Posted by terrepruitt on March 6, 2013
Six days of planking . . . . . yay! It really isn’t that easy doing something every day is it? But wait, I brush my teeth every day . . . so why is it that setting aside even just 35 seconds is not that easy?
Let’s continue with our month of planking every day! Here’s the starting post: A Few Seconds CAN Make A Difference .
Are you still with us?
Posted in Planking | Tagged: A Few Seconds CAN Make A Difference, plank, planking, six days of planking | 1 Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 5, 2013
I had received fennel before in my organic produce box. I didn’t know what to do with it. So I did what I always do with vegetables. I roasted it. It was really good. I was surprised. I might have received it another time after the first, but I am not sure. In my last produce box I received another fennel bulb. I was going to roast it to go with dinner. I had taken some ground turkey out of the freezer to defrost. When I went to cook the fennel I realized I didn’t have anything to cook with the turkey. If I am cooking ground turkey to put in something, like a tortilla, I don’t mind it being just cooked meat. If I don’t have something like that to put it on or in, I liked to add something to it. So I decided to cook the fennel in a pan, then add the turkey to it.
I didn’t have any onions so I used those dehydrated kind. Normally my flavor is onion, as in I use the onion to flavor the dish, but this time I wanted the fennel to do it so I didn’t use a lot of the onion. Had I had a fresh onion I would have used about 1/4 in order to allow the fennel to be the main flavor.
You know I love to cook veggies and ground turkey. It is one of my “staple” menu items. This combination turned out really well.
I didn’t measure as I cooked so I am guesstimating as I type:
Fennel Turkey
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 bulb fennel, chopped
1/4 onion, chopped
package of ground turkey
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp season salt
1/2 tsp thyme
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 bunch kale chopped
2 turns of pepper grinder
Pour olive oil in pan along with the chopped fennel and onion. Cook until tender. Add the ground turkey, the garlic salt, the season salt, and the thyme. Stir the fennel and meat while cooking. Add some salt (not all of it). Cook until the turkey is almost done. The idea is to just wilt the kale so make sure the turkey is done enough. Then put the kale in the pan and add the rest of the salt. Cook only until the kale is wilted. Then add the pepper.
We had this for dinner this week. We ate it will pasta. I like linguine. I put my fennel turkey on the side, whereas my husband piled his on top of his pasta.
I really enjoyed the flavor of the fennel. So much so that when I was in the grocery store the next day I almost bought some more. Then I remembered I am going to get more in my produce box this week. Yay! I am happy that I have received a few things I would not have just gone out and purchased. And I am happy that I have learned I do like these things enough to now go out and buy them. Fennel is really good!
Tonight we had the leftovers in a tortilla with cheese. You know me and leftovers! Awesome. Leftovers really help when I have a late Nia class. Currently my evening Nia classes are late, so being able to have dinner on the table within 15 minutes of getting home is necessary. I grilled my tortilla. It was really good. Fennel has a nice flavor.
Have you tried fennel, the vegetable? If you cook it, how do you cook it?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: evening Nia classes, fennel bulb, Fennel Turkey, ground turkey, leftovers, Nia, Nia class, organic produce, quick dinner recipe, roasted vegetables, tortillas | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 5, 2013
Fifth Day Of Our Month Of Planking. Well, what is your report? If you are just learning the plank it is ok to do it for really short periods. Then as you get stronger, build up your muscle endurance you can do it for longer.
Remember to keep your spine straight and everything; head, belly, hips, knees all in alignment. Also remember to breathe. The habit is to hold one’s breath, but muscles and your brain need oxygen, so breathe!
Still with us?
Posted in Planking | Tagged: body in alignment, month of planking, muscle endurance, plank, stronger muscles | 5 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 4, 2013
Monday, Monday, Monday, Monday. I have a Nia class to teach in the morning. I might even add this in! Ooohh! That would be good. No, that would be great, huh? I could get my plank in during my Nia class. Ha, ha, ha. I might just do that. I might also forget because I am doing a new routine and so adding something in might slip my mind! I will be back to let you know.
In the meantime, how about you? Planked today?
Posted in Planking | Tagged: Monday Nia class, Monday plank, Nia, Nia class, Nia on Monday, planking in Nia | 5 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 3, 2013
Day three of planking. How’s it going for you today? Today is Sunday so technically it is a new week. Did you decide to stay at the duration you started or count today as a new week and add on some time? Whatever you decide is perfect. You are doing this for you and no one else so DO WHAT IS RIGHT FOR YOU!
I’m thinking of adding on. I’ll let you know.
Did you decide to stay at the duration you started or count today as a new week and add on some time?
Posted in Planking | Tagged: Day three of planking, plank. new week | 3 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 2, 2013
For those of you that cook dinner every night you might understand what I am about to say, “Cooking dinner is difficult.” Ok, more accurately coming up with ideas of what to cook for dinner is difficult. I actually have it very easy because my husband would be fine eating the same thing all week then switching to something else the next week. As long as it was not a vegetarian dish three days in a row. But I am not happy with that. As you know if you have read any of my posts about food, I love left overs because they keep me from having to cook or at least keep me from having to start from scratch. The other night I was really at a loss as to what to prepare for dinner. It was a Wednesday so I really should have been thinking in terms of cooking for Wednesday so that I could have enough left over for Thursday when I have a late Nia class. But I couldn’t think “two nights” I just wanted to get through the one night and use the portion of a piece of chicken I had from the night before. I came up with something that I didn’t even think about being enough for leftovers but it was. It carried us through two nights. Asparagus, beans, rice, and chicken.
Another thing you might know about me if you have a read a few of my posts, I LOVE asparagus. I mean, love, love, love, love. Once I was asked what food I would want to have given to me free every day and I said asparagus. But even though I love it, I won’t buy it when it is $8.99 a pound. I don’t even like to buy it when it is $4.99 a pound. I might buy it when it is $2.99 a pound, but I like the $1.99 range. But knowing how much I love it my hubby bought me some recently. I didn’t ask how much it was. I just had five pounds of asparagus to eat. 🙂
I often use three servings of meat to make four servings of dinner. Usually my husband has a serving and I have a good portion of one. The next night I will use the third serving along with my smaller portion to make another meal. Well on this night I was using just my left over portion because we had only cooked two servings the night before. So to me it would be a vegetarian-ish dish. As it would have way more veggies than meat.
So here is my “recipe”
Asparagus, beans, rice, and chicken
—1 tablespoon olive oil
—1/2 of an onion, chopped
—asparagus (2.25 pounds) chopped
—2 teaspoons minced garlic
—1 3/4 cup cooked rice
—2 tablespoons of butter
—3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
—1 15 1/2-ounce can garbanzo beans/chickpeas, drained and rinsed
—3/4th of a LARGE chicken breast, cooked and chopped
—Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
—Garlic Salt, to taste
Heat the olive oil and the chopped onion. Add the asparagus. Cook only slightly (because the rice takes a while to heat up). Sprinkle garlic over asparagus. Stirring it and allowing it to cook. Add the rice breaking it up and letting it get soft. Use the butter to help the rice get moist (might need to use a bit of liquid too). And the cumin. When the rice is soft, add the can of garbanzo beans. Then add the chopped up chicken. Add pepper and garlic salt to taste.
Since asparagus doesn’t take that long to cook and everything else is ok to eat as is, it is really the rice that needs the most amount of time. If you are using freshly cooked rice then this would take minutes. As a note the chicken I used had been seasoned when cooked the night before so that is something to keep in mind when flavoring your dish.
For me it is the beans and the cumin that is “new”. I have done dishes like this before using other meat. I think this would also be good with left over pork.
I was thinking of the Red Beans and Rice recipe when I did this, using the beans and the cumin.
We liked it. What do you think? Sound easy? Sound like something you would like?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: Asparagus, chicken, chickpeas, cooking dinner, cumin, Garbanzo beans, Nia class, olive oil. left overs, Red Beans and Rice, Thursday night Nia class, vegetarian dish | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 2, 2013
So here is the check in post that you get to use. I post this right after midnight (PST) so that early birds can post their comment that they did their plank. I might not get around to it until a lot later in the day and I want you to be able to post your “I did it!” as soon as you do it!
In my original post I had mentioned putting your palms on the floor. Well, if this causes stress/pain in the wrist I would recommend making a fist and having the side of your hands on the ground. Remember pain is not the goal. Discomfort . . . something that our bodies use to tell us it is being challenged and learning something new is one thing. Pain is another.
How are you doing? Are you going to add to your time tomorrow? Are you going to keep your duration during this coming week?
Posted in Planking | Tagged: plank daily challenge, planking, second day | 3 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 1, 2013
I wanted to share one of the good things I put in my jar. It actually happened last week so I could have included it in my Goodie Jar – Check In #4, but I was so excited about the wrapping paper idea I got carried away with that. Anyway, last Thursday was Valentine’s Day and it was my second Nia class at the new time at one of the places I teach for the city of San Jose. I did not have one person in my class. Even though I don’t take it personally I still am usually a little sad when that happens, but this was a cause for a note in my goodie pitcher.
You might be wondering why I would think no one showing up for my class is a good thing, well, as I said it was Valentine’s Day and I was happy because no one being with ME meant that they ALL have SOMEONE to be with! Whenever I think of that I cannot wipe the smile off my face! HOW GREAT IS IT THAT ALL OF THEM HAVE SOMEONE TO LOVE?????? I am not even talking about romantic love. I know some people like to be with their friends, their kids, their parents . . . . WHO is not the issue . . . . LOVE is the thing! They were all too busy with a loved one to be with me. I’m good with that. I am better than good with that. I LOVE that.
So that is one of the things in my goodie jar! It is a GREAT thing that my students have someone to love!
Oh! That is another good thing for MY jar . . . . I have someone to love . . . . how about you? Are you adding things to your good things jar?
Posted in Good Things in the Goodie Jar | Tagged: check in #4, check in #5, City of San Jose, good things jar, Goodie Jar, love is great, loved one, Nia, Nia class, Nia San Jose, romantic love, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia class, Valentine's Day | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 1, 2013
So, today is our first day of our month of planking. Did you do it? Even though it will only take a few seconds I have not yet done my daily plank. I am posting close to midnight so that you early birds can do you comments as soon as you are done. Me, I’ll be back.
Thank you for being here. Let’s do this!!!!!
Posted in Planking | Tagged: daily plank, month long challenge, planking | 1 Comment »
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