Posts Tagged ‘teaching Nia’
Posted by terrepruitt on December 14, 2020
It is a widely known fact that our devices, especially certain applications, listen to us. So, I don’t necessarily trust that my camera is not on when I don’t want it to be. I like to be unable to see that it is able to take pictures. In addition to my phone, I use two devices with cameras, a laptop and a monitor to teach my yoga, Nia, and stretch classes via Zoom. On both the laptop and the monitor I used to have a folded piece of paper taped over the camera. I had assumed there were devices that would block the camera, but I assumed they were “big” and “bulky”. I was thinking that whatever could cover the camera would not allow the laptop to shut properly. But finally when my piece of paper fell off the last time I decided to actually shop – online, of course. And, of course, I found something on Amazon.
The pictures showed it to be very tiny. So tiny that you could put it on a phone to block that camera. I thought it would work on a laptop and monitor if it worked on a phone. So I ordered a 3 pack for $5.99.
They are so tiny, they work great. I don’t have one on my phone, but I put one on the laptop and the monitor. They can hardly be seen – I had a difficult time taking a picture of it. I love them. It is the peel and stick type of thing. I don’t know how long it will last, but I have an extra one since I only used two. They are cool. It is so much better than having a paper that falls off. As I mentioned the taped paper would fall off often, when I took the paper off and put it somewhere on the monitor so I could use it when I was done, it would fall off. I was constantly “losing” it. This device is just a little slide.
The ones I bought are oval shaped, but they have rectangles. There are even some that have a red dot to indicate something – either open or closed, I don’t remember which, but that sounds like it would be handy. But I only saw the dot on the rectangle kind and I liked the oval ones, they looked smaller.
I know there is one laptop . . . at least there used to be a commercial on TV that showed you could visible cover the camera. I don’t know if they still make that or if other laptops have that. My husband has an external camera that has a little piece of plastic that flips over the camera. So . . . with all of these camera covers available I know I am not the only one that likes to visibly cover the camera.
How do you feel? Do you see the need for camera covers?
Posted in Misc, Online Classes, Zoom | Tagged: Amazon, camera cover, classes via Zoom, Online Classes, oval peel and stick camera cover, teaching Nia, teaching stretch, teaching yoga | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 7, 2020
This is a great principle . . . ok, ok, yes, I know I say that about all of them . . . Debbie does, too. I laughed at her today when she said something like that. Again this principle has not changed since I originally took my Nia White Belt back in 2008. Like I continue to say, the language has changed, the way it is presented, and the knowledge behind it has greatly increased but it is still the basic principle – look at the clues of the body to help you see what is “inside”.
Nia White Belt P10 – X-Ray Anatomy. The triad, as you can see is Bones/Joints, Ligaments/Tendons, and Soft Tissue/Muscles. These are the things we can “see”. We make observations then move from there.
If you see one arm able to reach higher than the other or a pant leg shorter than the other, is it a mechanical situation or is it a structural one? Is there muscle tightness in the shoulder that is preventing the arm to reach high or is one leg actually shorter than the other? X-Ray Anatomy is just about looking and observing. With the insight we gain from observing we can decide how to proceed in moving in a class, in teaching a class, and/or just moving through life. We can then apply our knowledge of movement and anatomy to move in ways to help create ease in the shoulders that will allow the arm to reach its full potential and ease in the legs to allow for their full length. We can also learn to give our body what it needs to find balance and ease even when it is not equal on both sides.
One way we learn X-Ray Anatomy is by Zorro. Zorro is just a term Nia uses to describe making note of the flow of energy or the lines in a body. You can do it by observing people – they can be people on TV or people you see in person. Just quick strokes on paper (or if you have a device you can use) to note the movement of a body.
As I have said, I have posted about Nia Principle #10 X-Ray Anatomy and Zorro before so no reason to go further in this post. Please click on over to those posts to learn more.
X-Ray Anatomy is just what we in Nia call observing a body and how it moves and we use Zorro as a tool to see the flow of energy all with the goal of helping ensure that we and our students are moving in the most safe and efficient way available.
Posted in 2020 Nia White Belt Principles, Nia | Tagged: Debbie Rosas, Nia class, Nia Technique, Nia White Belt 2020, observations of movement, Online White Belt Training, Principle 10, teaching Nia, X-Ray Anatomy, Zoom learning, Zorro | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 18, 2014
Ahh, I really wanted to have my blog post for today written yesterday. I wanted to “take the day off” today. Well, I taught a Nia Class this morning. And I have a Gentle Yoga Class to teach tonight, so I am not really taking the day off. I just didn’t want to have to think about a blog post or clean any part of the house today. I was going to take the day off from cleaning and doing chores. Ha. Well, it didn’t work out that way. But it is still a good day. We had a bit of rain. But that just made the traffic this morning very bad. My hubby was very thoughtful and called me to alert me to the chaos on the freeways this morning. So I left early than I normally do to get to class. I started to get on the freeway and got right back off. Since the traffic was not normal Thursday morning traffic I didn’t know if there were accidents that were blocking the roads so I decided to chance it and take the inner city streets. I actually made it to class RIGHT ON TIME! Which to me is not “on time” because I need to do a little set up before we start. But we still started only about five minutes late. Most of the Nia students didn’t even know we started late. So it worked out. The rain was only a very small amount, but it was moisture. That is a good thing. So there are a lot of things that can go into my Goodie Jar just today. So I am making this a check in day.
I haven’t checked in on you and your Goodie Jar for four months. I am still putting things in mine. I ALWAYS have something to put in mine. Regardless of what is going on I consider myself blessed. I hope you have at least one thing you can put into your jar.
I am doing a check in as a sort of “day off” from writing a blog post. Since I didn’t get the day off from chores and cleaning. I really don’t need a day off from teaching. Teaching is fun and I get so much good energy from my Nia and yoga students it doesn’t count as work. I can do without the extra travel time and traffic, but . . . we need the rain. Don’t know why it practically shuts our freeways down . . . but whatever.
Rain. To class on time. Birthday love. Hubby cooking dinner. These are the things that make me smile that I put in my Good Things Jar.
I have seen some people post on Facebook and others on their blog that some of you have gotten new family members . . . whether human or animal, that is a thing for the Goodie Jar. I always put notes about my family in my Goodie Jar.
So . . . what about you? Are you still putting things in your Good Things Jar? What have you added recently?
Posted in Good Things in the Goodie Jar, Misc | Tagged: birthday, blog post, California Rain, Facebook, freeway chaos, gentle yoga, good things jar, Goodie Jar, Nia class, Nia students, rain shuts down freeways, teaching Nia, Yoga class | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 9, 2014
I am not sure many websites have Site Maps any longer. Websites now-a-days are so full of bells and whistles not many have site maps. Not many just have a place where you can go to one page to see a list of everything that is on the site. I find sometimes when I am on a website, I am just going in circles trying to find the information I want and I think it would be nice if there was that one page . . . that site map . . . that showed me the list of pages so that I could click on the page I want instead of getting dizzy clicking around. I think I have a lot of information on my site so I know that one might get a little overwhelmed. I know that some of my pages repeat information on other pages. I do that because when I am on a website sometimes I don’t see the information if it is only on one page, but the more it is repeated the better chance that I will see it. But I do have a site map for my site. I have a lot of information so I wanted to have a list that people can look at in case they wanted an idea of what the whole site contained.
Since I teach at several different places and I have both a FIXED (on-going) schedule and one that changes all the time it can be a bit much for people to keep track of. In addition to my teaching schedule, I have information regarding Nia on the site because I want to educate people on the classes they can take from me. So, yeah, there is a lot on there. So here is what I have created to help.
What’s on www.HelpYouWell.com at a glance! The BOLD indicates the links you see at the left, the others are in the drop down menu if you put your mouse over the links at the left. And, you can just click the link from this site map.
Hopefully this helps people navigate the site. The site map is a list of all the pages on the site with hot links so you can click on the page you want to visit. What do you think? Do you ever get “lost” on a website? It seems as if you are just going in circles? Do you find many websites with site maps?
Posted in Nia | Tagged: dance exercise classes, gentle yoga, Group Ex, Group Exercise classes, Helen Terry, ia Class Cycles, Nia, Nia 5 Stages, Nia at the YMCA, Nia Belts, Nia Classes, Nia for the City of San Jose, Nia FreeDance, Nia in San Jose, Nia in the San Francisco Bay Area, Nia schedule of classes, San Jose Nia Clases, Site maps, teaching Nia, Terre Pruitt, The Nia Technique book, www.HelpYouWell.com, YMCA Silicon Valley Classes, Zumba | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on July 31, 2014
One of Nia’s 52 Moves is Head and Eye Movement. Yes, we intentionally and specifically move our head and our eyes in Nia. A long time ago when I first started teaching I had a student who had come to about three classes and after the third class she said something to affect of since starting Nia she actually moves her head to look around while driving. So my first thought was, “Yay! Nia helps make people better drivers.” If people are not moving their heads and then start doing so after Nia – YAY! – especially while driving. Nia really is about full body health and movement. So we don’t do just a cardio workout that works your heart. We don’t do just a dance exercise that moves your legs. We don’t do just some choreography that involves our hands. We involve the whole body. As you may have surmised from the post on Creepy Crawlers. It is very important for people to move their heads.
I see a lot of people with very stiff necks who in fact do not move their heads. There are a lot of reasons. I know some reasons include stiff muscles. They can’t move their head without pain because their muscles are not used to moving or are holding too much stress. I know some people who can’t move their head because it causes them dizziness. I also know some people who rid themselves of stiff necks and dizziness by moving their head. Moving one’s head will not solve everyone’s issues of stiff necks or dizziness, but I do know some people who were helped by it.
In Nia we move our head a lot. We engage our eyes a lot. But as with all of the 52 Moves of Nia there is a specific way to do it. In just practicing Head and Eye Movements you look all around and move your head to match your gaze. Letting the action of your head follow the intent of your eyes.
Just like with Catching Flies, this move requires looking BEFORE moving. So LOOK and then move the head so you are facing the direction you are looking. As I said look in all directions. Look up, then move your head so you are facing up. Look down, then move your head so your chin is at your chest. Look left, then turn your head left. Look right, then turn your head to the right. Look in a different direction then move your head so you are facing that direction. After looking around nod your head “yes”, shake it “no”, roll the head around both directions. Vary the speed at which you do all of this. Be aware of any sensations that come up. Also, if you are not accustomed to moving your head be careful that you don’t get dizzy or too dizzy.
As I mentioned some people get dizzy from lack of moving their head. It is not because of any condition, it is just lack of practice. So, be cautious when you first practice Nia’s Head and Eye Movement. Now, go, look around, move your head.
How do you feel when you move your head? Do you move your head around? Do you have a stiff neck? Do you get dizzy when you move your head?
Posted in 52 Moves (of Nia), Nia | Tagged: action follows intent, cardio dance, cardio workout, dance exercise, ease neck pain, ease neck tension, Head and Eye Movement, health and movement, Nia, Nia choreography, Nia class, Nia student, Nia Teacher, Nia's 52 Moves, San Jose Group Ex class, teaching Nia, whole body workout Creepy Crawlers | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 7, 2014
Another quick post. I often have a vague idea of what I am going to cook for dinner then I forget as the day goes on. Either I am teaching Nia, learning a Nia routine, or at the moment going through my mom’s stuff. So I find myself walking into the kitchen and not knowing what to cook. Yesterday I was on the phone with my husband and it was already past starting-dinner-time and I didn’t even know what to make. I had purchased some ground beef but had no plan as to what to do with it and I had forgotten about it. When I looked in the fridge I saw it and the butternut squash I bought. Ooo! Stuffed squash. Actually it is more like Topped Squash. It is somewhat easy . . . except for making space in squash. I was trying to do it in a manner that saved the squash innards for roasting (perhaps you will notice the cut up pieces of squash in the picture). That was the difficult part. Needing so much concentration I forgot to take pictures. I emptied out the small portion where the seeds are (easy), but I wanted more room for meat (not so easy). So I cooked then cut (I would not recommend that). I would recommend just skipping that part and making room using a spoon before baking it.
______________________
Beef Topped Butternut Squash
1 butternut squash
olive oil
1/4 of an onion, chopped
1 lb of beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt
pepper
1 cup of shredded cheese
Preheat oven to 450° F. Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds and enough of the insides to make a “boat” in which to place the beef. Coat both sides of each half in olive oil. Salt both sides of each half. Place each half face down on parchment paper on pan. Bake for 15 minutes.
While the squash is roasting, heat the oil and onion. Once the onion is translucent, add the beef. Add the salt and garlic. Cook the beef until it is almost completely cooked. Add the pepper.
When the first 15 minutes are done, turn the squash over and bake for another 15 minutes, salting again, at this time, if that is your preference. After the second 15 minutes of cooking . . . . check the squash. If it seems cooked all the way through, salt it again and then fill each half with the beef and top with shredded cheese. Bake until the cheese is melted.
This is very rich and very filling.
______________________
I didn’t think about how much this was like the stuffed pumpkin I once cooked. Although the stuffed pumpkin was much more “complicated”, as in it had more ingredients and a bit more complex flavors. This was very good, I thought. And since we usually eat ground turkey and not ground beef that much this was very rich. I feel that beef is more “rich” than turkey. It was very good. And, had I not been trying to save the portion of squash that needs to come out to make room for the meat it would have been easy. So if you are not interested in making nice chunks of squash to roast along side the halves this is an easy recipe. And very yummy and rich. Good dietary fiber!
Do you like stuff/topped squash? What would you top yours with?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: baked squash, beef for dinner, Butternut squash, complicated dinner, Diane Bacho, dinner idea, dinner recipe, easy dinner, filling dinner, good fiber, ground beef, ground turkey, melted cheese, Nia, Nia routines, rich dinner, stuffed pumpking, stuffed squash, teaching Nia | 10 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 4, 2014
There are a lot of yoga poses. Especially since a lot of them I know are the modification of the actual pose. Some of these modifications seemed to have morphed into their own pose with their own name. In addition to teaching Nia in San Jose, I am now teaching Gentle Yoga. And I was thinking. I wanted to make a list of my favorite poses. I was thinking I could have a list and do them every day. But it turns out that I like a lot more than I was thinking. And some I don’t like at all. And some I look at the picture and guffaw, saying, “Yeah, right?” Anyway I came up with about 38 poses that I really like, ones that I would call my favorite. I have a feeling that I am forgetting a couple too so I bet my list could really be in the 40’s. I could do over 40 poses a day, but I would rather do less and repeat a handful of poses then just work my way through all of my favorites. So then I circled ones that I would like to do every day and I ended up with 16. I was thinking I could do those 16 every day. But then I realized that while I will probably do that every once in a while I would be better off just picking some from the list everyday. Whatever strikes my fancy. I feel that if I pick a group every day I will end up getting the exact practice I need for that day. It could end up being my favorite 16 of the favorites.
I do feel that my “favorites” for the day will end up being exactly what I need. I plan to post about some of my favorites. Working my way through the list. I have already posted a few of them. One of my favorites that I have posted about is the Gate Pose. This is a balance pose but it is done on a knee and an extended leg. Not all balance poses are done standing. This is a pose that helps with stabilization, strength and flexibility.
Another favorite with a post is the Locust Pose. I REALLY like this pose. This is one that I do extremely modified. I mean I’ve seen the locust pose where most of the yogi’s body is off the ground and they are resting on just their sternum, upper shoulders, and their chin. That doesn’t even look comfortable to me. I prefer the belly-on-the-earth-with-the-head, chest, arms, and legs-lifted-off-the-ground version. This is a whole body pose. Not only on my favorite list but on the favorite 16!
I also like the Sphinx. This is another backbend, but with this one we rest on the forearms and elbows. Another pose that made my list is another back bend, the Cobra. This one to me is more of a lift using the back. And another backbend – the Updog – made the list. Updog and Cobra sometimes look the same in demonstration – depending on who is demonstrating. Be sure to check out my posts to see the difference. I use Patrick Reynolds’ video to explain the difference. I think of Up Dog more like a hanging backbend. The only backbend that made my top 16 was the Locust Pose.
The Garland Pose made my list of favorites and the top 16. This is a position I try to find myself in every day. Even if I am not doing yoga or any type of practice, I will put myself in this posture to pick up something. I think that this pose is a great way to help keeps hips bones healthy and juicy. Also pushing up from this squat is good for the legs.
So I have already posted about a few of my favorite poses. So I will continue to explore and share with you.
What is your favorite yoga pose? Why is it your favorite?
Posted in Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: backbends, balance poses, Corbra pose, favorite yoga pose, Gate pose, gentle yoga, locust pose, Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia Teacher, Patrick Reynolds, Sphinx, teaching Nia, Upward Dog pose, Yoga, yoga poses | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 15, 2014
Well, I am not doing a weekly post to check in on your Goodie Jar, but I do hope you are still doing it or some variation there of. Are you? Are you taking time to recognize the good in life? I hope so. I am. I believe I mentioned that I wanted to us something else to hold my notes regarding the good things. I have a lot of beautiful bowls and plates. I decided to use this beautiful blue bowl shaped like a flower. I think it will be good for another month or so. I love having this little gem on the counter. I started off the year using Christmas wrapping paper scraps. I have other wrapping paper scraps to use and little pieces of paper. It all adds to the “goodness of the jar” to me. So far the year is a good one in which to focus on the good things. As with life there are good things and not-so-good things and that is why we have a good things jar.
I have been teaching Nia at a studio in San Jose where I rent the space. I have been renting there since January 2009. At first I rented an hour on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. But after six months I decided to just rent Mondays and Wednesdays. Well, after five years, I have decided to just rent Wednesdays. So it has been five years of teaching on Mondays at the studio. Monday, February 24, 2014 will be the last one for now. Mondays are a great day to teach because on Holidays people who work are able to attend, but we don’t have enough holidays. It could be that something else will come up for Mondays or it could be that one day I start teaching there again on Mondays, but for now, we will not be dancing on Mondays.
The classes at the community center is growing. I love that more and more people are coming to Nia there. Also I enjoyed my short time substituting a Nia class at the YMCA in Mountain View. I am teaching a Gentle Yoga class on Thursday evenings. And have been asked to teach another Gentle Yoga class on Tuesday mornings. So while one class ends a new one begins.
We are going to have to move our after-Nia-Class-visits to Wednesday. We have one more Monday that we are going to meet. We have been going to Peet’s on the second to the last Monday of the month for about a year now. So we will have to move it to the second to the last Wednesday. I love that our little Nia community gathers after class. I need to get this type of gathering going with the community center Nia group.
So, I am still putting things in my goodie jar. Still looking for, finding, recognizing, seeing those good things. I hope that no matter what is going on in your life you are able to find something good. Something you want to make a note of so that you can read it later on. I really enjoyed reading my good things at the end of the year. Much of it was about Nia but not all of it. Most of it had to do with love. People showing ME love and that is MORE than a good thing, that is GREAT. I hope you have a lot of moments of love that you can jot down and put in your jar.
Well . . . . how is it going?
Posted in Good Things in the Goodie Jar | Tagged: Christmas wrapping paper, community center classes, gentle yoga, good life, good things, good things jar, Goodie Jar, Monday Nia class, Nia, Nia at the Community Centers, Nia at the YMCA, Nia community, Nia January 2009, Nia San Jose, Nia studio, Nia Teacher, Peet's, Peet's coffee, San Jose Nia, San Jose studio, studio rental, teaching Nia, YMCA, YMCA Nia | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 26, 2013
I am beginning to bet you don’t believe me when I say I was not going to post a recipe and I do. I WAS going to post a picture of the first toast I made on my Facebook page, but then when I sat down and started eating it I changed my mind. Then my hubby made yummy noises the entire time he was eating it and it confirmed my “need” to post it on my blog and tell the whole story. In my last post I talked about my fabulous day in Santa Cruz after teaching a Nia class. I mentioned two restaurants. The one we love, Rebecca’s, is closed. I was very sad because it has really yummy food and is a very nice place to eat. But, I also recognized this as an opportunity to try a new place. Having other things to do I didn’t do any research, but my student did. Yay! She suggested River Cafe. It was on the way to where we were going. So we went there. They have a menu item called “The Daily Toast”. When we were there it was supposed to be Humboldt Fog*, Pears, walnuts, and the woman behind the counter said they would drizzle honey over it. Sounds good, huh?
I ordered that. A few moments later a woman came to our table and said she could not find the pears, but she said she had persimmons or jams. She suggested the jam, but I declined and requested the persimmons. I had some on my counter I didn’t know what to do with. I thought this would be a great way to experiment. Well, even though the persimmons weren’t ripe, they forgot the walnuts and the honey (as you can see in the first photo), it was still VERY good. So good that I wanted to try making it the next day.
We didn’t have any salty cheese so I decided not to. But then the NEXT day I decided who cares. I wanted to try it anyway. I asked my hubby if he wanted cheese toast. He said yes. Then I asked if he wanted regular cheese toast or an experiment. I have mentioned before he is pretty good about eating whatever, but he does have some food “dislikes” so when my experiment includes some of them I like to ask first.
Anyway, this turned out very yummy. It is easy to make but comes out – in my opinion – kinda fancy. I have noted the recipe as I made it, but, I think the idea of the River Cafe is better in regards to the cheese. A nice soft salty, flavorful cheese seems best, but I used what I had.
_________
Fancy Toast
2 pieces sliced sour dough
2 pieces wheat bread
slices of marbles Colby Jack (enough to cover all four pieces of bread)
one ripe persimmon
2 tsp of shredded parmesan cheese
a handful or two of chopped walnuts
honey (enough to drizzle over the toast)
Toast the bread, not all the way (at least with my toaster oven. I have to leave it a little “undone” so it will be perfect after the cheese melts). Top the bread with the sliced cheese. Melt the cheese on the toast. While the bread is toasting and the cheese is melting peel and slice the persimmon. After the cheese has melted, place the persimmons on the toast, sprinkle the parmesan over the persimmons. Allow to warm a bit in the toaster oven/oven. Then sprinkle the walnuts on the toast. and drizzle the honey over the top.
Serve with a fork and knife!
____________
I was thinking that this would be an easy type of toast to serve for brunch. Toasting the bread in the oven on a cookie sheet. I also thought it would be a nice toast to serve at a tea. Yum. I used the parmesan as the “salty” and it turned out pretty good. I was surprised my husband liked it so much. He is not fond of bread, especially toast. Not like me. He also doesn’t care for walnuts. So it is a testament to its yumminess that he loved it.
I loved it so much I had it again the next day! (I forgot the parmesan.)
Well? What do you think? Sound yummy?
*Humboldt Fog is a specific type of cheese: Cheesemaker Mary Keehn of Humboldt County, CA invented this cheese, so named for the Pacific mists, in the early 80’s. (According to Wiki).
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: breakfast, breakfast for a crowd, brunch, easy breakfast, Fancy toast, goat cheese, Humboldt Fog, Nia, Nia class, Nia student, Nia Teacher, persimmons, Rebecca's, River Cafe, Santa Cruz, teaching Nia, toast, walnuts, yummy breakfast | 10 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on October 15, 2013
If you have read any of my recipe posts you probably know I love leftovers. It just makes a lot of sense to me to cook once and have some of the meal left over for a quick meal later on. This is really a great help for people who are busy or who’s schedule does not allow for cooking every night. This week I am going to be busy three nights in a row. Two nights I am subbing Nia for Hot Hula and the third night I have Gentle Yoga. So Monday I did some cooking. Monday I actually prepared dinner that will be our dinner for a couple of nights, but I also prepared a lasagna. I froze it and I will put in the oven before I go to class one night this week, so it will be done around the time I get home. I will use time bake for that so we will see. But last night we had Crockpot Balsamic Pork.
I modified a chicken recipe I had seen on Facebook. First of all I used pork instead of chicken. I love chicken and I have been “missing” it. We haven’t had any for a while. Then the people-getting-sick-from-chicken thing came up and I was happy we hadn’t purchased any. Then I found some in our freezer hiding behind something and I was happy. It was purchased way before the latest issue and we had eaten the other chicken from the batch so I was so glad to have found it. So we had just had chicken and I didn’t feel comfortable buying any so I bought pork. I know that I like pork and balsamic so I thought it would work.
I rarely use my crockpot. Something about cooking meat for HOURS, just doesn’t sound good to me. This recipe called for FOUR hours on high. Well, I figured that pork would NOT need FOUR hours so I decided to try it for two and see how it looked.
The recipe also calls for dried basil, but for some reason I thought fresh would be better. Not sure why and not sure that it was.
________________________________________________________
Crock Pot Balsamic Pork
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 heaping tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 heaping tsps dried minced onion
1/2 cup of fresh chopped basil
5 garlic cloves, pressed with garlic press
2 tblsp olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
7 thick cut boneless pork chops
chopped parsley for the top
Combine the first four ingredients in a small bowl, then spread over one side of pork, saving half for the other side. Use half the basil piling a little on each piece. Let the pork stand a bit. Then flip the pork over and use the rest of the dry ingredients and basil to coat the pork.
Use the garlic and the oil to coat the pot of the crockpot. Then place the pork inside. Pour the vinegar over.
Set to high and cook for about two hours.
________________________________________________________
An hour and 45 minutes later I turned my pot down to low so that I could keep preparing my salad for dinner and my lasagna for later. I think I will cook it less next time. I think turning it off at an hour and 45 minutes would have been better. Although our pork was not overcooked, we just prefer it a little less cooked.
I know the thing that people think is so great about crockpots is you put it on and forget it. Even though this is not hours and hours of “forgetting” it is still at least an hour and 45 minutes. I would think it could be the four hours on low.
This was good. My husband and I love garlic and that was a primary flavor . . . so I think if I want the balsamic to stand out more I will use less garlic. If I had used dried basil – as the original recipe calls for – this would have been a super simple meal. Adding the basil (washing and chopping) dropped it down to a simple meal.
It was good. I can see me making this again. And one day I will even try it with chicken. Last night we had it with a spinach salad and my favorite Smashed Potatoes! I did not take pictures of the finished product. I was doing too many things at the time!
Do you use a slow cooker/crockpot? What is your favorite thing to cook in the crockpot? Does meat you cook in a crockpot come out well done?
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: balsamic chicken, balsamic pork, boneless pork, chicken, crockpot, easy dinner recipe, gentle yoga, Hot Hula, lasagna, left overs, Nia, Nia class, pork chops, slow cooker recipe, teaching Nia | 4 Comments »
Terre Pruitt's Blog 