Linking up with Ashley and Jessica again for Taste of Tuesday! I just love sharing recipes and getting new ideas every week!

Sometimes it is nice to just have a basic meal that you don’t have to put a lot of time and effort in, yet it is still classic and delicious! This is that meal! I forgot to take pictures of the finished meal, but I have 2 pictures of in progress, so bare with me here!

What you need for the chicken:

Chicken breasts (there were 2 in the pack I had)

2 red bell peppers

1 bottle of BBQ sauce

2 tablespoons of vinegar

1/4 cup of brown sugar (this helps keep the sauce thick, sometimes I use less to cut down on sugar but the sauce is always runny when I do that)

Place all the ingredients in a crock pot and cook on low for at least 8 hours. I usually leave this cooking when I am at work so it is more like 10 hours before I get to it.

What you need for the potatoes:

5-6 small red potatoes

1 tablespoon of olive oil

Italian Seasonings – Rosemary, Oregano, Basil, Thyme-season to taste

What you do for the potatoes:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the potatoes in half, then quarter each half leaving the skin on. Place in a bowl, then toss with the olive oil and seasonings. Place a baking sheet in a single layer and cook for 25-30 minutes.

That is it my friends. Simple, quick, delicious. These roasted potatoes go wonderfully with so many dishes and are around 140 calories per serving.  The chicken is really based on what type of BBQ sauce you use. I have found ones out there for as little as 15 calories a serving up to 80 calories. We eat the chicken whole, but you could shred it and put it on sandwich buns or even make a baked potato or sweet potato and serve like that!

Well hello there. I hope everyone had a great weekend! I spent some time this weekend transferring my blog from Blogger to WordPress! I also have a new domain all to myself. Exciting things people! My husband is so sweet and took the time to help me do everything. There is a lot of debate about which is better, Blogger or WordPress. I think they both have their pros and cons. My main reason for making the switch is that the content of your blog on WordPress is your very own if you are hosting it and have your own domain. In Blogger, all of your content is Blogger’s/Googles. Also, I have read horror stories about people losing their blogs on Blogger for different reasons. I didn’t want to fall victim to that! So, if things look a little wonky on here for awhile, please excuse the mess! I am trying to get used to everything and it has been trial and error!

This weekend was great. We didn’t really have any plans, which I love! Friday night we stayed in, made pizza and just hung around. Chris was getting his music ready for the Halloween party next weekend and I played around with Photoshop for a little while and read some Harry Potter, I have made it to book 5!

Saturday we woke up and ordered some breakfast from Crazy Horse and took it home. It was wonderful. It is a cute little mom/pop restaurant in Argo and their prices are SUPER reasonable. We ate for half the price we would have had we gone to Waffle House or Cracke Barrel and the food was great! After breakfast I did some cleaning and got ready. The rest of Saturday was all about football! Chris and I went and hung out with his dad and we watched a lot of games. Upset Saturday in the SEC! I am sad that Georgia lost, but I was so happy that Alabama won, Old Miss took down LSWHO, FSU killed Clemson, Tennessee is still going strong beating South Carolina and I cant believe I am going to say this…but I was so happy that Auburn beat Texas A&M!!!!  Suck on that Johnny Football! You have never seen 3 Alabama fans jump up and down at the end of an Auburn game hoping they win! What a great weekend for football with some really exciting games!!!

Sunday we did our meal planning and I headed off to the grocery store for the week. When I got home, we made lunch and watched the first three episodes of Betrayal. So far, the show is pretty good. Have you seen it yet? After that, we made my blog switch and then had dinner and watched a movie.

I am pretty proud of myself this weekend as far as eating goes. I only splurged at lunch both days. Last night for dinner I had a salad. I made my fruit dip again this week for a snack and am taking pita with hummus and either soup or a salad every day for lunch.

I hope everyone has a fantastic week!

When I think Five…two things pop in my head. The restaurant Five in Birmingham that I am currently boycotting because they no longer have their Shrimp Queso that I am obsessed with and the band Five. Please don’t even pretend like you didn’t get your dancing groove on when you heard “When the Lights Go Out” or my favorite “Slam Dunk Da Funk.”

Anywho, it is Friday, and on Fridays we link up with Joy for the Friday Five! Speaking of Joy, she just announced that her and her Mr are having a girl!!! I couldn’t be more excited for them.

1. Halloween is just around the corner. While I hate all things scary, gory and freaky….I do love two classic Halloween movies.

2. Pumpkin cookies with cream cheese chips. Holy yum. Not only were they delicious, but they made my house smell like fall heaven when they were cooking. Go ahead and splurge, they are only around for the season! (They are Pillsbury brake and bake kind.)

3. Mac – Seriously. Look at those ears. He is starting to look homeless again. Time to cut his hair!

4. It is hard to believe, but I have officially been a resident of the South for 15 years, AKA half my life! My family moved to Georgia in October of 1998. Let the fact that 1998 was 15 years ago sink in. Feeling old yet?

5. We have been making tacos a lot lately. What do you like to serve with yours? I use extra lean ground beef, black beans, sour cream, Mexican blend cheese, jalapeños, taco bell mild sauce and a soft flour wrap. I serve it with my Spanish Brown Rice. Devine.

Have you ever sat and thought about what would happen if you ruled the world? I don’t know why, but I was thinking about this the other day as I was sitting on the interstate, in traffic of course!

If I ruled the world…

We would have 4 day work weeks. Welcome to the weekend, Friday!

There would be separate lanes for 18-wheelers and regular cars. I have had too many close calls to count and I don’t want my obituary to read “Death by 18-wheeler.” Just because you drive a big ass truck, doesn’t mean you don’t have to look before you change lanes!

The government wouldn’t shut down because they cant get along.

People would stop playing the “race card” because people are people no matter the color of skin.

Holidays would become days to celebrate and spend time with family again. I love Black Friday like no other, but employees shouldn’t have to work on Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter. Whatever happened to old traditions?

The guilty would be properly punished. None of this get off on good behavior bullshit. Eye for an eye, bitches. Speaking of an eye for an eye……Animal cruelty would be treated much like an eye for an eye.

All doggies and kitties would have homes. There would be no kill shelters.

Everyone would have a job. I am all for government assistance when someone loses a job. However, you eventually need to go back to work! No one should have a free ride at the expensive of others that work hard. Nothing pisses me off more than people that cheat the system.

Speaking of the system. If you are on government assistance, you shouldn’t be eating better than someone who isn’t! You should get vouchers for only necessities like bread, milk, eggs, etc. You shouldn’t be able to purchase sodas, candy, and other garbage. Also, you should be given drug tests and if you test positive for something, you loose your assistance. AND if you are asking for money then you cant afford alcohol or cigarettes. Period.

There would be no cancer. Sometimes I feel like with all the technology and treatments out there….someone is holding back to make money on pharmaceuticals or something. I would make sure that a cure is found and all the research and money put towards it is being used properly.

Stupidity and ignorance would be punishable. (haha)

Starbucks would cost less. $5 for a PSL. It is ridiculous!!!! (Even if I do indulge now and then.)

Medical and dental bills wouldn’t be so outrageous!  I wouldn’t allow doctors to be persuaded by drug companies to prescribe their medicine over another that might be better for that patient just because they are getting kick backs.

Restaurants would have to start serving real food. None of this pink mystery meat and overly processed garbage.

Restaurants would also have a section for 21 and up to sit. I cant stand listening to kids screaming and running around in a nice restaurant while I am trying to enjoy my food and company.

All school systems would be good. Just because you live in a certain area doesn’t mean you don’t deserve the finest education if you are willing to work for it.

Everyone would be required to work in either the service industry or retail at some point in their life to appreciate how to act like a human in public and treat others with respect.

There would be no parking fees. Anywhere. That is just stupid.

All of my favorite shows would come back from the 80’s and 90’s.

Gas prices would go down.

There would never be an monopoly in a certain type of market. (That means you cable and internet companies.)

And that is just a few things I would change!

There are some topics that aren’t spoken of much. There are certain events that happen in your life and you tend to bury them deep down because they hurt to think about.

The other day I was listening to Spotify on my way home from work. I was driving along down a back road, watching the sunset and a song came on that reminded me of someone. The song was “Hold On” by Good Charlotte and it reminds me of one of my best friends from high school, MG.

During the fall semester of my sophomore year of high school, my family relocated to Georgia. I had to leave all my friends behind and it was hard. It seemed as though I was just adjusting to the new school that I had started at just the year before, and here I was having to do it all over again. I went from going to an incredibly small high school in the middle of no where Missouri to a VERY large high school in metro-Atlanta.

I had a lot of trouble my sophomore year. Adjusting to the move was difficult. Making new friends was difficult. Trying to keep in touch with the friends I moved away from and missing them like crazy. One day I came home from school and my friend MG called me and said that she had ran away from home and was traveling down to GA with her boyfriend and to be expecting her to drop by. I knew she had a lot going on in her life. She seemed depressed and she was dating someone much older than she and they were on and off. I couldn’t believe that she was coming to see me.

I battled very hard about what the right thing to do was in this situation. Do I call MG’s mom and tell her? Do I keep my friends secret because that is what friends are supposed to do? I turned to my parents, as I knew what the right thing was and I was trying to figure out how to do it without betraying her and running her off. My parents worked with MG’s mom and played it cool. When they arrived in GA we took MG and her bf to dinner and her parents magically showed up there. My parents took the blame for calling. It seemed like her and her parents made up and they all left back to Missouri together.

Things were normal for a little while. Then I got sick. So very sick. I was in and out of the hospital with pneumonia. Taking tons of sick days from school. I was a mess. Also, my grandmother was not doing so well at the time and my mom left to take care of her some that spring. I wasn’t allowed to see her because I was sick and we didn’t want her to get sick. It was hard on me.

One day when I came home from school, the phone rang and I overheard my mom. She got very quiet and gave her condolences and walked outside to finish the conversation. Deep down I knew what this was about.

When my mom came back inside she called me downstairs. She told me that she had just gotten off the phone with MG’s family and that MG had taken her own life. That her mom found her hanging in the basement when she had gotten home from work. Her funeral was to be later that week, and that she wishes she could send me but I just wasn’t healthy enough to travel.

At first I was angry. Why would she do something like this? Then I was sad. My best friend is gone and I wasn’t able to help her. Why didn’t she call to talk to me. Was her life so bad that she felt like she had to end it? I heard many rumors from others that knew her that she might have been pregnant with her bf’s baby. That they were on and off and it upset her. That people were mean to her at school. There were tons of rumors. But that is all that they were to me, just rumors.

Even though I missed the funeral, MG’s mom sent me a package the following week. It had her funeral program in it, a few pictures of us together from her room…and a letter thanking me for being such a good friend to her daughter.

MG was the nicest person to me at that school. When my parents decided to move into a new school district the week before my first day of high school I was so mad and scared and upset. MG came up to me after freshmen orientation and said, “You look nervous but don’t be. We are all new here this year and its going to be ok.” She found me the first day of class and invited me into her circle of friends with open arms, no questions asked. How could someone who once did that, take their own life?

My parents were very concerned about me. I had a really rough year, and now my best friend was gone. They called the school and let the guidance counselor know what was going on in my life. They wanted her to talk to me privately to see if I was ok. I got called out in first period English class and when I found out why I was there I was furious. I told the counselor that there was nothing to talk about. MG was gone and I was dealing with it. She said that she was always there to talk to, and asked me about other things in my life instead. She said that it was getting close to the end of my sophomore year and asked me about my plans for what I wanted to do after high school. She asked what I thought about Collins Hill since it was my first year there. Just general questions.

When I got home, I told my mom that I was ok and not to call the school anymore. That I was embarrassed I got called out of class to go see the counselor. My mom said she just wanted to be sure that I was ok and wanted to hear it from someone else because I wouldn’t talk about what happened at home. That she couldn’t bear to lose me the way that MG’s parents lost her. I couldn’t be mad at her anymore for that.

I am just so thankful that my mom could tell that I was upset and holding things in to myself. While it would never be in my nature to do something like that, you just never know. If you ever think that someone might be contemplating suicide, or even showing signs of depression….talk to them. Or call someone who can talk to them. Nothing is ever that bad. You could save a life.