Quesdilla Casserole

The older I get, the more I realize how much I'm like my parents. I guess you can't help it. You have the same genetic make up and whether you'll admit it or not, you look up to them when you're a child. At the very least, you learn from their example.

It's obvious from the get-go that I've inherited my mom's appetite and love of food and my dad's ability to eat just about anything. I'll try just about anything once.

What's maybe not so obvious, are the parts of my personality I've inherited. My worrying, for example. My grandpa apparently was a worrier, my mom is a worrier, and the apple didn't fall from the tree with me. And like my dad, I get the extra bonus of completely losing my appetite when I'm stressed or worried about something.

I'm the exact opposite of an emotional eater, which I guess can be considered either a positive or a negative depending how you want to look at it.

Bad part of losing my appetite? Nothing sounds good. I could debate what to make for dinner for hours and come up with nothing. Or, I make a dish that sounded good when I started but by the time I'm done the smell is off-putting.

Yesterday's food intake ended up being a bottle of gatorade and a cup of coffee, leftover broccoli beef stirfry over a cup of whole wheat noodles, a tall decaf soy latte and a small pumpkin cupcake. I didn't total up the calories, but it couldn't have been much. Last week was similar. I guess it's been the stress of the bridal shower/bachelorette and a few other things I'm not ready to talk about here.

I also haven't even been working out because I'm afraid of falling over on the treadmill — similar to that Biggest Loser contestant last night. Eat too little, exercise too hard and down you go.

The upside is that I don't snack much if at all, so when I can choose whatever I want, pretty much. And because I eat so little, the more caloric probably the better. I still strive to get my veggies in and make it calories from healthy fats, etc. I drink plenty of water and wait it out until my appetite comes back.

In the meantime, a dish like this quesadilla casserole occaisonally sneaks in. An entire block of cheese for four people? Yikes. But I made it anyway and left the entire block in. I did only use three tortillas and they were fajita-sized whole wheat ones at that. I also cut way back on the oil. In the end, mine looked like a mess of corn and beans that could serve six people with sides, easily.

It wasn't the most inspired recipe and it wasn't anything that stood out. It was just.. ordinary.

But, sometimes, ordinary is exactly what I'm looking for.