Terre Pruitt's Blog

In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.

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Archive for August, 2014

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Homemade Soapy Goodness

Posted by terrepruitt on August 7, 2014

One time I had my husband buy me some of those yummy soaps from an art and wine festival.  They were really nice.  I think they were glycerine soap or something.  I really liked them.  The had nice names that led you to believe they had ingredients that might be beneficial — as in STRESS LESS, MUSCLE RELAXER, MOISTURE MAGIC.  But, according to the creator, they didn’t actually contain any essential oils or ingredients that would actually do those things.  So that had me thinking I wanted to find some soap that did have some essential oils in them.  Some soap that might actually BE able to reduce stress or relax muscles or moisturize.  So I looked online, of course.  I found an Etsy store for Bubbly Seahorse Soap Company.  Always a bit of a risk buying something you have never tried before, but I took it and I am glad I did.  I love it.  I actually ask for this soap as a gift.  My husband thinks it’s an odd gift to be giving, but he is a guy and doesn’t understand that good quality soap is a great gift!  I like it and it is what I want.  I am not saying it actually has properties that can reduce YOUR stress or relax your muscles or magically moisturize you, but it makes ME happy.  I love it.

The Etsy site says her soaps are made of:  saponified oils, coconut oil, olive oil, palm oil, essential oils, herbs, exfoliates, vitamin e oil, grapefruit seed extract, shea butter, jojoba oil, distilled water, goats milk

My first order consisted of:

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes1 – Vanilla Latte
1 – Love Spell
1 – White Honeysuckle and Patchouli
1 – Buttercream
1 – Birthday cake
1 – Cucumber Melon

 

Then in my second order, I had:

—LOVE SPELL (now the Bath and Body Works version! – When I bought it was was the Victoria Secrets version) – top notes of cherry blossom, grapefruit, clementines and strawberries. Middle notes are Georgia peach, black currant, and rose petals.And sweet, white musky base note.
—HONEYDEW MELON –  . . . . refreshing and invigorating fragrance and blend of floral notes.  (I don’t see this on the site currently)
—FLORAL BOUQUET – mixture with highlights of freesia, lilac, and lillies, with low notes of vanilla and berries.
—HONEY ALMOND – Blend of fresh honey and crushed almonds.

I chose these scents to be a part of a small little package of four.  Sadly, the last time I ordered I did not see the variety pack as an option.  I am not certain if she actually offers it any longer.  I really liked it because it was a variety and I learned I didn’t care for Love Spell and the Floral Bouquet.  But I really LOVED the Honey Almond and Honey Melon.  I THINK.  I was hoping she would have pictures of each scent so I could view it online and tell her which colors I liked and then she could confirm what I was thinking.  But she didn’t.  So this very last order I just ordered ones I know I like.

Funny because as I looked at my very first order so that I can tell you what I liked and didn’t like and I had already ordered the Love Spell in my very first order.  I forgot about it with my second order and order it again.  Or I might have thought I would give it to my niece, who I think likes that scent.  Hmmm . . .

Also in my second order (and third order):

—BUTTERCREAM – So rich you’ll want to eat it (but please, don’t), . . .  with heavy whipping cream, peaks of sugar, and enough butter to completely and irreversibly clog every artery you own. . . . . plus a hint of vanilla.
—CUCUMBER MELON – Watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, and fresh green cucumbers combined . . .

As you can see, I’ve ordered these two twice, well, three times if you count the order I just put in.  I love these two.  I don’t actually feel I want to eat the buttercream, but it does smell yummy and it FEELS rich.  Also in this very last order I just put in I ordered the Birthday cake.  It smells really sweet and edible.  It has little beads in it that go away rather quickly.

That is what I found I didn’t like in some of her other scents, like Honeysuckle and White Patchouli and I THINK the Vanilla Latte, the things IN the soap were to rough for me.  They are on one side so I tried to remember to use that side to scrub my feet, but they still escape and I didn’t care for the scratchiness on my skin.  So I am sticking with the soaps that don’t have rough stuff in them.

But other than that the ones I have gotten were all nice, I just like some more than others.

I like to share things I like in case other people might be interested.  I know a lot of people who are interested in soaps with these types of ingredients instead of chemicals.  Also, as I stated good quality soap makes for a great gift.  In fact, I was thinking of giving some of these this year as gifts.

Do you like hand-made soaps?  What scents grab your interest?  

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Bruschetta Pasta

Posted by terrepruitt on August 5, 2014

You may have read my post regarding how much I loved Dinner of Herbs eggplant bruschetta recipe. I said I could put the eggplant mixture on anything. Well, I actually bought the ingredients to make the bruschetta, I even remembered the bread! But when I arrived at home I looked in my refrigerator and realized I had some zucchini I needed to use. Plus I had some mushrooms I needed to use. So I decided this would be a great time to put the eggplant and tomato mixture with a little extra over pasta. So I am just adding zucchini and mushrooms to the way I made the bruschetta.  Here is what I made:

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Five-Vegetable PastaDance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes

Ingredients:

–1 medium or large eggplant, cubed (very small)
–4 medium sized tomatoes, cubed
–1 lb of mushrooms, sliced or coarsely chopped
–2 zucchinis, grated
–3/4 of a large onion, chopped (tiny)
—olive oil
—two tablespoons of butter
—garlic powder
—onion powder
—salt
—pepper
—sweet basil
—balsamic vinegar
—Parmesan cheese, as desired
—1 package/box/container of pasta (I prefer linguine)

Heat the oven to 450°F.

Put the eggplant on a baking sheet. (I used parchment paper on the baking sheet.) Drizzle with olive oil. Mix it up, then spread the eggplant evenly, in one layer (the eggplant I used was too large to be one layer), over the baking sheet. After baking for about 10 minutes, move the eggplant around on the pan.  After another 10 minutes, gently stir/toss the eggplant and sprinkle with garlic salt. Bake for about an additional 25 minutes. Stirring or tossing if necessary to ensure even roasting. In between roasting the eggplant, spread 3/4 of the tomato out over a baking sheet. (I used parchment paper on the baking sheet.) Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder and onion powder. (Tomatoes are too delicate to be mixed as done with the eggplant.) Bake until the edge pieces are browning.  Stirring gently, if you want.  I ended up cooking the tomatoes for about 30 minutes.

Somewhere in between cooking the mushrooms and zucchini as instructed below, you might want to cook your pasta. I prefer my pasta hot. You can plan and cook accordingly.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classesWhile the other vegetables are baking, heat some olive oil and 1/2 the chopped onion in a pan. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper as desired (I use garlic salt) and cook to your liking (I like them a little caramelized). Remove from pan and set the mushrooms aside. Add two tablespoons of butter to the pan. Once the butter is melted add the grated zucchini. Cook the zucchini about 10 minutes on medium heat.

Once all the veggies are cooked to your satisfaction put half of the cooked and drained pasta in a large bowl, then add half of all of the cooked vegetables.  Add the basil, vinegar, any additional salt and/or pepper you desire.  Then add the rest of the pasta and cooked vegetables along with half of the raw tomato and onion.  Toss it all.  Taste it to see if you want more basil, vinegar, salt and/or pepper.  Put the rest of the raw tomato and onion on top. Serve the pasta sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.

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This is the first recipe I wrote FIRST, then followed.  I made a few adjustments to the recipe as I was cooking, and noted them before posting.  I think layering the pasta, then veggies makes for easier mixing.  Of course, you can mix it anyway you’d like.  I loved this.  I loved the flavor as I did when I made the eggplant bruschetta.  What I would do next time is use 3 tomatoes instead of four.  The flavor of the tomatoes overpowered everything.  I am looking forward to having the leftovers, as I believe left over pasta is often better than the freshly made dish.  The flavors have time to meld.

This is an easy dish, there is nothing complicated about any part of the process, but with all of the chopping it is a bit labor intensive.  The separate roasting of the eggplant and tomatoes makes it a long process.  I didn’t want to roast them at the same time.  But if you chop while things are cooking . . . . .

I will probably make it again.

What about you?  Does it sound good?  Which of the vegetables is your favorite? 

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Common Saying Known Not Followed

Posted by terrepruitt on August 2, 2014

When I go to the grocery store I employ the “lift with your legs” practice.  Do you know that one?  The one where you lift heavy objects by using your biggest and more than likely strongest muscles of the body–the legs.  So instead of bending over from the waist or even hips you lower your body down by bending your knees bringing your hips low, then you grab the object and push up with your legs.  This allows you to lift the object by using the power of your legs and not your back and/or your arms.  Many woman, do not have the upper body strength of men.  That is a simple fact, it is not meant as a gender-derogative comment, it is just that by nature most women are weaker in the upper body than most men.  But even the men should use their legs when lifting heavy objects.  And while the things I am putting in my cart might not appear heavy, especially for a man with more upper body strength, lifting with the back is not the best way to be lifting things.  I really think grocery stores should employ Occupational Therapists to teach their baggers how to best utilize their bodies and save their backs.  Also it could encourage other people.  I know that baggers get trained how to bag . . . at the store I frequent it is obvious some are better than others, but I am sure they get some training on the basics of how to put groceries in a bag.  But when it comes to putting heavy objects on the cart they put the heavy objects IN the cart.  This means that I am supposed to reach in, bending over the cart and object and lift it out with my arms and back.  However, when it is in the BOTTOM of the cart, I can use my legs to lift.  So I was thinking that if stores were to employ Occupational Therapists they could teach the baggers the proper way to lift.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classesI think that helping employees move their bodies would help them be better employees.  Also, it would help allow them to be employees longer and not injure themselves on the job or off.  I believe that it is not always ONE thing a person does to injure their back but the constant misuse and abuse of the back that results in injury.  Often back injuries mean time off of work and time that one has to take out of their lives to heal.

I was kind of excited not too long ago when I went to the grocery store and I noticed they had a herd of new carts.  “Oooooo!  Pretty.”  I thought.  Until I went to use the bottom.  The new cart even promotes more inefficient use of the body.  The back portion where I used to be able to put a case of water (via the back) now has a BAR across it.  So I can’t put something on that side via the back.  I have to put it in the front then SLIDE it all the way to the back so I have room for the other heavy item I am going to purchase.  Or basically, now I have to plan my shopping trips so that I am only buying ONE heavy item at a time.  So . . . there went my enthusiasm for the new carts.  They are pretty . . . pretty useless.

I often find myself wondering what people are thinking.  Perhaps they are in league with Doctors or drug manufactures.  That conspiracy theory would be something like:  Hey if we make carts that don’t allow people to put heavy stuff in the bottom they will have to put it IN the cart and cause injury.  They will end up at the doctor’s office, the doctor will write up a prescription — and voila.  Yeah, I can see doctors and drug manufactures investing in shopping cart companies.  Because if a personal trainer, a chiropractor, or an Occupational Therapist were to design shopping carts, the bottom rack would be easily accessible to that people could use it for heavy items.  Additionally, the baggers would be training on how to load heavy items on a cart.

Do you practice lifting with your legs and not your back?  Do you think about your back?  Do you use the bottom rack of the grocery cart? 

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