Posts Tagged ‘Nia class’
Posted by terrepruitt on April 9, 2013
My cat has been on a “bland diet” of beef and sweet potatoes. I keep thinking “today is the day” — meaning, today will be the last day, but until “things” have gotten back to normal I am not comfortable putting her back on her cat food. Part of the prescription of the bland diet was “very lean” beef. So I am feeding my cat lean beef. One day I was about to cook two dinners. One for my cat and one for my hubby and I. Then I realized I could just cook one. So I put away what I had originally planned for my hubby and I and just cooked up some beef for us too. As I was cooking the meat I was thinking of what veggies I had in my fridge . . . yeah, my door note does not always get updated. Of course I couldn’t remember but when I opened the door I spotted the mushrooms . . . cool, I decided to put the meat on/in tiny tortillas with some mushrooms and cheese. Then, I decided that in addition to mushrooms I would add some garbanzo beans. As I was putting something in the fridge I spotted the zucchini and I decided to grate some of that into our mushrooms. I was making this dinner up as I was cooking it! (I can do that when I don’t have a Nia class.)
I have to cook the cat’s meat without flavoring, so I figured I would just salt the meat after and put some raw onions on it. I figured that would be enough flavor. But then I took hers out to prepare it and I left ours in the pan and I added cumin and garlic salt. I am starting to add cumin to different things now. Ever since I used it in my adjusted version of Bobby Deen’s Red Beans and Rice recipe. It was not a spice I was accustomed to cooking with. I like it.
We ended up with a pretty tasty dinner, I think. I think the raw onions on the topping it all off really gave it the perfect finishing touch.
Beef, Beans, Mushrooms, Zucchini, And Cheesy Tortillas
small wedge of onion, chopped
1 tsp olive oil
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
four shakes of garlic salt
half of a zucchini, grated
four shakes of garlic salt
1 can of garbanzo beans
four shakes of garlic salt
1/4 of a pound beef
four shakes of cumin
four shakes of garlic salt
10 small thin slices of cheese
five tiny corn tortillas
Heat the oil and onion (save some for garnish), then put the mushrooms in, add garlic salt. Cook them until they are almost done, then put the grated zucchini in, add garlic salt. Cook until it looks done almost done, then add the beans and the garlic salt. In a different pan, cook the beef with the cumin and garlic salt.
When the mushroom mixture and beef are almost done, heat the tortillas, melt the cheese on the tortillas. Spoon the beef onto four of the cheesy tortilla, then spoon the mushroom bean mixture. Top with raw onions. (One tortilla was meatless!)
I had to cook the meat separate because of my cat, but if I were just making this for us I would cook the mushrooms first . . . I like my mushrooms caramelized, then I would add the beef . . . and I would use more so that it would work for all five tortillas. I would add the cumin to the meat. Then I would add the zucchini, then the beans. I don’t like the beans to get to cooked so I add them last. With each ingredient I would add garlic salt.
I have an electric grill/panini press I used for the tortillas. I grilled them.
This was very good. I will be making this again. But since we rarely have ground beef (we are only eating it because the cat is!) I will use our regular ground turkey.
I like cooking with cumin!
I know I don’t come up with very inventive stuff, but we like it and sometimes all you need is an IDEA of what to cook for dinner. Maybe this will help you.
What do you think? Any ideas on what you might add?
Posted in "Recipes" | Tagged: beef, Cheesy Tortillas, cumin, easy recipe, Garbanzo beans, mushrooms, Nia, Nia class, quick dinner, zucchini | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 7, 2013
Ack! Ok, I really thought I could do this challenge, but considering we are seven days in and I have already forgotten entirely on one day and only did one on another, it is more difficult than I thought. What is happening on my end is I think to do it as I am leaving so then I only do one because that is what I have time for. I know three minutes doesn’t seem like a long time, but apparently it is! 🙂
Yesterday I remember on the way out to the 52 Nia Moves Class so I did one. And while we did a long plank in the class it was a straight-armed plank so I am not counting that. I remembered I had two more to do, but when I remembered I had a cat on me. In my house that is a special thing so we don’t move! Then once she moved I had forgotten and I didn’t remember until I was going to bed after midnight.
I will do better with the rest of the month. This week I am going to try an actual schedule and see if I can remember to get them all in.
And next week I will post the check-in in a more timely manner!
Cheers!
So, how many days did you manage to get three planks in?
.
Posted in Planking | Tagged: 52 moves, 52 Moves class, cat furniture, first check in, Multiple Plank a Day Challenge, multiple planks, Nia, Nia class, Nia's 52 Moves, straight-armed plank | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 6, 2013
You might have read my post about a couple of Nia Celebrities coming to the San Francisco Bay Area (for that post, click here) and around this month (April 2013). Well, they arrived this week and have been doing classes since Thursday. Today was the class in Palo Alto at the Equinox (Gym). The classes are scheduled around the North Bay, East Bay, and Peninsula. The class was great. The 52 in the title refers to what the classes was about. All of the classes in this series are based on the 52 moves of Nia. I have posted about the Nia Moves before. They are not uniquely Nia moves, but Nia has compiled them and bases our routines on them. Nia has also set guidelines as to how they are to be done. As I have also mentioned in my posts about the 52 Nia Moves, when they are included in a dance sometimes they are not done exactly to specifications. Anyway . . . this class was definitely interesting. I love the gathering of Nia people. And when a celeb is in town the energy is astronomical. There are – as of today, April 06, 2013, a few chances left to take a class with Debbie Rosas (one of Nia’s founders) and Nia Trainer Kevin VerEecke. If you can make it I recommend it.
As I just mentioned it is always fun to gather and dance with Nia people. This time was really great for me because several of my students were in attendance. I love that they were able to take a class with Debbie. She is like many successful company leaders . . . dynamic and a force of her own. I think that when you can be in the presence of the person who started something (whether it be a fitness craze, a company, a restaurant, whatever) you get a different understanding of the workout (company, restaurant, etc.). Even if you are just in the same space as the person and you observe them without even talking to them . . . you get a better sense of things. Being able to be in a Nia class led by the founder of Nia is really an education.
This type of class is a different direction for Nia. It is not a dance exercise class it is an exercise class where we do a move from the 52 moves for a minute. The moves and the timing is not based on the music they use a timer. Most moves were done slow, then fast, and then as fast as you can. They are calling it Interval Training, but it seems to copy the “Intermittent Training” formula that Zumba uses. So it reminds me of a Zumba class without the dancing. It is truly an exercise class with loud music and a lot of sweat!
It is easy to do all 52 Nia Moves in an hour especially if you are doing one a minute. With nineteen of the 52 Nia Moves being movements done with the arms, hands, and/or fingers they are easily combined with foot and body movements. So we were even able to do a few of the moves for more than one one minute cycle. But not all Nia routines have all 52 moves so this is another way to get a great workout in!
I am usually torn at a Nia event because I want to dance . . . . I don’t want to miss a moment, but I also want to take pictures to document the event. This exercise class was a little easier to break away from because they were either doing the move slow or fast, so I could jump right back in and be right on the mark.
Here are a few shots that I took. As you can see everyone is happy, sweaty, and having a fabulous time!
Have you ever met the creator of something you love? Did you find it exciting? Are you going to make it to one of these Nia 52 Moves classes?
Posted in Nia | Tagged: 52 Nia Moves, April 2013, California Peninsula, Debbie Rosas, East Bay, Francisco Bay Area, Intermittent Training, Interval Training, Kevin VerEecke, Nia celebrities, Nia class, Nia education, Nia founder, Nia Moves, Nia pictures, Nia routines, Nia students, Nia trainer, North Bay, Palo Alto Equinox, Zumba | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 4, 2013
I have such wonderful Nia students. One day I was talking to one of my students and she shared with me something she and her husband are doing before bed. She said that they each share THREE good things that happened throughout the day. Now this is just like the good thing jar idea in that the “good thing” is up to the person doing the sharing. It can be anything you think of as a good thing. You could say you heard your favorite song on the radio, saw a hummingbird, had a door held open for you, held a door open for someone else, you attended a Nia class . . . . whatever you want. The “Good Thing” is up to you. The idea is to help the day end on a positive note. And it could lead to a nice conversation with whomever you are doing it with. If you are doing it by yourself it could allow you to remember more good things about your day. Whatever the situation it is a nice positive way to end the day. Three good things is a beautiful thought to fall asleep on.
It could be particularly helpful in a stressful time. Often when something is causing stress we tend to think about it a lot. For me the quiet time as I am falling asleep is prime thinking time. Is it for you? With thinking time the mind can easily go to the stressful thought. But if you have spent a little time with three good things maybe the good has pushed the stress off to a corner. Falling asleep on a positive note seems like it would help you have a good sleep. Sleep is a great tool in handling stress. It could be you are happily thinking about your good things as you drift off. Could be, if you have a partner you are talking about good things with, your partners good things are on your mind.
It also seems like this fun exercise would be good for people who tend to think of the negative instead of the positive. This would help direct the negative attention to positive and shift the energy. We all have things going on in our lives that we could dwell on and conduct negative thoughts and energy, so having to think about positive and good things that happened throughout the day and talk about three of them . . . that can really get the good stuff flowing. Not thinking about the negative side of things can really work wonders.
I really like this idea. I am looking forward to reading all the good things at the end of the year that I have document throughout the year, but this is a way to keep that “good thing” idea at the forefront. This can provide “instant” gratification and help shift energy from negative and stressful to positive and peaceful.
Manifest the positive by sharing the good things!
What do you think?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: energy shift, Good Thing jar, good things, negative energy, negative thoughts, Nia, Nia class, Nia students, peaceful thoughts, positive energy, positive thoughts, sharing | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 28, 2013
Nia is a great dance exercise. Go to a Nia Class and get a great workout. It is also a practice. As with any practice there are workshops. In one particular workshop produced by Danielle Woermann and led by Helen Terry we were reminded to go slow. Helen was here teaching us her adaptation of a Nia Routine to a specific album. Helen is hilarious. She is down to earth, professional, wonderful to listen to (she has an English accent), and currently living in Texas. The “currently living in” needs to be mentioned because of one of the stories she shared with us . . . but before I get to that let me tell you something she reminded us of. She reminded us to go slow. I know often times I want to rush moves . . . that could mean doing it faster than it needs to be done or not “staying through my enoughs”. But either way the idea is to slow down. When I slow down I can be aware of more. I can pay more attention to a move or even to my class. There seems to a tendency to rush, could be our lifestyles and/or society, whatever, so the lesson was to slow down and the result could be catching a chicken.
There is one song in particular in her adapted routine that I am severely challenged in slowing down. It just seems so incredible slow. I have not yet been able to FEEL/SENSE the music and I have been doing the routine for a month. Which, with the current way I am structuring my San Jose Nia classes, equates to eleven times, thus far. I have done it correctly, but only when I am COUNTING. Yes, I am having to COUNT in order to get it. For this song I really have to learn to listen, sense, feel, taste, hear, smell, become the music in order to slow down. I have even announced to the class so I have a better chance of doing it, “We have to go really incredibly slow here.” Sometimes I have to close my eyes so I don’t see them rushing through and join them. S L O W. (Where’s that chicken?)
Slow down. Work the muscles. Enjoy the song. Enjoy the movement. EnJOY. SLOW. Geez . . . it seems so difficult to slow down sometimes. Sigh. But really often times slowing down in combination with “staying with the enoughs” (as I already mentioned) helps in catching those chickens! Ah-ha, here we are . . . . at the chicken story . . . (remember this is coming from a person who is currently living in Texas!).
I might not have the details exactly right, but you will get the point. Helen said that one day her husband and her neighbor were going to work on building a table. The neighbor says, “Let’s go catch some chickens.” This sounded very odd to Helen because they were building a table not catching chickens. So she asked her neighbor what he meant. He said that when he was young his mother used to send him out to get dinner. He said that he would go outside to do the task, sometimes he would end up with a handful of feathers and sometimes he would end up with a chicken. A handful of feathers means not quite getting it. So catching the chicken is when task is accomplished! Makes sense!
In dancing this routine all month, I have enough feathers to fill a king sized down comforter! So . . . see there? Feathers really aren’t all THAT bad. Feathers can be useful. Feathers can be fun. A handful of feathers does not ruin a Nia class or even the moment, but it is NOT a chicken. When you hit the mark, the music, the cue just right that is catching a chicken.
Whatever it is, whether it is slowing down or staying with the enoughs, or learning the music really well, it is a great feeling to catch that chicken. When you attend one of my Nia classes you might hear me sputter and/or you might hear me “bacbac”. When you do, you will know either I grabbed a handful of feathers and the escaped ones are floating at me causing me to sputter or I caught that chicken!
You know what we’re talking about when we say, “Catch a Chicken”, right? Isn’t that a great feeling? Do you ever feel the need to slow down?
Posted in Nia | Tagged: catch some chickens, dance exercise, Dannielle Woermann, handful of feathers, Helen Terry, Nia, Nia chickens, Nia class, Nia Practice, Nia routine, Nia trainer, Nia workout, Nia workshop, staying through your enoughs, Texas Nia teacher | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 28, 2013
Here we are with four more days left of our Plank A Day For A Month Challenge.
I’ve decided I like doing my plank on Thursdays before my evening Nia class, otherwise I tend to almost forget!
Are you going to make it the last four days?
Posted in Planking | Tagged: Nia, Nia class, Nia in the evening, plank, Plank A Day For A Month Challenge, planking, planking challenge | 7 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 16, 2013
My last post was about how I have two late Nia classes in San Jose so I use my “Time Bake” feature on my oven. I think something that would be GREAT to put in the oven to have ready when I get home is the Rantings of an Amateur Chef’s Crispy Smashed Roasted Potatoes. I made these this week for the first time and I don’t think I will make potatoes any other way again.
Basically you boil the little red potatoes in salted water. Then you drain them and let them cool. Then you smash each one individually only so much as to make them a bit flat, but not so much they break apart and end up mashed. Then you put them on a pan that is covered in aluminum foil AND parchment paper. Oil and salt each potato and bake them.
I only used 8 potatoes. The recipe instructions include placing the potatoes on a towel to dry and covering the potato with a towel for smashing, but I am not sure that is necessary. I did it that way because I was thinking the towel helps soak up some of that water and less water makes for a crispier potato. Plus I usually follow instructions when trying a recipe for the first time. I will try it without the towel next time because I don’t need the extra laundry. I will let you know if the towel is imperative.
The initial cooking time (boiling) was longer for me and I didn’t turn it to simmer. “Simmer” on my stove is almost off so I left it a little below medium and boiled them for about 40 minutes. I used the foil and the parchment paper as per the recipe. But my potatoes took a bit longer than 30 to 40 minutes. BUT . . . . I also put asparagus on my pan. The pan I was using is so large it takes up an entire rack in my oven and I didn’t want to put another pan on the rack above or below, so I decided my asparagus and potatoes could share a pan. They both came out GREAT. But the potatoes needed a few more minutes than the asparagus.
I was so excited to eat the piping hot crispy gems that I forgot to take a picture of them once fully cooked. Not taking a picture was due to my excitement AND the fact that we were already eating the rest of dinner and so I was in a rush to get them from pan to plate! But they were delicious.
The smashed potatoes would be a perfect thing to put in the oven on Time Bake. But . . . . maybe not, huh? Parchment paper. That stuff kind of freaks me out in the first place. I mean it is PAPER in the oven. I don’t know that I would want that baking with me not home . . . . .
If you like potatoes these little smashed potatoes are GREAT.
Do you like potatoes? Can you imagine these little crispy nuggets on your plate?
See comment below for an alternative way to make these — all bake, no boil!
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: Amateur Chef, Crispy Smashed Roasted Potatoes, Nia, Nia at night in San Jose, Nia class, Nia San Jose, oven baked potatoes, parchment paper, roasted vegetables, San Jose Nia, Smashed potatoes, The Foodie Smash | 15 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 14, 2013
Since my current Nia class schedule has me teaching at dinner time on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have been using the “Time Bake” setting on my oven. When talking about using this feature with some of my Nia students one student commented that her oven is really old and must not have that feature. I confirmed with my mom that our oven had that feature and my husband’s childhood home oven has that feature too. Both of those ovens are almost 50 years old. So it could just be that the “Time Bake” feature is not something my student needed to use so was unaware of it. Does your oven have a “Time Bake” setting? I often use mine to cook dinner (meat), but I could understand if someone is going to be gone all day long they might not want to leave meat in the oven all day. I am not gone that long so I don’t worry about leaving meat in the oven for it to start cooking while I am gone. Also the oven isn’t on that long before I’m back to check on it. The oven’s time bake feature is perfect for vegetables or potatoes, ya know, something you would feel comfortable not being refrigerated all day if that is what your schedule requires. Time bake might be something you have on your oven and have not thought of using. It really comes in handy.
On the days I have a 
late Nia class we end up eating dinner really late. I would rather eat late with my hubby than eat early without him. It really helps me get dinner on the table faster when I have it cooking while I am gone. Depending on what I am cooking there might be some partial cooking before I leave. Lately I have been roasting eggplant and I roast it a bit on both sides before I leave. Then put onions and cheese on it and leave it in the oven. I have it start baking before I get home then when I arrive home it is done.
As you know if you’ve read a post or two of mine, I love having leftovers. I try to plan it so that on my late nights I will have a left over protein (pork, chicken, steak) so I only have to cook a veggie. Also, if you’ve read a post or two of mine you know I love to roast my veggies, so there you go; Time Bake is perfect. I can prepare my veggies for roasting and leave them in the oven and it turns on and roasts them while I am gone. When I get home I can heat the meat quickly and have fresh hot veggies. LOVE IT!
But there are other things that “Time Bake” has helped me cook. Pizza, chicken, casseroles, you name it. It is a great feature on my oven. It helps me cook and get dinner on the table.
What about you? Does your oven have Time Bake? Do you use the Time Bake feature on your oven?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: casseroles, Nia, Nia class, Nia Class Schedule, Nia student, oven settings, roasted vegetables, Thursday night Nia, Time Bake, time bake oven feature, time bake setting, Tuesday night Nia | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 8, 2013
Recently my husband took a couple of days off of work. It is good to take some days off to just relax, I think. It great to take days off when you have something planned, but sometimes it does the body, mind, and spirit REAL good when you just take the day off with no plans. Just sit around and relax or work on a project.
Well, on one of the days he had off he decided to attend one of my Nia classes. I was so excited. It was great to have my hubby there. For a moment I thought I would be nervous, but then I realized that he would be fine and I would just be doing what I always do. And that is what we did. He moved, I led, and we went out to breakfast after.
The whole morning was such a wonderful treat to me. It definitely is in a Good Thing worthy of my Goodie Jar!
How is your good things jar doing?
Posted in Good Things in the Goodie Jar | Tagged: body, days off work, Good Thing jar, Goodie Jar, mind, Nia, Nia class, relax, spirit | 4 Comments »
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 »
Terre Pruitt's Blog 