Hey what’s up everybody?  So I just saw a commercial for Prison Break which is coming back to Fox on April 4!  I’m pretty excited since I used to love that show (especially season one which was an instant classic) but how many times can these 2 guys go to jail?  Maybe they should rename the show El Chapo…

Anyway, after that commercial I saw an ad for the new Power Rangers movie.  I never actually watched the show as a kid since I thought it was just a rip off of Voltron, but the movie looks like it might be good!  It’s also great to see that they aren’t rocking those Blue Man Group looking spandex uniforms in the film too! 

But yeah, after watching those 2 commercials, I came online and now see that TLC’s hit home makeover show Trading Spaces is coming back too?!  That’s the show that launched the careers of Paige Davis and Ty “Move that Bus” Pennington’s (Extreme Makeover Home Edition) careers back in the day. 

If you’re unfamiliar with the concept; friends, neighbors and loved ones would renovate a space for each other and then have a big reveal at the end of the episode.  It was a fun show but I don’t know if I could ever trust anyone to renovate a main room for me.  I might let them redo my home office though.  That’s the only space that I don’t mind featuring goofy things like Batman logos, sports memorabilia and food pillows.  I try to pretend I’m an adult in the other rooms (I typed that after taking a giant sip out of my Wile E. Coyote mug…while standing next to the Batman and sports logo magnets on my refrigerator!  Adulting is hard…)

Hopefully they also bring back the underrated “While you were Out” home makeover show which was very similar to Trading Spaces but was actually the better show in my opinion!  Hmm, Trading Spaces, Prison Break, Power Rangers… what year are we in again?  Wow, it feels like the early OO’s all over again!  Can we also send gas prices back 12 years too?  That would be great…

So, the other day I woke up halfway through the night and the power was out again.  According to the electric company (great throwback show by the way!  Did you know that Morgan Freeman was a cast member?!), a transformer was out.  I always laugh when someone says that since it usually causes me to imagine that Optimus Prime and Bumble Bee are doing battle outside or something (ie: Transformers).  Although I’m fairly certain that if I woke up in the middle of the night and saw a talking robot semi-truck fly past my window, I might wet the bed for the first time since I was a toddler! 

I didn’t mind the power being out this time though (you can read about my last experience from a few posts ago by clicking here) since I was going back to bed anyway. 

Back in the day that might have caused chaos but since I use my cell phone as my alarm clock now, it doesn’t matter if the electricity goes out, I can still wake up on time.  And although I occasionally want to throw or smash my phone when the alarm sounds on some of the crazy early days on my schedule; overall, it’s worked out much better for me. 

Aside from it not requiring external power, the lights also don’t keep me awake like that old led display used to at times.  I know that I posed the question about people still using actual calendars last post, how many of you still use a real alarm clock versus using your phone?  Somewhere in my closet, I have a batman alarm clock that projects a bat-symbol with the time onto the ceiling!  Hmm, perhaps I should put that in my home office…

Oh year, while I’m on the subject of crazy items, check out these boxer briefs that my brother’s family surprised me with the other day!  

Haha hot dog!  I think we’ve found a weiner….get it?  Nevermind…but yeah, these are hilarious!  I know that I normally wear the clothing items for show and tell but um yeah, holding these up will have to do in this case!  Haha you’re welcome…

Speaking of my brother’s family, my niece recently posted about getting an A- on a paper that she started an hour before it was due.  I’m obviously very proud of her but I do feel bad that she’s apparently inherited one of my (many) faults!  I remember literally writing papers at the last minute during homeroom or in the back of the class after the teacher had already started walking around to collect the papers!

I think my worst case of term paper procrastination happened during my freshman year at Rutgers.  We had 2 months to write this 20-page thesis paper that would account for nearly 75% of our grade but I waited until the very last night to even start it.  My class was at 10am the next morning so I handwrote the intro on the bus around 6pm, then proceeded to go to dinner with friends.  Then I played spades and hung out for a few more hours.  Finally, once everyone else had gone to bed and I had nobody else to goof around with, I downed a Mountain Dew and started the paper around 4am by typing the intro that I had handwritten earlier.

After hitting save on the intro, I cracked my knuckles, focused and started typing away.  Despite it being so late, the words just started flowing and I easily powered through writing the rest of the paper.  I finished the last paragraph around 7am so yes, I pulled it off!  All that was left was to proofread it. 

I was feeling pretty cocky at this point (ha, you can read about another incident where being cocky didn’t pay off in my NJ Transit Creeper part 2 post) so I leaned back in my chair, put my feet up and….I accidentally kicked the power cord out of the wall and unplugged the computer!  If this were to happen now, I’d be okay but the auto-recovery features weren’t as advanced back then and I had only saved the intro so the other 19 pages were gone! 

My friends who were Computer Science majors all tried their best to help me find the document but by 8:30 I had to finally concede that it was gone and I’d have to start over…90 minutes before my class started all the way on the other side of campus with typical traffic along the way!

I tried to remember what I had written and how I had worded it, although I was now panicking so the thoughts weren’t flowing as freely the second time around.  

I was able to hammer out the second version of the paper in about an hour.  And fortunately, I had my car on campus that week because there was no way that I would have had time to wait for a bus across town!  I didn’t even have time to shower so I had to hop in my car still reeking of Doritos, Mountain Dew and sadness!  Anyway, I zipped through traffic as fast as possible and got the paper on the Professor’s desk 15 minutes before the class ended!

I somehow managed to get an A but sadly that wasn’t enough to keep me from waiting until the last minute several more times after that incident! 

Still, I hope that my niece learns from my mistakes, lol don’t be like Uncle Darrell haha… oh yeah, and always save your work!  That reminds me, I haven’t saved this post yet lol let me do that before we move on.  One moment please….

So, I’m often asked which is healthier, a protein shake or a protein bar.  A lot of that depends on which brand you’re using and what the nutrition stats are, but generally speaking, the answer is usually the shake.  It’s much easier to pack quality nutrients into a shake than it is to squeeze them into a bar.  Liquid also gets into your system faster so you’ll reap the benefits of those nutrients right away with the shake.

Both shakes and bars might take some getting used to though so if neither are your thing, just stick with real foods.  If you are going to try a bar or shake though, make sure to read your labels carefully.  Particularly take note of how much protein it contains as well as the total amount of calories, carbs, fat, sugar, etc.  Also take a look at the list of ingredients to make sure there aren’t a ton of additives or anything that will affect any food allergies you might have.    

Have a fitness related question you’d like answered?  Post it in the comments below!

One way to ensure that your protein bar fits your nutrient and taste requirements is to make your own and it’s actually much easier than you’d expect!

The following base recipe was written by proteinpow.com creator Anna Sward.  Check it out!

DIY Protein Bars

Directions

• Select your protein powder and add a type of flour to it. Make sure to select a flour that can be eaten raw: coconut flour, almond flour, or a grain-based flour like oat flour or quinoa flour are all good choices.
• Bind the powder and flour with milk. You can use cow’s milk, coconut or almond milk, the choice is yours. You can also add nut butter.  You want to add enough liquid (and nut butter if you decide to include that) to make the batter come together like dough. The goal is to end up with a batter that you can form into bars with your hands.
• Shape the above batter into bars. If, after mixing your ingredients, your batter is too moist or sticky to mold, add a tiny bit of coconut flour or casein powder until you get the desired consistency. You want to be able to shape the bars, so getting the batter dry enough is essential.  If, after mixing your ingredients, the batter is too dry, add a bit of milk until you get the desired consistency. Don’t make it too runny though, or you’ll have to go back to adding flour again.
• Melt some chocolate in a bain-marie or in a glass bowl on top of a pot of boiling water. Once it’s melted, dunk the bars in the chocolate or pour it over the bars. She recommends coating the bars in 90-100% chocolate, but you can go as dark (or light) as you want.  However, darker chocolate contains less sugar and more antioxidants so that is the healthier choice.  She also recommends using really bitter chocolate if you’re going with a sweeter filling since they pair well together.    
• Place bars in the freezer for at least 30 minutes and BOOM! They’re ready to pack up and take with you or you can eat them on the spot!

Once you’ve mastered these base techniques, you can start playing around with different ingredient and flavor combinations.  She’s used everything from coconut shavings and vanilla to almonds and goji berries!  Here are a few photos of her creations but with that base that she provided, it’s fairly simple to take the bars in whichever direction you’d like so just use your imagination!

These are pretty cool, I’m definitely going to have to give these a shot the next time that I meal prep!  Let me know what combinations you come up with in the comments and I’ll be sure to update you once I’ve made a few batches!

Have a recipe you’d like to try or a food item or restaurant location that we can’t miss?  Tell us about it in the comments below!

Today’s Soundtrack

Power – Kanye West (yeah, I know I just used this one a few posts ago but it makes sense here too lol)

What I’ve done – Linkin Park (from the Transformers movie soundtrack)

The Final Countdown – Europe (Stop waiting until the last minute to write those papers LaNaya!  Lol do as I say, not as I do…)

32 Bars – Mike Sherm (32 protein bars?  What flavor?)

44 Bars – Logic (Oh wow, 44 is an even better deal!)

92 Bars – Game (well that escalated quickly…) 

Wow, the last post of March, it’s crazy how fast this year is flying by but I am looking forward to using my favorite meme next post!  I had to wait until April to bring it back out but it’s coming so stay tuned!

Thanks for helping us cross the 3000 total views mark earlier this week, that’s a huge milestone especially since we just launched on January 2.  We could definitely still use your help to grow the audience even more though so please continue to spread the word if you’re enjoying the posts.  Also follow me on social media and all of that good stuff. 

Whatever you get into this weekend I hope it’s a great one!  I may try to finally see the Logan movie before it’s gone from theaters so Power Rangers will have to wait.  I may also make a batch of those protein bars too since they look pretty tasty!

Okay, that’s a wrap for today but let’s continue to conversation in the comments section. As always thanks for dropping by and May the fork be with you…

-Darrell

“It’s Morphin Time!”