Mexican

When I made my original list of foods that I could not allow myself to eat, Mexican food was thrown on that list.  Recently, I have begun to wonder if that is actually a correct placement.  I think I did it originally out of ease of labeling.  I didn't want to have to put a mammoth list of specific foods together.  So I put more general classifications.  Mexican and Italian were two of those.

As this effort has progressed into a regular way of life, I am beginning to need to clarify what exactly is meant by those classifications.  It is easy for me to say, "Pizza is out."  There is no way that pizza will work.  And I just toss all variations of pizza (calzones, flatbreads, stromboli) into that heap.  When you combine my food addiction with pizza with my reduced carb intake, there is no way to justify pizza.  (And I need that level of protection for foods like that.)  But I've been doing this for three months, so I need to start to address some of the picky questions.

I tried to explain the way I think about this to Heather yesterday.  I am seriously treating this the same as an addiction treatment.  I have very strict rules and don't want to come close to breaking them.  Some of them make no sense to anyone else - and very little sense to me.  But I have had to do that to establish my guides.  For example, I eat yogurt every single morning.  At first, it was always plain fat free yogurt, mixed with berries.  That was it.  At some point, I wanted to get vanilla yogurt instead of plain.  To most people, this would not be a big deal.  But to me, it was a massive wrestling match.  Was it okay to get vanilla fat free yogurt?  The calorie difference was minimal - going from 120 calories to 150.  But there was sugar in the vanilla yogurt and I was trying to avoid sugar.  Finally I decided to start opting for vanilla.  But it was after a ton of questioning myself.  (Imagine the difficulty that came with getting blueberry yogurt.)

I think I have some deep seated fear that if I eat the wrong thing, it will be like Bruce in Finding Nemo when he tasted blood.  All the sudden, my eyes will roll back in my head and I'll drive to KFC and get a Double Down Sandwich, fries, and a giant Pepsi.  The chances of this happening are about as likely as me starting for the Nashville Predators next Fall.  But that fear is still there.  So I have been very wary of adding new foods into my regiment.  But, to be honest, I am finding it nigh unto impossible to function well rotating between five or ten food options.  So I have had to allow myself some freedom to make intelligent additions.  I added peanut butter in a few weeks back as the closest thing I have to a dessert.  I've started having brown rice once in a while.  So far, no frantic drives for deep fried chicken has ensued.

So, back to the Mexican issue, I have just avoided Mexican places in general since this started.  But, at home as I have cooked, I have noticed that I still use what is considered "Mexican" or "Southwestern" flavoring frequently.  One of my standby foods is chili.  Could I seriously be able to argue that chili is NOT in the Mexican category?  I would find that a logical stretch.  I also have made stuffed peppers and Southwestern chicken.  Then I went to Qdoba the other day with Gabe.  And I realized that my general banning of "Mexican" places doesn't make a lot of sense.  When it comes to that style of food, you actually can do a great job with food choices.

At Qdoba I got a "naked chicken bowl" with fajita veggies, black beans, pico de gallo, corn salsa, and a scoop of rice.  What was wrong with that?  I could have made that same thing at home and not felt bad at all.  In fact, I HAVE made stuff similar to that.  Today, Heather and I went to lunch - since that is one of the few times I will be able to see her during her finals cramming.  I got a rice bowl there - brown rice, black beans, double chicken, grilled veggies, grilled mushrooms, and pico.  Again, delicious and nothing that was a problem in the least.  In fact, there are a lot of Tex-Mex, Cali-Mex, Southwestern, Mexican, and New Mexican options for eating well.  Grilled meats, roasted veggies, rice, beans.  Lots of good stuff.  Look at fajitas.  If you just mix the stuff up on a plate, what is wrong with it?  Pan seared meat, onions, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, salsa, lettuce.  The trick is leaving the warm tortillas, sour cream, and cheese alone - which is what I never could do.

The problem is that when most Americans think of Mexican food, they picture Jim Gaffigan's description.  "All Mexican food is basically the same.  Tortilla with meat, cheese, and vegetables."  That is true of fast food Mexican.  And it is true of a lot of options at your standard Mexican restaurant.  But you are not locked into those choices.  I would actually go so far as to say that, aside from a seafood place, you have more decent options at a Mexican place than other genres.  It is a stark difference from your average Italian restaurant.  There are hardly any Italian options that do not involve pasta, cheese, or crust.  Some foods from the Tuscan region are not so dependent on carbs and cheeses - stuff like Mario Batali specializes in.  But try finding that at your average Italian place.  With Mexican food, you don't have to get tons of carbs.  You don't have to get sour cream or cheese.  (Real Mexican food places would laugh at us for our dependence on sour cream anyway.)  Most items are not fried.  (Sure, you can find places like Tijuana Flats that seems to stock its menu with fried, smothered, and cheesed items.)  It all comes down to willpower.  Can you avoid the chips and salsa?  Are you willing to ditch the sour cream topping?  Will you forego the tortillas?  If so, then you can do pretty well.

I guess that is all to say that I need to adjust my blanket rejection of Mexican cuisine.  I think fajitas, rice bowls, fish tacos (at least the stuff inside), and the like are actually great options.  As always, it just requires willpower, discipline, and thinking through food choices.