Not all things in life are free, but sometimes they are...

We just came for pizza....

Interesting day so far. Professor never showed up, so class was cancelled. Then Hailey and I ordered a pizza from Papa Murphy's. Nothing too odd yet..but e arrive to pick up said pie, only to our perplexity, the lights are on, with the only pizza on the rack being ours, and the door is locked. Literally no one was here. We waited for a bit, called again, waited, called, waited called..nothing. So hailey called corporate which got ahold of the owners, they show up, and apparently Robbie the employee decided to just abandon ship. No idea why, even the owners don't know why.

As you can see, pens on the counter, lights are on, there's nothing in the small cooler, but there's our pizza, right on the rack. Yet no one's here to be found...

We were comped a dessert pizza though which was nice. Oh, and while we were waiting, a friend saw us in the parking lot, slowed down to quickly say hi , and the black ladies behind him got mad. I quipped, "chill out, he's leaving right now!" As he left and they followed. What happened next, I wish I filmed. They stopped. Went in reverse, and starting to yell the following: "what the f***is your problem, white boy?! You got a f***ing problem with us? Mind your God**** business, motherf***er!" And promptly drove off. I didn't realize I was so important for two ladies I don't know, to come back and yell so vulgarly at me. But, I guess they're having a bad day. I didn't mean any harm by what I said. They had ample room to drive around my friend who slowed down, and who's kept rolling his car as he said a quick hello..but I guess some just like making a scene.

Anyway, I hope you all out here in cyberspace are having a good day, and was hopefully entertained by my little story. I'm off to go eat some pizza with my wife.

Honing In On Working Out

This post has been something I've wanted to write for a while now. It's something I don't like admitting, but who would?

Wedding life is amazing, first off. My wife is really wonderful. She's my best friend and we've already been through a lot in six short months. But prior to our wedding, we had a lot of stress. Wedding stress, family stress, work stress, you name it. Things are smoothed out now, but that came at a price. That price? 30 pounds heavier.

See, I've always tried to be relatively fit, and there's a reason for that. I've scared myself into being fit and healthy, (and I'm sorry family, but you're the example here..) I have family members who aren't. An uncle who's vastly overweight, and a granddad who ate himself into diabetes and being overweight, yet has done nothing to combat his now life-long sentence of a constant high-low sugar levels, insulin shots, and all the extra junk that comes with diabetes.

It's not fun to see family not care about their health, when you know they can be better and live life longer. But that doesn't mean I have to be like that. 30 pounds to some may seem like not a big deal. But when you're a kid who's lived about 80% of his teen life at 160 pounds, and under 15% body fat, gaining that much that quick is a wake up call.


But that brings us to today.


Hailey and I have been eating at home. We cook cleaner, eat less fatty, junky foods. I actually like salads now. Fruit is something I seemingly can't go without. Oh, and for those that know me well? Sodas are now severely limited to when I'm out with friends. Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, all those big boys are staying out of my home now. Also, getting back to working out has been the absolute best. I understand that people have a hard time doing any sort of exercise. Pain hurts, I get it. But the results are worth the short-lived strain you'll have on your muscles, because that means your muscles are doing their job! Stretching them out, make them bigger, stronger, and better. It's also a phenomenal way to get your mind off the work day by listening to some great music while you're working out, too.

Anyway, this morning I woke up after a late night at Fright Fest with Hailey, and decided to do some floor/ab work, and then weigh in. I'm down five pounds without clothes on, and that feels great. It's a small step, but I'm happy about it. I want to get back to my target weight of 160-170, and be fit. Lose the small gut I've gotten because I chose (yes people, I said chose) to stress-eat to cope with everything that went on. I'm in control of what I do, and I refuse to do what I did before. I don't want to be an overweight statistic on America's obesity problem. I want to be healthy, and I want to be better to live longer for myself, and for my family. It needs to happen, and it's going to happen. 

Easiest Loaded Potato Soup Ever

Comfort food like soups... yum. We all love them!
And now with it being officially Fall, it's time to start cooking and eating these delicious foods!

Most places when it's mid October its nice and chilly with temperatures in the low 80s or 70s. Well, not in Bakersfield. October, 13th and it was a high of 95.....

But hey! Who says I can't pretend right!? So I pretended by making one of my favorite comfort foods.... Crockpot Loaded Potato Soup. Yum!

Many of you have asked for this recipe, so I thought I would go ahead and share one of my easiest, yet delicious recipes!

You have a crock pot right!? No? GO GET ONE IMMEDIATELY!

I cannot begin to tell you how much I LOVE my crock pot. 

It has saved me countless hours over a hot stovetop. 

It has saved me many hours after work with not having to cook and already having dinner ready.

Crock pots are amazing and in case you haven't noticed, I highly recommend one.

So now that I got over that rant, here is the recipe!

Loaded Potato Soup

30oz bag of frozen hash browns ( I used shredded)

28oz chicken broth

10.75oz can cream of chicken soup

8oz cream cheese, softened

Minced Onion

Ground Black Pepper

Garlic Salt

Parsley

4-6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

The best part about this recipe is the fact that you use frozen hash browns instead of washing, peeling, and cutting potatoes. This skips the most time consuming step and tastes just as good!

Instructions

Get your Crock Pot on the low setting. 

Mix frozen hash browns (do not thaw), chicken broth (I had no chicken broth when I made this... can you believe that!? So instead, I did three cups of water and 3 tablespoons of butter and it worked out great!), Cream of Chicken Soup, Cream Cheese, Onion, Pepper, Garlic Salt, and Parsley all in the crock pot.

Now for the great part, just close the lid and let it sit for around 5 hours. Or you could put it on high and go for less hours, but I prefer a slow cook.

You can go ahead and give it a stir occasionally making sure all ingredients are combined.

When you are close to being finished get a hand held blender/mixer and give it a really good blend. This is what gives you that creamy consistency without any lumps.

And now it should be all ready! So dish some up in a bowl with shredded cheese on top with some crumbled bacon on top of that or any other toppings you would like. Serve with dinner rolls for a hearty, starchy, comfort filled yummy meal!

Try it! You won't regret it...

Enjoy!

-HW