Terre Pruitt's Blog

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

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Stability Ball Stretch

Posted by terrepruitt on August 26, 2014

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 classesYou are probably familiar with the stability ball.  If you have ever gone to a gym or a place like it you have probably seen them.  They are a great tool to use.  They have even found their way into offices.  Some people use them to sit on instead of office chairs.  A small group of women I worked with when I was still in the corporate world tried using them as chairs.  They work fine to sit on.  They can give you an extra reminder to engage your core and not slouch, but they were very inconvenient when it came to moving and rolling.  I mean there is a reason office chairs have wheels.  I never even realized how often I rolled around at my desk until I had the ball.  It was most inconvenient and took up extra time.  They have bases that the ball can set into.  I do not know if they have wheels.  I am also not clear on that whole concept.  I thought the idea of sitting on the ball was to balance yourself on the ball, therefore using a lot of extra muscles.  So with the ball in a base that holds it balanced, it is not clear to me what the benefit is.  Well, that is where we can turn it around and I can show you a nice benefit to the stability ball.  A nice open-the-front-of-the-body stretch.

I have already showed you the Stability Ball Pass (click here for that) and the Hamstring Curls (click here for that) in two separate posts.  Those are two great exercises you can do with the stability ball.  This post is about a stretch.  Easy, plain, simple.  It is like the stretch on the roller but much bigger, more intense.

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 classesYou start by sitting on the ball, then walk your feet out away from the ball.  Allow yourself to roll on the ball from tailbone to full spine.  Stop at the point where your back is fully supported by the ball.  Your neck is about at the start of the curve where the crown of your head is hanging over the “edge” of the ball.  You can start small with your arms by keeping your elbows bent.  (As shown in the first picture.)  Your hands near your face.  If this is a big stretch for you, just let your arms hang in the bent elbow position.

If you are looking for a much bigger stretch allow your hands to go over your head and let your arms hang.  You can adjust and experiment with your arms more “directly” over your head or with your arms wide and your hands over your head, but out to the side.  Both positions a great stretch for the upper arm muscles, but the target muscles are slightly different.  You will be able to sense it and decide which is best for you at the moment.

This is good for opening up and stretching the front of your body, your chest and abs.  Your back gets a little stretch in the form of a small back bend, but it is the front upper half of the body that you can really sense it.  I love this stretch!

How about you?  Are you familiar with this one?  Do you love it?

Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Special Favors For Special Occasions

Posted by terrepruitt on August 23, 2014

If I got paid on all the products I talk about I would be in a better position.  But I don’t, but I still talk about them because if I like it I like to share it.  When my husband turned 40 I thought it was a big deal and I was working then so I wanted him to have a nice party.  It wasn’t really a big party, but I wanted to have a lot of stuff to commemorate the event.  I think birthdays should be celebrated big.  He did not want a party, but I insisted.  I ordered a few favors for the party.  When we were planning my mom’s “Celebration of Life” I also thought it was a big deal and so mentioned to my dad that we could order favors for her party.  What I did for my husband we did for my mom.  We ordered personalized fortune cookies.  They are a great way to personalize your favors.

Personalized fortune cookies are very affordable, I think.  I didn’t remember the name of the company that did the cookies for my husband’s birthday.  I remembered the website but when I looked it up it was no longer cookies.  So I searched on the internet and found another place.  They allowed FIFTEEEN different fortunes in the cost of the cookies.  I thought that was a great deal.

For my husband’s birthday, I don’t remember what I put on the fortunes.  For my mom, at first I had no idea.  Then one day I sat down to send my dad an e-mail and 15 ideas came into my head.  I thought it would be nice to share facts about her.  Somethings people would be hearing for the first time.  I thought the suggestions would be talked about and changed, but my dad just went with it.

The company allows you to change font as part of the cost of the cookies.  Colored printing costs extra.  They will put the fortune in the cookies facing in or out — according to your instructions.  I don’t know if having the print facing out costs more because I didn’t even bother to look.  You can also decided the kind of package you want each cookie to be wrapped in. Plain or the companies label . . . and other choices I don’t remember.  I think the whole thing is very cool.

The cookies are very tasty too.  Most people love fortune cookies.  These ones have a slightly lemony flavor.

As I mentioned before you can have fifteen fortunes.  I also mentioned the font.  Each fortune can have a different font.  I mixed it up just a little with my mom’s fortunes.  I wanted them to be clear enough to actually read.  Here is what we put in the cookies:

1—Diane’s favorite color was purple.

2—Diane loved flowers even though she was allergic to them.

3—Diane loved to bowl.
Diane was a good bowler.

4—Diane had a generous heart.

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 classes5—Diane was a good listener.

6—Diane loved her “Reno get-a-ways”.

7—Diane loved Lake of the Pines.

8—Diane was a wonderful person.

9—Diane used to drag race.

10—Diane lived in Santa Clara
for 23 years.

11—Diane had a strong faith in God.

12—Diane loved Mexican and Chinese food.

13—Diane and Steve were together over
50 years and married for 49 years.

14—Diane loved traveling with Steve
in their motorhome.

15—Diane was a GREAT wife, mom,
sister, grandma, and friend.

I am trying to collect all fifteen.  So far I only have twelve.  I have a few more cookies left.  I am hoping that they will have the remaining five fortunes.  I think my dad is saving them all so perhaps he will let me have the one I don’t get from his duplicates.  Silly, I know, but I would like to have them.

So what do you think about personalized fortune cookies?  Do you like that idea?  What could you use them for?  What would you say in your cookies?

 

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments »

Ooooo! Popped Corn!

Posted by terrepruitt on August 21, 2014

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 classesIn 2009 I posted a blog post about cooking popcorn in a pot.  I was pretty smug because I could do it.  And it came out really good.  I could use a tiny pot, the smallest one we have, and end up with at least two good sized bowls of popcorn.  I think I jinxed myself!  I have had an almost impossible time popping popcorn in a pot.  Hmmmmm . . . . it just occurred to me that maybe my popcorn is old.  Does that make a difference?  Actually, I should say, my popcorn IS old, does that make a difference? I am not a fan of all the “stuff” they put in microwave popcorn.  Also, I actually not to use my microwave that much.  I use it, it is convenient, but if I can I would rather use another appliance.  But apparently I can’t any longer.  Sigh.  I don’t know what it is.  Probably old popcorn.  Now that I think of that I will have to buy new popcorn.  I have been wanting popcorn though, but not wanting to try to cook it because of my awful results I have had.  Today, I found some microwave  popcorn I thought I would try.

Have you ever gone into a grocery store and thought about buying something, then changed your mind and not bought it.  But then on the way home you are thinking about having it when you get home.  You are looking forward to making it and eating it or opening the package and eating it or whatever . . . just having it.  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 classesThen you get home and you realize you didn’t get it?  That is sort of what happened to me.  I was looking at the already popped bagged popcorn . . . ya know like Smartfood or something.  But I didn’t want to buy that because I try to avoid Canola oil.  I saw one that used Olive Oil and I was going to try that, but it said it had pepper in it . . . .and you know (perhaps) that I don’t like pepper.  I knew that it would be too hot.   So then I started looking at the popcorn to see if there was some organic kind.  And I saw the organic popcorn that you microwave.  Really?  Just a few ingredients so I thought I would try it.

It was late, I went out for coffee after my morning Nia class, and I was hungry.  As I was putting my bags in the trunk I looked at one bag that had a few items in it.  Then I looked at my other bag and I thought, “What?  Where is my popcorn?  Did he put all my veggies on the bag?  How is that possible that all of the veggies and that puffy bag of popcorn fit in one bag with room still?”  So I moved the lettuce which revealed the BOX of microwave popcorn and thought, “Well, I guess I won’t be eating any of that on the way home!”

Anyway . . . the popcorn was really good.  I think.  I popped well, and wasn’t greasy.  It didn’t have any “butter” on it.  I liked it.  According to The USDA Agricultural Research Service’s web site there is 31 calories in a cup of air-popped popcorn.  The package from the popcorn I bought says the same thing(-ish).  You can see the rest of the nutritional info from the package in the picture.  The National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference says:

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 classesNutrient per 3 cups (24 grams)

Energy/kcal     92
Protein     2.88g
Fat     1.01g
Carbohydrate     18.70g
Fiber, total dietary     3.6g

Minerals
Calcium, Ca     2mg
Iron, Fe     0.64mg
Magnesium, Mg     31mg
Phosphorus, P     72mg
Potassium, K     72mg
Sodium, Na     1mg
Zinc, Zn     0.83mg

Vitamins
Thiamin     0.049mg
Riboflavin     0.068mg
Niacin     0.467mg
Vitamin B-6     0.059mg

Cholesterol     0mg

So for a snack food it is relatively low in calorie and high in fiber.  Low in fat and cholesterol.  Of course, cooking it in oil and adding butter adds more calories and fat.  I like it both ways.  Sometimes I want light and salty and sometimes I want a heavier snack so the butter is better.  But, as I said, I haven’t been able to cook it properly in a long time so I have not had it in a long time.

My husband doesn’t like popcorn.  Not even the smell.  So I usually try to have it while he is not home.

What about you?  Do you like popcorn?  Do you microwave it?  How about the grocery store . . . do you think about eating something you were going to buy then didn’t (and forgot you didn’t buy it)?

 

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

Beautiful But Can Be Deadly

Posted by terrepruitt on August 19, 2014

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 love Stargazers.  They are so beautiful and fragrant.  I put up a short post about them once in 2009.  There is a picture.  It seems that the most recent ones we have gotten have not been as pink.  They are very pale.  And they do not have that strong intoxicating fragrance.  We used to have them all the time in the house.  Then I heard that they were toxic to cats, so we stopped buying them.  We had some recently . . . I do love them.

I was looking at the information on Wiki hoping to share more information than in my first post.  There was not a lot of information.  The most interesting fact was that they were created in California in 1974.  A lily breeder created them.  Wow.  What a cool thing to have done.  Created one of the most popular flowers.  If you Google her name a lot of lilies show up.  So I am thinking that some are named Leslie Woodriff.  The pictures I saw were of “drooping” lillies.  I have not seen stargazer droop like that.  Click here to see what I mean.

Wiki said the cats are the only animals poisoned by star gazers. About.com had more information about toxicity in cats.  The article said the flower itself is the most toxic but ANY part of the plant, if ingested by a feline, can cause problems.  Information directly from the article:

The first signs seen are:
•  vomiting
•  lethargy
•  loss of appetite
•  tremors
•  seizures

Kidney (renal) failure usually follows, and the signs seen are:
•  increased thirst
•  increased urination initially, followed by lowered urine output, and finally, no urine output
•  dehydration
•  death

Kidney failure occurs as early as 36 – 72 hours after ingestion.

The article states in addition that treatment is aggressive and can be successful if administered within the first 18 hours.  Wow.

Our cat was not one to climb up on things all the time.  Yeah, she did it, but not all the time.  She didn’t get into a lot of things.  But once we learned they were poisonous to cat’s we didn’t buy them any more.

Also, if you have ever had these types of lilies you might have experienced staining from the anther, the orange pill shaped thing that is on the end of the stamen and is powdery to the touch.  I had thought these lilies were older than 1974 and was convinced that ancient civilizations used them to dye things.  That stuff stains no matter what it touches.  Just a little powder from one of those things can make a huge stain.  My husband and I are very diligent in pulling them off and throwing away before they can dust the surface below the vase with any powder or worse yet, fall onto the surface.  If powder does happen to get onto something VACUUM it up or use a DRY cloth.  If any amount of moisture touches that powder it has even MORE staining power.  Any of you know what I am talking about when it comes to those things?  Incredible.

So do you like these flowers?  Do you love the smell?  What type of flower do you like?

 

Posted in Flowers, Misc, Star Gazers | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 11 Comments »

My Greens Gone Blue — Finally!

Posted by terrepruitt on August 16, 2014

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 classesOne of the reasons I got a super blender was to consume more vegetables. In addition to more vegetables I also wanted to consume veggies and fruits that I normally wouldn’t eat but that I have come to believe would be a health benefit to me. One food I have come to believe is a healthy benefit to a diet is blueberries. I don’t like blueberries. If you know me and my love for the color blue you might be a bit surprised that I don’t love one of the only blue foods there is. But I don’t. The flavor is not that great to me, but it is really the texture I don’t like. They are mushy and mealy. Not a texture I enjoy. But they are considered a “super food” so something I wouldn’t mind adding to my diet.  But since I won’t just eat them raw and I don’t like baked fruit in desserts, I was hoping to use my Blendtec to get some blueberry goodness into my diet.

According to the website, World’s Healthiest Foods:

“In terms of U.S. fruit consumption, blueberries rank only second to strawberries in popularity of berries. Blueberries are not only popular, but also repeatedly ranked in the U.S. diet as having one of the highest antioxidant capacities among all fruits, vegetables, spices and seasonings. Antioxidants are essential to optimizing health by helping to combat the free radicals that can damage cellular structures as well as DNA. We recommend enjoying raw blueberries — rather than relying upon blueberries incorporated into baked desserts — because, like other fruits, raw blueberries provide you with the best flavor and the greatest nutritional benefits.”

I think most fruits that are added to baked goods lose a lot of their nutritional value, if not from the cooking themselves, but it might be considered to be “canceled out” due to the added sugar and fat.  But, as I mentioned I am not a fan of cooked fruit in desserts.

With all of the nutritional benefits in mind I finally bought some blueberries with the sole intent of putting them in a smoothie. I thought I had better go with a mild, yummy green so I would be stacking the deck to help the blueberries. I used spinach.

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 actually made a very yummy smoothie.

I used:

_______________________________

Blueberry Green Smoothie

1 cup water
1/2 container of blueberries
2 handfuls of baby spinach
1 (1/2) frozen banana
10 ice moons
1 scoop protein powder

_______________________________

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 classes

 

 

 

It was very good. My husband is pretty amazing when it comes to tasting the ingredients. He tasted the blueberries right off. I knew they were in there and I didn’t seem to taste them.  He pointed out that you can see them.  Little tiny flecks of blueberries were in the smoothie.  And yes, I know the were in there, I made it.  Silly man!

So now that I have tried blueberries in a smoothie and liked them I can try using other greens.  Now that I know they don’t ruin it.  Tee hee.

What about you?  Do you put blueberries in your green smoothies?  What “recipe” might you have to share?

 

 

Posted in "Recipes", Food, Smoothies | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Lemon Cookies

Posted by terrepruitt on August 14, 2014

In regards to diet and food these days there is so much information out there it can be overwhelming.  There are so many schools of thought on what is healthy and what is not.  I follow the school of thought that the less man made chemicals IN the food it is healthier than one full of chemicals.  I also think that less processed foods tend to be healthier than heavily processed foods. Some of the processing – even when the original ingredient – is natural is just a wash of chemicals.  I say all of this because I know that some would argue that some of the recipes I have posted are not necessarily “healthy”.  A banana full of marshmallows and chocolate chips?  No, not something I would deem as healthy, but also not something I eat every day.  The following recipe is not anywhere in the realm of health and fitness . . . one could argue that it has to do with “wellness” if you are one that thinks comforting foods help with well-being.  But I am not trying to disguise this as anything but what it is.  It is a recipe that I used to make with my mom.  It is one she passed down to me.  It is one that when I used to bring the cookies places people would ask for the recipe.  I don’t make them that often any longer because I do not like to eat the ingredients that make up a boxed cake mix.  But I do make them every once in a while because they are easy and people enjoy them.  I made them last week in honor of my mom.  I took them to her Celebration of Life.  They were the best ones I have ever made in my life.

_________________________________________________

Lemon Cookies

One box of lemon cake mix
1 egg
3/4 cup oil

Preheat oven to 375° F.  Mix all together.  Drop dough onto a cookie sheet using a spoon.  Bake for 10 minutes.

_________________________________________________

So . . . . here are some tips.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 classes

If you have any lemons, squeeze some juice into the dough.  And/or some zest.

DON’T USE ALL THE OIL.  Start out with 1/2 of a cup.  Stir.  If the mixture seems like it needs more, then keep adding until it is a wet dough.  The oil depends on the cake mix.  In the “old days” it was 3/4 cup oil.  But with the cake mixes that have “pudding in the mix” it seems like you can use less oil.

The more oil you use the cookies tend to come out flatter.  They will puff up but one knock of the pan and they deflate.  Or when they cool they deflate.

Placing them close together on the cookie sheet makes them bake “fluffier”.  Farther apart makes them flatter and “crispier”.

WATCH THEM.  Ovens vary and 10 minutes might be too long.  What tends to happen for me is the first few pans seem to take longer than the ones after that.  My oven temperature should not be getting HOTTER, but . . . I don’t know.

I know that these last ones I made were the best ever because I didn’t leave the kitchen.  Normally I put a pan in and I set the timer and I leave the kitchen.  And with the variations I usually bake at least one pan that has brown edges.  But this time I wanted them all to be “perfect” . . . “unbrowned” . . . . so I stayed and watched them like a hawk.  I turned the pan in the oven if I thought I saw one tiny tint of color.  They were the most perfect lemon cookies I have ever made.  I know my mom would have been proud.

I have also made these with a chocolate cake mix.  Very yummy.  I have also used a white cake mix and added chocolate chips.  I have also used a white cake mix and added mint chips (well, the mint pieces from Andes).  I think I made orange ones once.  I think I have made spiced ones.  I have never tried the funfetti cake mix because that came onto the market after I kind of stopped making these.  Most boxed cakes mixes have partially hydrogenated oil in them and I avoid that.  They USED to have High Fructose Corn Syrup in them, but I haven’t seen that on the occasion that I have bought cake mix.

A boxed cake mix is just a bunch of chemicals.  I know.  If I were to make a cake I would do it from scratch.  But the point of these cookies is that they are easy.  But, as I said, I don’t make them often.  They are a treat.

In this case they were in honor of my mom.

I believe that there ARE some boxed cake mixed out there that do not have partially hydrogenated oil in them if you are interested in avoiding that.  Otherwise these are really easy to make and people seem to love them.

If you try making another version besides lemon, let me know.  I am a bit curious about the funfetti . . . .

Have you ever made cookies out of cake mix?

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments »

Broken Hearts And Blood Vessels

Posted by terrepruitt on August 12, 2014

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 classesOur focus in Nia this morning was laughter, happiness, joy, comfort, and support our intent was to find it (from within) and share it with those in the world that need it (or even just want it). We danced in honor of Robin Williams(/Armand Goldman*). I know clinical depression is not fixed by someone just “snapping out of it” nor is it a matter of just “being happy”. We were sending laughter, happiness, and joy out. Along with comfort and support. So even though it can’t be fixed or healed simply with those things we were dancing our support of those that suffer. And even though many of us are not clinically depressed many are saddened by Mr. Williams death. From what I am reading on the internet he touched so many people with his down to earth comedy and crazy antics. While we were dancing . . . . in my enthusiasm, I clapped so hard I broke a blood vessel in my hand. At least that is what I thought I did. In order to be sure it was nothing more serious, I did what a lot of us do . . . I posted a picture on Facebook and asked my friends.

One friend said that she does it all the time in her fingers. I have done it in my fingers at least a couple of times that I remember. So her comment made me feel a little better. But I had never done it in my hand. When it happened, I had clapped and sometimes I do clap long enough that my hands itch. So this time I just thought . . . “Hmmm . . . that is weird, I wasn’t clapping that long.” And I scratched viciously at my hand. Then I looked at it and I was surprised to see this large purple spot on it. But I kept dancing because I was teaching. So I thought I would deal with it later. Then I forgot because right after my Tuesday morning Nia class I have a gentle yoga class. I rushed off to that and completely forgot about my hand.

I forgot about it until I had to fill out a survey. The questions were answered by filling in the “bubbles” or circles on a form. We used to call them Scantrons. There were 1400 of them. My hand started to bother me then I remembered my injuring clap.

So onto Facebook, one friend — the one who said she breaks blood vessels in her fingers all the time — suggested arnica gel. I have arnica oil. I just put that on. I also have my Trauma (that you know I love) and my Zheng Gu Shui. But I am using the oil. Another friend . . . a nurse said – “Your body has already healed the blood vessel, now time will reabsorb the blood in the tissue.” Good to know. I didn’t THINK it was anything serious, but I wanted to check. 🙂

Amazing that the body can begin to heal so quickly. If only the heart healed as fast. Yesterday, August 11, 2014, marked four months that my mom has been dead and the suicide of such a beloved celebrity made it that much more sad.

Not that this site should be used to treat or diagnosis ANYTHING, but if you find yourself with a spot on your hand looking like a bruise and nothing else appears to be wrong or damaged with your hand, it could be just a broken blood vessel.  For anything serious, please seek medical help.

I will look within to find laughter, happiness, joy, comfort, and support and I will share it with those in the world who need it or want it.

*Birdcage was one of my favorite movies I ended up with by some odd thing. Someone at work was giving away movies and I grabbed the tape . . . .yes, the VHS tape, that is how long ago it was. My husband and I watched it and we loved it . . . . who wouldn’t? What a cast! Since we love it and watched it often we bought the DVD. It is one of my favorite movies to watch over and over. It is one of those ones that I will stop to watch if I see it when I am flicking channels. It will make me sad now.

Have you ever had a broken blood vessel in your hand?  On your finger?  Do you have a favorite Robin Williams movie?

 

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

She Wanted A Party

Posted by terrepruitt on August 9, 2014

Front of Mom's Celebration Invitation for blog postToday we had a celebration event for my mom. Saturday, August 09, 2014.  I am writing this before hand so that I can schedule it to post and not have to think about it on Saturday.  I am writing it as if it already happened.  I will have it post AFTER the event, so it will be over and this will not be construed as an invitation to the event.  Even though this is a picture of the actual invitation to the event.

Even though, I don’t want my blog to turn into a blog about death and dying, as I have said before.  There have been a few deaths this year so there will be more posts.  I would like to eventually share more of my mom’s story because she went through a lot and I feel I want to brag about how brave she was.  Plus, if you have read a few of the related posts you know writing about things is my pressure valve because I still have very angry feelings about how we expect humans to die.

In addition to sharing her story, I will probably have pictures of the celebration to share with you and words to write about how wonderful it was.  I will be so glad when it is over as planning it has been so very stressful and time consuming.  It is impossible to please everyone so I don’t bother trying . . . but this was not my event to plan.  And as you may know, grief tends to cloud one’s thinking, making decisions difficult.  I think it has a lot to do with the fact that there is so much thinking — too much thinking . . . well, that can be left for a separate post.  I have faith that everything was perfect and no stress was required.

My mom is worth Back of Mom's Celebration Invitation for post Day of COLcelebrating.  And a loving crowd was invited to gather to share stories, to laugh, to live, to “eat-drink-and-be-merry”, as the saying goes.  Our merry is in tribute because that is what she wanted.  “Celebrate” and “purple” was the idea.  She wanted us to have a party and we added the purple because that was her favorite color.

Monday, August 11, 2014 will mark four months since her death.

If you have a story with my mom in it and you would like to share, please go to her Memorial page and share in the comments.  (Click here!)

 

 

 

 

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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 classes

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 classes

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 classes

Posted in Diane Bacho | Tagged: , , , | 10 Comments »

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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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 »

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