1. Place chicken breasts in stock pot, and cover with water.  Bring to a boil.  Skim, and reduce to a low simmer.  Add 1/2 onion, peppercorns, 1/2 the garlic, 1 bay leaves.  Simmer until the chicken is tender.  (The broth can be strained and used to soften chilies or use for other uses.)  Remove chicken and let cool.  Shred chicken with fingers, or forks.

2. roast chilies an tomatos on the stove until their skin starts to toast nicely.  Remove the chilies and soak in hot water (or broth) to soften.

3. Blend the tomatos & chiles with liquid, garlic, cumin, oregano and 1/4 onion.   Add salt and pepper to taste.  Adjust seasonings as needed.  (You may want to strain  for a smoother sauce)

4. Heat oil in frying pan and fry tortillas until soft (about 5 seconds or so) and set aside.

5. Heat salsa in frying pan over low flame.

6. Pass the tortillas through the sauce, top with chicken and shredded jack cheese.  Roll and place into baking dish.  Top with sauce, and warm in oven until cheese melts.

7. Sprinkle with cotija cheese and serve.

I have kept a hand written copy of most of what I have eaten over the last few of weeks, but don’t have everything.

But here goes.

Wed 28th of June

Breakfast:
Cottage Cheese and celery.
Lunch:
Romaine lettuce with cottage cheese, Whole Grain Bread
Crackers & Nectarine.
Snack:
1 oz Colby jack cheese
Cashews
Dinner:
Well I didn’t write it down … Oh well.

Thursday 29th of June
Breakfast:
Vegetarian Rice noodles (Rolls)
Lunch:
Green salad, Nectarine
Snack:
Crackers and cream cheese.
Dinner:
Salad with shredded beef.  Home made coconut Ice cream.

Friday 30th of July

Breakfast:
Bagel with cream cheese & nectarine.
Snack:
Cashews
Lunch:
Salad with romaine, cucumber & pepper jack.
Snack:
Crackers & (light) cream cheese.
Dinner:
Home made Vietnamese style spring rolls.

July 1st through the 4th We went camping, so I didn’t keep track of what I ate.
Although I didn’t keep track, I did a fairly good job of eating well and didn’t participate in any potato chips, or junk food.  We did do a lot of grilling, hamburgers & hot dogs, Polska kielbasa, carne asada, and a few fresh dug clams.  We also had scrambled eggs, Clam Ceviche, and even Lazy Joe’s Soup with Vegies.  Basically I took a pot of boiling water, threw in some bok choy, onion, and broccoli until crunchy/tender and then added to Cup o Noodles packages.  Easy quick semi-healthy (though way too much salt), and only one pot to clean.

Wednesday 5th of July
Breakfast:
Coffee
Snack:
Cashews
Lunch:
Cesar Salad, two tamales, and more coffee
Snack:
Ok I gave in and had one of those mini butterfinger crisp mini bars.
Then about 10 minutes later my friend brought around some Soan Papdi it is kinda like compressed cotton candy with cardamon and ground up nuts and seeds mixed in.  It was really quite tasty.  How could I resist, it came all the way from India…
Dinner:
Stir fried noodles with vegies.

Thursday July 6th
Running late, no breakfast.
Snack:
Cashews
Lunch:
Romaine salad, and tamale.
Snack:
Since I was still hungry, some plain popped corn.
Dinner:
My friend was visiting from Texas so we went to an all you can eat sushi buffet.  Well I guess I decided I might as well start my long weekend right and enjoyed a little bit of this and that and that and that and so on.  I finished it all off with green tea ice cream.  Yum  
Friday July 7th -9th
Well after moving a way a number of years ago, to go live in Taiwan, my friend Dan has finally decided to tie the knot.  Well lets just say it was a great excuse for a bunch of friends from college got to get together and go have a good time.  So we had his bachelor party in Vegas.  All I can say is Vegas baby Vegas…  We all had a good time, and I didn’t write down any of my vices.  What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.  I do have to mention that we all went to eat a Brazilian BBQ restaurant (www.pampasusa.com/) that was fantastic.  I really enjoyed the wine that we had Terazzas de los Andes malbec 2003.  (www.terrazasdelosandes.com.ar/) 

Monday July 10th,
Breakfast:
Coffee
Lunch:
Left over stir-fried noodles.
Snack:
Cashews
Dinner:
Salad with Chipotle dressing, and cauliflower.

Tuesday July 11th
Coffee
Lunch:
Greek Combo with rice and Salad (I only ate half)
Dinner:
Salad with another Chipotle and cilantro dressing (My in-laws liked it so much they asked me to make it again.)

Wednesday July 12th
Breakfast:
Coffee
Lunch:
Salad and Roast Beef Sandwich.
Fruit.  Ok I gave in and had a small piece of cake. 
Dinner: I didn’t write it down … and a week later I don’t remember what it was.
Thursday July 13th and 14th I had pizza and salad for lunch, and This is prety much where I stopped writing anything down.  Ok so I got a bit side tracked and haven’t kept notes from the 13th through the 23rd.  I also lost track of my exercise routine.    Now it is time to get back to it.

So Now it is Monday the 24th, and I am finally getting it back together.  I don’t have a lot to blog about, I ran a bunch of errands today related to updating my FM3 Mexican visa.  Yes I live in Tijuana Mexico.  I have been since summer of 2000.  It was the first time in a long time I haven’t eaten a salad at all during the day. 
Brunch: (left overs from Sunday)
Shrimp and pasta with a chipotle, dried tomatoes, and goat cheese cream sauce.
Afternoon snack:
Blended Ice coffee from Coffee bean.
Dinner:
Cheese and green chile Tamales
 

Brunch:   
Tostadas (fried corn tortillas) with home made salsa.

Dinner:
Spicy chow main with shrimp and vegies
Broccoli & bok choy with shrimp
 
Snack:
Tostadas (fried corn tortillas) with home made salsa.

I did my walk, well sort of, my wife and I visited Fry’s, Target, K-mart, Walmart and several other stores.  Then after that we went to the local Asian supermarket and got about $80 worth of good stuff to make.  We also shared a take out between both of us.  I did all of my exercises except for the jumping jacks.  This is the first day I missed my salad.

Breakfast:
A bowl of “caldo de  res”

Lunch:   
Fruit and nut trail mix.

Dinner:
Chow main
Broccoli beef
Mushrooms and Vegies

I did my walk, and all of my exercises except for the jumping jacks.

Breakfast:
Coffee
Banana nut muffin. 

Snack:
Celery with “lite” cream cheese

Lunch:   
Coffee
Two tamales
Pear and nectarine
 
Afternoon snack:
Tomato, cucumber & lettuce salad with ranch dressing.
Cherries

Dinner:
A bowl of “caldo de  res” a Mexican style beef soup with big chunks of vegies like potatoes, carrots, squash etc.

Today was a bad day, I didn’t walk, or finish all of my exercises.  My Achilles tendon is bothering me, and it hurts to do the jumping jacks so I took the day off.  My wife made chicken tamales which are not exactly the best things to eat as they have quite a bit of vegetable shortening.  I did have my salad though.

Breakfast:
Coffee
Two home made chicken tamales

Lunch:   
Coffee
Two more tamales
 
Afternoon snack:
Tomato & lettuce salad with ranch dressing.
Cherries

Dinner:
Salad lettuce, tomatoes, onion, cottage cheese with chives, pepper jack, salt and pepper.

So it went fairly good today, I had a fruit salad, and a spinach salad today.  However I probably had more cashews than I should have.  I have also been drinking lots of water.  I did my walk today and exercises in the evening.  I am up to 18 of each, and I am in such bad shape, that the pushups are starting to kick my butt.  I had hopped they would get easier with time.  The 4 count jumping jacks are good and get my heart beating and make my lungs really work.  So far I have enjoyed working a little bit each day on the challenge.  I even enjoyed coming up with different salads, and dressings each day.  I wanted to thank Chris for his kind words in his pod cast, and meant to mention it yesterdays update.  He brought up an interesting topic on not grazing at the table.  I find that I have that tendency at work to sit and eat anything that is available.  So I have started bringing carrots, and celery to snack on. 

I have never been much of a writer, as a kid, every paper I wrote came back covered in red marks.  Yes I am probably the worlds worst speller.  Luckily we all have our talents and mine just don’t include spelling.  So if for some reason something slips through the spell checker, I apologize.  I am so happy that most kids of today don’t have to worry about spelling quite the same way we did 30 years ago.  However one of the biggest effects of this for me was that I never developed a good writing vocabulary, I only used words that were easy to spell.  So the fact that I am actually writing a blog at all is incredible in its own way.  But the reason behind it makes it (getting fit) worth while.  It takes me quite a while just to write these few sentences each night.  If anyone actually reads this, I would love to hear some feedback.  Hopefully with a little feedback I can improve my writing style and end up with something interesting. 

Tip of the Day:

Are you one of those people who don’t like plain celery, try it with peanut butter, or light cream cheese spread.  What I do is I put the cream cheese mostly on one end.  Then I eat my way towards the end with the cream cheese.  That way I don’t need a lot of cream cheese, but get the lingering taste and texture of the cream cheese in the last bite.

Breakfast: 
Coffee
Cottage cheese with a chunky grilled tomato sauce.

Lunch:    
Coffee
Whole grain bread with light cream cheese.
Carrots and celery
Pear
 
Afternoon snack:
Fruit salad
Cashews and celery
Apple cinnamon tea.

Dinner:
My ever popular citrus spinach salad with sliced almonds, and a citrus honey mustard  vinaigrette.

6 to 8 ounces of beef small cubes
1 tbs olive oil
4 cloves of garlic
1 small onion
3 stalks of celery sliced on bias
1 squash cubed (zucchini or yellow squash will work)
Salt and Pepper

Heat up half the oil in a non-stick frying pan at a high heat.  The oil should be shimmering, almost to the point of smoking.
Then toss the cubed beef into the pan.  Sear the meat, being careful not to put too much into the pan at one time.  If you need to, cook it in a couple of batches.  Once the first side is seared nicely, then stir it so that you can sear the other sides of the cubes, but don’t over cook, take it off the heat and put in a bowl or plate to the side.  Heat up the rest of the oil, and add the garlic and onion.  Saute for about a minute, and add in the celery.  After one more minute, add squash and saute until vegies are crisp/tender, or to your preference add beef back in and heat.  Add salt and pepper to taste and you have a simple but healthy stir fry.

If you want to step it up a bit, replace the salt with a little bit of soy sauce or sesame oil but don’t over do it.  If you want to have a thicker sauce for your stir fry, add 1 tsp corn starch to 1/3 to 1/2 cup of stock or low sodium broth, and add to stir fry when the vegetables are almost ready and keep stirring while it thickens.           

I had a late breakfast today I brought in some beef stir fried with onion, celery, garlic, and squash a little bit of salt, pepper, and that is it.  I usually eat late so it is almost lunch time for most people when I eat breakfast.  Since I am not really a big breakfast fan this kind of breakfast works for me.  I did get my walk in today, and did my exercises but in the evening.  I can’t believe it has been a week already.

Breakfast:  
Coffee
Stir fried beef with vegetables and white rice.

Lunch:  
Whole grain bread with an avocado, and cottage cheese.
Carrots
Coffee
 
Afternoon snack:
Tea
Cashews and celery

Dinner:
Green salad with “light” ranch dressing, some green olives, radish and more cottage cheese
          

Tip of the day.

A stir fry is a great way to fix up just about what ever vegetables you have in the fridge.  You don’t need fancy sauces and flavorings to make a simple stir fry that taste great.  A little bit of fresh garlic and/or ginger with a few vegetables (carrot, broccoli, squash, bean sprouts etc.), salt and pepper to taste and a little technique and that is all you need.  You can prepare it ahead of time for the next day, or make a little extra when you make dinner.  I made enough for two servings.

If you cook the tomatoes to long they gets mushy and it doesn’t look real prety, but it tastes very good.
1 lb dried pasta
1.5 lbs tomatoes concassé (peeled and diced)
1 large onion diced
4 cloves garlic chopped
1 carrot small dice
3/4 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
3/4 lb green beans cleaned trimmed, and cut in 2 to 3 inch pieces
½ head of cauliflower cut in bite sized pieces
1 Tbs olive oil
1 1/2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
Fresh basil chopped (10 to 12 leaves or to taste).
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Cut up all of the vegetables. Put a large pot of water on the stove and bring to boil. Add salt if desired. Cook green beans until crisp but tender. Remove beans and set aside. Add cauliflower to the water and cook till just starting to get tender, remove, and set aside with green beans. Use green bean/cauliflower water to cook pasta. Saute onion carrot, and garlic until tender in a bit of olive oil. Add thyme and bay leaves and Tomatoes. Cook about 4 to 5 minutes until the tomatoes are soft. When pasta is ready, drain and set aside, save ½ cup of pasta water. Add balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, cook for another 2 minutes and add basil. Add green beans, pasta and cauliflower and mix well. Adjust seasonings as necessary. Serve with a sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Use good Parmesan cheese not the stuff in a can. Yes it may cost just a bit more, but you are worth it 

  
This is great with lots of fresh vegetables and just a touch of fat. Diced celery also goes nicely with this sauce. Experiment, try using cherry tomatoes, or add a bit of fresh oregano or rosemary (don’t put too much rosemary as it can be overwhelming). Perhaps a nice spicy Italian (turkey if you want to keep it healthier) sausage. Shrimp sauteed in garlic makes a great addition as well. This makes a lot of pasta and is easily enough for 8 people. It goes great with mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumber and a simple vinaigrette.