Posts Tagged ‘Nia’
Posted by terrepruitt on November 6, 2012
I love teaching Nia, but it does not earn as much as my corporate job. I have always loved shopping for Christmas presents. I am a catalog shopper. My hubby and I tend to watch the same movies over and over, so while we are watching V For Vendetta for the 50th time, I will thumb through a catalog. Plus at one time catalog shopping was not that common and very unique items could be acquired that way. Now with the internet you can get anything from anywhere so many things are not as unique. I don’t shop that much any longer. My friends, family, and I are very blessed and we have enough, so I don’t buy them all the cute decorations any longer. I try to stick to stuff that will be used, sometimes I really feel strongly about something that might not rank up there in usefulness so I succumb, but mostly we try to keep it useful. I am not one to go out and do my shopping all at once. To me that makes it a chore. I like to do my shopping throughout the year. So I just look and if I see something that I think someone will like, I get it. For me that also helps out with the I-don’t-make-corporate-bucks because it spreads the cost out over the year. One problem with shopping all year long is I don’t have a lot of space to put stuff because I have so much stuff. So I end up putting it in odd places wherever it will fit. Yes, I have forgotten about things. Just recently I gave someone a birthday present I bought for her years ago because I forgot about it. Found it. Forgot about it. Found it again . . . and you get the picture. Which leads me to my point — yes, I have a point! Instead of keeping a list of what I have gotten over the year I have been taking pictures. I am finding this to be much easier to keep track. I can just glance at the picture and remember exactly what I got for whom.
I must not have taken very good notes in the past because I would look at the list and think, “What? What kind of ‘funny T-shirt’ did I get him?” Then I would have to go look at the actual shirt to know which one I got so I didn’t buy the same thing. I mean I bought it once it would make sense that I would be attracted to it again right. And yes, you would think I could remember what I bought, but sometimes if stuff is on sale you buy it, then months later you remember you like it but forgot you bought it. So I am finding that this picture record keeping is working very well.
For some people I buy a few things, so I just piled it all together and took the picture and labeled that picture “So and so”. So now I know if I am “done” with that person’s give buying or if I want to get a few more things. Then I have all the pictures in one folder on my computer and I just pop in there to see, “Did I by her something already or not?” So much easier than trying to decipher my list.
Also with the picture I can snap a shot of where I have hidden the item so I won’t forget that either! Yeah, I have done that too, I know I have purchased it but I can’t remember where I stashed it. Yeah, I should just clean out a closet and have a designated space, but . . . . for now I have adopted this new method that seems to be working just great!
Do you shop early for Christmas gifts? Are you a Christmas Eve shopper? Do spread out your gift buying?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: 5th of November, catalog shopper, Christmas gifts, Christmas presents, Christmas shopping, corporate job, keeping track of gifts, Nia, Nia Teacher, V for Vendetta | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 3, 2012
Yay! I am so excited — I am taking the next level of Nia, Blue Belt AND I received fennel in my organic produce box. Fennel. Yay. Two new things. As you may know if you’ve read any of my posts about the delivery I receive, I ordered it partly because I wanted to try new stuff. Yeah, it is possible to go to a store or a Farmer’s Market and purchase produce I have not tried before, but I don’t. I just stick to what I know. But when I get it delivered to me then I can work with it. I am excited to be trying new things. Ok, I just realized though that while I am cooking with a new-to-me vegetable I did it the same way I do everything. I have heard about roasted fennel and again, if you’ve read anything about my cooking you know I roast pretty much all my veggies. So I did that again with the fennel. This time I also looked at the information on the website of the company that delivers the produce. Yes, I learned after chopping off the beat greens and throwing them away, that I should find out what portion of the fruit/vegetable can be used. The information indicated that the bulb can be roasted and the fronds can be used to flavor meat. I am not familiar with fennel. It is not a vegetable I even think about. So I was happy to receive some to try. Yay a new-to-me vegetable.
As soon as I cut the fennel I recognized the smell. So I must have had the flavor somewhere. Which makes sense because fennel is actually an herb that is eaten as if it were a vegetable. I’ve probably had it in a Greek dish or something from the Mediterranean region. I decided to use some of the fennel with the chicken I was cooking. I just cut off some of the fronds and put them in the dish with the chicken that I was cooking. I didn’t change the recipe I was planning for the meat, I just put the fennel tops around the chicken.
The bulb of the fennel I sliced, put in a pan, sprayed with olive oil, drizzled with balsamic vinegar, sprinkled with salt, and put in the oven at 400 degrees F. I cooked it for about 40 minutes. It was good, but I thought it was sour. My hubby didn’t think it was sour. I am wondering if it was because I took the pieces that were drenched in vinegar. He doesn’t really like vinegar so I decided to take those pieces. Or maybe it was just what I was tasting. But I will get some fennel in the future to see.
I still have some of the fronds left so I plan I using them in other dishes. Maybe cut up on a salad, added to a soup, or cooked with other meat.
Have you eaten fennel before? Do you cook with fennel? How do you cook it?
Posted in "Recipes", Food, Vegetables | Tagged: Blue Belt, fennel, fennel recipe, Greek food, Mediterranean dish, Mediterranean region, Nia, organic produce, organic produce box, roasted vegetables | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on October 27, 2012
Awhile back, March 2010, to be more accurate, I posted about one of my favorite condiments. I use Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce in almost all of my marinades and whenever I cook meat. Sometimes I even splash it in my vegetables. I was upset back in March of 2010 when I realized that it had High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) in it. This sweetener is being used in way too many products. I actually think that people recognize it to be an awful sweetener and so some companies are removing it from their products. I believe HFCS to be awful because it is made from corn and there is too much corn in too many products. One of the main problems with corn is that at least 88% of the corn produced in the United States (in 2011) was from Genetically Engineered seed. So, corn is an altered vegetable. Next the processing in which the corn has to go through in order to create HFCS involves many additional chemicals making it, in my opinion, a double-whammy of things I don’t want to eat. So annoyed was I that there was HFCS in the Worcestershire Sauce that I gave feedback on the Lea & Perrins site. Their response was that HFCS does not cause obesity. That was very odd to me since I never mentioned weight or fat or anything. I just asked if they could make their sauce without HFCS. Well, they are.
I am not saying that it was my doing at all, but I am just here to report that Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce does come in versions without High Fructose Corn Syrup. In my opinion it is only fair of me to report that. If I complain about something in a 
post on my blog and it gets changed, then it is only right that I post something about it being fixed. I am very excited that it no longer contains HFCS.
However it does contain “sugar” and the general rule with “sugar” is that if it just says “sugar” and not PURE CANE sugar then it was made from sugar beets. Sugar beets is another highly genetically engineered food. Ninety Five percent of sugar beet acres in the US were planted with the genetically engineered seed in 2011. Sugar Beets are “Round-up ready”. While sugar from sugar beets is from a genetically engineered food, I believe there is a lot less processing involved. With less processing the chances are there are less chemicals being used. So it is a whammy, but not a double-whammy, although it is a BIG whammy!
The less our food is processed with chemicals the better. The closer to natural it is the better. But again, when the vegetable has been genetically engineered it probably isn’t close to natural at all. But again, I for me, I would rather eat sugar beet sugar than High Fructose Corn Syrup.
Anyway . . . Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce now lists sugar as an ingredient instead of High Fructose Corn Syrup. Now if we could just get them to use Pure Cane Sugar . . . .
Or what I really need to do is try the kind that my Nia friend told me about. It is organic. But it doesn’t have anchovies (ewww, I know) and that is what makes worcestershire sauce worcestershire sauce.
Have you tried another brand of Worcestershire Sauce?
Posted in Food | Tagged: anchovies, condiments, genetically engineered food, Genetically Engineered seed, genetically engineered sugar beets, HFCS, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Lea & Perrins, marinades, Nia, PURE CANE sugar, Round-up ready, sugar beets, sweetener, Worcestershire Sauce | 9 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on October 20, 2012
People ask me about my blender. Just this week we were talking about super blenders after our Nia class. A lot of people are interested in making green smoothies. I was never interested in them because they sound so gross and the ones I had seen looked gross. I also really like to EAT my fruits and veggies and felt I was eating enough, but I realized I could use more in my diet. Eating more is sometimes difficult and that is why people have been making and drinking smoothies for so long. It is a great way to get some additional vegetables in your diet. I chose the Blendtec for a few reasons. I started looking at it because it was on sale at Costco. From there I started looking at prices on the internet. I found that I could get a Blendtec for less than a Vitamix. That was a big selling point to me, but not the only one. I did more research. The decision will just come down to what you prefer. In addition to the Blendtec being less expensive I feel the one I got at Costco was a great deal. At Costco they sell the blender and two containers/jars for less than the price I’ve seen elsewhere for the blend with just one container/jar .
To save you time, nutshell list:
–two jars; WildSide and FourSide
–easy to clean “buttons”
–it fits under most cabinets (Company claim)
–no tamping
–preset buttons/controls
–variable speed buttons/controls
–pulse button/control
–3 HP
If you are looking at buying one of these super blenders you might notice that not only are the blenders different but the containers they sell are different. They have tall ones, short ones, round ones, square ones . . . all types. With the Blendtec you can buy the blender with what they call the FourSide Jar or the blender with the WildSide Jar. Now I didn’t know the difference and I didn’t know if I would want both jars, but when I saw that the jar alone was $100 and that Costco was selling the blender with BOTH containers for less than what I was seeing it cost for the blender with one container, I thought that was a good deal. (I am now seeing the same deal on Amazon so if you don’t belong to Costco you can get the same deal on Amazon.)
Now the bummer to me was that this one was only sold in black. All of my appliances are white and I would have loved to have a white one, but I wasn’t planning on leaving it on my counter anyway so I didn’t want to spend the extra money for white.
The features on the Blendtec that sold me were the “buttons”. I am an old school girl so I like to be able to control things and I think knobs are better than those electronic squishy “buttons”. With the knob on the Vitamix I was assuming I could get better control over the speed of the blender. But then I realized, I don’t need more control. What I need is not to have a knob that I have to clean under, on, and around. The Blendtec has been amazing in how easy it is to clean. I always seem to drip green smoothie all down the front so every time I do I am thankful I don’t have knobs and “real” buttons to clean all around.
The Blendtec is shorter than the Vitamix and will fit under most cabinets. Even though I was not planning on leaving mine out on the counter, being a shorter blender means it would fit IN the cabinet better. Being a shorter blender also means it is easier to use because you can add things easier, as in you don’t have to get the step stool to reach the top of the container! 🙂
The real thing that sold me is the information I read which said you don’t need a tamper with the WildSide Jar. Now, I am not certain, but I think the Blendtec containers don’t need tamping because the lids are vented so I think the air gets in there and that does the job of tamping. I liked the idea of just turning the blender on and letting it do its thing.
That is another thing, in addition to not tamping, the Blendtec has push-and-go buttons. You just push the button for what you want and it does it itself. I decided I didn’t need the control of doing it myself and if I do, the Blendtec has variable speed buttons and a pulse. So I can turn on the blender to whatever speed I want or pulse it. So I still have the control if I want.
Also the Blendtec has more horsepower than the Vitamix, that might be another reason a tamper is not required.
Please keep in mind I am comparing base models. There are a lot of different models that are high-end and professional, but I was just looking at the two comparable models and these are the things that “sold” me on the Blendtec.
I would love to learn more about the Vitamix if you have one and you would like to share? Any of you out there wanting to get a super blender? Do any of these things sound like features you’d like?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: Amazon, Blendtec, Costco, FourSide Jar, green smoothies, horsepower, Nia, Nia class, super blender, tamper, tamping, Vitamix, WildSide Jar | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on October 16, 2012
I stopped at the grocery store today on the way home from teaching my Tuesday morning Nia class for the City of San Jose and I had to stop myself from buying mushrooms. I love mushrooms. It would be nice to enjoy some mushrooms this week, but I have way too many other veggies from both the organic box that was delivered and from my trip to the Berryessa Farmers market. I need to make sure we eat those vegetables and don’t need to buy more . . . although I did by additional greens. When I went to the Farmers market I went to buy greens, but didn’t see any I wanted to I ended up with other veggies. I have gone to the store for spinach. So many greens means we don’t need the mushrooms. Which is fine because we have had them twice in the past seven days, so we will survive. We usually have them at least once a week. I always wash my mushrooms. If I don’t buy them already cut I wash them. If I buy them already cut it is too difficult to wash them. And I’ve learned that sliced mushrooms must be used the day I purchase them or the very next day. They cannot sit in the fridge for a couple of days. When I buy whole mushrooms I wash them. There are many, many, many who say not to wash mushrooms. Some say there is no need, while others give specific reasons as to why not to wash them. The reasons I hear for NOT washing them is that they absorb too much water or they will taste woody.
Well, I have always washed my mushrooms just because I like the thought of getting matter in which they grow off before I eat them. 😉 And a long time ago, about twelve years ago, I saw Alton Brown on Good Eats do an experiment that showed mushrooms really don’t absorb that much water when they are washed. It was a little, but not enough in his (and my) opinion to affect the mushroom. If you would like to see the weighing and washing for yourself it is on YouTube. Good Eats S02E13 The Fungal Gourmet. Alton starts talking about the waterlog theory about 2:30 into the video and true to the silliness of the show, he doesn’t actually get to the result until 3:50.
Some people still prefer to just use a brush to get the clods of dirt off the mushrooms. Some people use a damp cloth or a damp paper towel and wipe the mushrooms. I really like to wash them. Sometimes as I am working to get the dirt off they start to peel, it is as if they have an outer layer that just peels right off. When that happens that feels like a REALLY clean mushroom. It shed its outer skin. Now that I think about it, I think I am going to start running the sliced ones under water. Why I haven’t been all along I don’t know.
So what about you? Do you wash your mushrooms?
Posted in Food | Tagged: Alton Brown, Berryessa Farmer’s Market, Farmers Market, Good Eats, Nia, Nia class, Nia Teacher, teaching classes for the City of San Jose, The Fungal Gourmet, washing mushrooms, wet mushrooms | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on October 11, 2012
A few things I have learned having a super blender and making smoothies. I really wish I would have had the presence of mind during some of these lessons to have taken pictures because I know that being able to see for yourself would have really helped bring the lesson home for you.
I learned kale is really bitter.
I’ve had kale cooked as part of my meal. I have had kale in a salad, but for some reason kale in a smoothie is really bitter. It could be that I used A LOT.
I learned a banana should be peeled before freezing.
One night I decided I wanted to try the frozen banana that everyone was talking about was so wonderful in a smoothie. So I put a banana in the freezer. The next day it was frozen solid. It can’t be peeled. I left it to defrost on my counter and it couldn’t be peeled after that either. It kind of just poured from the peel into a container. I refroze it and used it the next day.
I learned not to use more water and/or soap than the instructions instruct you to use when cleaning the blender.
I decided that I wanted the blender to get the lid clean too, so I put a lot of water in it and a lot of soup. I am not sure that the lid was even secured because it blew off the blender and the water went straight up in the air then landed all over my counter. And it was magic water because it seemed as if it doubled in volume.
I learned cucumbers do really mellow out the bitter flavors.
I have not used as much kale as that one time, but I have used it and every time I do I think the smoothie is going to be too bitter, but when there is a cucumber involved it is not. I really like cucumbers in my smoothies.
I learned protein powder also helps mellow out the flavors.
Protein powder DOES make the smoothie chalky and I have not had the desire to drink a completely chalky smoothie so I have not added a whole scoop. But even a half makes it chalky. I always taste the smoothie before I add the powder and yup, it makes it chalky, but I think maybe chalky is a flavor because the bitterness of some vegetables are mellowed with the powder.
I have confirmed (because I heard it before I started making them) that smoothies taste better cold.
I was drinking them without ice, then I remembered I had read that they are better cold and so I added ice. Yes they are. Although the other day it was chilly here and the thought of ice in the smoothie made me dread wanting to drink one. So I didn’t have a smoothie in the morning after my Nia class. But then as the day wore on it warmed up a bit so I had one later.
So, do you have anything you have learned making smoothies that you can share with me so I don’t have to learn the hard way? Do you have any things to share about a super blender?
Posted in Misc, Smoothies | Tagged: cucumber smoothies, frozen banana, green smoothies, Kale, mask the bitter, Nia, Nia class, protein powder | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on October 4, 2012
I don’t like to waste my bananas. My husband won’t eat them if they have one little tiny spot of brown. And I don’t usually eat that many bananas. So you might have learned from some of my posts that I usually use the over ripe bananas in banana bread or Banana Oatmeal Walnut Cookies. Both of these items are not low calorie nor low fat, they are just a way for me to use up my bananas and put a treat in my hubby’s lunch. I have a great recipe I found on the internet for banana bread. I think it was called the World’s Best Banana Bread and I actually think it is. I have issues cooking it though, it never seems cooked all the way through, but that could because it is hand mixed and the bananas kind of chunk up in the batter. Well, since I got a fancy new blender I have been trying to find things to use it for. In the recipe book there is a recipe for banana bread so I thought I would give it a try. Even though the ingredients get mixed in the blender the recipe calls for the bananas to be mashed. Before I stared I grabbed my camera fully intending on taking pictures along the way. The next thing I knew I was putting the pan in the oven. DRAT! I forgot to take pictures as I was making it. But I took some of the finished product. Can you see how smooth it is? Blender bread is really like “commercially made” bread.
I liked the taste ok. It was actually good. I think the vanilla yogurt added the extra sweet, yumminess. Since it has no butter it has to be less calories and grams of fat then my other recipe. And it really was good, but it was so . . . “commercial”. It was like a loaf of bread from the store. There was no texture, no chunks, no . . . personality.
In addition to using my blender the other reason I wanted to try this recipe is because it called for two bananas and that is what I had.
I can’t find the recipe on the Blendtec website and, of course, I did some modifying anyway, so here is what I did:
_________________________________
Blender Banana Bread
Using the WildSide Jar
2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 large eggs
1/2 C low-fat vanilla yogurt
3/4 C sugar
1/4 C olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 C wheat flour
3/4 C white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Add first six ingredients to the container and secure lid. Select “Batters.” After that has blended, add the remaining four ingredients to the container and secure the lid. Press “Pulse” 3-5 times until dry ingredients are incorporated. (Do not over blend.) Pour batter into greased 9″X5″ loan pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes.
_______________________________
I guess the WildSide Jar and the FourSide Jar for this blender are very different because there are additional/different instructions if you are using the FourSide Jar.
Well, I know that I have been posting a lot about my blender, but . . . I am trying to get a fraction of the money’s worth out of it! I will not turn this blog into a blender blog, I will post about Nia, exercises, other health stuff, and even Zumba, but I am getting some post out of my first uses of the blender.
Do you like your banana bread smooth? Or do you like it more rustic and chunky?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: banana bread, Banana Oatmeal Walnut Cookies, blender bread, exercise, FourSide Jar, homemade bread, low calorie, low fat, Nia, Nia exercise, power blender, WildSide Jar, Zumba | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on October 2, 2012
When you do something, like Nia or use a blender every day, it gives you a lot of material to post on a blog! I’ve been using my birthday present almost every day. When I first heard of “super” blenders that made soup I thought that was crazy.
I thought that the blender had a heating element to heat up the soup. And there are some like that. But with the high-speed blenders, I didn’t realize the blades go fast enough to cause heat and heat up the soup. They go so fast it is hot! I didn’t think it would be something I would like. As you may know I love to make soup and one of the things I love about the soup I make is the fact that I do it all in one pot and then I use my immersion blender. I really like that. I don’t like having to pour cooked soup into a blender then blend it then pour it back into the pot to re-warm it. The soup recipes that I have seen for blender soup either have you doing that or have you cooking some if not the majority of ingredients before putting them in the blender. At this point, for some of my soups I will stick to my one pot and stick blender recipes. Another reason I like to make the soup in a pot is because I believe that cooking some of the ingredients as you go allows you to layer the flavors. Now, I know that phrase from cooking shows and I could be off base with what it means and what I am doing, but that is what I consider myself doing when I sauté onions and then garlic and then add the butternut squash and sauté it. Then add other spices, etc. It layers the flavors. But in a lot of the blender soup recipes you just dump it all in. Well, since I got the dang thing I decided to at least try one of the recipes for soup. I picked a recipe that does not require any other cooking. Just dump all the ingredients in the blender container and press soup. Now with that kind of ease I could maybe live without the layer of flavor if I liked the soup.
I like it ok. I think that if I followed the recipe exactly it would have more flavor, but I also think that if I follow the recipe exactly it would be too hot for me.
The recipe that came with the Blendtec Blender and is on their website is for Tortilla Soup.
Tortilla Soup
2 cups warm water
2 Roma tomatoes
1/2 large carrot
1 1 inch strip of red pepper
1/4 avocado
an onion wedge
1 1 inch X 1/2 inch chunk of pepper jack cheese Monterey jack
2 sprigs fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon no-salt herb seasoning Italian seasoning
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
The ingredients go into the blender in the order that they are listed then you press “Soups” on the blender and let it do its thing. It does really go so fast that it actually does get hot! Some people might like their soup piping hot so this MIGHT not be hot enough for them. But this type of soup is perfect at the temperature that the blender makes it.
It was not spicy because I didn’t use the pepper jack. I bet if you like that hot (spicy) cheese the soup is good with it. I will make it one day with the pepper jack because even if it ends up being too spicy hot for me, my hubby will eat it. For now, I am just using the Monterey jack.
The first time I made this it took me 30 minutes because I was going slow. The second time I made it, it was ready to eat in 20 minutes. So my title, So Fast It’s Hot, applies to the blades of the blender AND to the fact that this can be made and in a bowl in 20 minutes. Now that is HOT!
Before I got the blender I had an opinion about blender soup, what about you? What do you think about blender soup?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: 20 minute meal, 20 minute soup, blender soup, Blendtec, fast soup, hot soup, immersion blender, Nia, pepper cheese, Tomatoes, Tortilla Soup | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 29, 2012
Squats are great for the legs. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of a squat is sitting in a chair. So with the legs somewhat close together, the feet about shoulder width apart you then lowering your pelvis/buttocks down as if you are going to sit in a chair. When in reality a squat CAN be with a wider stance. I am vaguely remembering a “conversation” via comments on my blog about squats in Nia. We were talking about Nia squats being different from the squats in my Ten Minute Workout. I believe squats with weights are different from squats without weights. And I think that since I was focused on squats with weights I was not really thinking about side squats. We do side squats in Nia but now I think of that as Sumo Stance. The routine I am looking at right now has many squats in it. The squat works the legs, both front and back. The wider apart the feet the more the movement works the inner thighs. Since I am looking at a routine that has a lot of side squats or sumo stances it had me thinking . . . In addition to squats a way to get the adductors is to do movements where the leg is brought in towards the midline of the body. One exercise you might be familiar with is the inner thigh lift/raise. As with many exercises there are different versions and variations, but the basic of this one is lying on one side of your body with your torso propped up on your elbow. The “top” leg is back behind you with your foot flat on the floor. The other leg is straight down and lying on the floor. Then you lift the leg up toward the sky, keeping it parallel with the earth. So the inner thigh is being lifted toward the ceiling.
Well, this is a great one to use the weighted bar with. I had forgotten about my bar until recently. Then I remembered this exercise. I would recommend using shoes with the bar. I did it without shoes and I had to hold my foot at an odd angle to keep the bar from hurting my foot. I decided to continue my set without putting on shoes – because I didn’t want to stop – but I made a mental note to use shoes in the future.
One end of the bar rests on the foot of your straight leg. The bar runs the length of your body. The other end is up near your hands where you can secure it to the ground. Then you simply lift your leg. Make sure that the bar is resting firmly on your foot so it does not roll off and cause an injury. This exercise really targets the leg/hip adductors, the muscles that pull the thigh towards your body.
As I stated there are variations of this, some could be: dumbbells place on the thigh (and held securely!), instead of using the weighted bar. It can be done without any weights at all. And/or without weight, the upper leg and be in front.
I think it is a great idea to do different exercises to target the same muscles. Especially since when you do a different exercise to target a specific muscle or muscle group there are usually different or additional muscles that end up getting used. So it is nice to switch it up.
Might you switch it up and do thigh raises instead of squats? Are you familiar with the inner thigh lift?
Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: adductors, dumbbells, inner thigh lift, inner thigh raise, Nia, Nia exercise, squats, Sumo Stance, ten minute workout, weighted bar, weighted squats, wide stance squats | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 27, 2012
Yup, I am trying to do the Green Smoothie thing. Awhile back, I posted about not having time to eat breakfast before my Nia Classes. It is not that I don’t get up in time, it is that I don’t like to eat right when I get up. Then I think some time needs to pass after eating before I teach an exercise class. You might remember my post about how I was eating a banana on the way to class and I was ending up with heartburn. So I either have to get up an hour earlier or eat right when I get up. And/or maybe a green smoothie will help. Although I need to work on getting more protein in them then. Also, I am not sure about having that much liquid before class. I have found that the smoothies make about two glasses. Maybe I can drink one before class and save the other for after class. Oh, and, yes, I do do a lot of my thinking out loud on my blog . . . . 🙂 My last post was about my birthday present. So far I have used it five times. I’ve made three different green smoothies.
My second green smoothie consisted of:
1 Cup water
1 apple chopped
1/2 of a large cucumber (cut up)
2 leaves of rainbow chard (cut up)
4 ice moons
I started out with only one half of the apple. But after blending it, I decided that I wanted more flavor so I added another half. It seems that cucumbers are REALLY good at masking flavor, while they do have a distinct flavor it is very mild so it can somewhat cancel out some harsher flavors . . . . maybe . . . I will have to see. That seems to be what I have found so far . . . on my SECOND green smoothie.
I read on one website (I can’t remember which one I have looked at so many) the idea that green smoothies taste better cold. I think that is a valid opinion. I tend to agree.
I am laughing as I look at my pictures though because the amounts and ingredients listed yield two glasses and have you ever seen people make smoothies? And have you ever seen the pictures? The blender container is full to the top. Now I would say that two leaves of rainbow chard and a half of a cucumber is one serving of vegetables if not more, but AT LEAST one. And a whole apple is one serving of fruit. I think that is pretty good. I am not sure I can DRINK more. Plus I do still love to EAT my fruits and veggies. I am just curious as to who actually drinks a full blender container full. But we will see, maybe I will be that person. But for now I will drink my additional serving (or so) of veggies and my additional serving of fruit in my 24 ounces of green smoothie.
Would adding more veggies and less water yield as much? Is that how on shows, cookbooks, and websites the blender container is so full? Less water more vegetables? What do you think? Do you drink green smoothies?
Posted in "Recipes", Food, Smoothies, Vegetables | Tagged: banana smoothie, breakfast, exercise class, going green, green smoothies, heartburn, Nia, Nia class, Nia exercise, rainbow chard | 4 Comments »
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