Enfrijoladas casserole, dog-less life, energy systems

Whenever we go to Mexican restaurants (which is often, as they tend to have more meatless options than most places), I'm likely to ignore the 17-page menu and order an enchilada platter- corn tortillas filled with vegetables and enrobed in a flavorful red chile sauce, with beans and Mexican rice on the side. There's a variation on enchiladas called enfrijoladas, with a bean sauce instead of the typical red or green enchilada sauce. I've had it on my to-try list for a while.

Yesterday, I had a pot of cooked black beans in the fridge, and corn tortillas in the freezer, so the time had come. I put it together casserole style, which is the quicker, lazier way to fix a large batch of enchiladas. I assure you this recipe is not authentic in any shape or form, but it made for a hearty dinner with a whole lot of leftovers- meal prepping, baby. 

First, the bean sauce is literally just thinned pureed beans. My cooked beans had some of the usual seasonings already- onion, garlic, tomato, chipotle peppers. I added some water and some salsa that needed using up, and pureed them to a thick inky sauce. You can see it in the blender in the pic.

Second, the filling: I sautéed onions, pepper, garlic and usual spices (usual spices for my Mexican inspired food= chile powder, smoked paprika, cumin, oregano). Then added some tomato and soaked, drained soy curls. Added green onions and cilantro and a spoon or two of sour cream at the end. 

Assembly: 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Sauce, 6 corn tortillas, half the filling, light sprinkle of cheese, repeat. Use up everything, sauce and all, bake at 350F, uncovered, for 30-35 mins until bubbling. It was a good, hearty dinner. More earthy than enchiladas because of the beans.

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• Reading 
• Patina by Jason Reynolds, for the POPSugar 2025 reading challenge prompt #17: A book about a run club. A bit of a stretch, because the book isn't so much about a run club but a track team. This is the second book in Reynolds' Track series about the young members of a track team, and I picked it up because I loved the first, Ghost. Patina is a 12 year old newcomer on the track team. She hates to lose a race, but the truth is she has racked up too many losses in her young life. She runs for her mother, who can no longer run because she lost her legs to "the sugar" (amputation due to diabetes complications.) 
• These are middle grade books but very much recommended for adults too. In fact, if you're a grown up with little time for reading, good middle grade books are shorter and easier to read but still touching and meaningful. Another series I would recommend for this kind of reading is the Front Desk series by Kelly Yang. 
• Kamini's wonderful blog post  - a theater review of a play based on a difficult time in South Asian history. Every post by Kamini is a treat!
• Watching
• I got a chance to see the studio company (their young performers, ages 18-21) of the famed American Ballet Theatre. It was not a very traditional ballet performance but it blew me away to see these young people with such talent, grace and athleticism. I am grateful to live 10 minutes away from venues that have such incredible live performances, not something I take for granted. 
• While I was at the ballet, the rest of the family went to watch an ice hockey game. They came home at 11 PM, completely hoarse from all the shouting and cheering. I may love exercise now but I will never like spectator sports. OK, maybe gymnastics and figure skating. But ball sports and team sports- hard pass. 
• Listening
• The almighty YouTube algorithm served me this song I haven't heard for 20+ years- Faasle by Shaan, the Hindi pop star of my teeny bopper days. It made my day. The song is as sentimental as it gets, with the saxophone of that era and everything.

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It has now been over 13 months since our beloved dog Dunkie passed away. Our beautiful dog is now a pile of ashes in a wooden box. We miss him every day and reminders of Duncan are all around us- photos and videos that pop up on my phone, his water bowl now filled for backyard wildlife, his fur on the headliner of my car, which confused the car detailer as to why dog hair would end up there. Before Dunkie's loss, V and I were dog owners (or more accurately, were owned by a dog) for 22+ years straight, with only a 6 month gap between losing our first dog and adopting our second.  

We often get asked if we will adopt another dog, and our son especially is begging us to welcome a new dog into our home. We're not quite ready for it, for a few different reasons. The fact is that V and I stretched quite thin as two working parents with no help. Our kids are not old enough to be independent and the days are filled with packing lunches, doling out snacks, reminding the kids 3 times to put their plate in the sink. Our kids are 5 years apart in age, with completely different schedules and friends and places to be. 

For the last year, it has been somewhat of a relief to be able to go straight from work to sports events without juggling the schedule to be home for the dog. It is a luxury to go away for the day or the weekend at the last minute without scrambling to organize dog sitters. When Fourth of July or New Years' Eve rolls around, we don't lose nights of sleep because of noisy fireworks. (Dunkie, all 100+ lbs of him, would clamber on top of us, quaking with fear, bless him.)

The adjustment period of a new dog can be a handful. Even with Duncan, who eventually settled down to become absolutely the Best Dog Ever, we had a wild adjustment period when we first adopted him. Think holes in the drywall, bent wire crates, chewed doorknobs; I have no idea how we managed this with a toddler at the time! It is not always easy to find a dog who fits your life and I don't want to push my luck.

At the same time we feel the absence of a dog, we know our kids adore having a dog in the family, and there are too many precious pups out there waiting for a home. We will have to let a few more months go by and revisit this.

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In today's moment of fitness, I have an introduction to the energy systems of the body. There would be no physical activity without the movement of muscles. And there would be no movement of muscles without energy to do so. When we train our bodies, we're training more than our muscles themselves- we are also training the energy/metabolic systems that drive the muscle contractions. 

The energy needed for muscle movement at the cellular level is in the form of a molecule called ATP.  There are three main energy systems that work in tandem to provide this--

• Phosphagen system (ATP-PC): Our muscles are stocked with a small molecule called creatine phosphate. For the first 10 seconds or so of an activity, ATP is generated quickly from creatine to drive muscles. So short, intense movements (explosive movements, jumping) are supported by this energy system.
• Related to this- I'm not a supplementation enthusiast in general, but creatine is the one daily supplement I take- it has well-studied, evidence-based benefits. I'm happy to share more details if anyone asks.
• Glycolytic system (Anaerobic): The primary fuel source for muscles is glycogen, which is the storage form of glucose/carbs. Once the activity proceeds beyond 10 seconds to a few minutes, this system kicks in to break down the glycogen and produce ATP, creating lactate as a byproduct. It is called anaerobic because it does not require oxygen. Activities like weightlifting are generally anaerobic and improve insulin sensitivity and blood glucose control.
• The word Anaerobic means "without oxygen", coming from the Greek words an- meaning "without", aero- meaning "air", and bios meaning "life". 
• Oxidative system (Aerobic): This system takes longer to kick in and provides fuel for longer, low to moderate intensity activities like jogging or swimming. Here, the body's energy stores, carbohydrates and fats, are broken down to produce ATP with chemical reactions that require oxygen, that is, aerobic reactions. 
• We've all heard of aerobic exercise, another term for cardio. I first heard the term as a child in the 80s when my mother attended some Jane Fonda aerobics classes! Anyway, this is why cardio is called aerobic exercise, because the fuel for cardio largely comes from this oxygen-needing energy system. You are doing a rhythmic activity and breathing harder as you are taking in all that oxygen to burn fuel.
• Doing cardio regularly is a great way to improve your body's ability to use oxygen efficiently for sustained energy production. 

In a future post, I'll talk about metabolic conditioning, which involves exercises that train both the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems.