Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Obligation Freaks?, Taco Salad Recipe, Mexican Cravings Intensified!

So during my hellacious commute yesterday (p.s. Thank you for your sympathy and empathy – I was really feeling sorry for myself… hehe) I listened to Lipstick Jungle CD 2 of 5. It’s kind of fun to listen to since I half-watched the show when it was on air. The book is SO much better because it really provides back story and fills in some blanks on how the girls got to where they are, and why they are the way they are if you know what I’m saying. Anywho – as I’m listening Victory is talking about her boyfriend and says, and I quote: “He was an obligation freak. He hated not doing what he said he was going to do.” This totally struck me to the point that I paused it, typed it on my phone and emailed it to myself.

Obligation freak. I’d never heard the term but IMMEDIATELY identified with it. Sometimes, for me, it’s not so much that I want to work out or that I’m thinking about the health benefits or vanity benefits, it’s just that I said I would do it. This goes for everything – my house stuff, reading, making recipes, etc. Don’t get me wrong – I’m SO happy when I do it, but am I happy because of the result (the good book; the new meal) or am I just happy that I finished it? Furthermore, does it really matter?

I don’t know. All I know is that I’ve been raving for a while now about how my blog and the bloggie world helps me be more accountable. Helps me have all of my shiz in one place. Helps me identify what I want to do each month. Then I say when I’ll do it. Then I do it. I’m like a mini machine – self-programming. And of course, don’t get me wrong, I don’t do everything I say I will, not by a long shot, but sometime I wonder if I’m more addicted to doing what I say I’m going to do (which is of course things I WANT to do), then it is that I’m addicted to eating low-calorie, cooking, reading, exercising, upgrading my home, etc.

Just food for thought. Do you think being an “obligation freak” is a bad thing? Are you one?

On to today, pretty lame day. I had bacon/egg/cheese for breakfast with a baby dove chocolate. YUM! Then a snack of Trader Joe’s popcorn, then a lunch of Real Mom Kitchen’s Chicken Tortilla Soup. Yum – it had been frozen for about 3 weeks and I defrosted it and it was the bomb. Afterward, around 3 p.m., I had a serving of my homemade guacamole with some chips, along with another dove bar! Yes, 1,000 calories by 3:30 p.m. – I felt happy and full. No, I didn’t get to take a lunch today. I had too much work to do and didn’t fight it too much as I’m seriously still sore. I know, who knew I was such a whiney wimp? Oh wells! After work I raced straight home – MAN that feels good – and got to cooking some more shiz. I’ve been CRAVING Mexican food lately – just can’t get enough of those flavas!! So I made my first Taco Salad for dinner – sweet! I followed directions from my friend Stacy who packed hers up and brought it to work – clever! I used the following ingredients for FOUR servings!

1 can fat-free refried beans (400 grams)
16 oz. 96/4 ground beef
2 tbsp onion, diced
1 serano pepper, deseeded and finely diced
1 packet taco seasoning, divided
8 tbsp fat-free sour cream
4 cups lettuce
16 wedges of sliced tomato
¼ cup fat-free cheddar cheese (for garnish)
4 mission low-carb tortillas


Preheat oven to 350. Ball up foil loosely and mold “shells” with the tortillas around the ball (picture bowl topside down). Place tortillas on a cookie sheet in oven for 6 - 10 minutes until desired crispiness. While tortillas bake, set pot over medium and spray with cooking spray. Add beans and 1-2 tsp of taco seasoning. Stir until warm. While beans are heating up, set a large pan on medium and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Add onions and peppers and stir for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Add meat, remaining taco seasoning, and a little bit of water (1-2 tbsp). Stir until meat is no longer red. While stirring, remove tortillas from the oven and set on a plate. Add lettuce layer, 100 grams of beans to each tortilla, 121 grams of meat mixture, lettuce layer, sour cream, tomato and cheese and serve. Nutritional Information: 415 calories, 45 carbs, 8 fat grams and 38 protein grams. Yummilicious!

What have you been craving lately?

What's your favorite taco salad topping (if you have one!)

After dinner I had the last of the crack cookies. (AKA Trader Joe's Crispy chocolate chip mini cookies). Now i'm off to hang out with Austin and Reuben - good times! I'm done eating - woo! I ended up at 1,688 calories, 194 carbs, 61 fat grams and 95 protein grams. Here's what I ate. Not bad, but I do wish I hadn't had those 4 hershey kisses - totally mindless eating and I wasn't hungry. Grrrr. Also, I wish I still wasn't so sore! I took an off day today so here's to a good workout tomorrow! Have a good night!!

30 comments:

homecookedem said...

I guess I am kind of an obligation freak... more OCD than anything actually. I feel like we should definitely enjoy actually "doing" something rather than just the result. Hmmm, interesting thing to think about!

Your taco salad looks great!! I pretty much crave mexican food on a regular basis! ;)

Neesha and Dustin said...

I totally get this idea of an "obligation freak." I do this, as well, but not with obligations I create for myself, necessarily (at least not all the time). This IS fascinating and I can see why it struck a chord with you. I'd say SOME obligation freaking can be bad...the kind that makes you feel guilty if you're not visiting a friend in the hospital every day (this recently happened to me...friend was admitted to the psych ward for a week and, during my studying for comps last semester, I went every day so she wouldn't feel abandoned or forgotten) when you have other, quite important things you need to focus on, as well. I think, in some ways and on some levels, it can become a moral/ethical guilt-ridden dilemma, as demonstrated above. I couldn't really AFFORD to miss a week of studying (a two-three hour visit a day really exhausted me emotionally which turned into physical exhaustion which turned into not being able to concentrate and do my work), but I felt obligated to go every day anyway. Not to mention, I had to take the bus most days because one of our cars was busted that particular week, as well, and husband had obligations (paying-work-ones), and couldn't take me every day.

So, yes. I get it. I'm there with you and I think mine need to be re-directed, but they can be good and bad. You could write a whole blog on this idea alone! :)

Lauren Starks said...

Taco Salad Topping: Jalapenos
Craving: CFA Ice Dream

I'm working on using my blog to be more accountable. Of course, I haven't gotten to the point that I'm blogging my goals yet - but soon. Probably next week.

Big Pissy said...

I can't concentrate on anything now except for that amazing looking Taco Salad!!!! :)

Mica said...

I'm definitely an obligation freak. I feel obligated to do really lame things when I SHOULD get my priorities in line and worry about the important ones. I don't usually think it's a bad thing, but it can be easy to go over-board with that mentality.

Anonymous said...

I don't think it's bad unless you are beating yourself up when you don't do what you said you were going to.

Would you still do the things you do if there was no one out there that was keeping tabs on you?

I do understand. I told the blog community that I wasn't going to drink for a month and a huge part of the reason that I haven't yet is that I wanted to tell them that I accomplished it.

Sorry if this made no sense. And I like avocados or guacamole.

Dawn Dishes It Out said...

OMG, we totally love Mexican! I am going to make this salad asap!!!

Unknown said...

That taco salad looks ridicously good. MMMM.....anyhoo...I don't have any Vegas recs for those types of restaurants.....I'd ask your concierge. My hubby likes very little types of food so I get stuck at the same types of restaurants all the time when I'm with him. Boring. :(

laura dishes said...

I don't know what's worse... being an obligation freak or being a commitment phobe? Don't you hate it when people say one thing but can't stick to it? That bothers me to no end!

I would def rather be an obligation freak... which seems to jive with my (admittedly) OCD tendencies! ;)

april said...

That salad looks so delicious! I haven't had any cravings exactly.. but the new bread I made has been tempting me like mad!

Andrea@WellnessNotes said...

I had never heard the term obligation freak either. And I definitely think I'm one (but I'm actually trying to work on doing what I really want to do more). I think being an obligation freak is both good and bad. On one hand, I think it makes you do things and experience things you wouldn't do/experience otherwise. And oftentimes it truly enriches your life. On the other hand, many things I used to do out of obligation actually didn't add anything to my life. So I'm trying to be more "true" to myself...

Thanks for giving me something to think about! :)

Blair @ Reasonably Swanky said...

That taco salad looks so YUMMY! I was craving mexican last night so I gave in. So bad. But all I got was 2 soft chicken tacos, and a handful of chips. Is it that bad? I am back on full speed today with my eating healthy. After we had mexican when I got home, I had the urge to cook..weird. I cooked chicken tortilla soup so we can eat on it the rest of this week and the weekend. It is so yummy! Very low fat/cal...I will post the recipe!
xo
Blair

Therese said...

I am definitely NOT an obligation freak. I tend to procrastinate things and hope to do them, but never get around to it. NOT GOOD!

That taco salad looks so delicious!

Sara said...

I don't think it's bad to be an obligation freak, as long as you know when not to be one... if that makes sense.

I've also been on a Mexican kick, I made eggs habanero the other night and ate it for lunch and dinner 2 days in a row! That taco with refried beans looks amazing, the streak might have to continue tonight...

Allie (Live Laugh Eat) said...

Thanks for the comment on my blog! Yours is so cute and vibrant!!

I am sometimes an obligation freak too--mostly when I am stressed! It's almost as if following through with the task calms me down (??). Sometimes I wish I could just go with the flow and accept that I can't accomplish everything, ya know?

Anyways, nice meeting you!

Low said...

I'm definitely an obligation freak. That's so interesting... thanks for sharing!

Your taco salad looks simply amazing.

Thinspired said...

I have totally been craving taco salad lately, too! Yours looks SO good with the homemade (and healthy!) shells. My favorite topping is the GUAC! :)

Pining for Pinterest said...

I love love love tamales. Since I moved away from Arizona to South Carolina I have not found a good tamale yet... and I really want one :-)

Naomi(Onefitfoodie) said...

hmmm favorite taco salad topping is GUAC! or salsa, not too spicy though or else I cant eat too much of it LOL I would say I am not really an obligaton freak. I do things I enjoy for the most part BUT when i need to get something done, then I get very focused

Sweet As Boys said...

I ALWAYS crave Mexican food. In fact, we are having tacos tonight...already have the chicken in the slow cooker sitting in some fresh salsa. So easy and all I have to do when I get home is dress up the tacos...delish! Your taco salad looks yummy for sure.

I would say I should become an obligation freak! I am slacking on this blog thing, but one day I will start feeling guilty for not being more accountable for updating it...I'm trying to be better about that ;)

Your blog continues to inspire me with your new recipies, new books you read and your enthusiasm for staying fit and healthy. Keep being an obligation freak because we all love reading about it! :)

Samma said...

I am bad about being an obligation freak, so I have had to start saying "no" and being okay with it. It's hard though!

You salads look so so yummy!

Lele said...

I think a lot of women are obligation freaks. It's hard to turn people down.
On another note, GENIUS idea molding the tortillas around tinfoil! Doing that ASAP!

Anonymous said...

Love your Mexican dish!!!! So low in calories too! :D

Totally stealing it :D

Anonymous said...

That looks delicious!! I am such an obligation freak-it's insane!

Erica said...

I am SUCH an obligation freak! I'm trying to get better about it. What a great looking taco salad- I'm almost always in the mood for mexican. And I love love making healthy taco bowls. Hope you have an INCREDIBLE weekend and do all the things you WANT to do!!

haute.teapot said...

haha you're so cute! i think i may be an obligation freak, unfortunately more to other people than myself (eek!). i totally fear putting it out there to others because then i WOULD feel obligated because i would have told someone. i sometimes think of the 'end result' but not the process. i also feel like i'm very ADD and can't really focus on just one thing for very long...boo.

and as for Mexican, um it's my first love! if i could eat one type of food for the rest of my life, that would be it. i usually get just a chicken soft taco and rice and try to limit the chips & salsa but that doesn't always work. your food looks soo good and i love that you cook so much.

Anonymous said...

I am definitely an obligation freak! Its crazy how much stress i put myself through just because i didn't get everything done on my to-do list.

what i've been craving lately! a quesadilla! and pickles, lol

haute.teapot said...

hello again, and how did i miss you were going to vegas?! so am i!! and we're just missing each other, i'm going from jan. 22-24. i don't have anything crazy fun planned though, it's going to be so quick but it's for shot show. i just thought that was such a coincidence that we're both going in january!

haute.teapot said...

hello again, and how did i miss you were going to vegas?! so am i!! and we're just missing each other, i'm going from jan. 22-24. i don't have anything crazy fun planned though, it's going to be so quick but it's for shot show. i just thought that was such a coincidence that we're both going in january!

Neesha and Dustin said...

I totally get this idea of an "obligation freak." I do this, as well, but not with obligations I create for myself, necessarily (at least not all the time). This IS fascinating and I can see why it struck a chord with you. I'd say SOME obligation freaking can be bad...the kind that makes you feel guilty if you're not visiting a friend in the hospital every day (this recently happened to me...friend was admitted to the psych ward for a week and, during my studying for comps last semester, I went every day so she wouldn't feel abandoned or forgotten) when you have other, quite important things you need to focus on, as well. I think, in some ways and on some levels, it can become a moral/ethical guilt-ridden dilemma, as demonstrated above. I couldn't really AFFORD to miss a week of studying (a two-three hour visit a day really exhausted me emotionally which turned into physical exhaustion which turned into not being able to concentrate and do my work), but I felt obligated to go every day anyway. Not to mention, I had to take the bus most days because one of our cars was busted that particular week, as well, and husband had obligations (paying-work-ones), and couldn't take me every day.

So, yes. I get it. I'm there with you and I think mine need to be re-directed, but they can be good and bad. You could write a whole blog on this idea alone! :)