Archive for November, 2012
Posted by terrepruitt on November 29, 2012
In two days it will be December 2012. Wow! The end of the year really seemed to go fast. Like that last half of tank of gas. 🙂 This is the busy time of the year for many of us. There are holiday obligations that might include work and family. There is the weather you might be dealing with. There is all of the days off. There is a lot to deal with. And two things often fall by the wayside during this season. One is eating healthy. With all of the holiday treats around and so much more of food in general, eating more than we might normally and eating differently that we might normally is too easy to do. I say be aware. Don’t graze at the party because it is there and you are not paying attention. Don’t eat something that you normally wouldn’t just because “Tis the Season.” The second thing that gets put away for the month sometimes is exercise or working out. The month is so busy and it is so cold. It is easier to bundle up and sit by the fire. It is easier not to get out of bed early to get some movement in. But let’s not allow that to happen. Let’s make a pact with each other. Let’s move for 30 minutes EVERY DAY in December. My ideal is 30 consecutive minutes, and for you, personally, I would like to have the 30 minutes be consecutive minutes, but I am not going to be picky. It can be 15 and 15 or 10, 10, 10. Just get in 30 minutes. It can be walking, dancing, lifting weights . . . .whatever, just make it MOVING.
Let’s start Saturday, December 1, 2012. Let’s do a challenge, let’s make a pact. Let’s check in here every day. I will schedule a post for midnight Pacific Standard Time. And you all (yes ALL OF YOU!) can just post a quick, “I did my 30!” If you want to tell us WHAT you did great? But let’s just keep moving throughout the entire month. Let’s be a team. A support group. Let’s not let our exercise and workouts and just moving fall down the cracks because it is “that time of year.” Yes, we are all busy, but this is really important. You know exercise actually helps relieve stress yet it is usually one of the first things to get crossed of the schedule where there are a lot of things to do. Let’s not do that this year. Let’s ban together and keep moving.
Two of my regularly scheduled San Jose Nia classes are on Monday and Wednesdays. So we will be doing Nia on Monday, December 24, 2012, Christmas Eve and Wednesday, December 26, 2012, the day after Christmas. AND there is Nia on Monday, December 31, 2012, New Year’s Eve and Wednesday, January 2, 2013! PLUS I just agreed to teach Nia as a substitute class on Mondays AND Thursdays from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm. So I am keeping my regular Nia Class schedule during the Holidays and have added more, so we can keep on dancing. Be sure to check my website for all the dates I will be teaching because when I teach for they City there are center closures. For instance, my Tuesday Nia class is with the City and they are closed on Christmas Day so I won’t be having that class. Do whatever it is you like to do. Do it for 30 minutes. Every day!
What do you say? Who is in?
Posted in December 2012 30 Minute Movement Challenge, Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: 30 minutes a day, Christams 2012, Dancing, December 2012, December challenge, Holidays 2012, Nia, Nia class, support team, walking, weight training | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 27, 2012
The Nia Blue Belt has 13 principles as does the Nia White Belt, Nia Brown Belt, and Nia Black Belt. The principles for the Blue Belt were created to layer onto or weave through the Nia White Belt Principles. The 13 Nia Blue Belt Principles are:
1. The Joy of Being In Relationship
2. The Power of Two
3. Awareness, Insight, Clarity
4. Developmental Anatomy
5. The Power of Three
6. Split, Ellipt, Blend
7. Nia Class Format
8. The Power of Silence & Sound
9. Form and Freedom
10. FloorPlay
11. Music, Movement, Magic
12. Observe, Listen, Guide
13. Vertical Routines
Even though I have been introduced to 13 new principles, I can still work with the 13 Nia White Belt Principles. I still have a lot I can learn through them. Nia actually made practicing them easy by creating the Blue Belt principles to weave into the White Belt Principles. The Nia White Belt Principle #1 is The Joy of Movement. 
When Nia creates the principles they create catch phrases and other things to help explain what the principle is about and help people remember the principle and what it is about. One of the things they use as a tool is a triad with words or phrases. The triad for principle #1 in the Nia White Belt is the same as the triad for principle #1 in the Nia Blue Belt. The triad is choose, sensation, and universal joy.
The Nia Blue Belt Principle #1, The Joy of Being In Relationship, the catch phrase is “with”, so you choose, sense the sensation, experience universal joy. You are in relationship with all three in addition to “the other” you are in relationship with. The “other” does not have to be a person, it can be a movement, a body part, a person, a thought, an idea . . . . anything. As an example, you can be in relationship with your hips as they move when you walk. You are not just aware of them, but you are in relationship with. There is communication going on. It is not just you moving them, you are listening, sensing, aware . . . in relationship with. They move and you receive information from them. Maybe you sense them tilting forward. Why? What is that the result of? Can you move them so they are not tilting forward? You ask. They say yes. You move in a way that adjust them. You move on. Energy and information going back and forth between you and “the other”. This is applied to dancing Nia. This is applied to teaching Nia. This is applied to everything. This is applied to life. We choose. We sense. We have the opportunity to experience Universal Joy. We have the opportunity to be in relationship with.
So this is a new idea for me. This is how I am perceiving it today. This is how I am understanding it today. I welcome others who have taken the Blue Belt Intensive to comment. I believe this principle is one of the things that takes practice. It is something that can be played with and experienced. And I actually feel as if my relationship with this principle changes. So, yeah, there will probably more on this as I explore the Joy of Being In Relationship With!
Do you somewhat understand how you can be in relationship with?
Posted in Blue Belt, Nia | Tagged: 13 principles, Awareness, Blend, Clarity, Developmental Anatomy, Ellipt, floorplay, Form and Freedom, Insight, Joy of Movement, Magic, movement, Music, Nia Black Belt, Nia Blue Belt, Nia Brown Belt, Nia class, Nia Class Format, Nia Intensive, Nia relationship, Nia training, Nia White Belt, Split, the joy of being in relationship, Vertical Routines | 7 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 24, 2012
Sometimes I don’t even have to try a recipe to be able to use a portion of it. Sometimes I do try the recipe and even though I might not use it again, I gain something from it. A tip, a tactic, a procedure, a trick, ya know . . . . something. Sometimes the process explained in the recipe makes what I am actually doing escape me. What am I talking about, right? Well, I love macaroni and cheese. I don’t eat it often because, well, it is not high on the health-o-meter. I will admit that I love the boxed stuff. I have a box in my pantry for those nights when I just don’t have time to figure out what to eat or I just can’t muster a good healthy answer to: “What am I going to cook for dinner?” Usually I restrict the making of the box of macaroni and cheese to when I have a bell pepper or some broccoli. I add a vegetable to help bring up the nutrients, which is necessary because there really isn’t anything nutritious in that box. I love Kraft’s Three Cheese and Annie’s White Cheddar. I actually can’t tell you when I last had the Kraft one. It does have a lot more chemical’s than Annie’s. Anyway, I was browsing on My Sister’s Pantry when I saw this: “Instant Mac & Cheese Without The Box” I was excited thinking I could have that same taste but without the box.
So I made it. And it doesn’t taste like the boxed kind. It really shouldn’t because it is made with better ingredients and it is fresh, but I was kinda hoping for that familiar box taste. Crazy, I know. The macaroni and cheese from the recipe was good. Both my husband and I loved it, but it is basically a mac and cheese with a roux base. Which I didn’t even THINK about until I tasted it. Yes, I did make it. Yes, I know most people would recognize it as a roux as they were making it, but I didn’t. I was thrown off by the shaking of the milk and the flour. And the shaking (mixing) that is my take away from this recipe.
Mixing the flour and milk in a container. AWESOME shake and pour. No more lumps! Ever! I mean, I can make a roux without lumps but sometimes I am in a hurry or trying to do a few other things and so my roux suffers. I am blessed with a husband who is just happy to have dinner made for him so he never complains about my lumpy white sauce (good boy!). But the flour and milk in a shakable container — brilliant.
I made soup recently in my slow cooker and the recipe was created for a much bigger crock pot. Even though I cut back on some of the ingredients, I still ended up with a way-too-full crock pot. At the last 30 minutes of cooking mark the recipe calls for two cups of milk and a half a cup of flour to be stirred into the pot. And of course, you need to stir until the lumps are gone. I could barely stir much less stir lumps out. I was so happy to have the shake-it-up trick from the mac and cheese recipe. It works so well, I am going to use it for every milk/flour recipe! So even though I probably won’t make that mac and cheese recipe again I have a new trick. Yay!
Do you have any tricks that you use all the time that you learned from a recipe?
Posted in Food | Tagged: Annie's macaroni and cheese, Annie's White Cheddar, crock pot, Instant Mac & Cheese Without The Box, Kraft's macaroni and cheese, lumpy sauce, mac n cheese, macaroni and cheese, My Sister’s Pantry, Recipe Tips, Recipe Tricks, roux, slow cooker | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 22, 2012
I have so much to be thankful for I work on giving thanks all year long. I tell the people who I am thankful for that I appreciate them. I do feel so much gratitude that I don’t feel bad taking one of my posts for sharing some things and people who I am thankful for. Why not, right? It is my blog and Thursday happens to be one of the days I post. And since Thanksgiving is set up to occur on Thursdays it just happens that I will be posting on that day.
I did have a conversation recently with my Nia students and we agreed that it would be nice if the United States celebrated Thanksgiving in October as our Canadian neighbors do. We were talking about how it would be beneficial to have the Holidays spread out a bit. Having more time in between Thanksgiving and Christmas could ease some stress. It wouldn’t be one big rush. Plus the fact that not all of the days off from work would be so close together. Sounds like a good idea.
As I type this (a bit before Thanksgiving) what is really in the front of my mind to be thankful for is my Nia Students. I am very grateful to them for holding space for me while I took the Nia Blue Belt Training, the next level of Nia. As a dance exercise teacher there is a fear that students won’t come back if a class is cancelled. It takes commitment to come to a class day after day and week after week and sometimes once that habit is broken it is easy to let it go. So knowing that my students are committed to Nia and to supporting me really helped me let go of the fact that I had to cancel my classes and it allowed me to really BE where I needed to be.
I am also very thankful for the people involved with my Nia Blue Belt. I am thankful for the organizer. She kindly kept in communication with me when I didn’t know if I should sign up for the intensive because my mom had been having health issues and at one point she was going to be scheduled for a major (MAJOR, MAJOR) surgery the very week of the intensive. She let me know that I could register as close as 30 days prior. 
I have huge gratitude towards the Nia Trainers who each have their own story, one flying from Hurricane Sandy to come teach us, and the other having had a bee sting, a car accident, and surgery. And the class, my fellow Blue Belts. Some of the trainees are actually other belts retaking the blue, but they will be fellow blues to me. I appreciate the warm and welcoming space that was created and held. There were many people going through personal situations and they were able to step into the space strong and ready to learn. They put the issues aside and focused and made it through. Thank you so much, Blues!
My husband was so great during the entire week of training. I am a firm believer that the body and brain needs nutrients throughout the day so I make sure that I make him lunch every night. He is one of those worker-people that will just power through his day not giving a thought to food. So it is really important that he have lunch right there to eat. During the intense week he made sure to make his own lunch (AND DINNER) because he knew that if he didn’t I would. He helped it feel as if I were on vacation from my home duties. This helped tremendously.
I am very thankful for my mom’s health. She has been going through some issues this past year and true to my mom she has stumped her doctors. At first they didn’t know what exactly was going on, then every time they had a treatment plan it would change because my mom does not follow text books or protocols. She had a stricture in her throat which led to the discovery of lung cancer. And over the past year has had surgery three times none of which were the one that was planned to fix her throat. That surgery was to be a major surgery. And by some miracle (the doctors are amazed) that surgery is no longer needed and her cancer was removed along with a lobe of her lung. She is almost back to normal. She just needs to work on getting used to have less lung. I am very thankful for her health. It was a very long, stressful year.
My friends are always on the top of the list of blessings I am thankful for. I am always amazed at the wonderful people who I have that love and support me. And I am eternally grateful. I am grateful for my family. I am grateful for Nia. It is an amazing practice and through it I have met even more amazing people.
I hope that those of you that celebrate Thanksgiving have a very Happy One. And I invite everyone to take a moment to think of something they are thankful for. Anything you care to share that you are thankful for?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: Blue Belt Intensive, Blue Belt Training, Canadian Thanksgiving, cancer, Christmas, dance class, dance exercise, gratitude, lung cancer, Nia, Nia Blue Belt, Nia class, Nia students, Nia trainers, Practice, Thanksgiving 2012 | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 20, 2012
Ha, ha, ha, ha. So I received another new thing in the organic produce box I have delivered, Delicata squash. It was delivered on the day before I was going to go to a week long (53 hours) training for Nia Blue Belt. The box came Friday morning and I had a lot to do so I put the veggies in the fridge. I was hoping that I would get to cooking it during the week, but I didn’t really count on it. The training was an hour away from 8:00 am to 6:00 or 7:00 pm. 
I think I had seen the squash on the list that comes with the delivery and I was thinking comparable to a zucchini. I didn’t get around to cooking with it until the week after it was delivered. It was the Sunday of the following week. Since I was thinking zucchini like consistency and cooking time, I was going to bread it and cook it in the oven. When I cut it I laughed because it was HARD. It was like a pumpkin. I didn’t know if I could roast it. I didn’t think it would cook in the time I had alloted. And even after I cut the ends off I didn’t think about it being seedy like a pumpkin. It was. So switching gears, I didn’t know what to do with it. I decided to slice it in half and roast it with olive oil and salt —- big surprise, huh? Me ROASTING a vegetable. I was going to FILL it with cheese and just bake it. Well, I cooked it a bit then decided to taste it. It was really good without the cheese. It was also sweeter than I had thought it would be so I didn’t think the cheese I was going to use was the flavor combination I was after. So I switched cheese and decided to just put a little bit of cheese on it instead of filling it. Instead of a lot of parmesan, I used a little cheddar and gouda.
I had also peeled it. I didn’t know if the outside would become edible during cooking. In my quest to cut it up I had started cutting it in slices so I had ended up with one slice with the skin/outside. I cooked it to see if the skin would be edible. It was. I was disappointed that I had peeled the rest of it.
Well, this turned out to be one of those surprise vegetables that was just delicious. As I said it was very good without the cheese. So I would definitely cook this squash up with just a salt, a little pepper, and olive oil. Adding anything to it is not necessary but could end up being great. Just like the cheese. I am glad that I tasted it before just piling on the cheese on it because it had a delicate flavor and so I used a lot less cheese and didn’t add any other seasoning.
I am not sure that I have seen these in the store or anywhere before. I probably have but didn’t know what they were so I didn’t pay attention. Now I will purposeful look for them. (I have been looking and I cannot find them.)
According to Wiki, this type of squash is a winter squash also know as the Bohemian, squash, peanut squash or the sweet potato squash. Further info states it belongs to the same species as the zucchini.
The World’s Healthy Food lumps winter squash together, their site states that it has the following percentages of the RDA of the nutrients listed:
vitamin A 214.1%
vitamin C 32.8%
fiber 22.9% (5.74 grams)
manganese 19%
vitamin B6 16.5%
potassium 14.1%
vitamin K 11.2%
folate 10.2%, in just a cup of baked squash. I think it is a great addition to a healthy diet. It is really delicious. And this is one of the reasons why I decided to get an organic produce box. I never would have thought to buy this!
Are you familiar with the Delicata Squash? How do you cook it?
Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: Blue Belt, Delicata squash, fiber, Nia Blue Belt, Nia training, olive oil, organic produce box, peanut squash, pumpkin, RDA, roasted squash, roasted veggies, training for Nia, vitamin a, vitamin B6, vitamin C, Wiki, winter squash, World's Healthy Foods | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 17, 2012
As you may have read, I recently received fennel in my organic produce box that I have delivered. I was excited because I have heard of fennel, but never cooked with it. I think I might not have even realized that I have had some before. As I am thinking about it, I bet I had it put on my plate at a restaurant and assumed it was onion and didn’t eat it. It looks like onion to me although it does not have an onion flavor at all. The information I am seeing is that it is compared to anise. Fennel is an herb that is used both as a flavor and a vegetable. The bottom portion, the bulb is eaten as a vegetable. It is related to carrots, parsley, dill, and coriander as it is a member of the family Apiaceae (formerly the Umbelliferae). Its fronds remind me of the greenery on carrots, so it doesn’t surprise me that they are related. Fennel is vegetation of which all of it can be eaten, the bulb, stalk, leaves, and seeds (I know I’ve had the seeds). According to the World’s Healthiest Foods, this plant contains a unique combination of phytonutrients.
There is one, anethole, that has shown in animal studies to help with the reduction of inflammation and help prevent cancer. Now, I have stated over and over that chronic inflammation is the body is not good. Inflammation is an immune response in the body so having the body be in battle mode all the time is not a good thing. The American lifestyle with its high stress and the average Western Diet which is full of food stuffs have been shown to CAUSE inflammation. Having herbs and vegetables that can be easily added to the diet and might help with a chronic condition sounds good to me. Anethole has also been found to have anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties according to Nutrition You Can.
Fennel also has vitamin C, potassium, and fiber. Vitamin C is the antioxidant that helps fight against free radicals, the things, that in excess, can cause damage in the body. Potassium is the electrolyte that is essential for the proper functioning of the heart, kidneys, muscles, nerves, and digestive system. And dietary fiber is necessary to help with digestion and elimination, which when both are properly working systems tend to signify health.
USDA National Nutrient database states the Nutrient value 1 cup of sliced fennel is as follows:
Energy kcal 27
Protein 1.08 g
Total lipid (fat) 0.17 g
Carbohydrate 6.35 g
Fiber, total dietary 2.7 g
Calcium, Ca mg 43 mg
Iron, Fe 0.64 mg
Magnesium 15 mg
Phosphorus, P 44 mg
Potassium, K 360 mg
Sodium, Na 45 mg
Vitamin C 10.4 mg
Vitamin A 117 AU
I am interested in foods that can help with chronic inflammation, I would like to have more of them in my diet. At the same time I am interested in reducing the foods in my diet that cause inflammation. How about you? Are you interested in foods that might help with chronic inflammation? Do you think you could add fennel to your diet?
Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: anethole, anise, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, chronic inflammation, fennel, fiber, free radicals, herb, immune response, Nutrition You Can, organic produce, phytonutrients, Potassium, reduce of inflammation, USDA National Nutrient data base, vitamin C, western diet, World's Healthiest Foods | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 15, 2012
I recently participated in the intensive that is the second level of training in the Nia practice. Nia trainings are called intensives which is a great thing because it gives you an idea of what the training will be like —– INTENSE! The second level is Blue Belt. Nia borrows from other practices and uses belts and colors to signify levels. The levels are White, Blue, Brown, and Black. There is a Green for teachers that can be taken at anytime after white. Part of the reason the trainings are intense is that they are over 50 hours of instruction. The instruction includes lectures, dancing, participatory exercises, and workout classes. Each level of the practice has its own focus, intent, and principles (except Green). The Blue Belt focus is Communication, Relationship, and Intimacy. While the concentration is on how these things relate to Nia it is probably easy to imagine how lessons involving these three things can be related to everyday life. Since the training CAN be related to life outside of teaching Nia there are many people who take the intensives with no intent of teaching. You might also be able to imagine how the focus can apply to many things in relation to Nia. One way is how a Nia teacher communicates with a class, the teacher’s relationship with the choreography, and intimacy to the music. This is just one little facet of the focus. I am sharing it to give you an idea of what the focus of “Communication, Relationship, and Intimacy” means.
The intent of the focus is to energize personal connection through self-discovery and communication by following The Body’s Way. Since Nia is a body based practice we do our learning through the body. As I mentioned in my I’m Blue, But No Tears Here post we were shown how to use the Nia 5 Stages or the Developmental Anatomy to answer questions about what stage we are in when learning something new. Very amazing. This is the part that I need to practice — really listening to my body and believing what it is telling me. The believing part will take examination time . . . I’ll have to really figure out why my body says I am in one stage where I might THINK I am in another. I might think I am in the beginning stage, embryonic, but my body might say I am in the crawling stage. For me this means I need to pay attention to the details of what I actually know and what I still need to learn. I could know 11 out of 15 things, but since the 15th thing seems to be so big to me, I might think I am just beginning whereas it turns out I know over 73%. All part of the communication, relationship, and intimacy!
Also this training has familiar things you might have heard of in other trainings, for instance: pay attention to what you sense, feel, think, and have within you then communicate accordingly. I know that this type of idea has been taught in corporate trainings as an effective way to communicate. A Nia related example would be: Knowing the choreography and really know how to do the 52 moves, then having an intimate relationship with the music which will allow you to clearly communicate to the Nia participants.
I can almost talk myself into circles because it is all relates so well and ties in together and just connects. The more I type the more things I think of so I really have to concentrate on just a tiny portion so my sharing does not get so confusing. I am trying to share to clarify. I want you to want more. I want to understand that in addition to a great workout, Nia has stellar training and continued education.
Can you see how Communication, Relationship, and Intimacy is important for a teacher?
Posted in Blue Belt, Nia | Tagged: Blue Belt Focus, communication, Developmental Anatomy, Green Belt, Intimacy, Nia 5 Stages, Nia choreography, Nia class, Nia Intensive, Nia Music, Nia Practice, Nia Teacher, Nia trainings, Nia workout, Relationship, the body's way | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 13, 2012
Last week I cancelled my Monday and Wednesday Nia class and got a substitute for my Tuesday Nia class with the City of San Jose. I decided to take the next level of Nia training. I was a White Belt, now I am a Blue Belt. Nia calls their trainings intensive. I cannot assume to know why, but I am glad they do. They are very intense. The training is part lecture and part moving. The moving can be dancing or types of exercises to further the learning process. People tend to learn better when they are doing, so there is a lot of doing. In my rough calculations it was about 53 hours of instruction, including the Master Classes. It was Saturday through Friday. It was exhausting. It was energizing. It was incredible. As I have mentioned before and I will continue to mention Nia is a cardio dance exercise. Come to a class. Move. Have fun. Sweat. Get your workout in. But Nia is also a practice. I compare it to yoga in that a person can go into a yoga class and work out and do the exercise and then leave and not give it a second though. Or they could give it a second thought. They could take on some of the aspects of yoga, they could practice breathing and/or meditating or anything else that might be attached to their yoga class on a deeper level. That is what a person can do with Nia too. So some people take the intensives for self-growth with no intention of teaching at all. Even if they are not planning on teaching or are not currently doing so, the training is just as intense.
Each belt level has its own focus and intent. Blue Belt focus is Communication, Relationship and Intimacy with the intent to energize personal connection through self-discovery and communication by following The Body’s Way. Sounds like a lot. Ok, it IS a lot. LOL!
In addition to a focus and intent, each belt level (aside from Green) has its own set of principles. With the Blue Belt, the principles were made to layer onto or over the White Belt Principles. Some of the information is very close to being the same, but with a little more added to it. It is very interesting the way Nia does things. It is very amazing the training they come up with and the delivery of it.
In this training we were shown many things, one was an enlightened way to use the Nia 5 Stages or the Developmental Anatomy to measure all types of things and where we might be in a process. It is a pretty cool tool. It is part of the Body’s Way.
I am 100% positive I will have more posts regarding the Blue Belt Intensive, the Blue Belt Principles, and my thoughts on it all. I am still processing it right now. My mind is racing with thoughts, ideas, things I learned, things I didn’t learn, just a lot of things. There is so much that I want to share. There is also a lot I don’t want to share. Nia is not a secret society by any means. There are no secrets to the intensives, in fact most of the information is things that have been around for as long as I can remember. The information is stuff you have probably heard before. It is just the WAY they deliver it. And the way it is connected to the body that is somewhat unique. If I decide not to share something or talk vaguely about some things it is because I don’t want to ruin the surprise of some things for those of you that will be taking the Blue Belt. Since the Blue Belt Principles are layered onto the White Belt Principles I will probably write more post about them too. And we will see what comes up. I have chosen to participate in Nia as a practice. For now, I will revel in Blue!
Is there something that you have in your life you consider a practice?
Posted in Blue Belt, Nia | Tagged: 13 principles, Blue Belt Principles, cardio dance, cardio dance exercise, cardio dance exercise classes, City of San Jose Nia Classes, dance exercise, Developmental Anatomy, focus and intent, Master classes, Nia 5 Stages, Nia Blue Belt, Nia dancing, Nia exercise, Nia Intensives, Nia Practice, Nia training, Nia White Belt, TBW, White Belt Principles, Yoga, Yoga Practice | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 10, 2012
Ok, so just like the Green Smoothie kick I am a little behind on the olive oil sprayers. I have seen them for a long time, but I thought they were just regular pump sprayers, which is fine, I could do that, but I have a little bottle that does a great job for me. It “pours” a drop at a time. But being in that HUGE warehouse store recently I decided to grab a package of the Misto sprayers. They came in a two pack. So as I often am late to the party, I JUST got them. These things are cool. Although they might be a little leaky, it is still cool to get the misty spray of an aerosol without the added chemicals that they put in the aerosol cans. I am not sure what it is — probably the additional chemicals they put in the cans — but when I used one of those “cooking sprays” like Pam the pan gets this weird coating on it that won’t come off. My first thought is, “Dang I don’t want that weird coating on my dishes.” But then I get that “D’oh!” moment and realize I don’t want that weird coating in my body. I don’t even know what it is, but it DOES NOT COME OFF. So now with the sprayer I am getting a nice mist and no weird coating I have to try to wrestling off of the pan.
When I was excitedly sharing information of this new-to-me spray bottle with my friend, she laughed at me and said they had been around for a long time, but I did start my story with that same statement. I had explained that I had seen them for a long time, but never bothered. The path of our conversation lead to the stuff that coats the dishes when other cooking spray is used. So I was happy to know it was not just my imagination or my sub par dishwashing skills. After having noticed that weird coating, I was buying Trader Joe’s Olive Oil spray which does not leave a weird coating on things, but still has additional chemicals in it.
This pump and spray Misto is cool. I like it. I prefer a sprayer because not only do I use it to “oil” my pans, but I use it to dress my salad. I just use olive oil and vinegar on my salad so it is so nice to not have to pour. My little bottle works good, but so does the sprayer! Then, of course, I also use it to spritz the veggies as I am cooking them. I feel I use a lot less oil with the sprayer!
Since the package came with two I will probably use the other one for vinegar that way I can just completely spritz my salad.
So I know I am late on actually using one of these, do any of you have an oil sprayer? Do you have a sprayer that you use for something other than oil or vinegar? What do you use it for?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: aerosol cans, green smoothie, Misto, Oil wrestling, olive oil sprayers, Pam Cooking Spray, spritz the veggies, Trader Joe's, warehouse store, Wrestling With The Oil | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 8, 2012
This week I have been in training all week. Nia calls its trainings “intensives”. I have been in one all week for Blue Belt. It is about 40 hours of a lot of information. So I am sharing something about a recipe I have made and love. As you may know, I only like to eat meat that has been marinated. I figured out that I don’t really like the taste of meat. So I like it to have soaked in something a long time to give it a different flavor. I’ve shared with you the fact that we now freeze our meat in the marinade. A couple of weeks back we took a weekend trip to Costco, so we spent a couple of hours after our shopping trip making marinade bags and trimming the meat and putting it in its separate bags. Originally we had a problem with the marinated meat in a bag because we could not tell if it is whole steaks or cut up steak. We have taken meat out expecting one thing only to get the other, so I finally learned to label the bags. I can tell the beef from the pork from the chicken at least. The reason I am explaining about marinating meat is because I found one recipe which I didn’t marinate the meat and I loved it.
The recipe is from Po’ Boy Livin’ Rich, he calls it Rainbow Stuffed Chicken. It is boneless chicken breasts stuffed with bell peppers. You use red bell pepper, green bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, and orange bell pepper. Red onion helps add to the rainbow. I love bell peppers as you know if you have read some of my posts. Also, if you have read any of my posts you know I love cheese and mushrooms and this recipe has that too! Yum. This recipe really hits on all of my favorites.
Some people do not like sweet peppers because of their strong flavors and I bet it is because of their strong flavors that I can eat this meat without it having been marinated. The peppers provide enough flavor. And, of course, there is salt and pepper, but again, if you’ve read my blog for a bit you know I don’t like pepper!
Another thing I really like about the recipe is that you don’t cook the vegetables beforehand so the peppers don’t get too cooked. I LOVE raw bell peppers, but I am not a big fan of the cooked variety. So not cooking them before stuffing them into the chicken allows them to remain crunchy and not get too cooked.
I actually think I left out the mushrooms. I just used the peppers. That was an accident as I love mushrooms. I think I might cook the mushrooms up a bit, because while I love my bell peppers raw, I like my mushrooms cooked. I like this dish very much. I actually have not made it recently and looking at the pictures makes me want to go make it for dinner now. I don’t have all the colors of bell peppers, so I will wait until I do. I encourage you, if you like chicken and bell peppers, to try this recipe. You will not be sorry. It is easy, but it takes like it is a difficult thing to make. Ya know, one of those recipes!
You can find this tasty recipe at: Po’ Boy Livin’ Rich Recipe: Rainbow-Stuffed Chicken
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: beef, chicken, easy dinner, marinated meat, Po' Boy Livin' Rich, pork, quick dish, rainbow stuffed chicken, tasty dinner | 4 Comments »
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