Terre Pruitt's Blog

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

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Posts Tagged ‘Greek yogurt’

Soap From The Angels

Posted by terrepruitt on October 3, 2016

In my post, Homemade Soapy Goodness from 2014, I talked about how I found some soap that I loved.  I loved it so much I was asking for it as gifts.  My hubby would say, “What do you want for Christmas/your birthday/our anniversary?”  And I would reply, “Soap.”  In 2015 when I went to order more soap, I could no longer find the soap lady.  Her Etsy landing page is still up, but I can’t find that she makes soap any longer.  I did receive some soap from a friend and I loved it so much that I started buying it.  But it went from $4.00/$5.00 a bar to $8.00 a bar – not including shipping.  So I decided I needed to find a new soap to use.  I was just making do with some other kind I had found that was kind of drying, but it was ok.  Since I am always on the hunt for some great soap, my hubby and I usually buy a bar or two from the vendors at any Art and Wine Festival we go to.  Which is funny because we don’t go to many.  We have been going to one – the Milpitas one – for the past two years.  It also funny because the first year, I didn’t buy any. Well, this year we bought some soap from Three Angels Soap – again.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFitI say again because the first time we went to the festival (August 2015), I didn’t buy a bar of soap from her but my hubby did.  I do remember a period of time when I kept asking my husband, “What are you using in your bathroom?  Are you using a new hair product?  Are you using a new soap?”  And he didn’t know what I was talking about, but every time I walked into the bathroom it smelled awesome.  He was using something that made the entire bathroom smell really nice.

Then after the second time we went to the Milpitas festival we both bought some soap.  When I used it the whole bathroom smelled great.  That is when I realized that it had to be this soap that my hubby had used and that had made his bathroom smell so great.  I love this soap.

I have tried three kinds so far Memories of Rose, Purple Moon, and Lavender Swirl.  They all smell GREAT!  Lavender Swirl does not lather up as much as the other two.  It also does not make my bathroom smell as good as the other two.  I really liked Purple Moon.  It lathered up great and made my bathroom smell awesome.  I also really like the way it make the skin of my face look and feel.  But so far my favorite is Memories of Rose.  It lathers up great, makes my bathroom smell great and I love the way it moisturized my skin!

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFitAs you can see from the picture I have a few.  Some of these are mine and some of them are gifts.  Don’t you think the one that looks like a chunk of cake with frosting flowers on top is a nice gift?  What about the cupcake?  I have not even tried all the scents that I am gifting because I know they will be awesome.

The ingredients include:  Olive oil, Cocoa Butter, Mango Butter, Buttermilk, Greek Yogurt, Coconut Oil, Avocado Puree, Confectionery Sugar, Goat Milk, Palm kernel oil, Aloe vera, just to name a few.  (Not all of these are in one soap, I was just listing some of the ingredients in several soaps).

So . . . YAY!  I found some new soap to love!  I hope that you will give Three Angels Inc. a try when you want to treat yourself to some luxurious soap.  Or you want to treat someone else to so luxurious soap.  Give her a call or check out her website!

Do you have a favorite soap?

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Yogurt Starter

Posted by terrepruitt on July 6, 2013

Six weeks ago I met a friend after teaching Nia and she mentioned making yogurt.  I love yogurt.  I get frustrated because all that I can find in the store is either non-fat or full fat.  I want either 1% or 2%, but I can’t find it.  Plus I am not a fan of most of the flavors of yogurt.  I don’t care for berries and that is a HUGE portion of the flavors out there; strawberry, cherry, raspberry, etc.  Not my thing.  What I sometimes do is I buy plain non-fat yogurt and I mix it a full fat flavored kind, but lately I have not been able to find a flavor that I like.  I love the Greek yogurt, but again I run into the same flavor and fat issue as non-Greek yogurt.  So anyway, when she said she makes yogurt, I know my eyes got big because I think that is difficult.  I also thought it required a yogurt MAKER.  But nope, she uses a two pots and a cooler.  So she invited me over to make it with her.  It was super easy.  I can honestly say the most difficult part is filling the jars without spilling — so I gave up on that.  So the part that is actually most difficult is washing the equipment.  Yeah, really, the “hardest” part of making yogurt is washing everything you are going to need to make the yogurt.  Doesn’t that tell you how easy making yogurt is?

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, ZumbaSo the very first time I made yogurt I did it with my friend.  Actually she did it and I just assisted.  But, again, it really is so easy there is not much to do.  The second time I made yogurt I did it on my own.  One thing you need to make yogurt is a thermometer.  See with yogurt you are heating the milk up to kill off the bad bacteria, then cooling it down to a nice cozy temperature to allow the good bacteria to grow.  So it helps to have a thermometer.  It actually seems wise to have one.  Although when I made my second batch, the one I did all by myself, I didn’t have a thermometer.  Well, I did, it just didn’t work.  It is not calibrated.  It started off at 180° (I got is down to 160° prior to using it).  It registered that the milk did heat up but I am not certain exactly how hot it actually got.  The instructions I have state that slowly heating the milk shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes.  So I heated the milk for almost 20 minutes.  Then I began to smell it.  I remembered when I made it with my friend I smelled it too.  So I figured I was doing ok.  At 20 minutes I took it of the burner and put it in the ice bath and even though my thermometer was not registering the CORRECT temperature, I watched it go down the 60 or 70° needed.

Two things I had wanted to do different with my second batch was heat it higher than the first batch and let it ferment longer.  Well, I don’t think I heated it higher because I didn’t have a good thermometer, but I did let it sit longer.  And that is the second most difficult part of making yogurt.  Letting it set without bothering it.  Without checking it.  Just leaving it alone.

As far as I can tell it came out fine.  It didn’t seem as tart as the first batch, but it seemed a tad bit thicker.  A half gallon of milk made 11 canning jars.  I have one and a half left and today I made my third batch.  Second on my own.  This time I had a thermometer.  I heated the milk to the temperature I wanted and I will let the yogurt ferment for 12 hours.

I started to write up the instructions, but I thought I had better make sure this batch comes out before I claim the recipe with the changes I have made a success.  After making the first batch I started looking up things and there is so much information out there I kind of was able to pick and choose.  After my second batch, I chose to believe the woman who said she never uses a thermometer and goes by steam and smell.  I hadn’t remembered it steaming so I was a bit worried, but it was fine.  I am working off of the people who want thicker yogurt and they heat it higher and let it sit longer.  I have not yet strained any yogurt, so my product is very runny.  But I like it.  It is good.

Here is to future posts about yogurt!  Can’t wait!  (Yogurt Making Tips post – 07.23.13 / Yogurt Instructions post 07.25.13)

Do you like yogurt?  What brand?  What flavor?

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

Greek Snack

Posted by terrepruitt on April 30, 2009

Tonight we are going to dinner in Willow Glen, which is San Jose, but San Jose is large and spread out so having the sections help us determine the general location.  Downtown Willow Glen is where I have my Nia classes, and is fairly close to downtown San Jose.**  We went with a group of people who Yelp (so they are called Yelpers) on Yelp.com.

We are going to Opa.  It is a Greek Restaurant.  I am part Greek.  I didn’t like Greek food until recently.  Since we are going to a Greek Restaurant it started me thinking about one of my favorite snacks that I have been having lately.  Greek Yogurt.   I didn’t even know that there is such a thing until about two years ago—and I am Greek.

There are probably as many different brands of yogurt as there is (types of) Yoga,  just like there are different brands of regular yogurt, but what you will find is that Greek Yogurt is thicker.  It seems creamier.  And it typically has less sugar and a lot more protein.

I have been eating plain non-fat to which I added a little bit of sugar, vanilla, and some super crunchy cereal.  Yum.  So I guess you could say that I am using it like milk.  But I won’t drink non-fat milk, but I will eat non-fat yogurt and get a lot more protein!  Plus with its smooth, think, creaminess it is like dessert for breakfast!

Also, during our heat wave I decided to make chicken salad sandwiches for dinner.  I didn’t realize we were out of mayo when I decided on that refreshing dinner.  But I used the yogurt instead.  It worked great because it is more like mayo in consistency than regular yogurt.  Don’t tell my husband because it also has less fat and more protein than mayo.  And I did add a little bit of mayo so it would taste like regular mayonnaised chicken salad.

So next time you are in the store you might want to pick up some Greek yogurt and do some experimenting of your own with it.  It can be used a little differently than regular yogurt.  Then let me know what recipe you used it in.  I am always looking for new things to make!

**Good thing I looked up the event before we went, granted it was after I posted this, but we actually ended up going to Opa in Los Gatos!  It is important to check on event locations and not assume . . . . . 🙂

Posted in Food | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments »