Posts Tagged ‘Nia’
Posted by terrepruitt on July 16, 2013
A post or two ago I wrote about how breathing is good. I mentioned that it is very common to hold your breathe while exercising and/or concentrating. I shared that I was reminded of that recently by my husband (and Remo Williams). I briefly shared a few situations in which people might breath differently. Of course, I had to mention Nia Sounding. In my post What IS PiYo?, I mentioned yoga breathing and Pilates breathing. Generally they are a bit different.
Simply put yoga breathing is done through the nose. Both the inhale and the exhale. Depending on what type of yoga you are doing, you may move as you inhale and exhale in a flow. It is almost as if the breath can work as your metronome. Or the flow is done where on certain moves you just inhale or exhale, timing your breath to your moves instead of your moves to your breath. You can just breath normally and move through the poses as you want with no regard to the pace of your breath, but you still move with your breath. As with most exercising the exhale is on the effort whether you are doing poses in a flow or at your own pace unrelated to your breathing pace. While breath and breathing is related to movement in yoga, it does not always set the pace. In addition to the breath entering and exiting through the nose the breath affects the belly. On the inhale it is the belly that expands. On the exhale the belly compresses. This is called diaphragmatic breathing.
To put Pilates breathing simply, it is done through both the nose and the mouth. Inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth. And even though ALL breathing utilizes the diaphragm Pilates breathing expands the thoracic/chest area. When I was first learning Pilates I was taught it was called “Back breathing”. This name helped me to concentrate on the change in shape of my upper body and not pull the breath down into my belly. As with yoga, breathing is a large part of Pilates and breath relates to movement, but the area of the body with which the breathing is done is different.
Both yoga and Pilates breathing are done fully and completely. So whether the air is flowing into the lower part of lungs and you are allowing your belly to expand or whether the air is going into all of the “corners” and your chest is expanding it is a full breath. I like to practice allowing all the air that my lungs can hold to enter, to the point where I know there is no more space, then exhaling completely, until I know there is no more air left in my lungs. This expelling completely is done with either type of breathing practice.
So in general that is the difference between yoga breathing and Pilates breathing. As you practice either yoga or Pilates there are many details that you will learn and experience but that is it in a nutshell.
As I said, I like to practice full and complete breathing. In addition I like to practice BOTH types of breathing. I think they each have different benefits. I think it is very important — no matter which type of breathing you are doing — to make the breaths FULL and COMPLETE – as much in as you can as much out as you can.
If you were to report on your breathing you are doing right now, which type would you say it more closely resembles?
Posted in Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: back breathing, belly breathing, breathe while exercising, diaphragmatic breathing, holding your breath, Nia, Nia sounding, Pilates, Pilates breathing, Remo Williams, thoracic breathing, Yoga, yoga breathing, Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on July 13, 2013
I have allergies. I’m allergic to things outside, things inside, and things around. I cannot breathe through my nose at night especially when I sleep. My nose gets too stuffed. When my mouth hangs open all night long it gets dry and my throat hurts. So I sleep with a cough drop in my mouth. This does a few things, sometimes it helps a little with the “stuffy”, it helps sooth my throat, and/or it helps me keep my mouth shut which is great because I don’t even want to think about . . . . (spiders, shhhh!). Not too long ago I was doing a quick stop at a shop after one of my Nia classes and I saw that there was a bag of cough drops on sale. They were honey-lemon. Whatever . . . I was hoping they wouldn’t be to icky. Turns out they weren’t icky at all. I liked them. So the next time I was in the store they were still on sale so I bought two bags. I was using them when halfway through one of the bags I actually looked at one of the wrappers. Well, I’ll be . . . I was happily surprised to see little motivational sayings on each wrapper. How cute is that? Halls has a PEP TALK IN EVERY DROP™.
I think that is pretty brilliant. It made me smile. Then I was thinking that most people use cough drops when they are not feeling well, so these could really be little pick me ups. I know there are tags on some tea bags that have nice little sayings, I’ve seen that, but I hadn’t noticed the sayings on the wrappers of these cough drops right away. I like it!
I like all of the sayings, but some I like more than others. My favorites are:
~Put a little strut in it!
~Elicit a few “wows” today.
~Bet on yourself.
~Hi-five yourself.
~Don’t waste a precious minute.
~Don’t wait to get started.
~Flex your “can do” muscles.
You know that I would LOVE the strut one. To me strut is like “spirit” or “pep” and I like putting that into it! Strut into the dance of life! And, really, who wouldn’t want to elicit “wows”, right? Well, I guess there are some “wows” out there that are a result of some odd things, but I am thinking of the of positive masterful “WOWs”. Those two are my favorite of my favorites.
Such a simple thing for a company to do. I know — as I said — they are not the only ones to do it nor, I imagine, the first ones to do it, but I still think it is cool. Sometimes it is the little things. Ha, and speaking of little things, the latest bag I bought . . . the cough drops are SMALLER than they used to be. Sigh.
So yeah, a simple thing, but for me sometimes it is the simple things. Things that make you smile. Things that make you want to strut or wow someone. Or good reminders, like “Don’t waste a precious minute.”
Don’t you think this is a nice idea? Which saying would you pick as a favorite?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: Allergies, cough drops, dance, dance classes, Halls, HALLS Triple Soothing Action Honey-Lemon, hi-five, motivational reminders, motivational sayings, motivational wrappers, Nia, Nia class, PEP TALK IN EVERY DROP™, strut, stuffy nose | 5 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on July 11, 2013
Many people hold their breath while working out. Or even just concentrating. I was recently learning something and concentrating really hard and my husband said, “Are you holding your breath?” I burst out laughing because I was in fact holding my breath. I didn’t even realize it until he asked. I thought it was funny that I was holding my breath and I thought it was extra funny because I remind people to breathe all the time. Exercising and concentrating are two things that make people hold their breath so if they are concentrating while exercising it makes sense that it happens. Also people tend to hold their breath when lifting something heavy. This type of maneuver or effect is called the valsalva maneuver or valsalva effect. While some people who do heavy lifting claim it is good to do the valsalva maneuver and that it helps with the lifting others say it is not good and it does not help. For me and my students breathing is ALWAYS in order. How you breathe depends on what you are doing. If you are lifting weights or doing exercises your breathing is different from when you are doing a cardio workout, such as Nia.
Breathing allows oxygen get to the muscles. The muscles need that. For me, I find that when I breathe I can move better. That was actually the point of my husband asking me if I were breathing. He could tell by the way I was moving that I was not breathing. He was across the room and he could tell. Even though the movement I was doing was very small by holding my breath my movements did not flow and were very sporadic.
One of my husband’s favorite sayings is “If you do not breathe correctly, you do not move correctly.” He got that from a campy film called Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins from 1985, but, I’ll be darned if it is not 100% accurate!
One way trainers and instructors ensure breathing is to have the client/student talk. When you are talking you are breathing. In Nia we sing, laugh, shout, and in general make all types of noises. In Nia we call it sounding. By engaging in sounding we are ensuring we are breathing. It is necessary for the body, but it is also fun for the spirit.
A sound made my a sharp exhalation helps both with stabilization of the core, but to me it seems to do a better job of engaging the core muscles than just holding my breath. This method could be utilized during lifting or an agility move. Sometimes when doing an exercise that is challenging it can help to pant with either your tongue out as an animal would or with semi-pursed lips. Also when a muscles seems fatigued it often helps to take that extra deep breath. No matter how you breathe remember it really is important to do so. And even though it might sound silly that we “forget” to breathe, it is a common occurrence. So practice remembering to breathe. Breathing is a good thing!
Do you ever find yourself holding your breath? When?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: breath, breathing, campy movie, cardio exercise, cardio workout, Core Muscles, heavy lifting, Nia, Nia instructor, Nia sounding, Nia student, Nia trainers, Remo Williams, stable core, valsalva effect, valsalva maneuver | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on July 9, 2013
I am very shocked and somewhat embarrassed that I have had this blog for over four years and I have never written a post explaining PiYo™. PiYo is a combination of Pilates (Pi) and Yoga (Yo), brought to us by Chalene Johnson. Chalene is the creator of Turbo Jam®, Turbo Kick®, TurboFire®, Hip Hop Hustle®, and ChaLEAN Extreme®. These programs are put out by either Beachbody or her company, Powder Blue Productions. With PiYo the idea is to combine the two mind/body practices in order to appeal to a large audience. Pilates and yoga are somewhat similar to begin with, both have a component of connecting the mind and the body in conscious movement. Both have ideals on breathing and breath. Both are a way to improve flexibility, stability, strength, and balance. Depending on which type of yoga practice there could be agility and mobility involved as in Pilates. Now this might sound familiar if you know about Nia. In Nia we have the five sensations flexibility, agility, mobility, strength, and stability (FAMSS) which we play with in our dance. In PiYo the same sensations can be experienced. The manual states: “PiYo is considered a ‘Western’ approach to the practices of mind/body fitness.”
I believe that many people think yoga has been “Westernized”. Since there are so many types of yoga there might not always be a spirituality in the yoga class or chanting, meditating, or even the Sanskrit terminology. That is true with a PiYo class. It is more about the physical with an awareness.
PiYo combines yoga breathing and Pilates breathing. In general a yoga pose is done with yoga breathing and a Pilates exercise is done with Pilates breathing. Of course, students are encouraged to breath in a way that is comfortable to them and that works with their individual body, the aforementioned is just a general guide.
The PiYo class follows the tried and true module of a typical exercise class. There is a section for warming up, a section for general strength and balance, a section with more of a focus specific area of the body (say a core, upper body, or lower body), then a cool down and relaxation section. While yoga poses could meet all the requirement of each section and Pilates exercises could also, it is often the case that each section will have a majority of one or the other. Although, you might be like me and think that there is such a huge cross over it is difficult with some moves to claim it is only a yoga move or only a Pilates move. While I am certain the move did originate from one or the other practice specifically it seems as though currently there is a huge cross over. That is one reason why I think Pilates and yoga marry ups so well. They can be considered very similar.
So throughout the class there will be yoga poses and Pilates exercises. It is up to the instructor and the make-up of the class as to whether the yoga poses will be held for a measured amount of time or done in a flow. No matter which is chosen it will be a sequences of poses. Whereas the Pilates exercises are done in repetition. Generally sequences of repetitions.
A PiYo class is allowed the freedom of design. As mentioned there is a class format, but then the way it is carried out is dependent on the instructor and students. The consistence of a PiYo class is that it is for the body and the mind using both yoga poses and Pilates moves.
Do you practice yoga? Do you practice Pilates?
Posted in Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: agility, balance, Beachbody, ChaLEAN Extreme, Chalene Johnson, chanting, conscious movement, exercise programs, flexibility, Hip Hop Hustle, meditating, mind/body fitness, mind/body practices, Mobility, Nia, Nia class, Nia Dance, Nia five sensations, Pilates, PiYo class, PiYo manual, Powder Blue, Sanskrit terminology, spirituality, stability, strength, Turbo Jam, TurboFire, TurboKick, types of yoga, Western approach, Yoga, Yoga class, Yoga Pose, Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on July 5, 2013
This is the 22nd Goodie Jar check in. I forgot to post a check in post last week. So IF I had remembered this would actually be the 23rd check in since we started with a Good Things Jar, but since I forgot, this is 22!
How about a share?
This week it was really, really, really hot for our area. I do not like heat at all. I just melt. So while I in no way consider the heat a good thing, I do feel very blessed and consider the fact that we did not lose our electricity at all — a very good thing. Seems that in the last few heat waves we have had our power has been cut or we have had “brown outs”. So that fact that we have been able to have fans on through out the heat wave was fantastic! I put that in my jar.
I had an extra fabulous Nia Class on Tuesday. It is always nice when students contact you after class to comment on their experience.
I had a fun time at the annual 4th of July party. The hostess always does a great job with the food and this year was really good. It was a small crowd so it makes for a more intimate evening where you actually get to have longer conversations than when you are busy trying to jump from person to person to make sure you get in at least a quick visit.
Time off with hubby is always a nice thing to add to the jar.
And for last week at least one good thing I added was a wedding. Fun stuff! These are photos from the photo booth at the wedding.
So what are the good things you’ve added to your good things jar in the past two weeks?
Posted in Good Things in the Goodie Jar | Tagged: 22nd Goodie Jar check in, annual 4th of July party, fun stuff, good things jar, Goodie Jar – Check In #22, heat wave, intimate evening, June wedding, Nia, Nia class, Nia Class on Tuesday, Nia students, photo booth | 11 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on July 2, 2013
I am so grateful that all of the Nia classes I teach are in air conditioning because it is has been really hot the last few days and the weather predictions for the next few days are just as hot if not hotter. I know that a lot of areas get hotter than us, but we usually don’t have such hot weather. Since the San Francisco Bay Area doesn’t always get into the triple digits it is not uncommon for people to NOT have air conditioning. We don’t have air conditioning. Usually with the few days of heat that we do get it is ok. Our traditional — and wonderful, I might add — weather patterns consist of cooled off nights even when the days are blistering. But sometimes or when the days of heat drag onto six or seven days in a row, it just doesn’t seem to cool off and it makes sleeping difficult. I often see posts on Facebook and tweets on Twitter about how people can’t sleep because it is too hot. When it has been too hot for me to sleep it is usually immediately. As in when I go to bed it is too hot for me to fall asleep. I have a little method of cooling down that at least allows me to sleep. I wanted to share it in hopes that it might allow you, if you are too hot, a few hours of sleep.
Even if this is not new to you or sounds elementary, it might help someone. I know when I mentioned it to someone once they said, “Oh, I never thought of that.” So — hey, it might help.
So what you do before you go to bed is take a cold shower. As cold as you can stand. Now I don’t know what it is about showers, but the other day I got into take a shower and even though the weather was really hot I started taking a warm shower, then I realized that it was really hot and I should try a cool shower at least. So when I say take a cold shower, I really mean COLD. As in jump-in-the-pool-stop-your-breathe type of cold. Now if you are actually taking a shower than I supposed that would be long enough, but if you are just in there to cool down stay as long as you can to actually get cool maybe even chilled. Once you are done don’t dry off all the way. Yeah, that is the big part of this. First cool your body down. Drop your temperature as low as you can in cool/cold water then don’t dry off. Then set a fan up to blow on you while you are in bed. Then go to bed, wet hair, damp body, and all.
Part of the sleep process is lowering your body temperature so when it is hot outside and your body can’t cool down it makes it difficult to sleep. But if you HELP your body’s natural sleep process by cooling your body down you are a step closer to sleep. The fan is an added bonus to help keep you cool. Of course have the air blowing on you however you prefer. I don’t like it on my face and I don’t care for it on my back so often I just have it on my feet, either in a constant rush or the breezy kind.
So this is a simple procedure that might assist you in getting to sleep. For many people once they are asleep they can stay asleep, but if you wake up because it is too hot at least you got a few hours (hopefully) in. You could always repeat the process if you’d like. Usually it helps me get through the night.
What do you think?
Sweet dreams.
Posted in Misc | Tagged: air conditioning, Bay Area, Bay Area Nia, can't sleep, cool down for sleep, Facebook, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia Teacher, San Francisco Bay Area, sleep relief, too hot to sleep, tweets, Twitter | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 29, 2013
Nia was designed to be done in bare feet. I believe that yoga is also supposed to be practiced in bare feet. But there are many reasons as to why people want to have something on their feet. Many reasons why people don’t like “naked feet“. Some people don’t like to be barefoot in public places (and with that there could be many reasons). Some people need support of shoes for their comfort and health. Some people like to have traction built into their footwear. Since Nia is designed to be done in bare feet we do not spin on our feet we lift them up so having a little bit of traction does not interfere with our movement, whereas in a Zumba class where you are often twisting on your feet you do not want traction. What someone has come up with for yoga are toe less socks with traction on the bottom. I had a friend give me some as a gift. She was so sweet and said, “I know you do Nia barefoot, but I thought you might like these.”
While I love to do Nia barefoot there are some floors where the toe less socks come in handy. Some floors that I dance on or have danced on have a texture to them that is not very comfortable on the feet. Some floors are really dirty (without access to a dry mop or broom) and so the layer of fabric between the foot and the floor helps to keep the grit from digging into my feet and being uncomfortable. The fact that the toes are exposed give me a bit of a barefoot sensation. Allowing the toes to come in contact with the floor and keeping those nerves activated. The energy flowing from the earth and to the earth via the exposed toes.
For yoga these are great because the textured bottom of the sock allows for traction if sliding is an issue for you. The texture also assists in keeping you from spinning on the foot when doing Nia. Ha! I just realized it might help stop that altogether. It is possible to spin, twist, slide on your bare feet although you might end up with blisters. But with the traction on the bottom of the sock it stops you in your tracks. You are unable to spin, twist, or slide.
Maybe the yoga socks could act as “training wheels” for some. If at first exercising barefoot seems odd, maybe the socks can help ease you into it. Perhaps the socks could also assist in training people not to spin, twist, or slide, so when they do decide to go barefoot for their Nia workout they will already have the know-how of lifting the feet.
Whatever the person’s reason for not going barefoot, toe less yoga socks might be a great solution. I do want to say, just so you know, when in my Nia classes as long as the facility allows shoes (some yoga/dance studios do not allow shoes), everyone is encouraged to be comfortable so when wearing shoes allow people to be comfortable then they are invited to do so.
Do you ever exercise barefoot?
Posted in Nia | Tagged: bare feet, barefeet, dance class, dance studio, naked feet, Nia, Nia class, Nia Practice, toe less yoga socks, training wheels, Yoga, Yoga Practice, yoga socks, yoga studio, Zumba, Zumba class | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 27, 2013
Stepping Back Onto The Ball Of Your Foot is certainly not unique to Nia. Many dance modalities incorporate this move. In fact this move is incorporated into every day life. How often are you moving forward only have to stop and move back? You could be in line at the store or anywhere when the person in front of you moves back towards you so you take a step back. While you might not “hang” out on the ball of your foot as we do in Nia you more than likely don’t take a step backwards heel first. 
So, yes, Nia has taken moves that might be done in other dance practices, martial arts, and even everyday life and put them in their list of Nia’s 52 Moves. Nia then weaves the moves into the Nia Routine choreography. This move Stepping Back Onto The Ball Of Your Foot is part of our Base Moves. It is done with the feet and legs and they are a part of the base.
This move is described on page 123 of the Nia Technique book written by Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas and you can purchase it from Amazon.
As I have said many times there is a proper way to do all moves and while you are practicing them and learning them you do it the proper way. Then as you come across it in a Nia class while doing a Nia routines your body will know the proper way yet be able to adapt to the choreography that you are dancing at the moment.
So to practice this move you can start in Open Stance. Then with one leg step back onto the ball of foot. When stepping back pull the leg straight behind not to either side. Keep the foot parallel to the stationary foot, don’t turn the heel. As is indicated step back onto the ball of the foot. Keep the spine up and the heel high off of the earth. Then shift your weight onto the foot of which you just stepped back on and take the other foot off the ground. 
Your torso is upright, pelvis, chest, shoulders, chin, eyes facing forward. Do the same movement with the other foot. You don’t necessarily always have to start in open stance.
After you are comfortable with the stationary start, walk around and stop and step into the move.
This move helps with the mobility and flexibility in the foot. It also helps create or improve stability in the ankle. It helps with balance, especially if you hang out for a measured amount of time on the ball of your foot!
At the moment I can think of one routine in which we step back onto the ball of foot as a large portion of one of the dances. I know we step back all the time, but in this routine I think of one of the songs as “showcasing” this move. The choreography calls for lifting the leg of the foot that is off the ground. Or doing a knee lift. So that is a good example of the variations that Nia choreography uses with its 52 Moves.
Well, what do you think about this move? Can you see how it helps with mobility and flexibility in the foot?
Posted in 52 Moves (of Nia), Nia | Tagged: Amazon, Base Moves, Carlos Rosas, dance modalities, dance practices, Dancing, Debbie Rosas, especially if you hang out for a measured amount of time on the ball of your foot, flexibility, helps with balance, improve stability, knee lift, martial arts, Mobility, Nia, Nia class, Nia Practice, Nia Routine Choreography, Nia routines, Nia Technique Book, Nia's 52 Moves, open stance, Stepping Back Onto The Ball Of Your Foot | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 22, 2013
One of Nia’s 52 Moves is the Sink and Pivot Table Wipe. Ha! Sounds funny. I always think of cleaning when I say this move in class, but not many people LIKE to clean so I don’t like to remind them of cleaning while we are in our Joy! There are many other ways to describe the movement, but “table wipe” really gets the point across. It could be a dramatic sweep of the table. Regardless of what spirit might have me say in the midst of the move there is a particular way to do it. As with all of Nia’s 52 Moves there is a specific way to do it. And . . . as I have said . . . often times the specifics are adjusted to work into the song and the moment’s choreography. To me the Sink and Pivot Table Wipe is a combination of an arm movement and a bow stance.
To practice the Sink and Pivot Table Wipe you start in an A Stance. Doing one side at a time, say the left, you would place your left arm out. As you lift up your left foot you turn your body towards the right, your left arm sweeps across the horizon to the right. Your left foot lands gently on the earth on the ball of your foot and your left leg is bent. Your right leg is also bent. The bent legs become the “sink” part of the move. Your arm sweeping is the wiping part of the move. That “table” part is the imaginative part of the move to assist in knowing how the arms sweeps. The arm is straight out and just moves parallel to the ground. Doing the other side, you would you would place your right arm out. As you lift up your right foot you turn your body towards the left, your right arm sweeps out and around to the left. You place your right ball of foot gently on the floor with your right leg bent. Your left leg is also bent. The legs are similar to a bow stance.
In most instances — the ones I can think of — in the choreography, I usually do a tiny hop so that my front foot ends up with the toes facing the same direction as the foot in the back, the foot that is “ball of foot”. So as I continue to say, the instructions in The Nia Technique book* show the exact perfect way to do a move. Which is the way to learn it, but then once you know the move the choreography dictates the exact way it is done.
The book recommends the word “Whoosh” be said while doing this move. Of course that is just one of many words and sounds that can be made. Sounds are dictated by so many things. The “Whoosh” can be used in the practice of the move, if you would like. When in a Nia class anything goes!
I believe this move is a great stability move because as I said I am normally moving both feet in order to sink, pivot, and wipe the table so I need to “land” stable. Also, I think it is great for the legs because any sink type of move helps condition them. It is also good for coordination because you are moving both the upper body and lower body at the same time, but in a little different manner.
Tee hee . . . . it is really great for a lot of things, depends on what you put into it. The last couple of times I did it in the current Nia routine I am doing I had the class stretching the arm as far as they could reach as they wiped that table. It was a HUGE table and we wanted to wipe it all in one pass!
So what do you imagine you are doing when you do this move?
*The Nia Technique written by Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas
Posted in 52 Moves (of Nia), Nia | Tagged: A Stance, Bow Stance, Carlos Rosas, Debbie Rosas, Nia, Nia 52 moves, Nia class, Nia routine, Sink and Pivot Table Wipe, The Nia Technique, The Nia Technique book | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 20, 2013
Someone once said to me they love my food blog. Eeek! My blog is not a food blog. I want it to be about health and wellness so yes, food plays a part in that, but it is not the only thing. I really like to share about Nia. But I have also mentioned before that food is international. Everyone eats. Seems like people like to see what other people are eating. People like to get ideas on what to eat. People like ideas on how to eat and what to eat. So yes, I do post about food! Recently I attended a “Baby Reveal Party”. Oh yeah, have you heard of these? I hadn’t, but apparently they are the “in” thing. It is a party where the parents DO NOT KNOW THE GENDER OF THE BABY, but everyone else does! Then at the party the sex is revealed to the parents in some way. The party I attended had BLUE frosting in the center of the cake. The parents cut into it for the surprise. It was cute. The parents were surprised and happy. They were excited to be having a baby brother for their daughter. Anyway . . . the party organizer asked me to bring a vegetable tray. She didn’t really care what veggies I brought she just wanted to make sure that I used bell peppers as the dip bowls. While I don’t think using a perfectly good bell pepper as a bowl — ack! I LOVE bell peppers! — is a MUST HAVE, I DO think veggies are a must have. I love to bring the vegetables to a party because then I know for certain there WILL be something I can eat and I know for certain there will be vegetables at the party!
So I bought two bell peppers to chop off the tops and fill with dip. When you do this make certain that use use the bell peppers that will actually stand on their own. You might even have to cut a TINY bit off the bottom. Don’t cut so much that you cut a hole in the bottom. 🙂 I believe my cousin saw the idea on Pinterest.
Then arrange any veggies you want on the tray to be dipped in the bell peppers. I like to use a lot of colors. You can see I have red, green, orange, white, and yellow. Go for as many colors that you can to get the largest variety of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients. You might notice there are carrots on the tray and carrots in a bowl. I have found in my party going experiences that carrots are the most popular so I had an auxiliary bowl of carrots.
When cutting up the vegetables I like to make them easy to eat. Broccoli — to me — is one of those veggies that tend to leave remnants in your teeth so I don’t like to bite into it at a party. So I cut the broccoli small enough to fit in my mouth (which I consider average) but I left it in the flower type formation so it will look nice on the tray.
I also have this cool tool that makes tealight sized circles in fruit. I made candle fruit. I used grapefruit and lemons. You can see them in on the table. The candles weren’t lit when I took the pictures. Ha, ha, the candle filled fruit is not a “MUST HAVE” but veggies sure are.
What do YOU think a potluck “MUST HAVE” is?
Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: Baby Reveal Party, candle fruit, food blog, Nia, potluck, surprise party, tealight candles | 2 Comments »
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