Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Do you celebrate Cinco de Mayo? Do you know why people celebrate on the "5th day of May"? Many think it's the Mexican independence day, but, it's not. It's actually the day in 1862 when Mexican armies defeated the French military at the Battle of Puebla. It seems like this is more of an American 'holiday' or, as some like to say, just another reason for people to drink!

I love Mexican food (or what we think is Mexican food), but it is loaded with calories. And since I'm watching what I eat and planning to go back to Bikram Yoga tomorrow morning, I definitely don't want to subject myself to tons of calories, fat, and sodium that will take days to undo. So, I decided to cook up a little Mexican inspired dinner for Woody and me tonight. It's simmering right now, but I'll share pictures tomorrow! I'm working on an easy chili with a little leftover lean ground beef I had in the freezer from another recipe, one large can of diced tomatoes, a can of black beans (drained and rinsed), half of a yellow pepper and orange pepper, and half a container of Trader Joe's fresh black bean and roasted corn salsa (with cilantro, onion, olive oil, and other good things!). I took a little test taste and it's going to be good! There is a little kick that I think Woody will like. We also have a bottle of Cherry Sangria from one of our favorite Michigan companies, Cherry Republic that we have kept in our wine rack for far too long. It's chilling in the fridge right now!


On to fitness. I didn't go to Bikram this morning. When I started to think about my schedule for the day, I couldn't figure out how to work it out since I have switched my weekly visit to the Union Square farmers market to Wednesday (much bigger than Mondays) and I have something scheduled for this afternoon. So, I cancelled my slot, scheduled ones for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and hit the gym this morning with Woody instead. I had a good workout, although my heel hurt a tiny bit on the elliptical, which was remedied by lowering the incline.

Do you have plans for Cinco de Mayo?
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Workout Stats -
12 mi bike
2.5 mi elliptical
3x12 ea: leg press, leg extension
3x30 sec wall sit
3x10 ea: weighted standing side twist, weighted side bends
stretching and foam roller

6 comments:

shelby @ eatdrinkrun said...

I am also cooking up a healthy (ish) Mexican-inspired dinner for the hubs and me tonight! I'm thinking chicken nachos with mango salsa. And maybe a margarita or two. I don't have to work out until tomorrow evening though! :)

Enjoy your celebrations!

baker said...

I was just reading about the french defeat in the paper! True about the calories although after my marathon Sunday Im not worried, in fact I probably NEED them.
Im making burritos and home made margaritas out on my roof deck tonight. Can I have the chili recipe?

Gina; The Candid RD said...

mm, I LOVE sangria, and all "Mexican" food. But you are right, it's all loaded with calories. I prefer to make it on my own, where I have control over what I make and how I prepare it.
Today I didn't really do anything to celebrate the defeat at the Battle of Puebla ( didn't know that! ). I did invite my dad over for a beer, however, and that was nice :)

sarah said...

I had plans to eat chips and drink Coronas, but it turned into a Jack and ginger. Whoops! Worst celebration of CdM ever. I did have some conversations in Spanish, though!

Megan D said...

Thanks for the history lesson! I didn't do much to "celebrate" yesterday other than to make guacamole. Yumm :)

Yuri said...

Sounds like a great plan. I just got from the gym where I cranked a solid 15 minute dynamic warm-up followed by a lot of single leg work, front squats, and core. Finished with foam rolling and stretching. Tomorrow will be interval training on the hills.

Happy cinco de mayo!

Yuri
Interval Training Man