SOUNDS YUKKY - TASTES YUMMY

I've been doing a little reading about blogging & one of the suggestions was to keep your blog current by constantly adding new content. So between now & when we leave next month I've been scratching my head as to what I can put in here to keep it from reaching maximum boredom. I've had to look back a bit & dust off a few more articles I had posted on 50+ a few years ago. Here's one that is still current to this very day. It's called...... Sounds Yukky - Tastes Yummy!!
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One 5 cup blender required

Add: 1 banana
1 heaping tablespoon of soy or whey powder
1 small tablespoon of ground flax seeds
1 small tablespoon of ground raw sunflower
1 small tablespoon of oatbran
1 small tablespoon of wheat germ
1 small tablespoon of large flake oatmeal
Are you still with me?? I usually combine the flax, sunflower & oatbran together after mixing them in a coffee bean grinder.

Now comes the veggies................

1 big lettuce leaf. (romaine is best)
1 medium carrot
1 medium celery stick
1 cored apple including peelings

Your blender by now is about two thirds full. To all this I add skim milk to about the half way point. Hit the "on" switch, buzzzzzzzz, & "WALLAAA" I have myself one mighty fine tasting soy/whey shake every morning. There are variables here & it doesn't hurt to experiment by adding or subtracting things. Apricot juice instead of milk works great as does orange or apple juice. If strawberries, raspberries or clemantines are in season, I throw a handful of them in as well. Green grapes work. If you want to slant the taste towards carrots, just add more carrots etc. The core ingredients for the soy shake though are the banana & the soy or whey powder. From there you can build whatever masterpiece you wish. Throw in some brocolli, etc. (think outside the box:)) Someone suggested apple cider vinegar once so I tried it......didn't work, but I might try that one again someday. You can see now why I call it, "Sounds yukky-Tastes yummy!!" I know it's going to be hard for someone to get past the fact that your mixing milk & lettuce to-gether for example, but you've got so many other ingredients in there that you don't even notice the lettuce/milk factor. To me it simply tastes along the lines of a vanilla milkshake. I'm not kidding about all this, I really do drink one of these concoctions of mine every single morning & have been doing so for about 8 years now. Really?? Yes really:)) Good luck & happy yummy yukking:))

SOUNDS YUKKY - TASTES YUMMY

GRAND BEND........ABOUT 20 MINUTES SOUTH OF BAYFIELD

I first posted this on the blog last summer & since then nothing has changed so it's still current. A lot of RV people seem to be really food oriented so this is my little contribution to the food coffers. The following is a concoction of things that I whoop up every morning for breakfast & been doing it non stop for about a decade now. It has been many, many, years since I've had a cold or the flu or even been sick & I attribute that directly to the following morning shake routine:))

"Sounds yukky-Tastes yummy!!"

One 5 cup blender required & that's where all the ingredients go into:

Add: 1 banana
1 heaping tablespoon of mixed soy & whey powder
(I mix strawberry soy & vanilla whey to-gether)
1 small tablespoon of ground flax seeds
1 small tablespoon of ground raw sunflower seeds
1 small tablespoon of shelled hemp hearts (if I have them)
1 small tablespoon of oatbran
1 small tablespoon of wheat germ
1 big gob of large flake oatmeal
Are you still with me?? I usually combine the flax, sunflower, & oatbran together after mixing them in a coffee bean grinder.

Now comes the veggies................

1 big lettuce leaf. (romaine is best)
1 medium sliced carrot
1 medium sliced celery stick
1 cored apple including peelings

Your blender by now is about two thirds full. To all this I add skim milk to about the half way point in the blender. Hit the "on" switch, buzzzzzzzz, & "WALLAAA" I have myself one mighty fine tasting soy/whey shake every morning.
There are variables here & it doesn't hurt to experiment by adding or subtracting things. Apricot juice instead of milk works great as does orange or apple juice. If strawberries, raspberries or clementine's are in season, I throw a handful of them in as well. Seedless grapes work. If you want to slant the taste towards carrots, just add more carrots etc. The core ingredients for the soy shake though are the banana & the soy or whey powder. From there you can build whatever masterpiece you wish. Throw in some broccoli, etc. (think outside the box:)) Someone suggested apple cider vinegar once so I tried it......didn't work:((

But you can see now why I call it, "Sounds yukky-Tastes yummy!!" I know it's going to be hard for someone to get past the fact that your mixing milk & lettuce to-gether for example, but you've got so many other ingredients in there that you don't even notice the lettuce/milk factor. To me it simply tastes along the lines of a vanilla milkshake. I'm not kidding about all this, I really do mix up & drink one of these great shakes every single morning & have been doing so for about 10 years now. So good luck & happy yummy yukking........................................:))

AL’S FOOD VIDEO CONTRIBUTION….SOUNDS YUKKY – TASTES YUMMY:))

(Hover your mouse over the photos for the captions)

Neighbor Hank finished up the painting on our kitchen & bathroom cupboard doors yesterday so dropped them off last night.  This morning I have been busy putting cupboard doors back on.  Kelly really likes them so that makes the whole kitchen cupboard painting ordeal a success.  When I look at them I just see white colorless cupboards.  Seems like they should have some big bright orange & fuscia colored dinosaurs painted on them or something. It was October of last year when I was checking out some things on the motorhome prior to our trip to the southwest when I managed to embarrass myself pretty good again.   You can read my blog for that day at….NOT THE BRIGHTEST CRAYON IN THE BOX.

I’m going to keep the blog short to-day because the video at the end of this blog may eat up some air cards out there & I know what that is like because we too use a Verizon card for our internet while on the road.  Videos & musically animated websites use  up those limited Gigabytes pretty fast.

I've noticed in the past a lot of RV blogger folks are really into the food thing.  Not high on my list of favorite topics but I do have a contribution to throw in the pot so to speak.  Maybe I’ll even get myself up in the ranks of Foodie Friday, Sautéed Sundays, Sumptuous Saturdays, Mushmelon Monday, Tootsweet Tuesday, Wet Yer Whistle Wednesday & Soupy Surprise Thursdays. I have blogged about & posted an article several times called, Sounds Yukky - Tastes Yummy.  It has to do with my daily morning breakfast concoction I have been mixing up for about 10 years now.   Tuesday I took that written blog a step further & made myself a Video of my Yummy-Yukky morning ritual.  It’s my way of getting my daily dose of veggies in a palatable way instead of having to gnaw on the darn things like Bugs Bunny .  Haven’t had a cold or the flu for the last decade & I attribute that to my morning Soy shake.  The blog version is HERE & the video version is below.  Try it….you might like it:)) I couldn’t get the video below loaded from my files so had to come around & slip in the back door  through You Tube.  I don’t think that is the right way to insert a video but at least it appears to be working.

Was able to get my Picasa Plug-In installed on the laptop OK but the desktop doesn’t show the plug-in as being installed in Live Writer.  It won’t download it either & keeps coming up with a ‘repair’ menu.  Not sure if I like the way the ‘Tags’ feature works.  What are all those advertising sites anyway??

GROANER’S CORNER:((  And did you know that the the easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS  http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

RESUMING MY MORNING YUKKY-YUMMY SHAKES.....MINI-STYLE

 THE AUSABLE RIVER AT THE McNAUGHTON-MORRISON TRAIL IN EXETER ONTARIO LATE THIS MORNING

A snowy drive into Bayfield this morning for Pheebs and I.  Had a couple things to pick up at Bayfield's Foodland and then it was over to the Porter's Hill Wild Bird Seed Company for 60 pounds of birdseed. (3 bags)  Hopefully, that will last until the end of the week, but more realistically to the end of March maybe.  We do have a hungry crew of Critters here.  

WARMING UP THE SUBARU IN OUR DRIVEWAY

A SNOWY ROAD LEADING TO BAYFIELD

 THE SHORE ICE ALONG BAYFIELD'S BEACH IS FROZEN OUT AS FAR AS ONE CAN SEE

 DEFINITELY A SNOWY MORNING

 A NEIGHBOR'S BENCH IN OUR PARK

Twas a snowy morning drive to Exeter and back for all three of us in the Subaru earlier today.  But, at least it was something different to do and someplace different to go for a change.  Every little bit helps at this dreary time of year.  Although snowing heavily at times at least it wasn't windy so the drive to Exeter was doable.  Not quite as quick as we usually go, but we got there anyway and dropped Kelly off in time for her 11:40 a.m. appointment.

 HERE COMES THE BOSS NOW

HEADING SOUTH ON PARR LINE TO EXETER

 FARMER'S WERE BUSY ALONG THE WAY PLOWING OUT THEIR LANEWAYS

Knowing it wouldn't be a long appointment, Pheebs and I slipped over to the McNaughton-Morrison Trail for a short shuffle in the snow before returning to the dental office parking lot.  We didn't have to wait long and Kelly was done.  She is now finely fitted with a lower partial plate that blends right in with her regular teeth.  Cue the flashy smile again:))  

From the Dentist's Office, we stopped at Exeter's A&W for two Buddy Burgers and two coffees to go.  The question has been asked again why we don't go through the drive-thru or why don't I go in to get the stuff.  Kelly doesn't like going through the drive-thru and prefers to go in herself to sometimes use the washroom, peruse the menu, and always check to make sure the coffee is fresh, the baking is not a day old, and the veggies for the sandwiches is not wilted.  She knows if she sends me in I'm likely to come back out with two cups of hot water and a donut I found on the floor........Not snowing as heavily on the way home and we pulled into our driveway about 1:30  Nice to have another appointment scratched off our sometimes lengthy list.

 PHEEBS IS TOTALLY FOCUSED ON THE A&W DOOR WAITING FOR MOM TO COME OUT WITH THE SNACKS

 'i THINK I SEE HER DAD'

 AND, HERE IS  MOM NOW:)))))

 ONE OF SEVERAL SNOWPLOWS WE SAW ON THE WAY HOME

 A FARMER CHECKS THE SNOWBLOWER ATTACHED TO HIS TRACTOR

Over the years I have posted many times about my Sounds Yukky-Tastes Yummy morning shakes.  I've been mixing these up and drinking them for about 25 years now, but not continuously.  I might drink them for 8 or 9 months or maybe a year and then switch to hot dogs for another half year or more.  This morning I started my morning shakes again (after a hiatus of about 9 months), but with a slight difference this time.  When Kelly's daughter Rebecca, husband Ricardo, and daughter Ella moved to Spain last Fall they couldn't take everything with them so Ricardo gave me his Magic Bullet Juice Blender.  Previously, I had been making my shakes in a big full-size regular blender and of course, as often as not, the volume of my shakes were generally too big but I drank them anyway.  With this Magic Bullet machine, it is like a mini-blender and is perfect for me.  So, after thinking about it for a while I decided a couple days ago to once again resume my 'yukky-yummy' shakes.  Here are the ingredients I have started off with this time.  Subject to change of course.  1 half scoop of vanilla Whey powder, a big dash of cinnamon, a few pinches of Quaker Oats, a healthy dollop of Vanilla low-fat Yogurt, 1 small apple, and a handful of mixed veggies.  Add to this one-third orange juice and top up with skim milk.  Ya I know.....sounds yukky but believe me, it tastes yummy:))

 I'M USING PACKAGED VEGGIES THIS TIME INSTEAD OF DRAGGING HOME BIG BUNCHES OF ROMAINE LETTUCE AND CELERY STOCKS

 YESIREEE, SOUNDS YUKKY BUT TO ME IT SURE TASTES YUMMY

Regarding our weather, I hesitate to call it a warming trend but at least we are slowly heading in the upward direction on the thermometer again and may even reach the freezing mark by next Tuesday.  Oh 'Wowzers'.  Snowing heavily again this afternoon but hey what the heck....at least I don't have to shovel our 5-car-sized driveway anymorne.  Weather permitting, we will head to Goderich Friday morning to see what we can find in the way of medical aids.  Lots of planning and organizing in these next three weeks.  Busy times and I see that as a good thing, especially at this time of year with its back-to-back seemingly long gray depressing days. 

Al's Music Box:((  Time Passages is a song by British singer-songwriter Al Stewart, released as a single in 1978. It was produced by Alan Parsons and is the title track of Stewart's 1978 album release. The familiar final line to the chorus is, "Buy me a ticket on the last train home tonight".  The song describes the singer planning a trip home in late December (presumably for Christmas) and his nostalgic memories of the past.

 SEEN IN OUR PARK THIS MORNING

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Sign on the company bulletin board: “This firm requires no physical fitness program. Everyone gets enough exercise jumping to conclusions, flying off the handle, running down the boss, flogging dead horses, knifing friends in the back, dodging responsibility, and pushing their luck.”

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- “When I was a kid my parents moved a lot, but I always found them.” 

- “If you are not yelling at your kids, you are not spending enough time with them.” 

 - “When your children are teenagers, it’s important to have a dog so that someone in the house is happy to see you.” 

 - “If dogs could talk, it would take a lot of fun out of owning one.” 

- I hate it when I think I am buying organic vegetables and when I get home they're just regular donuts.

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I HAVE RESUMED MY ‘SOUNDS YUKKY-TASTES YUMMY’ SHAKES AND AN OUTSIDE DECK EXTENSION PROJECT IS UNDER WAY

KEEPING A LOW PROFILE
Been in the back of my mind for a couple months now to once again resume my long ago morning soy shakes after a lull of maybe 3 or 4 years.  Long time readers may well remember my posts about this very much most amazing drink concoction I had mixed up for breakfast just about every day for 10 years.  Can't remember why I finally stopped these super tasty shakes and switched over to peanut butter and honey sandwiches for breakfast but I did.  Well as of this morning I'm off the peanut butter and honey wagon and back into my veggies and fruits.  What!!  Yep it's true folks I am back into my Sounds Yukky - Tastes Yummy shakes again and Kelly’s happy about that because she said the honey wasn’t making me any sweeter and the peanut butter was just making me even more nuttier!! 

A COUPLE HEADLESS PIGEONS LANDED AT OUR BIRD STATION THIS MORNING
No rain overnight or this morning so Pheebs and I were out the door by 8:30 with a fruits and veggies mission in mind.  Sauntered ourselves up to McDonalds for a 'drive-thru' carrot muffin and a coffee.  I paid extra special attention to what I was doing and totally focused myself on remembering to go to the second window to pick up my stuff after paying at the first window.  Girl hands me my coffee and muffin and I pull up a few feet......and stop.  Just checking to make sure I had my muffin and coffee beside me.  Yup I did and I was good to go:))

GODERICH’S MARINE MUSEUM IS THE ACTUAL WHEELHOUSE OFF THE ‘SS SHELTER BAY’

THIS MUSEUM HAS BEEN DEEMED UNSAFE AND I BELIEVE THE DECISION HAS BEEN MADE TO REMOVE IT FROM IT’S SPOT NEAR THE HARBOR
It was down to Goderich’s north harbor with us to check on some lake ice and noticed all the chunky ice from a few days ago was gone.  Just nice aqua green water in the harbor now.  An icy cold wind coming in off the lake made a walk in the doggy area unwalkable so we kept on going and headed for our mission destination.

IT WAS ONLY DAYS AGO THIS HARBOR WAS CHOKED FULL OF LARGE FLOATING ICE CHUNKS

STILL MINI ICE BERGS ALONG LAKE HURON’S SHORELINE

A handful of apples, a bag of orange carrots, some big leafy romaine lettuce, half a dozen long celery stocks and a flock of bananas in the grocery department along with a jug of soy milk and a big tub of strawberry flavored Whey powder was enough to get me started on my yummy-yukky morning breakfast binge again.  As I go along I will likely add a bunch of my usual side ingredients such as raisins, flax seeds, cinnamon, oatmeal, sunflower seeds, hemp hearts, wheat germ and whatever happens to be in season such as strawberries, blue berries, peaches or raspberries.  I tried a raw egg a few times and some apple cider vinegar once but they didn't quite seem to do it for me.  It was probably the words 'raw' and 'vinegar' more than anything else that put me off although that cider vinegar really did shake up the overall good taste.

We were home from our grocery mission by 10:30 and I wasn't long in getting the blender out and whipping myself up a big shake.  You would not believe how absolutely great this tastes.  I think I am very happily hooked again:))

Despite today's cold cloudy wind I wasn't long in getting myself out the door and right into our next little outside house project.  Late last summer Kelly suggested the idea we should maybe enlarge our back porch deck and this morning I began getting things ready for that little project which our good friend and neighbor Bruce is going to help me with.  Well alright it’s more like me helping Bruce. 

THE DECK EXTENSION WILL COVER THAT 6X12 FOOT STONE AREA


WE’LL BE GLAD TO GET THAT TEMPORARY PORCH CLUTTER ORGANIZED AND CLEANED UP SOON…..OUR BBQ IS LOCATED THERE AND WE MAY TAKE THOSE REMAINING 2 LATTICE PANELS OUT BUT HAVEN’T DECIDED ON THAT YET
The deck extension will be 6x12 with no roof.  I removed one section of lattice work and railing today as well as a gate leading into our back yard.  That gate will be used again when we change the back yard entranceway to the yard.  I also had to dig out a batch of ferns to make room for a new walkway area as well. 

INSTEAD OF THE ENTRANCE TO THE BACK YARD BEING ON THE LEFT THAT GATE WILL COME OUT AND BE RE-INSTALLED TO THR RIGHT WHERE THE RED HANDLED RAKE IS

Been on my mind for quite awhile now to make some changes to my diet and with a few recent health concerns I figured now’s a good time as any to try and get myself smartened up a bit and try eating better.  I do not like vegetables or salads that much so I have a tendency to avoid them.  For me the only way to make veggies tolerable is to overpower their boring taste by blending them in with things that taste better and that is why I am back on my soy shakes.  Who would have ever thought carrots, lettuce, and celery could be made to taste like a Strawberry-Banana Milkshake eh.  Well I’m here to tell ya it can:))

THIS BLUE JAY IS TOTALLY CONCENTRATED ON HIS LANDING
GROANER’S CORNER:(( A couple in their early seventies were discussing their future plans. The husband asked, "What will you do if I die before you?" The wife thought for a moment before replying, "I will probably look to share a house with three other single or widowed women, maybe people a little younger than me since I am still active for my age. What about you? What will you do if I die first?" He answered, "Probably the same."
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What's round and bad tempered? A vicious circle.