased my bloggyrhythms (blog posts for the uninitiate), and also unfortunately has decreased my maniacal attention to my diet - now I feel better enough not to have to worry about every single morsel placed in my little mouth. I know I could even be better still, with greater adherence to my mostly veggie diet protocol.  It’s just that NT Factor totally totally works.  No Jokes.

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Come See My Newest Wonders: Wall-E-Toys and Tiki Party Planning Guide (gotta do somefin to make some money - righteo captain?)

CFS: My New Fear

I’m in the midst of my carefully devised plan to overcome Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  I’ve changed my diet, found amazingly effective supplements in the form of NT Factor and D-Ribose, and I’ve garnered some success.  But a new fear is overtaking me lately.  The clinical studies involved with these ‘new found’ supplements reflect only a 40-45% improvement of CFS symptoms.  And this is where I am right now.  Does this mean that where I am is as good as it’s going to get?   Have I reached the pinnacle of improvement?

I no longer pour myself into the couch after walking just a few steps into the livingroom,  I can walk and do some normal life endeavors or attend an event without the need to collapse, but is this all there is?   I don’t know the answer….  I have to keep working, keep detoxing, keep hoping, keep praying…

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Visit Wall*E Toys My newest squidooey venture.

CFS: Thankful for the Tiniest Things

My poor hurting brother was in the hospital today…  He was set for an angiogram, he’s been having heart pain again.  During his angiogram, they decided to go ahead and give him a new shunt too.  (Is it a shunt, a stent?  Stint stent stunt, shint shent shunt… I forget)   Anway, I was his dutiful companion, aid, and chauffeur…   I managed to get up early for the 8am appointment just fine, as always this meant no real sleep, but I felt ok - even without my morning boost of happy coffee.

But here’s the revelation of improvement in the tiniest of things -  I parked in a parking garage and had to walk.  Those of you with CFS know what I’m talking about… the looming, sweating, palpating fear: “Walk exactly how far??? Ramps?? Hills? Stairs??”  These thoughts never even occurred to me!  That’s how amazing this experience was.   I remember having been to this hospital before (and I wasn’t a patient) and gauging every painful aching step, wondering how soon I would be able to sit, wondering if I could even make it down the hallway, and my previous visits hadn’t included any parking ramps.

Today I managed going back to my car three times, traversing these parking ramps that other ‘normal’ people wouldn’t even notice, walking down the hallways without even a thought of sitting down to rest.  There, in my mind, I’ve exactly quantified my 40% improvement.

Make no mistake though, after transporting him, sitting in the hospital room during his procedure, conversing with the nursing staff, making him comfortable when he came back from his surgery and then transporting him home, a total of 8.5 hours - I’m deadwater exhausted: finished, zombied, cattywhompus brained. 

So Chronic Fatigue spoke twice to me today -  I am better than I had ever hoped even in the tiniest of realms, and yet still stuck in the muddy mire of always being on the precipice of exhaustion.

 

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Visit Kung Fu Panda Toys and Wall-E Toys.

CFS - My Chronic Fatigue - Can My 40% Improvement be Quantified?

Around Christmas time, I was feeling about 25% better.  This meant that I could do one or two things without collapsing altogether.  I was able to take a 20 minute walk, OR do the dishes, OR cook dinner without too much complaint.  This is stark contrast to where I began this journey last September, when I was unable to get dressed or evey comb my hair.

Since then, I’ve changed my diet, added some important supplements - NT Factor and D-Ribose and my sleep has greatly improved.  Indulgences of Christmas took me several weeks to get over -   re-dieting and paying greater attention to my goals.   In February and March, I’ve kept up with my supplements and gone a little wayward on my diet due to wildly flucuating PMS, but in general I’ve maintained my program. 

About 2 weeks ago, I took a 2.5 mile hike!  If that doesn’t scream out 40% better, I don’t what ;).   This past weekend was a Family Easter Party Event and I had fun!  Foremost in my mind was the comparison to my family’s christmas party where I was able to stand and talk and participate emotionally.  But after that party was over - I felt the need to collapse and recover.   This time, for the Easter party, I had more fun - easily standing and engaging in conversation (CFS sufferers find conversation very difficult and energy consuming).  I noted to my family that I had showered, dressed, gone to the grocery store, played at the party and still felt good!   I was sure tired when I got home, but it felt like a supreme accomplishment.    I’m pretty sure that the preparation for the Christmas Party required taking my shower the day before and laying out my clothes in advance to save on energy costs

So there you have it, I can do Something, or Two Things, not including the energy expended for showering and getting dressed!  I can participate emotionally and converse and enjoy small portions of life without getting immediately overloaded. 

Just this past week, I went through another bout of PMS, and sugar was in my house once again - Arrgghh! it’s like a sickness that stuff!  Anyway, I’m back on the program again and paying attention to non-processed foods, extra veggies and salads and seriously considering sauerkraut juice ‘therapy’ a.k.a. flingin’ it up my butt once again.   It’s so weird…  when I have PMS I am just not in my right mind and I simply cannot control that sugary stuff -  I’ve conquered that in the past, but MAN I struggle.   I know now that I have to prepare for the onslaught of PMS insanity a week in advance and be deadset on not screwing up! (Stevia helps with this, and I’m out, let’s get some!)

I’m taking walks several times a week, usually for about 30 minutes, but haven’t crossed that magnificent 2.5 mile threshold again…. but I’m a’gonna!   I’ve noted previously in my blog that I’m starting Colonix Colon Cleansing again in April - that’s still gonna happen too!

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - Cortisol Treatment? It Makes Me Skeptical

I am the first to admit that I have a distrust of the medical community, perhaps it’s more reasonable to say that it’s pharmaceuticals, either/or let’s say.  Recent reports show CFS symptoms can improve through the application of cortisol shots administered by your physician.  Another “non-cure” and yet effective treatment.    Cortisol is low in CFS Patients Study , Cortisol Treatment Study Shows CFS Symptom Improvement .  

 Not too long ago, I watched a PBS special with Dr. Perricone wherein he stated that my cortisol levels were at the root of my weight gain and aging complaints, he’s termed it the “death hormone“. 

I’m no scientist,  I know adrenal fatigue is a major factor in my CFS symptoms and cortisol injections would indeed further adrenal fatigue.  It makes me suspicious once again of the medical community.  Like my most recent experience with the drug Advair for asthma, I stopped using it for this reason - millions of asthma patients use it, yet people are dying from its use?  Advair Article   I am again suspicious of the cortisol treatments until there’s a long term treatment study.

The variances between the formal medical community and natural healing methods can be so enormous and worrysome, that it makes me tend toward natural methods exclusively.  I hope that my diet and supplement path works as well as cortisol injections.  If you’re a CFS patient and receiving these cortisol shots and no other medications, please comment on your results!

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You’re Cordially Invited to Visit my little squidoo toy lands:
Funkeys Toys
Bee Movie Toys
Enchanted Movie Dolls
Kung Fu Panda Toys

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - You’re Not Alone

 

I’m living proof that your CFS  Chronic Fatigue Syndrome can improve!  How did I get here after suffering for so very long?  In this article I’ll show you briefly where I’ve been and how I’ve improved to the point of being able to get dressed and being able exercize and live again.   First and foremost, it’s important to realize that even though you probably can’t get out of your house - you’re not alone.

You’re not alone in not being mobile or active, and you’re also not alone when you’re searching for advice, research and community.  Having Chronic Fatigue Syndrome can be devastating to your life and emotional health; we all need to take advantage of the resources at our fingertips.  The Chronic Fatigue Treatments Forum is one of the sites that I’ve used for outstanding and varied treatment information as well as a community of common sufferers that offer the support you’re looking for.

This CFS forum details several Chronic Fatigue Protocols: Amy Yasko, Garth Nicholson, Marshall Protocol, the leaders in cfs research, and more importantly proven results.   In addition, Jacob Teitelbaum’s clinical trials are covered in another area , which features a discussion on D-Ribose, a supplement that I can personally attest has done absolute wonders for my fibromyalgia pain as I’ve discussed previously in my blog.

In September of 2007, I was completely unable to get dressed or go out.  On this particular day - Labor Day Weekend, I had asked hubby to set aside time for me so that I could do “whatever I wanted”.  This meant dinner and a movie.  But I couldn’t even brush my hair or teeth on that day, let alone go out. I decided that was the absolute limit of the depths of my illness - I just wasn’t going to stand for it anymore.  (I use the word ’stand’ as a pun - Orthostatic intolerance, OI, or the inability to stand for any length of time is the primary symptom of CFS.)

Since many of my difficulties in life can be attributed to medications that I’ve received in the past, I decided to go on an all natural treatment protocol.  Two supplements NT Factor and D-Ribose have helped me to the point of being able to get dressed, exercise, do the dishes, get groceries And make dinner all in the same day.  Amazing!  NT Factor has helped with creating energy, D-Ribose has helped me with the overwhelming pain of daily living. 

Supplements aren’t the only answer though.  I’ve carefully researched the effects of diet and digestion on CFS and have found that I’ll be on my clean diet program for many months, if not years to come.   I simplify this diet into three words on another blog post: water, meat, veggies.  Other people discuss their diet and supplement results on the CFS Forum too.  All kinds of helpful info. 

My most sincere desire is that for anyone with CFS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia to realize that they’re not alone -  You CAN feel better,  there IS hope,  the research is showing results, you can do it without spending a million dollars on doctors or drugs, and the Community is there for you.

Walking - Change Like Miracles

Once were carefully metered steps

Every pace, ache, a shake in my bones

Breathless, worthless, fettered in pain

Silent suffering in open wind.

Change now, promise like Spring

Strides overcome painful footprints

I sing into the gray breeze

lifting my weary head

thankful to the sky

Goal Setting for Summer Fun Among the Fatigued

I’m better than I ever could have imagined and still, no where near where I could be.  I hiked for 2.5 miles last week ! (I did come home and take a nap right after though *sighs*). That was so far beyond anything I could have hoped for years, and still, I could be feeling better yet if I could stick to a cleaner diet. 

It took me a bit of time to overcome the Christmas dietary delusions and I’m back to feeling like I can accomplish some things, but this wayward trend toward sugary things when I have p.m.s is truly my downfall.  It’s keeping me from getting “mo’ bettah” sooner.

So… my current goals:

1. Get back to eating 5 full servings of veggies a day - currently consuming about 3.
2. Get the ding dang sugar and processed foods out of my diet - ya looney pms crazed woman.
3. Maintain an exercise schedule, currently taking 3 or 4 walks a week, with emphasis on increasing times.
4. Boost up on supplements - I still forget to take them every day, and they help so much!
5. Focus on the Future -  I need to get better so I can be normal AND get a job! 

The catalyst is that my neice is graduating from highschool in May and we have a trip planned.   I hope to include much more activity than previous (last 15 years?) vacations.  Previously, I could go on a trip - but the only thing that I would ever think about was when I could sit down, or where - truly my only thought.  But this fantabulous resort has a water park in florida weather and I want to play! 

I took a trip with hubby last year to florida and georgia.  On the beach in florida, I was able to sit in the sand and look at the gulf, but I wasn’t able to walk or swim.  In georgia, we stayed at a resort and I was able to swim in the pool, but only for 10 minutes, then I was wasted.  Swimming is one of my greatest pleasures in life -  I’m going to do everything in my power to be able to swim and have the “Fun” word.  I just want to be normal.

In April, I plan to go on colonix again, and get back to the strictest of diets - meat, veggies, water.  I’ll keep you posted……

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