Terre Pruitt's Blog

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

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Posts Tagged ‘Starbucks’

Different Ways To Recycle

Posted by terrepruitt on October 23, 2017

I like it when I have an idea for a blog post and I don’t have to think about what to write. I wish that were always the case. I like to post on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, but I just don’t always have that many posts in me. I have been struggling lately with posting on Mondays when I have been at my dad’s all weekend. Going through stuff and getting rid of items is proving more difficult than one would think. So many people and entities say to recycle and donate, but that is harder said than done. While trying to think of something to post about I got to wondering what I posted about on this day (or close to it) in the years past. So . . . speaking of recycling. (See how I did that?)

In 2009 I posted about the free songs iTunes used to give away. Do they still do that? Back then they used to give out cards at Starbucks and they had a code to a free song. I was introduced to a lot of artists and songs that way that I still listen to. I also posted about Collage Video which is a website you can get exercise DVDs from. I had liked the way they described the videos with a break down of minutes of each cycles.

In 2010, October 23rd fell on a Saturday and I was posting on Saturdays back then. I posted about Nutrition Facts of Bell Peppers. I LOVE bell peppers.

In 2011, the 23rd fell on a Sunday, on October 22nd, a Saturday, I posted about being Ready To Receive. In my post I talked about when we first experience or hear about something sometimes we put up our barriers and we don’t want to accept it, so we really have to be ready and “open” to receive in order to actually receive and learn. I also mentioned Natural Time and how we are ready and open in our own natural time. While I wasn’t talking exactly about what was going on at the time, it was somewhat related to it. October 2011 is the year my mother-in-law was in a fatal automobile accident. She died October 23, 2011, six years ago today.

October 2012 I was making smoothies. In September of that year I had gotten my super blender for my birthday and I was making and drinking smoothies. I found that during that period I did believe the science behind the need to rotate the vegetables according to the family, but I never quite got it right. I wrote about it in my The Greens Go Round And Round post, but for me it was easier said than done.

October 23, 2013 fell on a Wednesday and I wasn’t posting on Wednesday back then, I was posting on Tuesdays and Thursday. On Tuesday the 22nd I posted about a yoga pose. I posted Icky Name, Great Pose which is about the locust pose (Salabhasana) where you lift your legs and chest up off the ground creating a back bend. On Wednesday I posted about how Messing Up Is Fun. It is about Nia and what a student felt about it.

I was actually thinking about my post from October 23, 2014 just the other day! But I didn’t know that. I was thinking about the “tea” that I had heard about that one blogger drinks when she is sick. She calls it Sick People Tea. I wrote a little bit about it and the oregano that is part of the recipe.

October 23, 2015 was a Friday. I wasn’t posting on Fridays back then. But we had our cats and on the 22nd I posted about them. The post includes some of the best pictures I have ever taken of them. They are pretty darn beautiful. On the 24th I posted about the difference between what are labeled Leisure Classes with the City of San Jose and what are Group Ex classes. Although the City of San Jose no longer has the “Group Ex” program we have SJCITY Fit, which is similar. You might want to check it out as their annual membership is a GREAT deal!

In 2016 I was posting on my current schedule of Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The 23rd of October fell on a Sunday so the closest post to the 23rd is the 24th and I posted about Sunburns And Ants.

I do hope you will have a moment to click over and check out one or two of the posts from Octobers past.   Which one  has you wanting to click over and read it?  Perhaps you can click over and like it and leave a comment.

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Chai Tea Latte For Me

Posted by terrepruitt on April 2, 2013

So in my post Venting Gets Me Good I explain how my complaint about Starbucks’ Chai Tea Latte landed me a great Chai Tea recipe AND cardamom, one of the spices used to make it.  Well, the original recipe calls for “pinches’ which didn’t seem like enough to me and is difficult to translate in a recipe.  So I decided that a pinch would be about an 1/8 of a teaspoon.  I felt that made a bit of a weak tea.  So I have increased the measurements and changed the water to milk ratio.  Also, lately when I have been in the mood to make this tea and have actually had the time and the milk I have not had fresh ginger so I have been using ground ginger.  It works for me and I am not left chewing on ginger.  While my fabulous Nia friend who gave me the recipe pointed out I could use a tea strainer to get out the ginger and the cloves, one reason I like to drink the tea is to drink the ginger and get the benefits from it.

Like many recipes SOMEONE has to have created it.  Then others morph it into what works for them.  I keep telling one of my friends about this recipe and that I made adjustments.  She seems excited to try it so she says, “And you put the adjustments on your blog?”  I had not so that makes it difficult for her to make the tea with my adjustments when I have not noted them.  So I decided to do it.  Plus it helps me.  I use my blog as my recipe book and when I have to keep remember to adjust it is not as helpful as when the measurements are just documented accurately.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, ZumbaHere is the recipe I have been using and I think it is very lovely.

Terre’s Favorite Chai Tea Latte:

2 cups of water
2 tea green bags
10 cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 (heaping) tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 cups milk

Boil the water then add the tea bags.  Let simmer for a few minutes.  (Here is where you decide how long according to how strong you like your tea).  Squeeze out the tea bags and remove them from sauce pan (or whatever you are using to make the tea). Then add all the spices.  Allow it to sit and simmer a bit.  Then add the milk and let it simmer gently.  Add sweetener of your choice. Serve and enjoy!

The original recipe said to use “2 tea bags (black, green, redbush, etc.)” so I it seems you can use whatever you like.  If green does not agree with you, then don’t use it.

I think this makes a very yummy tea.  And I call it Chai because that is what the recipe said when I first got it.  One thing I do like to do while drinking this tea is stir often.  I want to drink the spices and get their flavor.  When all the spices end up at the bottom of the mug it is not as flavorful a cup of tea.  Plus in order to get the benefits from the spices you need to drink them.

One day when I tweeted out that I was making Chai someone responded that she makes it every day and she adds fennel.  I have yet to try that.  I don’t see why you can’t add anything you want.  This is just a starting place . . . .

So . . . . . tell me what you think?  Do you like it?  What changes did YOU make to make it “Chai Tea Latte For You”?

Posted in "Recipes" | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments »

Venting Gets Me Good

Posted by terrepruitt on January 31, 2013

I go to Starbucks when I have a gift card.  I like Starbucks Chai Tea Lattes.  When I first started getting them they were almost too spicy for me.  Then they seemed to change a bit.  They got less flavorful.  Then one time I got one at a store I don’t normally frequent and I thought my teeth were going to fall out.  It was soooooo sweet.  Yes, I know that the fancy drinks at Starbucks and other coffee houses are a huge source of sugar.  That is ONE reason why I don’t buy them.  I DO have them on occasion when I am blessed with receiving a gift card.  To me they are a nice treat.  But this one hurt my teeth and my stomach.  I chalked it up to this store making them different.  But then I went to the store I usually go to and it was the same thing.  Ugh.  I posted a Facebook status asking if they had changed their recipe.  I know places and manufacturers do that all the time.  One of the responses I received was to make my own Chai.  The response even included the recipe.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, ZumbaA few days after that I was in the grocery store and I actually remembered while I was in the spice aisle that I needed cardamom to make the chai.  I looked and looked and when I finally found it I almost choked.  It was $12.99.  I didn’t realize it was that expensive.

So, again, I posted on Facebook, I said that I would stick to using my gift cards at Starbucks instead of spend $13.00.  And again the replies were awesome.  People near and far reminded me that I live in an area rich with many cultures and that I could find cardamom at Indian Spice stores.  The major benefits to that would be that it would be cheaper and more than likely better.

But before I could remember to get to a store one of my amazing friends brought me a little box of it.  She is awesome like that.  She frequents an affordable spice shop so she picked me up some.

Here is the recipe that Danielle Woermann (a Nia Black Belt) posted for me on Facebook.  I am unaware of where she got it.

Masala Chai. Serves four.

Boil 3 cups (.7 liters) of water with
4 cloves
2 pinches ground nutmeg
2 pinches ground cinnamon
2 pinches ground cardamom
1/2 inch (1.27 cm) piece of grated fresh ginger

Add 2 tea bags (black, green, redbush, etc.) and simmer for 2 minutes. Add 1 cup (.2 liters) almond milk or milk of your choice, and heat until hot, but not boiling. Add sweetener of your choice. Serve and enjoy!

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, ZumbaI decided to measure my “pinches” so that I could have a more accurate measure and adjust accordingly.  I used an 1/8 of a teaspoon as a “pinch”.  I think that I need to work on it a bit.  Either the person doing the pinching who created this recipe has REALLY LARGE pinches or they like a more mellow tea.  I think that this might be really good if I made it ahead of time and let all the flavors really seep into the water.  The time that is stated in the recipe didn’t seem to do that.  Also it does help if, when you are drinking it, you actually get some of the spices in your mouth . . . . which also makes for an oddly textured and a bit chewy tea.  But I’m ok with that.

I think I might experiment with chopping the ginger.  For some reason I don’t might little tiny chunks of fresh ginger as opposed to what came off my grater . . . . it was odd.

That is a GREAT thing about recipes though, right?  I love to try them the way they are then adjust them to my tastes.  Maybe this is one that you can make and enjoy — either adjusting or not.

Do you like Chai Tea?  Do you have a recipe?  Doesn’t this one sound yummy?

Posted in "Recipes" | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments »

Pictures Of Art Box Project San Jose

Posted by terrepruitt on December 20, 2012

One day driving in San Jose I noticed a utility box painted as a huge flower.  I thought it was the coolest idea.  The boxes are not the prettiest things and they are everywhere so why not paint them.  Then some time later, on my way home from either my Monday or Wednesday Nia class, I noticed a man sitting near the curb while I was at a stop light.  It didn’t register in my brain what he was doing until I was past him and the corner.  I had pull over to the curb and back up a little to get back to him.  He was painting the utility box.  He explained to be that it was the San Jose Art Box Project.  I posted about it in July.  I followed up with a post of his finished project in August.  Since then I have snapped a few pictures of boxes painted throughout the city.  Well, at least in the places I go.  I am sure there are other ones around that I don’t even see.  But I did happen to spot the ones on my normal paths.  I even found the flower one that I first noticed.  I wasn’t sure where I had noticed it, but then I found it.

Here are six that I have seen around.  I am sure there are more.  I would love for people to contact me and send me pictures so that I can include more on my blog.  Some might wonder what painted utility boxes have to do with health and wellness, and if they are wondering that then I doubt I could explain it.  But for those of you that appreciate a little color, I am sure you understand.  I might not even particularly like the way the box is painted, but I do like that fact that they are painted.  I love the fact that art is being added to our industrialization.  I love that the artist is basically a volunteer, they get paid, but I think that barely covers the cost of the paint. I love that people in the community are donating to such a project.

It is kind of fun to be sitting at a light just waiting for it to turn green and then all of a sudden spotting an Art Box.  Then it is fun planning the path to get to it.  Some of them are on really busy corners . . . . like the rose . . . I couldn’t really step out to far in the street to get a good shot, but I did what I could.

I believe the art on the box must be reflective of the neighborhood.  That would explain the coffee art box.  It was right in front of a Starbucks.

Normally I would put them in a collage, but I am short on time and so here are some of the pictures of the utilities boxes in San Jose.  I have a lot so this post will be some, then my next post will be the rest.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, ZumbaThis was the set in front of the Starbucks!

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba

You can see the little coffee cups has faces!

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba

So cute!

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba

I forgot to get a picture of the artist’s label so I don’t know who did these coffee cups.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, ZumbaDance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba

Chris has a sense of humor.  See the purple cat dressed as a yellow bird?  Sneaky!

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba

This one is very colorful and had different types of art on the box.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba

This woman is an example of what I mean by “different types” of art.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba

Stay tuned for the rose.  The box that I actually saw first and thought it was just a one time thing.

So how do you like the art so far?  Don’t you think it is cool?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Health Benefits Of Coffee

Posted by terrepruitt on July 28, 2009

I love coffee.  I am not a connoisseur, but I love it.  In the August 2009 copy of Self they touted that coffee has some amazing benefits.

The article, well, it is not so much an article as a few pages filled with pictures and facts, has one statement that says that if you want the healthiest coffee you should stick to the home brewed kind because the paper filters catch coffee compounds that can raise cholesterol.

Here are some highlights from that article.  The information suggests that coffee MAY:

  • assist in the prevention of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
  • help your teeth with its “antibacterial and antiadhesive powers”
  • reduce the risk of oral cancer by half
  • help in limited cancer cell growth and DNA damage
  • reduce the risk of breast cancer (in premenopausal women that drink 4 cups of regular coffee a day)
  • help prevent gallstones
  • reduce risk of nonmelanoma
  • reduce chances of diabetes for people who drink 3 to 4 cups of regular or decaf

Information also states that drinking from 300 mg (3 cups of home brew) to 500 mg (16 oz Starbucks Pike Place Roast) in an hour could possibly make you panicky, increase stress hormones, and raise blood pressure.

Way surprising to me, it says that a shot of espresso “has less caffeine than a cup of drip does.  Plus, one downside of espresso is that it may raise cholesterol.”

It also suggests to eat your cereal and dairy later, after your coffee because coffee might block the absorption of iron from fortified grains and could lower calcium uptake.

The pages reveal, along with a lot of other publications I’ve been seeing recently, that coffee helps you get through your workout.  Not only does it give you a zing, it seems to block your brain from knowing your muscles are tired.
Those are just some highlights that somewhat focus on the health benefits.

Even though I teach my morning Nia classes in Willow Glen not too far from where I live, so I don’t have to get up super early,  I still think I have more energy in the morning when I drink coffee.  I don’t have any before I teach my evening class in San Jose, nor my late afternoon one in Los Gatos.  But I feel like I need that extra “wake-up” in the morning.  Do you drink coffee before your workout?

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