SIGNS YOUR SWIMMING POOL NEEDS CLEANING :

It's summer time folks, and I look down into the pool behind our apartment..and see the ducks  swimming in like they own it. Sometimes it's kind of nasty!!  Or maybe some of the following may be sins that time to clean your pool:

- That green tarp covering your pool? You DON'T have a tarp on your pool.

- Neighborhood kids ask if they can jump on your trampoline.

-- Kids still pee in your pool, but they refuse to get in it first.

- Skipping rocks across it causes sparks.

- New algae species attract a Discovery Channel film crew to your backyard.

- Jello-like water slowing the pace of K's 500 race to unacceptable levels. (it's a family thing)

-- The Grim Reaper shows up in his Speedo.

- Dr. Kervorkian seen filling IV bottles at pool side.

- The amount of body hair found in the drain gives even Robin Williams a run for his money. (I know that's really gross)


Speaking of cleaning, I went nut's while doing the bathroom it's sparkling now. Nothing like shower doors that have no soap scum, and shiny faucets... 
Bathtubs
I'm sure I'm comparable to all of you folks out there. We all like a clean bathtub - don't we? It really makes for a more tranquilizing atmosphere for those long soaks when the tub is squeaky clean!
Now, I don't know about you, but I am particularly fond of dipping into my tub right after my daily 8 to tan hours slaving in the kitchen. The soak really does wonders for relaxing those poor achy muscles in my fingers and hands, relieves the backaches, and sure soothes the shoulders and neck.
But ... I was just wondering if there's a better way to clean the tub?
Those who clean tubs all know the scenario...
First you wet the tub ... uhhhhh, from-the-faucet-of-course!
Then you sprinkle down the tub with cleanser.
Now you bend over into that ever popular position ... Tummy teetering over the wall of the tub, with arms flailing wildly over the tub ready to scrub a dub, dub ... while your butt protrudes oh-so recklessly behind you!
Now as far as I'm concerned, this is the most undignified position to be found in be almost anyone.
There's just got to be a better way to clean that tub!
Any of you folks got any ideas?

How’s Life?
 
Well for me it’s business as usual. Fight with the alarm clock, no matter what time it is set for it’s never a good time for me. I tend to snooze a little to much on the average day. Everyone always tells me that I should set it later and I wouldn’t need to snooze. Yeah right, we are talking about me, right? Everyday I wake up wanting to throw the alarm clock out the window. Come on I know I am not the only one out there with these feelings. So finally I get my but out of bed, after much struggle. Run to the can, If you snoozed as long as I do you have to go pretty bad. Walk out sit my butt on the couch and flip through the 4 channels that we have and sigh….. I think about breakfast for a short second. Scratch my head than usually decide to eat. I love breakfast food but I hate the time of day this meal lands in. They always say breakfast is the most important part of the day. So if I’m eating breakfast at 10 pm, that counts right?  Enough of that for now for another interesting topic.

Do you ever have really stupid thoughts or questions?  I know I do…I know it’s hard to believe. So if your reading this, and thinking, man that’s stupid. That’s because it is!!

why are traffic lights red, yellow and green?
why not red, yellow and blue to match traditional primary colors? i would even be happy with red, green and blue, the primary additive colors. or cyan, magenta and yellow, which are the true primary subtractive colors.
were the colors for traffic lights chosen for metaphorical reasons? i’m sure there is a government conspiracy behind it, i just haven’t made the connection yet.
AND
Yo Gack
just because you can make yogurt taste like a mocha latte doesn’t mean that you should.
OK Just one more

Tasty Soap?
personal hygiene products seem to smell more and more like real food. You go to take a shower and you end up with the munchies??
froot loops-scented deodorant. (ok this was not a real one that I know of yet)
tangerine-scented face scrub.
coconut cream foot lotion
chestnut body bar
lemon butter cuticle cream
obligatory minty toothpaste
now all i need is some meat-scented shampoo and wheat floss to round out the food pyramid.

Alright I won’t keep going on this train of thought…No really you don’t have to thank me, really.. Have an most excellent day!!And if you have a stupid thought, share it with some one. You might get a good laugh or even a strange look. You know I am all for that!!

Spa Cuisine...It's not snobby..It's healthy!!!
 
"Spa Cuisine", an approach to eating that offers a comprehensive healthy balanced meal plan each day in the made up of delicious and satisfying entrees and snack
One of the challenges of healthy eating is to incorporate all the daily essential vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, fiber, and antioxidants into a reasonable number of calories per day. These essential nutrients comprise a large number, and it takes technique to cover them off each day without ingesting an enormous amount of food. It means that a menu cannot "waste calories"; that is, only foods that are efficient in delivering the essential nutrients can be included if you wish to maintain or lose weight, rather than steadily gain. The more I watch what I eat and how I prepare food, the more fascinating  this cuisine has become. Many believe spa cuisine is complex.. or even silly.  The more I look into it the more it makes sense.
 
Some of the principles of spa food also show huge benifits when combined with a healthy life style: 
Research and practice the things that seem to PREVENT weight loss and good health are: Inadequate breakfast, Inadequate water, Inadequate activity after the last meal of the day.Inadequate amount of fiber foods daily, and too many starchy foods (bread) Inadequate daily vegetable intake. Too much of animal product foods (especially high in fat)
The following are 4 simple principles to help start a program of weight loss and good health:

FOOD:- eat 25 grams of fiber per day. Minimum.-   a higher fat diet of plant foods(Remember veggies are in the carb catagorie) is much better than a lower fat diet of protein and starch products.( None whole grain processed starches are not that good for use) 
WATER:- pure water is the preferred and most effective fluid.- drink enough water each day to make your urine colorless.
MEALS:- breakfast should be eaten as soon as possible after rising, and contain 4 -12 grams of fiber.- lunch and dinner should contain a minimum of 1.5 cups of vegetables each meal.
ACTIVITY:- do something active every day, trying to incorporate different cardiovascular, flexibility, and strength exercise within a week.- do something active for 25 minutes after your last meal of the day.Take a walk after dinner.
 
Who know's i could be the next great Spa Chef. Look out world, ...The challenge is to find the best and tastiest foods in the most creative combinations. I would make food  fresh, organic, interesting, tasty, and satisfying. I could offer vegetarian, poultry and fish, and vegan (non-animal product vegetarian) it's all about options.
 
Have a happy healthy day. And i look forward to sharing spa recipes for the everyday cook, in the near future. Also I going to break down how you really only break down all foods into three catagories. I have Mr. K-C give my a hand at that. It's very interesting what I found out about my own diet.  I share that with you all soon.

  




 

Back In JAX:
 
Back to the grind. Unfortunately I had to return reality today. I know what your thinking, it is such a same. I do agree, No matter if you take one day off or five it's never enough. The bills have to get paid some how I guess?
I had a great time hanging out with the family. It was a blast, can't wait for the next time we get to hang out. It's amazing thatI ate and drank whatever i wanted and didn't gain weight...I lost a little. It must have been getting away from work . Those fresh baked pastries are deadly to my waist line.
Speaking of waist line here are some was to burn more calories...
 
I've always been fascinated by the various ways there are to burn calories to keep myself fit and trim.  There's a wealth of information on the internet for providing specifics on how many calories you can burn for routine exercise regimes, like weight lifting, aerobics and swimming.  Well if you're like me who has little time in their schedule to workout, then you'd wonder how many calories can be burned doing routine things in your life.  With that, I've compiled my Top 10 List Of Strange And Unusual Ways to Burn Calories. My Top Ten List is based on doing the specific activities for one hour for my weight which is ***  pounds.  Your results will vary, as the more you weigh, the more calories you burn and vice versa.
 
10. Raking The Lawn -  Something I don't have to do, but I thought you would be interested. So put those blowers down.  360 Calories Burned
 
9. Sitting -  I do this all the time as I spend most of my life in front of the computeror tv afterwork, plus I figure it's easy and most people can do it.  96 Calories Burned
 
8. Housecleaning -  Again something I hate to do but is a necessity (most of the time).  576 Calories Burned
 
7. Shopping -  Now here's one that I used to hate, but am starting to enjoy it more and more.  I'm sure most people would agree with me here.  216 Calories Burned
 
6. Bowling  -  I never thought that I'd be burning calories from something that I truly enjoy.  This may not work to your favor if multple beers are involved. 276 Calories Burned
 
5. Brushing Your Teeth  -  Something that we all do all the time (or most of us). My dentist has told me to brush after every meal, hell now that I'm looking to keep trim for the summer I'll brush 6 to 8 times a day. 228 Calories Burned
 
4. Kissing  -  Another favorite of mine.  I'll make some time to increase the amount of this activity any day. 96 Calories Burned
 
3. Watching TV  -  This is something that most people do on a daily basis.  Who would have ever thought you could burn calories with this favorite pastime. 96 Calories Burned
 
2. Playing Cards  -  This activity is high on my favorites list, (even though my mom beat me three times in a row recently) even higher now that I know I'm burning calories doing it.  My next card game I'll skip the snacks and stick to water and playing cards. (yah right!!) 156 Calories Burned
 
1. Sex  -  My favorite activity on the list!  Now this is one activity I'll find time for as I'm sure most people will also. Keep in mind the number of calories burned is for doing this activity for one hour.  Let's all get out there and burn some serious calories by partaking more in this activity!  384 Calories Burned As Always Remember To Lose Weight With Passion! 
 
I hope this list is helpful, interesting and quite humorous.
 

Hi all...from the west coast of fl!!!

Thank goodness for a few days off. That's right i have time to relax. So Sunday afternoon i packed my car an popped down my home town. It's fun just to hang out with the family!!! Wooo hooo!!!
Al those of you at work have a good time!!

FOOD TRIVIA
Licking a regular size, multicolor stamp delivers .007 calories. A larger commemorative, such as *Elvis*, has .014 calories.

Hershey's Kisses are called that because the machine that makes them
looks like it's kissing the conveyor belt.

Researchers at Harvard University, spurred by an urban myth, tested the effectiveness of Coca-Cola as a spermicide. The result: Diet Coke worked a little, but not well enough to qualify as a new form of birth control.

Survey: 14% of those responding make milk part of their sex lives.

Derrick Johnson of Newport Beach, California was fired from his stock clerk job in a supermarket because he talked to USA Today about his membership in the Poultry Bowling Association. Johnson and fellow clerks on the night shift used frozen turkeys to bowl over "pins" - two liter soft drink bottles.

In August of 1993, the Economic Evening News of Taiyuan, China, reported that a woman in her thirties, unidentified in the story, had eaten more than 800 rubber nipples from baby bottles in the last three years. A province health official said all family members apparently liked the smell of rubber.

The electric pickle is an experiment that was a tremendous success in freshman electronics class. You go to a deli, see, and get a big kosher dill pickle, seven or eight inches long. Then you cut the cord of an old electric appliance and strip the ends to expose two or three inches of split wire. (Unplug it first.) Get two two- or three-inch nails, wrap one strand of wire around each nail, and stick the nails into the pickle. Then plug in the cord. "After about ten seconds the pickle will light up, glowing and crackling. It's really quite bright. You can try it at home," says Franklin, "but don't touch the pickle."

cRAZY aBOUT FATTENING FOOD??
If I tell you not to think of monkeys for next 5 minutes, the first thought that will invariably come to your mind will be of monkeys!

Likewise, if you're attempting to follow a low fat healthy diet program, keeping away from fatty food becomes a challenge of a lifetime and can be very depressing. Here are some alternatives to high-fat fare that you may find helpful.

First of all milkshakes.. Don't we all love 'em? But the usual stuff is way too fattening to continue with while trying to lose weight. The healthy alternative is to make them with low-fat frozen yogurt and skim milk. It does the trick so incredibly well that generally you won't even notice the difference and your craving goes away as soon as you sip it!

Next up cream cheese.. especially for your bagel topping.. Try pureeing some low or non-fat cottage cheese along with fresh fruit, your favorite spice or flavoring or maybe some strawberry jam. This will provide you with creamy, delightful topping for your bagel without the added fat. Moreover go for store bought bagels rather than the Bakery bagels which tend to be more fattening. TRY WHOLE WHEAT THEY ARE BETTER FOR YOU AND I!!

Rain Rules! Thought for the day:
Today the sky dropped a ton of rain! It was great!!! I was standing in the kitchen and I heard some rumbling, so I peaked out side and there was a waterfall coming off the roof. I don’t why people complain about it. Everything is green, the air is fresh, and my car needed a bath. Rain just makes me relax. I want to tell those people there crazy. If your not a rain lover than you need to get over it. Try gripping about something you have some control over. And best of all it isn’t 9000 degrees when it’s raining. Woo hoo!!! Rain Rules!!

I'm Back!!!!And better than EVER!!!

First i would like to do a shout out to my AWESOME Dad!!!!
As you all know my computer was on the fritz, and over the holiday weekend my lil sis went home to visit our folks. So i sent my crazy computer home for it to get a check up with Dad. it was just what the doctor ordered....Now my computer is all tuned up and running great. Thanks Dad your Awesome!!!!

I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend of fun and all the holiday trimmings. Of course i worked, nothing different than any other holiday, with the exception of a butt load of BBQ.

First of all, the word barbeque is misused. When you cook steaks, hot dogs and hamburgers (and whatever else you want) on the grill, well hello.....guess what? That is called Grilling!

Cooking meat over an open fire has been around since the cave man. But the cave man didn't BBQ. Why? Because he had no sauce. LOL! Actually, as far as we know, the cave men just grilled over an open fire.

So just what is barbequing? Now pay attention. It will probably end up being a question on "Jeopardy" someday!

To barbeque (going to use BBQ from now on since it's so hard to type) is slow-cooking meat at a low temperature for a long time over wood or charcoal. Not gas! Although, most of us without a discerning culinary palette don't know the difference.

BBQ began in the late 1800's during cattle drives out West. The men had to be fed (cowboys) and the boss (cattle baron) didn't want to feed them the good meat. So, other disposable cuts were used to feed the men. The main choice for this was Brisket, which is a very tough, stringy piece of meat. However, the cowboys learnt that if you left this brisket to cook for a long period of time (5-7 hours) at approximately 200 degrees (although I don't know how they knew the temperature over a fire?) that wha-la! A super yummie meal was to be had. Besides Brisket, other meats that they found to BBQ well, were pork butt, pork ribs, beef ribs, venison and goat.

The basic BBQ grill is a cooking chamber with an offset firebox or a water smoker. The average KMart gas grill is not for BBQ, but for grilling. Today BBQ is a hobby -- or passion with some -- and enjoyed by millions of Americans each year. I guess it's one of the things we as Americans can claim as "authentic" and part of our culture and not a cooking style that has been brought from another country.

To BBQ is to truly cook American.


You know what they say? "When in Rome...do as the Romans." This can apply to BBQ also. Different areas of the country have different meat priorities and preparations. For example, in the Southeast, pork is the preferred meat to BBQ. Digging a pit (to concentrate cooking heat and smoke) goes back to European culture. Then it was forgotten until the Jamestown colonists arrived. Since pigs were running around freely to fatten themselves up, (only to be captured and eaten later) pork became the sustenance meat of Virginia and later the southern states. This also was a blessing when crops didn't produce as they should for whatever reasons.

But, the sauce is what seems to define a BBQ chef or restaurant. In the South they seem to like thinner BBQ sauces, with a more vinegary tone. Other parts of the US prefer the thick, sweet, tomato BBQ sauce. But in Texas they season their beef with a dry-rub mixture of seasonings.

There are even quirky BBQ's in some restaurants or areas of the United States. In the early 1900's, New Yorkers loved turtle BBQ. I think that got replaced by New York pizza or cheesecake?

It's undeniable that BBQ is popular and well-loved in American society. But, BBQ tastes and cooking differ. Real BBQ purists claim that a restaurant that offers its customers a grilled piece of meat slapped with some sauce later isn't eating real BBQ at all. Others say it is, as long as the sauce is there, then it's BBQ!


(Information source for the above information on BBQ is from posts I read on the American Cooking Bulletin Board and my own personal experiences.)


I hope found this info fun and interesting. Remember folks its the summertime...thats right bbg season is offically here...so light some fires and get cook'in!!!!!!