Okay, let’s go back to yesterday for a minute when I went grocery shopping and scored this case of seltzer at Smart Co. 
And I made salsa chicken in the crockpot. But, I make this fairly often so I decided to use the meat for chicken enchilada casserole. Sometimes my grandma would make this growing up because she said it was easier than “real enchiladas”.
Oh, she would make real enchiladas too and to prevent the tortillas from ripping she’d dip them in oil. We were a healthy bunch.
Anyways, I have a busy week ahead and decided to make a HUGE pan of enchiladas for Ben to eat all week. I just shredded the chicken and mixed it with cooked onions and bell peppers.
Then, I layered…
- Salsa
- Tortillas
- Chicken, bell peppers, onions
- Cheese
Run EatRepeat
I was just going to make a burrito for my dinner, but had a ton of chicken leftover. So, I made real enchiladas for myself. I added extra pico de gallo to the filling because I like a BIG enchilada ifyouknowwhatImean.
Enchiladas
Enchilada Casserole
Baked at 350 until heated through
I served it up with beans and salad and went back for another piece. 
Ben was happy with his dinner too. Win win Din-din.
On Eating – But yesterday wasn’t all margaritas and Mexican food. I hit a tired/stress slump in the afternoon and ended up snacking a ton. The thing I’ve learned about having a bad eating day is you can’t let if flow over into your next day/week/month. I woke up bloated, went for the run on my schedule and came back for a healthy breakfast. Moving on!
A more scientifically minded person in my life described my actions like this…
My binging history has carved a deep rut in my brain. So, when I’m angry/lonely/tired/weird my body’s default reaction is to eat. This doesn’t go away overnight. Every time I am in a situation where I want to eat but am not hungry I need to consciously avoid letting my thoughts fall into the binge rut in my brain. I need to carve a new rut where I do “xyz” when I’m tired or stressed.
If only I could figure out an “xyz” that’s as fun as chocolate…
Ironically today is Fat Tuesday! 
Being raised Catholic and attending Catholic school, I still practice certain traditions of the church. I won’t go into the details of my faith because I don’t agree with many things about Catholism and this topic also brings up politics these days which would get me ranting for far too long.
That was a tangent! Anyways, I have always wanted to celebrate Fat Tuesday. I’ve wanted to go to New Orleans for years (and am sadly missing RnR NOLA again)!
I’ll talk about what I’m giving up tomorrow. But today is Fat Tuesday and I wish I was celebrating with a hurricane.
Are you doing something fun today? Anyone have any Mardi Gras experiences? Please share!
I was in New Orleans for Mardi Gras and definately enjoyed myself. I will also be running RnR in NOLA this year. Second half marathon and I am looking forward to it!
I think I’ve created a habit with myself where reading blogs late at night= eating. Need to fix it soon..
I love homemade Enchiladas! Such a quick and easy go to. I’ve never used pico inside–I’ll definitely have to try that!
I grew up Catholic too (but yeah, not getting into my current thoughts on it either… )and tonight on my run thought about the term “cafeteria Catholic”. SO MANY (most?) people that grew up in the church are very turned off by it but still cling to some of the traditions (i.e. observing Lent and all that comes with it including giving something up and no-meat Fridays, Christmas Eve mass, etc)…perhaps these traditions bring comfort? Yeah, my 3 miles went by quickly with all of the rambling thoughts. Obviously I came to no conclusions, but just wanted to say that you are not alone!
Happy Fat Tuesday! RnR NOLA is awesome, I did the full marathon last yr. I really would love to do it again. I opted for a smaller Mardi Gras marathon in Galveston, TX this year. Tonite will be going out though, can’t let a Fat Tuesday go to waste!
Funny you mention stress binging, its the Weight Watchers weekly topic and your “replace eating with xyz” is exactly what I heard this morning. It’s nice to hear it multiple times a day. Maybe it will stick!
That is a weird coincidence!!
my binging is terrible.. not like a week long thing.. like, month long things that end up making me gain all my weight back (which is usually around 30 lbs). its like something sub-consciously is telling me to eat when i know what to do to get healthy and i just cant stop. blah.
sorry to share that i just get frustrated and i dont know how to change my way of thinking.
happy fat tuesday!
betty, glad you felt comfortable enough to vent here. Binging sucks 🙁 Hang in there!
I tried to make an enchilada casserole with salsa chicken last week and ended up with enchilada mess haha. I mean, it was delicious, but once you cut it, it turned more into enchilada soup. Yours looks way more successful! 🙂
My corn tortillas were dry (part of the reason I made Ben’s a casserole) so they soaked it up!
Your enchiladas look fantastic, cheese is one of my favorite food groups. Love your humor, it keeps me coming back.
Thanks Pamela!
I’m Polish, and we eat jelly doughnuts (paczki) for Fat Tuesday. I definitely recommend it!
I’m running RnR NOLA-wish you could make it! Maybe next year?
You should get a dog- when I want to snack I take them outside or for a walk.
And they’re great at prolonging the baby making, if you’re in doubt. Maybe if Ben has to wake up at 1 am and 4 am for pottying the puppy he’ll want to wait 🙂
I have a dog, but she lives at my mom’s because of her boyfriend (the dog’s not my mom’s) and because our place is tiny. And she potty trained herself by some freak twist of events so I didn’t even have to experience the bad parts.
I think I’ve eaten every sweet from here to Boston…can you guess what I’m giving up?! I think Fat Tuesday is set up so that you feel so disgusting the day before that you can’t even think about eating anything for the next 40 days!
Me too! Good luck!!
mostly I keep asking my hubs (a recovering catholic) A: if he realizes he’s married to (messianic, lapsed, all-together bad) jew, and B: what he’s giving up. It’s a Fat Tuesday tradition. And then tomorrow he gets to whine about ash on his head. it’s pretty great.
I’ve never celebrated Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday before, and to be honest I’m not even really sure what they celebrate! But I will be babysitting tonight, so maybe I’ll have to look up some fun activities to do with kids!
Fun today…I’m going for my first run in almost a week! yay!!! And dreaming about lilikoi pie I had in Kauai…tehehe.
How was your trip?!
Trip was good! Did some surfing and hiking and ate lots of great Japanese/Hawaiian foods to keep me full for months! Btw, going to be down that was the first weekend of March. You available?
How ironic! I made an Enchilada casserole last night too!!! First time trying it. My hubby said it tasted like a Dorrito casserole he has had before. I used cream of mushroom soup mixed with regular and jalapeno salsa, and cheese, and I had a layer of black beans and corn, and a layer of browned ground turkey. It was pretty good.
I’ve never heard of Dorito casserole?!
No crazy mardi gras activities today, but we have to celebrate getting our new dog today with a margarita. We have to right?
At first I read that you were going to get margaritas with the dog. He probably should abstain…
I always eat, happy, sad, angry, mad, bored, you get the idea. When you figure it out, let me know. I need help.
Your meal looks great!
I had a crazy mardi gras at a NOLA themed bar my senior year of college, lots of beads… Today I am getting my car tuned up, how times have changed!
I totally agree about binge history creating a brain wiring pattern. A MUST READ is Brain Over Binge.
It’s changing my life for good and I think you’d really like it!!!
Happy PHAT Tuesday 🙂 xo
I have similar food issues. I eat when Im bored, happy, angry etc. I do have to say that those chicken enchiladas look delicious.
Ahh, I felt the same way this weekend. I had a weekend of bad eating habits and I work up Monday morning feeling nasty and bloated.
And I eat when I’m bored. All the time. I try and do something else like drink tea or walk but I usually remember to do those things after a reeses is halfway in my mouth.