AIR FRYERS ARE MORE THAN JUST HOT AIR

If you bought every new gadget and appliance that hit the market, you would have to move out of your home to make room for the gadgets. Some actually do make your life easier and some…well some do just take up space.

Air fryers are one of those that I have been on the fence about. Fried foods are so good for the taste buds but so bad for your general health. Can you really have the best of both worlds with the air fryer by making French fries and other foods almost healthy?

First of all, what exactly is an air fryer? Basically, it is a smaller version of a convection oven. It cooks and crisps food by circulating super-hot air around foods using just a smidgen of oil or no oil at all. So, here is where healthy comes in; it cooks with up to 70 to 80 percent less fat than traditional deep frying.

From a safety standpoint, they are also safer than using hot oil for frying. There is no spattering or chances of getting burned by spilling hot oil on yourself. I have always thought it a shame when deep frying to use so much oil and then have to dispose of it all, usually only after one use. Air fryers are also less messy than traditional deep frying with no after smell nor needing to find a means to dispose of used oil.

They also cook faster than traditional ovens. There is no waiting time to pre-heat as you do ovens since air fryers reach high temperatures in minutes.

If you are thinking of getting one, other than purely for health reasons, consider how much you will actually use it. Most of them are smaller, a three and a half to four-quart size, and will feed one or two people easily. However, it you have a bigger family, you will find yourself making multiple batches of food. You have to weigh the time of making multiple batches or waiting longer and doing just one batch in the traditional oven.

Price is another consideration. Most range between 60 and 200 dollars, depending on how fancy you want to get.

Also consider where you will store it. They take up a lot of counter space if you don’t have room in your cabinets. Because of their shape and size, they do require a lot of room. Like bread machines, many of them live their lives on closet shelves and in garages, which brings us to the point of out of sight, out of mind.

There is also the question of whether you need an air fryer if you have an Instant pot. Although Instant pots are hailed as being the latest and greatest, they don’t have the capability to fry foods unless you purchase a gadget called the Mealthy Crisp Lid which provides the attachments to allow your Instant pot to also air fry food. These sell for around $60, so that too is an added expense.

Now, the big question, what about taste? Do air-fried foods taste like the real thing? Well, the answer is yes and no, depending on the food. Cheaper cuts of meat come out tender when air-fried. Air fryers are also great for re-heating leftovers and frozen foods like chicken nuggets and tater tots. Roasted vegetables, air-roasted garlic and other foods come out better in an air fryer. It can turn a can of chickpeas into a crispy, delectable happy hour snack. I remember my grandmother making doughnuts and how they sucked up so much oil. Air fryers make doughnuts that taste just as good, without all the oil.

Small whole chickens, three pounds or less, come out with crispy skin and juicy, tender meat, much like rotisserie chicken. The air fryer shines when it comes to small snacks like toasted nuts.

The big question here is French fries. The overall consensus is that they are not quite as good as the real deal. However, if you do choose to make them in an air fryer, they are better with the skins left on.

Perhaps the biggest misconception about an air fryer is that all it can do is fry. Far from it. You can also bake in it, turning out brownies and bagels, molten lava cakes and more. The good thing about this is that you can have a sweet treat that is only enough for a couple people so you don’t have temptation setting around.

What it boils down to is that air fryers make delicious food fast in small batches. They prove that you can have your cake and eat it too…or, in this case, you can have your French fries and still eat healthy.

AIR FRYER DOUGHNUTS (the quick way)

½ cup sugar

1 T cinnamon

1 tube Pillsbury Grands biscuits

4 T melted unsalted butter

Olive oil

Combine sugar and cinnamon in a bowl, set aside

Lightly coat air fryer basket with cooking spray

Remove biscuits, separate and place on parchment-lined cookie sheet

Place 3 or 4 biscuits in a single layer in basket

Set fryer for 350*, cook 3 or 4 minutes on a side, then turn

Place on cookie sheet, baste with melted butter and roll in cinnamon/sugar mixture

Serve warm

AIR FRYER MOLTEN LAVA CAKES

3 ½ squares bittersweet chocolate

1 stick butter

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 t vanilla

½ cup flour

Melt butter and chocolate together

Mix in sugar, eggs and vanilla

Add flour, mixing in thoroughly

Grease or spray a ramekin or small pan

Fill halfway with batter

Place ramekin or pan in fryer basket and cook at 375* for 10 minutes or until edges are set

Remove, let cool and loosen edges with a knife

THE UNCOLLECTOR

Stuff. It’s what makes a collector’s world go around. They go to shows, garage sales, search online and a host of other places to acquire “stuff.” Then they put the “stuff” on shelves and in display cases and it sets there…forever.

I have never understood this. I am not a collector, but rather a creator. I paint, I take photographs, I make new “stuff” so it can set there. Even though the end means is the same, this part I understand.

Now I have ventured into the new realm of the un-collector. Instead of stuff, I want space which means getting rid of stuff. This is not the same as just not collecting, instead it is not buying but rather, finding a buyer.

Easier said than done. No matter what the projected value of an item is, it is really only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, a fact that changes with the times. A collectible item when purchased does not mean it will always be a collectible item.

So, what are my options? I tried the yard sale route…never again. People come to yard sales with the intention of getting something for a buck or two which is fine for what-nots but not so good for true collectibles. Then there is the issue that, even though 99% of the people are respectful, there is always that one percent that feels they are free to pick up anything in your yard, go in barns and look around and basically make themselves to home. I don’t think so. On top of this, you always end up with stuff no one wants, including you, that has to be hauled away. Nope, no more garage sales.

So, I tried the route of hauling it away in the first place…to an auction. The only saving grace here was that I got rid of stuff, but with very little to show for it. It’s like rolling the dice, you take your chances on who is going to show up and what they want. Many collectibles sold for a little of nothing because the true collectible crowd wasn’t there. Nope, done with that too.

After going through these trials, I have found a better way. Be warned though, the new way can be and is addictive. It is Marketplace through Facebook.

It is about the easiest thing I have ever done. You research the item that you want to sell on E-bay and get a general price range, depending on condition, for your item. Then you go to Marketplace, choose a category, upload a picture and name a price. Basically, anyone on FB can see it.

Then, to make sure that even more people see your item, you list it in more groups and more groups. There are local groups in each town and city that has their own online selling groups, the list basically goes on forever.

Then you wait. Folks message you about the item, you dicker sometimes on price and when you agree, both parties decide on a meeting place (usually a public one unless you know the buyer) and you get rid of the item and have cash in hand.

Now, there is a little more to it than that. Sometimes it means a couple trips into town in a day. Once in a while it means mailing it to someone further away. But, for these minor inconveniences, there is a bigger payoff. You actually get rid of stuff and have a little loot to boot.

Jim was the ultimate collector. Instead of choosing a select few categories, he would collect anything and everything. It was against his nature to part with anything. I even found plastic grocery bags inside of boxes tucked away in cabinets (you just never know when you might need one). He kept everything in pristine condition, in protective sleeves inside of hard plastics inside of showcases. Many collectibles had never been opened.

At first, I felt bad letting go of things that he had put his heart and soul into keeping. But some things I had no idea what they were or where they came from. They were just things. Then my niece Michelle made it all right. She told me that up until now the things were just setting in the basement, packed away neatly where no one could see them or enjoy them. When they went to a new home, they were bringing someone else joy. I like this outlook, the “stuff” could stay with someone who shared his passion for collecting.

A perfect example happened the other day. I had two decorative biscuit tins that were made in England. I had no idea where he even got them. Within an hour of listing them, two people messaged me. One was Ron’s cousin who had a similar one that she remembers her grandmother using for pineapple cookies. She had never seen another one. A friend from Minnesota saw the other one and she thought it would go perfectly with some of her Dad’s things on her mantle in her new house that she and her husband had built in the country. Needless to say, they both found new homes where they could be appreciated and bring others joy.

My snowmen are another example. At one time I had over 100 of them. It was Jim’s and my thing to set them out each year. It would take over two days just to unpack them and then two more days to pack them back up. This year I chose my special few and set them out in an hour’s time. The rest I let go to new homes. I’m OK with that.

Once in awhile I find something that I truly like. This is the case with a small crystal pumpkin bowl. It caught my eye, I like it. I will keep it.

I am liking this new addiction and it does work both ways. Not only do I list my stuff but I also check out what others are selling. You can find anything on Marketplace from collectibles to household items to services. There is an administrator somewhere out there in the cosmos that keeps an eye on what goes on there and there are some items that are not appropriate like guns and knives.

 

Sometimes I wonder why they flagged my salt and pepper shakers as being against their terms and yet someone list a pack of tampons…seriously! You just shake your head and move on.

I am liking this uncollectable person that I have become. For one thing, I have more space and the place is less cluttered. I also have come to realize that I am letting go of the stuff, not the memories. Less really is more.

FUN LITTLE FACTS THAT YOU NEVER NEED TO KNOW

It’s a great big world out there with lots and lots and lots of facts about lots and lots and lots of stuff. I once wondered how long it would take a brain to know everything about everything. Even though this would be impossible, it makes you realize just how vast the world we live in is.

So, human nature dictates that each of us learn all we can about things that we are interested in. However, sometimes it is fun to learn something about our world that we will positively never ever use in our lifetime. Here are a few of those:

*There is a stress hormone called cortisol that is concentrated in tears. We literally “cry out” out stress.

*Humans are innately born with two fears, loud noises and falling. We learn every other fear.

*Good news for looooooog hugs. Hugs that last over 20 seconds release chemicals in the body called oxytocins that make you trust someone more.

*If the human eye were a camera, it would have 576 megapixels. By the way, did you ever think just how many images our eyes capture for us every day? No camera on earth can do justice to the pics that our eyes capture.

*Next time you see a little one go on a tirade and hold their breath, remember that crocodiles have no lips and can hold their breath for an hour. No, this won’t make your little one’s tirade any easier to control, just something fun to know.

*So, while the munchkin is having a fit, eat a banana. It is a happy fruit. Eating just one can help you relieve irritable emotions, anger or depression.

*A tiger’s tongue is so rough it can lick paint off buildings and strip the skin from the bones of an animal…ouch!

*Elephants can smell water 3 miles away.

*It is estimated that our brains produce as many as 12,000 to 50,000 thoughts per day depending on how deep of thinker you are.

*Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete.

*OK, all you spud lovers, you can survive entirely on a diet of potatoes and butter. Between the two, they provide all the nutrients that the human body needs. So much for the saying that “man does not live by bread alone”!

*If humans killed each other at the same rate that we kill animals, we’d be extinct in 17 days. Uhh, don’t watch the news, because some days I think we are sadly catching up to that.

*There is a road in France that can only be used twice a day, and then only for a few hours. Then it disappears under 13 feet of water. I would choose my traveling times VERY carefully!

*There is a lake, Lake Hiller, in Australia where the water is naturally pink.

*Think your pinky finger is only for wearing rings on? Without it, your hand would lose 50% of its strength.

*The most littered item in the world is cigarette butts, with an estimated 4.5 trillion littered annually. Each butt can take 4.5 to 400 years to break down.

 

*Giraffes will spend about 70% of their day eating.

*That dust under the bed is mostly your own dead skin…yuck!

*Bananas are curved because they grow against the pull of gravity. They start growing downwards but, as they grow, they turn upwards to get more sun which results in their curved shape.

*Cows have best friends and get stressed when they are separated.

*Want to visit a unique “island”? On the west side of Sydney there is a 102-year-old ship that has been turned into a floating forest.

*Rainbows appear as full circles when you are in the sky. They only appear as half circles from the ground because there is no rain below the person viewing it.

*Did you know that talking to yourself is actually good. It helps you maintain focus while completing a task.

*India is the only country in the world confirmed to have both lions and tigers in its wilderness.

*Good news for beer drinkers. Beer reduces the risk of developing kidney stones by 40%.

*Germany has officially abolished college tuition fees, even for international students. Now, this fact may come in handy!

*We surmised this one for a long time…humans have more empathy for dogs than they do for other humans.

*In Japan, students don’t get any exams until the fourth grade because the goal for the first three years of school is not to judge the student’s ability to memorize, but to establish good manners and develop their character. Japanese scholars teach manners first and foremost.

*There is a village in the Netherlands with no roads. The only form of transportation is by boat.

*Baby elephants suck their trunks just as baby humans suck their thumbs, and for the same reason: comfort.

*A cockroach can live several weeks with its head cut off.

*Swans only have one partner their entire life. If their partner dies, they could pass away from a broken heart.

*The average dog is as intelligent as a two-year-old child. They can understand up to 250 words and gestures.

*If you cut out the brain of a tortoise, it can survive another 6 months.

*After water, tea is the most consumed drink in the world.

*Iceland is the only country in the world that has no mosquitoes, snakes or other reptiles and very few species of spiders, which are not harmful to humans.

*A little history of the Lamborghini: once a tractor company owner was insulted by the owner of Ferrari. Enzo Ferrari’s worlds were, “You may be able to drive a tractor, but you will never be able to handle a Ferrari properly.” Today that tractor company is known as “Lamborghini.”

*When two people kiss, they exchange between 10 million to 1 billion bacteria…yuck!

*There is a naturally occurring black rose. They only grow in one place, a small village in Turkey called Halfeti. They only appear black in the summer months.

*Some folks have a “natural alarm clock” which allows them to wake up when they want. This is caused by a stress hormone.

*A tiger’s legs are so powerful that they can remain standing even when they are dead. Sometimes when they are shot, they bleed out and die while standing still.

*Ants never sleep and don’t have lungs. They have tiny holes all over their body where oxygen enters and carbon dioxide leaves.

*Everyone has a unique smell, unique fingerprint and unique tongue print.

*25,000.000 of your cells died while you were reading this sentence.

OK, so your brain is packed full of these fun facts that you probably never use. By the way, these tidbits came from K4KNOWLEDGE. Hope you enjoyed some.