So here you are reading the about Tony Rican.. of about me section, so that means I had to sit down and write about myself. According to my friends that’s my favorite subject, lol but honestly I find it very difficult to talk about myself so bare with me through all of this =).

What’s up guys? I am Tony Rican… and first yes that is my real name, well first and middle name. I know it is a little bit different but come on I think it is really freakin’ cool. I was born and raised in Chicago, not a suburb but the city itself. My father is Puerto Rican (hence the middle name lol) and my Mother is Sicilian. I know a pretty cool little mix right? lol.

So how did a kid who grew up running around the streets of Chicago end up cooking on YouTube and have a cooking Website? Good question.

For about a decade and a half I was a professional wrestling (yes like the WWE) on the indies.. what are the indies, best description is the minor leagues for the big boys like WWE, New Japan and the likes. Living on the road driving from show to show all I ate was fast food and garbage truck stop open 24 hours type restaurants. So when I was home I was eating take out, pizzas basically well garbage.

As wrestling started to draw to it’s end is when I started building my family, I turned an eye from being on the road to being a father and a husband. Thing is all those years of garbage food and never cooking for myself meant, well I couldn’t cook. I mean I couldn’t cook anything. The one event though that put it all over the top is when I had to call my little brother (who was a boxer and now trains boxers, kick boxers and MMA fighters… seeing the pattern yet? Yea we both like being in the the ring lol). I asked Dennis… Umm D, when making a grilled cheese do I put the butter on before or after I put the bread in the toaster. Well after his 20 minutes of laughter subsided I became determined to teach myself to cook.

This also gave me a great in to exploring some of my heritage too. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen with my Dad learning to cook what he grew up eating in Puerto Rican as a kid. Then taking those same dishes and introducing them to my family as an in to that same rich heritage.

Well here I am today, no longer a Pro Wrester on the road. I am now a Father of two, a husband, during the day I am basically a Data Analyst. I coach Youth Football for my 13 year old son. Hang out at Dance recitals and soccer games for my 7 year old daughter. I am a HUGE nerd I still follow wrestling, I read a TON of comic books and like to work out. So basically I am just an Average Guy now, I don’t have a lot of time on my hands, I am not like some bloggers/YouTubers where this is my full time job. I like easy things that aren’t overly expensive and will make left overs for lunch tomorrow. I am totally self taught so I am serious when I tell you if I can cook it you can cook it!

Let’s go ahead and get started cooking and I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I do! 

-Tony Rican

 

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