Butter in my morning brew

In the past year or so, I've started to really have a love for coffee. As a college student, I had decided that if I would ever survive working a 40-hour week and a 17-credit hour semester, I needed the bitter nectar in my life.


I forced myself to drink it until I didn't hate it anymore, basically.

Well I've been trying a lot of new things with my coffee, just so that it isn't the same old, same old every single morning.

Recently I've tried 2 new methods when making my mornin' cup o' Joe: using Stevia and adding butter.


DISCLAIMER.

I love my coffee with creamer and sugar, which for some reason opens you up for jokes in the newsroom. Oh well; I like what I like.

Anyway, I was recently turned on to Stevia, which is a sugar substitute that is much sweeter and a much healthier alternative to regular sugar, as it is derived from the leaves of stevia plants.

It has been used in Latin American cultures for centuries, and also shows to have additional health benefits.

Plus, it's only $6 for a bag at your local WalMart or Crest, or probably any health food store, and it seems to last longer than sugar.

Stevia; sugar substitute. Looks like Colombian Bam Bam but oh well.

It's light, almost like powdered sugar, and by using it, I've noticed that I can use less than half of the sugar I used to put in my coffee. It's just that sweet. If that isn't a plus, then I don't know what is.

I'd like to try baking desserts with it, so you'll have to look out for that post!

OK, so here is the crazy one: butter in my coffee.

Yeah, that's right. Butter. In. My. Coffee.

Everyone that I've spoken with about it has either shown absolute disgust for the idea, or was really interested as to why I've been doing it.

It all goes back to the kind of butter you use. Kerry Gold, an Irish, imported, grass-fed butter, is the most common type that I've seen.

Grass-fed butter is one of the healthiest fats you can find, and before you think, "but fats are bad right?" just listen.

Now I can really get into the 400 different fatty acids that are found in grass-fed butter, but I'll spare you all of that talk. If you want to read more up on it, check out EcoWatch.

Basically, this butter contains a whole heck of a lot of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which is a very popular weight loss supplement.

Not only is it great for your metabolism, but it drastically reduces your chances of heart disease.

Keep in mind, all things in moderation. It is still butter, so I don't eat a lot of it, but I try to put a little dab in my morning coffee once a day.

Honestly, not only does it taste good now, it really makes me feel better. I feel more awake and energized. Seriously.

I used to drink 2-3 cups of coffee each morning, but now I feel great after just one. Sometimes, I only drink half a cup now for that same reason!

I recommend trying it if you want another small thing to help boost your metabolism, or you should just try it because it's new, and you can't knock it until you do.

Sincerely,

                               A Pondering Pen

Cred on the streets and in the kitchen

Hold onto your pants you guys, we just found a replacement show while we wait for HBO to finish filming Game of Thrones.

On a real note, Martha and Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party premiered on Monday and I think it was a great way to relax and have fun in the midst of all the craziness of the election.

I haven't gotten to watch it yet, as I was covering the election in our newsroom (we had 15,000 viewers that tuned in to our TRILINGUAL coverage of the election), but you can bet I will be hopping on that gravy train ASAP.

The first episode is called "Putting the Pot in Potluck" and they actually don't make what you'd see at a potluck— shocking I know.

They had a specialty fried chicken cook-off with guests actor Seth Rogan, and rappers Ice Cube and Wiz Khalifa.

I'm definitely going to tune out the negativity and hate from the election, and tune in to possibly get an incredible fried chicken recipe.

I also want to point out that Snoop Dogg, formerly known as Snoop Lion and formerly formerly known as Snoop Dogg, is hilarious by himself. If you haven't seen him narrate otters in a nature documentary, please look at the video below.



It's adorable. I don't really know what else to say about that.

Some people have critiqued VH1 saying, "they must be running out of ideas," but I think that this brainchild will be so entertaining to watch.

Stay tuned, I'll be back with updates, but I promise I won't spoil who won the cook-off!

UPDATE:

That was probably the best show I've watched in a long time! I haven't laughed that hard in a hot minute, so I recommend checking it out.

Sincerely,

                               A Pondering Pen

No singing on Thanksgiving?

Alright guys.

It's the day after Halloween and we all know what that means:

1.  Rush to your local market and grab a bag of Halloween candy for $1. If it's not $1, it's not worth it.
2. And also:

Good ol' Ned telling it how it is.

I've already seen people posting their Christmas playlists with the hashtags, #NoShame with date countdowns.

Be proud, I guess.

I just find it really strange that Thanksgiving doesn't really have any holiday songs and there is a huge market for it.

I for one, would jam out to Thanksgiving music for the next month if I could. Instead, I have to watch Bob's Burgers Thanksgiving episodes on repeat to get in the holiday spirit— not that I'm complaining. 

For example, my family and I listen to Twisted Sister's Christmas song covers, the album is titled "A Twisted Christmas" by the way, and I think that maybe they can come up with something, yeah?

Maybe songs about your crazy uncle getting drunk, grandpa burning the turkey and grandma losing it, or little Joey eating too much turkey and throwing up. You know, normal family holiday craziness. 

I'd buy it.                      
                                                        Sincerely,

                               A Pondering Pen                                               

Fall? More like fail.

This fall has been really disappointing so far.

The leaves are changing, the grass on campus is dying and yet they are still watering it, and people like me are walking around in fall/winter gear despite the 80 degree weather outside.

Like we're just hoping that if we believe, that real fall weather will arrive.

I heard today that we are supposed to have a very mild winter, and that in itself was a bummer.

I'm ready for the chilly mornings, and to stuff myself with my grandpa's legendary Thanksgiving ham.

Also, my Christmas tree is just waiting to be put up. And you can't do that when it's "mild" outside!

It should be getting colder for the snow. How many years has it been since Oklahoma had a white Christmas?

Perhaps the real problem is location. I should start planning on moving to the east coast sooner if the weather there is more "normal" for the seasons.

It just stinks when you appreciate Southern hospitality so much.

Either way, despite my post about pumpkin spice season, I have yet to buy my first pumpkin spice latte for the year.

Why?

You can probably guess.

It's too hot!

I don't know about you guys, but I plan on going home, turning my AC unit up full blast, and I'm going to pretend that I'm outside, and try to delude myself into thinking it's cold enough for some warm tea.

Sincerely,

                               A Pondering Pen

How to own "being basic"

I'm young. I'm female. I'm white. I love leggings, flannel, and fall. I adore pumpkin spice flavored everything.

Basically, I am the definition of "basic."

According to Urban Dictionary, being basic is:

An adjective used to describe any person, place, [or] activity involving obscenely obvious behavior, dress, [or] action... Used to describe someone devoid of defining characteristics that might make a person interesting, extraordinary, or just simply worth devoting time or attention to.

This might be a little harsh, saying a person is so cookie-cutter that they have no differing qualities than someone else, but it honestly doesn't bother me.

I am what I am, and hey— pumpkin spice is delicious. 

I "PowerPuffed" myself months ago, but didn't realize the levels of basicness until it was too late.

I look forward to fall every year because I have an excuse to wear leggings, boots, scarves, and walk around drinking hot coffee.

But thanks to the Gods of Basic, we now can enjoy pumpkin spice everything!

It didn't occur to me until a recent trip to the mall, how many variations of the spice has been adapted to different food groups. At that particular trip, my friend and I stopped at Auntie Anne's, because those pretzels just smelled so delicious.

I knew what I wanted—a regular salted pretzel with cheese dipping sauce. Lo and behold, we get to the cashier, and she looks at my friend (who also may be classified as basic) and me and recommends we try the new Pumpkin Spice pretzel bites.

They were delicious, by the way.

Was I offended that this person found her target audience? Not at all! I'm glad she recommended it.

I didn't get the icing dip they came with though. Girl's got to have boundaries.

I walked around with this cup of pretzel bites and shared them with cashiers at all of the shops we stopped at, and the cashiers were all surprised they existed too.

I was happy to share the pumpkin spice addiction. 


Since then, I've kept an eye out for pumpkin spice flavored items, just to see what else would be gifted to us basic girls this season.

Another trip to a different mall (I really don't go that much, I promise) yielded this discovery:

I love me some Teavana.

Pumpkin spice warm tea! Now this is something I can get behind.

This was taken at Teavana, and if you've never been, you need to check it out. They have samples of different kinds of tea you can brew, and this one took the cake.

Imagine: sitting out on your back porch, wrapped up in some slippers and pjs on a crisp morning, sipping some freshly brewed, warm tea. Tell me you don't enjoy the fall.

This tasted more like spice, and less like pumpkin, but it was also a little sweet. I hate bitter tea so I was all over this.

I haven't bought it though, because I'm pretty broke.

Hopefully at my next paycheck, they won't be sold out.

On another excursion with some friends to try a ramen place in the Plaza District, we stopped afterward into Roxy's homemade ice cream shop, even though there was a line out the door!

Roxy's pumpkin spice ice cream.

Once at the counter, I didn't even get a chance to look at all of the unique flavors that were there, because my basic radar went off, and I honed in on the pumpkin spice flavored ice cream.

Also, very delicious.

All I have to say is this: don't let people make you feel bad because you like something. If you aren't hurting anyone, then what's the harm in indulging in seasonal things?

To me, this is like telling someone not to enjoy Christmas. Pumpkin spice should have its own holiday.

Fingers crossed that happens sometime in my lifetime.

Sincerely,

                               A Pondering Pen

Push it to the limit

Prepare yourselves, America. Times are a changin'.

This isn't supposed to sound like a sales pitch, so I apologize in advance if that's what it sounds like. I'm just still so amazed by this new product that I have planned to purchase one as soon as I get home.

Amazon Dash Buttons. 

Genius. Pure genius.

These amazing little buttons are hooked up to your Amazon Prime account— if you don't have one, you should probably get one.

They're amazing for college students and your regular average joe that hates interacting with other human beings on a day-to-day basis.

There are a plethora of different brands hooked up to these as well. Got the munchies and you're almost out of Doritos? Push a button and you should receive a new bag in two days' time.

Not fast enough for you?

Just wait until the use of delivery drones is super common, and there are even more brands linked to these Amazon buttons. I mean, Domino's in New Zealand is already trying out pizza delivery drones next week, so why not have toilet paper delivery drones, or detergent delivery drones?

The possibilities are blowing my mind.

This IS the drone you're looking for.

Or shoot, what if you're doing laundry and you have GOT to remember to pick up some more detergent, because you keep forgetting it. Just push this little button on your washer, and you can have your favorite detergent delivered to your door before you run out.

I also think it's a little funny, but they also have Trojan buttons, where you can order from 30 different condom types.

Now, let's have some real talk here. I haven't purchased one yet, so I'm not sure about the little details.

I do know that it hooks up to your Amazon app on your phone, so every time you push the button and purchase something, you should receive a notification if you have it enabled.

Some of you may be thinking, "What about people with kids? What if the button gets pushed a lot at once?"

Amazon has an answer for that too. Their site states:

"With this setting, Dash Button responds only to your first press until your order is delivered—regardless of how many times Dash Button is pressed." 

You have pre-sets on your account, so you can always get your favorite flavor of Doritos, or in Trojan's case you get your favorite type of "love socks."

It's just cool to think about how far technology is coming. Who would have thought you could absent-mindedly press a button and it would make your life 20x easier? Especially as someone who is easily distracted at stores, and will leave with things I didn't even know I needed, this button is a lifesaver.

And for those of you who think this is lazy, yeah you're probably right. But, as someone who dreads going to the grocery story for little things that I may have missed during a normal shopping trip, this little button saves me precious time to play more video games or tend to my garden.

It's the little things in life and technology is getting pretty amazing.

Sincerely,

                               A Pondering Pen