Fig Butter

I came across more figs again this year. There is a member of my church that gave me a half gallon last year and I enjoyed them in my yogurt and just eating them raw. Mr. L called to let me know he had me some more figs. He asked me to meet him at the church so he could give them to me. He handed me a bag of fresh okra and 5lbs of figs!

I was so excited.

When I got home I immediately washed the figs. I froze some, and put some in the refrigerator for snacks. Then prepared enough of them to make Fig butter. The plan was to make jam but it didn’t turn out jammy. 

So fig butter it is. This is ok because I just finished off a jar of apple butter and now I can enjoy some fig butter on my toast or peanut butter sandwiches. 

It was simple to make and will last in the refrigerator up to 3 weeks. 

FIG BUTTER

1/2  water

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups figs (1 pound) cut in quarters

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Put water and sugar in a sauce pan on medium heat until sugar is dissolved.

Add lemon juice and figs. 

Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to a simmer for one hour, partially covered.

Smash up (I used an immersion blender).

Let cool and store in refrigerator. 

(I doubled the recipe and got over a quart)

Too Much News

I remember when we only had a few channels on the TV. There were a lot of family shows that seemed to be timed for when children were at home the most. For example, early mornings were the times when they showed a lot of learning shows such as Captain Kangaroo and Sesame Street. On Saturday mornings everyone would sit down in the living room floor and enjoy cartoons. 

That was always a treat for us. 

Midday while the kids were napping or in school is when the soap operas would come on for the stay-at-home moms to enjoy and have something to talk about with their friends. We as kids were not allowed to watch the soap operas as they had some bad words and Adult content. 

Now just look at what they watch.  

Afternoons were mostly family friendly shows like Andy Griffith, Gilligan's Island, Leave it to Beaver, and Happy Days. Night time was the only time you watched the news and that was usually after the kids were in bed. At 11:00 pm, the TV would just go to a blank screen. 

My oh my how TV has changed. 

Now days when we turn on the TV, the first thing we see is news. The news is on 24/7 and it’s not good news either. We can not go anywhere without hearing negative news. We turn on our computers and nothing but chaos. They could report bitter news and just go to something else, but no, they will talk about the same thing over and over. They bring in different people to share their views on a topic. They make it an all day thing and people are hooked like zombies on a hotdog (I don’t know where that just come from but I'm leaving it).

Now people want to be in the news. They are always looking to do something bad so that they will be noticed and be put on every channel and social media page they can. BECAUSE, they want attention. The worst news brings the most attention and viewer reviews.

In my opinion, Stop the cameras and the rowdy crowds will slow down.

I think they show “To Much News”. They show the worst scenes in a town and people have a hunger to keep seeing it. It’s sad. It’s a sickness. The news will cause you to be in a bad mood, brings on anxiety, loss of rest, madness and bitterness. The world is not at peace. Do you really think people want to live in a world full of hatred, trashed out towns, and violence? I do not think so, but they do want to be on the news and will do whatever it takes to do so. 

If you turn off the negative news and stop following negative stories on social media for a few days, you will feel a sense of relief. Your mood will be better and your home will be happy. 

The world needs less news and more Andy and Barney. 

NutPods Creamer

Every morning, I make my way into the kitchen and pour myself a cup of coffee. I have never been a fan of plain black coffee and would add a lot of sugar and cream but since being on a diet, I have learned to enjoy unsweetened creamers with only a few that I like. For health reason, I have also been looking for a good non dairy creamer. 

Due to having Tinnitus and symptoms of Menier's Disease, I have had to make some changes in my diet. Foods that trigger episodes of earringing and vertigo associated to my problem are known to be related to high sodium and dairy. I have started doing a low sodium diet and trying to cut back on dairy products.

 

I was excited when NutPods sent me a box of their French vanilla flavored oat creamer. I can’t thank them enough! 

Their original creamers are made with all natural flavors including almonds and coconut cream, however, the oat based creamer has all the same goodness but without the nuts. It is sugar free and dairy free with zero sodium. Exactly what I have been looking for. Each serving has only 10 calories, 1gram of fat and zero everything else.

The next morning I could hardly wait to give NutPods Oat Creamer a try. I poured my coffee and added the cream. I was impressed at how creamy it was and made my coffee smooth and delightful. It was hard to believe this was sugar free and dairy free! It was delicious and had the perfect amount of flavor to wake up my tastebuds. I have found that other non dairy creamers have a weird flavor and leave an after taste, but not this one. NutPods Creamer was a game changer for me. After just one cup, I was hooked. 

Here are some other cool facts about NutPods Creamers.

Non-Gmo

Vegan

Plant based

Lactose free

No sugar

Gluten free

Paleo

And can be used in place of milk in most recipes. 

Do you like froth? No worries. This creamer is also froth friendly. How fun is that?  

It has the consistency of half and half and I’m excited to continue using NutPods as my every day creamer. I will be purchasing Nutpods creamer for now on and want to try all the other flavors they have to offer. 

It’s great knowing I’m doing something healthier for my body while still being able to enjoy the little things in life. Like what goes into my coffee. 

Nutpods.com

*Nutpods Oat creamer was provided to me free of charge 

in exchange for my honest review. 

All opinions are 100% my own.

Meet my Newest Pet

I would prefer to have a pet cat, chicken or hedgehog but it’s just not going to happen. We have allergies to cats. Chickens are not allowed in the city limits and Hedgehogs.....well, they are just too odd. I can not talk Nick into letting me own one. Maybe one day, but for now, I had to settle for a plant pet. 

Meet Midori (Japanese word for green).

Midori is a Marimo Moss Ball or some call them algae balls. They are found in the bottom of rivers and lakes, and if taken care of, they can live over 200 years. 

I do not need to feed it, take it for a walk or litter train it. It just sits in an aquarium all day and the only thing I need to do is keep the water changed every couple weeks. The only tricks it will do is float to the top of the water sometimes. 

It is soft and fuzzy, does not smell and can live outside of the water for a couple days if it has too. This one may go on a few adventures. 

This species is found mostly in Japan, but I adopted this one from Indiana. They can also be found in most pet stores as people will usually add them to fish aquariums for added freshness and they make the fish happy. 

But then there are pet empty people like me that make them plant pets. 

Ok, call me weird but it will be fun coming up with ideas to decorate it’s living space. And honestly, it looks pretty cute sitting on my mantel.  

I remember when my sister used to have a pet rock. 

Do you or have you ever had something odd that you called a pet? 

Shop Marimo Moss Ball from Aquatic Arts.

When you Lose a Blogger Friend

I get on my blog every day to catch up on new post from other bloggers.

The blogging world is pretty cool as I have made a lot of special friends through blogging. Some of the bloggers I follow, I feel very close to.

Bloggers express a lot about themselves. They will write about their jobs, family, and hobbies. They will talk about trips they have taken, foods they have eaten and share photos of what their eyes focus on in a particular hour. 

We watch as their families grow and what new adventures they take.

You know what they did yesterday, today and sometimes tomorrow. But tomorrow never comes for some. 

One of the dear bloggers that I follow wrote his last post on Wednesday the 15th. He mentioned being under the weather but still took his dog Hook for a walk and shared a glimpse of Hook through a photo. 

Then some time between that post and my morning coffee, he passed away. 

When you lose a blogger friend it leaves a little empty feeling in your day. Your left with lots of questions as they can no longer write telling you whats going on in their life. They just, go. You will never hear from them again (unless they have scheduled post). 

I will remember him as a great writer, singer and songwriter. I own one of his books and enjoyed reading it as I sat one day on the beach.

He adored his wife and mentioned her in almost every single post. They were adorable together and I loved hearing about their singing gigs, fun with the kids, walks, tea time and chicken coops. 

I also was intrigued by the stories of his bee hives and look forward to the education he shared as a new bee keeper.

Rick Watson at Life101 

will be missed my many.

Though we never met, the friendship was still there.

Please keep his wife and family in your prayers. 

(Read Here)

Mr. C and Pickles

I have some wonderful neighbors. I know many people can not say that. But I have been blessed with friends all around me. 

One of my neighbors is Mr. C. He lives about six houses up the road on the same street as I. His wife has lived here a lot longer than I have. We have lived here for about 17 years and she has been living here for at least 30. I have known her all my life as I we still go to the same church together and I played with her daughter when I was younger. Her husband passed away a few years ago and she remarried Mr. C. whom I have known just as long because he too went to the same church and was once married to my moms cousin. She passed away after a losing a battle to cancer, and well, a new love story began with this widow and widower. 

Mr. C loves to tend a garden. He has always had one. Now that he lives here in my neighborhood with his new wife, He has a garden in his back yard where there used to be a swimming pool. 

When we go on our walks we will often throw up our hands and wave. The other day, while passing by, he motioned for us to come see his garden and take some of those cucumber and squash off his hands. He said he gardens just for the fun of it and loves giving his produce away. We stayed a while as he told us some interesting stories of his past. I could have stayed all night listening to him but it was getting late.

I was amazed at how big and plentiful his garden was. He had cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, beans, peas, cantaloupe, watermelon and corn. It looked great! Needless to say, we left with a large bag of cucumbers that I also shared with my brother and brother in law. The next week he gave us a few more cucumbers and some sweet corn. 

My friend neighbor has been getting some of the same veggies from him too so we have been sharing some recipes. One is for Dill Pickles. She had made these refrigerator pickles. I have heard of them before but now I was convinced to give it a try. 

They were so easy to make that a kid could do it! You can find the recipe I used HERE.

I love how pretty they look sitting in the jars and they turned out delicious! I made three jars and I am sure they will be gone soon.

There is just something about the taste of fresh homemade pickles verses the store bought kind.

So go ahead and give it a try. Impress yourself like I did.

Great Day For A Bike Ride

I own an old vintage bike. It happened one morning when my late father in law was having a yard sale and I saw the little charm sitting in his yard. I simply said, “I want that bike!” Without a flinch, he replied “It’s yours now, take it”. With a big smile on my face, I jumped on and rode off into the sunrise. 

It has been in storage along with two other vintage bikes my husband refinished for him and my daughter. While he made two old rusted beach cruisers look brand new again, I decided that I did not want anything done to mine. I liked the original blue color and the patina look. However, I did add a new set of white wall tires and a basket. I also added some of my talent and crocheted a cute little granny square seat cover to hide the dingy white seat. 

I fell in love with it all over again. 

It has been almost ten years since I rode my bike. Nick just never felt like digging it out from the storage building and I never had a desire to ride it after my daughter moved out on her own. 

BUT, the other day I noticed my neighbor friend had an old vintage cruiser bike too and was riding it up and down the road. This made me want to dust the cob webs off of mine. Nick agreed to get my bike out and made sure the brakes were still good and oiled the chain. Then he put a little air in the tires and I rode up the road to meet her.

We had a good time riding around the neighborhood while we caught up on all our stories. We rode for about an hour talking and giggling. For a little while we were back to being seven year olds again without a worry in the world. We enjoyed it so much that we have made plans to meet once a week for a ride together. 

I had forgotten how fun riding a bike can be and also just how sore you can make your muscles afterwards. It has been a great workout for me as I try to ride a couple times a week now. There is nothing like putting music in your ears and letting the breeze blow your hair. 

Air Fryer Pound Cake

If you know me, you know I love my air fryer. My daughter and her boyfriend got it for me over a year ago for my birthday. I have used it almost every single day since. It has basically replaced my oven and frying pan. My air fryer has even been taken to the beach with us to use in the camper. 

Any thing you can cook in the oven, you can basically cook in the air fryer. Just in a smaller portion. I have made everything from steaks, to cobblers in that thing. When I realized I could make cake in it too, I had to give it a try. I decided to make a pound cake. I did not use my own pound cake recipe. I used one found online that called for yogurt since I was out of milk at the time. The recipe yielded 3 mini loaves, so I cut the recipe down to 1/3 to make just one. 

It turned out delicious. This did not compare to my moms or my daughters pound cake but I was impressed that I could make one almost as good using my air fryer. This one will be added to my recipe book. 

AIR FRYER POUND CAKE

(Makes one mini loaf)

1 Cup-All purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon- baking soda

3/4 teaspoon- baking powder

1/3 teaspoon- salt

3/4 Cup- Greek yogurt

1/3 Tablespoon- vanilla

1 egg

3/4 Cup- sugar

1/4 Cup- butter

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl

Mix wet ingredients in another bowl

Then combine the two and mix well.

Pour into a greased mini loaf pan

Air Fry 320 for 20 minutes. 

(Do the toothpick test to make sure its done through). 

Full recipe can be found at ForktoSpoon.com 

I plan to try more cake recipes soon. 

Do you own an air fryer? If so, what are some of your favorite things to make?