#Beef Jerky Sticks For Sale

[bishtmeenakshi]

With Growing Demand for Healthy Meat Snacks, the US Meat Market is Projected to be Around $160 Bn by 2028: Ken Research

Impacted by the global pandemic covid-19 the US meat snack market is slowly recovering. Along with traditional meat options, consumers are shifting towards new and healthy meat snacks that are high in protein, omega-3s, iron, and vitamin B12. The market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 4.5% from 2022-2028.

STORY OUTLINE

US meat snack market has witnessed significant growth post-pandemic thanks to its variety of items that are high in protein and nutrients.

Convenience stores have helped this market immensely to grow, as they are driving the maximum sale throughout the country through their stores.

Americans are among one of the biggest consumers of meat items worldwide that’s the reason its meat snack market is going to increase significantly in the next five years (2023-2028).

According to Ken Research, the US meat market was affected hugely due to restrictions of covid-19 due to nationwide lockdowns and the closing of markets. The market witnessed huge growth post-pandemic as a result the sales of dried meat snacks increased by 5 % in 2021. Meat snacks are becoming the favourite of the working population and youngsters because of their hectic lifestyles. Portable snacks like sticks, jerky, and sausages are providing customers with healthy meat products.

1.Convenience Stores are Driving the Sales of Dried Meat Snacks

Meat snacks are generating huge revenues in convenience stores in the US. Demand for traditional jerky brands such as old trapper was very high among consumers. As it was the third most-sold product in the country’s convenience stores.

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This high demand led to a rise in specialist meat snacks such as snacks made from beef, turkey, and pork.

Following the increasing demand, in 2021, a popular firm in the US meat market Cherkizovo Group launched its meat snack products in three groups: pork, chicken, and turkey snacks. These items were made from dried and cured meat.

2.Factors influencing the rise of meat snacks products in the US

The US meat market which is all-time high at the moment is expected to grow significantly in the next five years. With the high demand for meat snacks, the market is projected to grow 4.5 % annually from 2023-2028.

There are a number of reasons behind the significant growth of this market. Such as convenience and portability they provide. Meat snacks like sticks and beef jerky are dried products that make them easy to carry and can be consumed anywhere.

Other factors are nutrition value, flavor variety, and the rise of e-commerce. Meat snacks offer a source of essential nutrients such as protein, vitamins, and minerals. This dietary profile offers to those looking for a satiating and energy-boosting snack.

Meat snack brands offer a diverse extend of flavors and taste profiles, catering to different customer inclinations. This assortment energizes repeat buys and experimentation.

The development of online shopping and e-commerce stages has broadened the availability of meat snacks to customers, making it simpler for them to buy their preferred items.

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3.Key players in the Meat Snacks Market in the US

At the moment the US has the majority of the share in the world’s total meat snacks market. With the largest market for meat snack products, the US has a more than 20 key players that are operating in the competitive Meat market of the country.

Conagra Brands, Jack Link’s Protein Snacks, Oberto Sausage, and Hormel Foods Corporation are some of the leading firms in the US meat snack market.

Recently Conagra Brands announced the acquisition of Thanasi Foods LLC, known for making Duke’s meat snacks. This purchase will help them restructure their products and make them modern as well as premium.

Jack Link’s protein Snacks are also planning to launch new products such as Beef Sausages, Steak Bites, and Cold Crafted Link ich. These items will be available in a variety of tastes and flavors according to consumer preference.

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Future of Meat Snacks Market in the Country

US meat market is expected to reach $160 Bn by the end of 2028. With increasing market demand the number of meat snack consumer are also expected to grow significantly.

As of 2020, 128 Mn Americans consumed meat snacks and other meat items, one of the highest in the world.

Americans are considered the heaviest consumers of meat worldwide. Currently, the fifth largest meat eaters in the world.

Conclusion

The US meat snacks market has experienced critical development and recuperation post-pandemic, driven by the rising demand for healthy and convenient meat-based items. With buyers progressively embracing hectic ways of life, portable snacks like sticks, jerky, and sausages have ended up well-known choices due to their high protein substance. Convenience stores play a vital part in driving dried meat snack sales, with traditional jerky brands and specialist meat snacks picking up traction among customers. The market is anticipated to proceed its upward direction, anticipated to develop emphatically in another five years. Key players, such as Conagra Brands and Jack Link's Protein Snacks, are effectively growing their item offerings to cater to advancing customer preferences. As the market develops, the US meat snacks industry is likely to stay dynamic and profitable.

[incorrectbatfam]

I'm in a mood™ so i was wondering if you had any hcs of the batkids growing up together? (babydamibabydami)

I've done this before in this ask but I'm more than happy to add on!

(Also screw canon age gaps, I'm doing what feels right.)

Bruce, Talia, and Selina are all co-parents in a poly relationship

Duke likes to finger paint

Babs got a used accordion for fifteen bucks at a garage sale

Damian's first "real" food was Talia's rice pudding

Wayne Enterprises has an entire floor dedicated to looking after not just Bruce's, but all the employees' children. Carrie declared herself the "Queen of the Fourth Floor"

At one point Tim was getting bullied so Dick drove Cass, Jason, Harper, and Cullen to the bully's house in the middle of the night and the five of them stood outside their window with plague doctor masks chanting in Latin until the bully swore to lay off

Just like how Damian's first word was Jason's name, Damian's first steps were toward Jason after a bad day at school

Dick is lowkey jealous knowing he's not Damian's favorite sibling

Steph and Duke made a go-kart out of a red wagon, and that's how there's a Duke-shaped hole in the fence

Cass owns fifty water bottles but uses the same one every day

Bruce chaperoned Dick's junior prom

Selina gets each kid a cat on their birthday

Babs came to class late with coffee one time and the entire class now calls her the "Starbucks white girl"

There's an under-the-table vegetable swapping system at dinner, where the kids trade out the ones they don't like for the ones they do. The ones nobody wants are mashed up and given to Damian

Carrie is the champion nose-picker

Steph and Duke were born just a few hours apart at different hospitals, and are therefore known as the twins

Tim is not allowed to use chopsticks. Not even the little kiddie ones

Cullen once brought an entire head of lettuce to school as lunch

Bruce plays classical music around Damian, but Jason counteracts it with trashy punk rock

Bruce: "Studies say it helps babies grow intellectually"

Jason: "He's not supposed to grow, he's supposed to be our baby brother"

Duke likes cherry tomatoes over regular tomatoes because they're colorful

Harper got her motorcycle license before her driver's license (thanks to Kate)

Dick slices his string cheese. Wally bites into his. Babs is horrified by both

Nobody remembers the last time Bruce Wayne was seen not wearing a baby carrier

When Duke eats salads, he imagines he's a giant consuming an entire land (and the olives are people)

There's a five-year gap between Jason (age 12) and Tim (age 7). The reason is since Bruce adopted them in birth order when they were babies, he planned to stop at five kids, but then Jason got irrationally angry about being the youngest so Bruce got Tim and it all spiraled from there

Harper once melted an entire stick of butter and convinced Cullen to drink it

Dick once tried to sell Jason on eBay

Damian is very territorial. Nobody can touch his stuffed animals—even for washing—unless he gives them explicit permission

Tim once tried a cheese taste test with Damian, and that's how they learn Damian is lactose intolerant

Harper once bought thirty pounds of beef jerky online (she accidentally typed a 0 after the 3)

Talia helps Jason with Arabic homework

Damian produces the stinkiest farts

All WE employees get six months paid maternity/paternity leave

Tim and Kon got "married" on the playground with Jason as the officiant, Steph as the flower girl, and Duke as a ring bear (he dressed up as a bear and brought Ring Pops)

Steph and Duke are kept on child leashes when they go to the amusement park because they keep trying to get on rollercoasters they're too short for

Jason's also kept on a child leash, but that's because he tried to take the head off every costumed mascot at Disneyland

Even though the ingredients are the same, Dick inexplicably makes PB&Js better than everyone else

Kate can clear ten hot wings in sixty seconds

Bruce has appeared on the cover of more parenting and family magazines than celebrity and business ones combined

Instead of using her skills to hurt people, Talia uses them to protect her newfound family

Alfred secretly joined a senior citizens book club to brag about his grandchildren

Someone once said to Selina, "You know he's always gonna pay attention to kid kids first, right?" To which she replied, "I wouldn't have picked him if he didn't"

[huntertales]

Part Two: Angel of Mercy. (Heaven Can’t Wait S09E06)

Episode Summary: When Dean gets a call from Castiel about a possible case dealing with spontaneous human combustion, the older Winchester decides to investigate–on his own. The reader decides to tag along. She doesn’t take no for an answer when Dean shares his odd hesitations on letting her work on a hunt with Castiel. Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader Word Count: 3,514.

Previous Part | Supernatural Rewrite Masterlist

You suppose the different ways Cas could have ended up after going his own way might have been worse than where he was today. The angel-turned-human was blending into society without much trouble. Sure, he was a little awkward. Didn’t get most things like etiquette and social norms. You hoped he picked up enough knowledge from the few years he spent among humans. So far from what you could tell, he was doing okay. It made you breathe a little easier in some kind of reassurance that he was able to do things on his own without any help from you and the boys. Much as you wanted to lend a hand on this journey to make sure he was all right. 

In some way you understood a little too well the vulnerability of learning how to live on your own. You struggled to find your own footing after your mother passed away. John was unreliable in any way. He took the boys and went on his way after making sure the legal aspects of you living on your own were cleared. Occasionally he checked on you to make sure you were still alive. He taught you some tricks on how to protect yourself from monsters. But he never taught you anything useful in life. Basic skills on how to be an adult. Your mother might have planned out your life for when you turned eighteen, thinking she had a few years to help teach you to live without her. Things never worked out that way. A demon threw a wrench in her plan and screwed everything up. 

Angels, demons. Whatever kind of creature it was, they always somehow managed to screw everything to hell. While the circumstances were vastly different compared to the situation Cas was dealing with, it all boiled down to the same thing. The lifestyle you relied on, the normality that you didn't realize you depended so much on, vanished. You had to deal with the loneliness and responsibilities of being an adult. You were forced to grow up quickly and learn how to be an adult, Cas had to learn how to be...human. Learn the things that were second nature to you. The proper importance of daily hygiene and when to eat—and what to properly eat. Things he never had to worry about before. 

Somehow Cas learned enough to have made it this far without his fellow siblings sniffing out where he was. He found his footing and blended with society. He was just another average human working a day job. From what you were able to observe from the distance it seemed like Cas was just another average working waiting on people. Maybe a little more on the stranger side. No matter what, Cas had a slightly awkward charm to him. He was doing all right. But you weren't satisfied with a distance observation. 

Cas was behind the counter tending to a customer with a little too much enthusiasm for a retail worker. The woman was a little weirded out from the thumbs up he gave after handing over her lotto ticket. She forced a smile of her own before being on her way, letting the next customer in line step up. Which turned out to be two familiar faces the angel didn't expect to see. You offered the guy a smile from the look of shock that crossed his face. Dean wasted no time making things awkward when he pretended to be another paying customer. 

"I'll have some beef jerky and a pack of menthols." Dean said. 

“What are you two doing here?” Cas asked in a quiet tone of his voice. His body language drastically changed from the customer he tended to before. All of his friendliness seemed to have vanished for his friends who drove all the way here for him.

"Gee, it's nice to see you, too, Cas." You replied to the angel's rather frigid and distant greeting with a bit of hurt in your voice. 

"It's Steve now." The angel corrected you. You furrowed your brow slightly when he gestured to his nametag pinned to his hideous blue vest he wore. You forced yourself to bite back a laugh from the reality of the situation. Heaven's most fierce and loyal soldier was now working at a gas station. "And...you both surprised me."

"Well, the feeling is mutual." Dean agreed with the angel. He offered little support for the struggle Cas had to go through in order to keep himself safe. He found all of this comical as yourself, but he didn't have the restraint to keep his feelings well hidden. The sight of his friend working in retail was all too amusing not to pass up the chance to poke fun at the situation. "I  mean, I knew you had to lay low from the angel threat, but, uh, wow! This is some cover." 

Cas didn't find the way you and Dean were handling what he had been doing very helpful. He moved a few steps down the counter so the three of you could continue this conversation away from any lingering ears. "My grace is gone. What did you expect?" Cas asked. "Do you have any idea how hard it was? When I fell to earth, I didn't just lose my powers. I had nothing. Now...I'm a sales associate." The angel tried to see the silver lining of things at what he was able to accomplish on his own. You and Dean weren't as enthusiastic as him for the way he was living his life compared to the way it could be. 

A delivery driver briefly interrupted your conversation so he could get Cas to sign off on some products. "I'm responsible for inventory, sales, customer service." Cas scribbled down the fake name he'd been going by and thanked the driver before continuing on of all the things he deemed important. You never liked to stick your nose up at the hard work people do for whatever job they might do, but seeing this was...pathetic. “I keep this place clean and presentable. And when my manager’s busy, I even prepare the food. 

"Wow." Dean didn't even try to hide his opinion on what he thought of this whole thing. "So you went from fighting heavenly battles to nuking taquitos?"

Cas must still be learning how to read between the lines of what people say to the tone of their voice. He didn’t understand that Dean wasn’t being supportive from the way he spoke his words. The angel still smiled, like he was proud of himself. “Nachos too.” 

You and Dean silently agreed this whole arrangement was not working out. But the angel refused to see things from your perspective. He thought what he was doing was perfect. It might be for any fellow normal human. Not for an angel like him who had done so much. He couldn’t waste out the rest of his days working nine to five and waiting on people. You wanted him back on the road with you and the boys. Trying to get his grace back and fix his home that was up in heaven. Cas continued on working, refusing to keep entertaining this conversation standing idly while he got paid. 

“This is not you, man. You are above this.” Dean tried to talk some sense into the angel while he stepped out from the stockroom carrying a box full of products. “Come on.” 

“No, Dean. I’m not.” Cas said. He set the box down on a shelf and gave you the real reason why he refused to budge on his new life. The simplicity of it all was comforting to him. “I failed at being an angel. Everything I  ever attempted came out wrong. But here, at least I have a shot at getting things right. I guess you can’t see it, but there’s a real dignity in what I do—a human dignity.” 

“Hate to interrupt you guys, but, Steve?” You looked over your shoulder when you heard a female voice jump into the conversation. A woman stood with a mop and bucket at her side, from the familiar vest she wore it was clear she was one of Cas’ coworkers. “Customer had an accident in the men’s room.”

“I’m on it.” Cas said. 

“Oh, and tonight—seven at my place work for you?” She asked a vague question that made you wonder what they were talking about. Cas nodded his head, and the way his lips stretched into a smile helped connect the dots. She returned the smile with one of her own. "You're the best." 

You picked up enough social cues to realize what was going on. Dean had a feeling himself of what was brewing between Cas and his coworker. “That’s what this is about!” You softly nudged the angel in the arm and smiled at him. Cas responded with absolute confusion at what you were hinting around. “Come on. The girl.” 

“No, Y/N. It’s not.” Cas said. You rolled your eyes and raised your brow from what he was trying to deny. Either that, or he was too naive to understand what his friend was hinting around. Cas was even more clueless when it came to things as romance. Poor fella nearly got himself killed after being led to bed by a pretty face. "Nora—she's a very nice woman, I'm pretty sure she's not a reaper intent on killing me, and she's asked me out. That’s something humans do, right?”

“Yeah. I mean, my dates used to end when I ran out of singles. And I can’t tell you the last time Y/N and I went on one.” Dean said. Your love life as hunters meant your chances of dating were rare to almost none. The world ending and angels falling out of the sky put a damper on your relationship at times. But for someone like Cas, who was trying to live like the average person, they were. Dean had to agree with him on that. “Yeah, that’s something that humans do.” 

Your conversation was briefly stopped at the sound of Dean's phone going off. He stepped away to take it when he recognized the number from the sheriff you spoke to at the first crime scene. It allowed Cas to tend back to his job to work on stocking the shelf 

“There was another kill—over at the high school.” Dean informed the both of you. “You comin’, Cas?” 

“I wouldn’t be much use.” Cas mumbled. “I don’t have my powers.” 

“So? I’ve had powers and not once did they help me with hunting.” You said. “Dean’s never had powers and he manages to do just fine.” 

“Both of you are hunters.” Cas said. 

“And you’re a hunter in training, remember?” You reminded the angel.

“Yeah.” The angel replied with the least enthusiastic tone he could muster up. You didn’t understand why he wasn’t willing to get back into the game. “Dean said I sucked.” 

You huffed out a breath from Dean's abrasiveness and turned your gaze over to the man. Your hardening expression made him suddenly regret his words spoken in the past. "I didn't say that." Dean tried to back himself out of the corner he put himself in. But he struggled to do so when you crossed your arms over your chest, waiting for his response. "I said that there was, uh, uh...you know, 'room for improvement.'"

“Come on, Cas.” You said. “For old time’s sake.” 

Cas let out a sigh of defeat, deciding to agree with the plan after all. “All right, my shift’s over in five minutes, and my date’s not until later, so…” 

“Attaboy!” You cheered, lightly slapping a hand on his shoulder from seeing him hunting again. “Dean, go make yourself useful and get the car.” 

“Not just yet.” Cas stopped the man from heading out the door. You and Dean gave the angel a confused response from the interruption. It seemed you forgot Cas was still on the clock. “I have to clean the bathroom.” 

“Have fun.” You said. You tried to hide the grimacing expression that wanted to cross your face at the idea of what he had to do. While Cas made his way over to the mop, you called out some friendly advice. “Make sure to wash your hands afterwards.”

+ + + 

The three of you arrived at the crime scene a short time after Cas finished up work. You and Dean flashed your badges to the officer keeping an eye on the scene after you ducked under the police tape guarded off the crime scene. A crowd of high schoolers gathered around to figure out what was going on. Cas trailed behind the both of you, still wearing his vest after you told him to take it off. Thankfully nobody said anything. The angel went off to explore the scene while you and Dean headed over to the sheriff who was speaking to a teenager who looked to be distraught at what she witnessed. Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest and cheeks stained with tears as she retold the story of what happened to the sheriff.

“One second we’re talking, and the next, she just...stops.” The girl explained the situation that led to all of you here. “And then everyone in the cafeteria freaks, rushing and pointing out the window, at—” She couldn’t finish her sentence from the sob that escaped her from the grief she was feeling. Your expression softened as she placed a hand to her mouth to keep the noise from escaping. “Could—Could that really be her?”

The school bus that was helping block out the crowd of students was also covered in the same bubblegum pink shade you saw at the previous crime scene. Unfortunately what killed the four previous victims striked again. 

“And nobody saw anybody else at the crime scene—a man, woman, anything unusual?” You asked her, hoping she might give you some kind of lead into figuring out what might be to blame for this. The girl responded by shaking her head and shrugging her shoulders. Your next question you approached in a softer tone. “Your friend, was she possibly depressed?” 

“Depressed?” She repeated your question, not sure what you meant. 

“Any thought of suicide?” You explained a bit more bluntly. 

“Ew. No.” The girl responded in the most teenage way possible when her expression scrunched up at such a thought. “I mean, she was kind of bummed that dick-bag Travis broke up with her in front of the whole school.” Dean gave her a curious expression at what she meant by kinda bummed. “Like more bummed than when she got a ‘C’ on a quiz, and less bummed when her parents split up. Kinda...bummed.” 

The girl's tone of voice shifted into anger at the strange questions you were asking her. You figured you weren't going to get much else out of her from what she told you. You felt a slight nudge to your arm from Dean to get your attention. He nodded his head for you to follow him after discovering Cas was nowhere to be seen. You looked around yourself, but the angel disappeared. You excused yourself with a small smile before heading with Dean to find where your friend wandered off to. 

Cas made his way back to the Impala after scoping out the crime scene himself. It seemed whatever happened caused some sort of distress in him. You started to grow concerned when you found him with both hands on the hood, his body hunched forward and head hanging low. 

"Cas, what's wrong?" You asked the angel, your tone growing with concern. 

“I’ve seen this before.” Cas said. You and Dean exchanged a glance at one another from the sort of twist you weren’t expecting. It prompted you to ask him where, leading to a creature you would have never suspected. “In heaven.” 

"What?" You tried to hide your frustration from the mention of his siblings possibly to blame. But it didn't come much as a surprise to you. All sorts of angel activity had been sprouting up all over the country since the fall. "Are you saying an angel did this?"

“It’s no ordinary angel.” Cas mumbled. He fell silent for a moment, at the overwhelming energy around him. The angel might have been stripped of his powers that rendered him vulnerable as a human, but he could still feel the presence of his fellow brother. "Dean, Y/N. This is bad. This is very bad.”

You quickly moved the conversation elsewhere when the topic turned into something you didn't want a civilian or a cop to overhear. The three of you got into the Impala to further discuss what Cas discovered. And what this might mean for the rest of this town. 

“On the battlefields of heaven, there was a special class of angels, the rit zien. It's enochian for 'hands of mercy.'" Cas explained to you and Dean about the history of his fellow siblings. The one who were to blame for these murders. "They function like medics. They tended to the wounded. They healed those who could be healed, but for the mortally wounded, those who were past saving, the rit zien's job was to put them down."

“But the granulated bodies?” Dean asked. 

“This was their special ability.” Cas went on to tell you more. “They had this way of smiting that was so quick and so total that it rendered death virtually painless.” 

“Yeah, but these aren't wounded angels that they’re vaporizing,” You noted the key difference between the angels’ victims and who they were trained to take down. “they’re pepole.” 

“Right. I don’t know. The rit zien home in one pain, like it’s a beacon to them. So, when this angel fell to earth, he heard the victims’ cries, their anguish,” Cas started to piece together the reason why all these people were targeted. Pain was pain to this angel. They weren’t able to tell the difference. “Same as he’d hear an angel’s in heaven. He’s continuing his heavenly work down here. One suffering human at a time.” 

“Yeah, but this last victim was not suffering.” You said. The highs and lows of being a hormonal teenager with their fluctuating emotions was something you and Dean were no stranger to. Both of you had been the victim’s age what felt like many years ago. You knew there was no correlation to the depressed and suicidal victims he killed before. “She was just a normal, moody kid.” 

“But he just got here. The ebb and flow of human emotion—guys, I’ve been on earth for a few years, and I’ve only begun to grasp it.” Cas said. He put things into perspective at what this might mean. You slowly began to realize that everyone in this town was at risk. “To him, pain is pain.” 

“So everybody’s fair game?” Dean took a wild guess at what the angel was hinting at, Cas nodded his head. The older Winchester let out a scoff as he rolled his eyes from the furthered complications about this case. "All right, well, we got to stop him."

“You and Y/N have to stop him.” Cas corrected the man. 

You furrowed your brow slightly from the angel's response. You leaned over in your seat to catch a glimpse of his face when he turned his head to look forward. A familiar expression you'd seen before crossed his features. "You're scared."

“It’s different now, Y/N.” Cas admitted to you. “Everything feels different.” 

“You’re right.” Dean thought to himself for a few seconds before agreeing with the angel. Cas was doing fine on his own, he needed to worry about the safety of yourself with the other angel hitching around in your body. It was how things needed to be for now. “All right, Y/N and I’ll track down this kevorkian wannabe, and we’ll put him down.” 

“Okay.” The angel mumbled. 

“Stay safe, please. I don’t want to worry about you every second of the day.” You told the angel. You flashed him a farewell smile, thinking this was where your paths together ended. “Go on that date, all right? You deserve some happiness for once. Hell, live a normal life if that’s what you really want.”  

“Okay.” He repeated his response again. You gave him a funny look from how he was acting. Dean turned on the engine and looked over to the angel. A few seconds passed and Cas continued to sit in the passenger side, causing Dean to wonder if he was going to go his own way. “I need a ride.” 

You had to stifle a chuckle from the favor he was asking of you. Cas managed to find a job on his own and was adapting slowly to human life, but it seemed there were still some things he needed working on. Getting there might be a slow and steady process, yet you had a feeling Cas would be just fine on his own. 

[Next Part]

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[two-sides-halved]

Name: Connie Maheswaran 

Species: Formerly Human, Currently Reanimated Pink Human

Weapon: Sword

Alignment: Crystal Gems 

Appearance

Hair color: Formerly dark brown, then dark brown with a purple stripe, then dark brown with a pink stripe, Currently reddish pink with a green stripe

Eye color: Formerly dark brown, currently reddish pink

Clothes: Originally store bought dress, currently homemade clothes, and occasionally Steven’s clothes.

Fun Fact (s)

has a collection of sharp rocks.

makes her own clothes.

enjoys the art of cross-stitch

Favorite(s)

Food: Cinnamon Buns

Snack: Beef Jerky

Book: Various Survival Manuals

Background

Connie Maheswaran is the daughter of  Priyanka Maheswaran and Doug  Maheswaran. She was enjoying the festivities of the annual Beach City Parade, eventually getting separated from her parents in the crowd, losing her glowstick bracelet amongst the chaos caused when a corrupted gem had ran into town attracted by the loud sounds created by the tourists and town folks and the smells of food. The corrupted gem causing quite a bit of property damage as well as causing a few injuries and deaths before finally being contained by the Crystal Gems. Human Steven had noticed the glow stick bracelet and had saved it hoping to see her again, not knowing if she had made it out alive.

Connie was left behind by her parents after her parents seeing reports of a child matching Connie’s description reported as dead on the scene of the accident. Her parents grief stricken had left Beach City, vowing to themselves never to return to the spot they had lost their daughter. Connie became homeless, setting up camp in the woods, armed with nothing but the clothes on her back and survival knowledge. She would fish for food and occasionally scavenge for clothing scraps and other materials.

A year later, Connie had seen Human Steven at the Funland pier while he was getting jumped by kids from a rival school, Ocean Town Jr. High. Although she had not recognized him, Human Steven had his underwear stuffed with rotten fish from the fish market’s dumpster, wedgied and tossed into another dumpster. Connie upon seeing this was disgusted by the actions and decided to take action herself to defend Human Steven mistaking him for an 8 year old child, and beat their butts with a lone thick plank of wood. After Connie had took care of them she had went to see if the kid was ok, seeing that he was no longer in the dumpster and figured that the kid had managed to get out on his home and head back to his parents.

It wasn’t until another month had gone by that Human Steven had seen Connie again, he recognized her from the parade that had gone awry. He wanted to return her bracelet. After 20 minutes, and a pep talk from his brother, Human Steven had worked up the courage to talk to Connie. She was sitting under the shade of the temple mountains shadow, reading a new survival book she had lifted from a bookstore that was having a sale.

Human Steven had rushed to her side upon seeing the rocks perched above start to break off, and had sealed the two of them in a bubble. Connie was surprised and seeing the broken rubble outside of the bubble, she had figured what happened. After them spending the day together, they formed a friendship.

Over time that friendship formed into a stronger bond. Connie eventually moved into the house with them, after Human Steven had found out that Connie had been living out in the woods. He had known his own father was technically homeless, but at least his father had a van to live in and a stable job at the car wash. All Connie had was a tent made of scraps that had seen better days. She had insisted she was fine and offered to show him how well she was living off the land, only to show Human Steven that her camp fully ransacked. It had looked like a mini tornado ran through her little slice of home. Connie gave a long logical assessment of the situation, assuming that the work was done by the hoodlums from Ocean Town Jr High for being beaten up by her and decided to pack up the essentials from her camp that weren’t completely ruined. Connie became friends with Gem Steven as well although Gem Steven was not as open and trusting as Human Steven was.

Connie eventually learned how to sword fight. Although, she had already had some practice with self defense using improvised weaponry, she likes to train with Steven when he was done with homework. Thus resulting in Stevonnie being able to duel wield swords, with the added bonus of being able to use Steven’s floating powers, and shield, however, they have not used the shield as Steven uses his sword defensively and it takes a lot of energy to maintain a fusion and use powers.

Connie comforted Human Steven as he was left behind by his brother when he had given himself as Rose Quartz to go to Homeworld for the trial. Eventually, that time without Gem Steven being around, it gave them time to grow their platonic relationship into something more than just a simple friendship. However Human Steven didn’t exactly pick up on the hints that Connie was dropping until a week after his brother had returned home with the off colors and Lars’ corpse. However she was slightly skeptical about Gem Steven’s explanation of what had happened to Lars, she was cautiously optimistic that he was telling the truth but it was hard to not question it since Gem Steven had openly despised Lars, but it wasn’t unwarranted Lars was pretty horrible. Not as horrible as Kevin, but pretty on the level with him.

A full two years later, during the return of Gem Steven to his home on Earth, Human Steven and Connie are officially boyfriend and girlfriend. Connie helping Human Steven with prepping the house for a welcome back party. After the party and meeting up with everyone, Connie had decided to take sometime to herself and exercise, eventually getting the panicked S.O.S texts from Human Steven saying that everything was going wrong. 

After Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Steven and Spinel had all been rejuvenated, Connie had agreed to stay back with Peridot, Jasper and Bismuth... eventually, meeting up with Steven to fight Spinel, ending up dying in battle. There is a few gaps in her memory after dying, and waking up in a new timeline completely pink was surprising but she was happy that the Steven’s were safe.

[reimagination]

Eating healthfully while chronically ill

So maybe you're in the same situation I am. I am single, live by myself, am chronically ill, don't make much money, but want to eat healthier. Because of my illness, I rarely have the energy to get up and cook (and wash dishes from said cooking). And lately I've been trying to eat healthier, so I thought maybe I could tell you the kinds of things I buy at the grocery store.

[I do understand that “healthy” isn't the same for everyone. Instead of coming at me, just don't buy the things that don't work for you. This is simply to help you brainstorm. If you have things you'd like to add to the list, that'd be cool

My number one go to:

cereal and almond milk. (I'm mildly lactose intolerant, but almond milk does have the bonus of having a farther away expiration date than cow milk). You can get healthy cereals like Cheerios, but I usually go for whatever is on sale or the bag cereals (which are resealable).

Perishable, but I eat them quickly:

cherry tomatoes

bananas (I also break down the bunches and only buy three at a time. Also, you don't have to wash them)

Mushrooms. I'm a weirdo that likes raw mushrooms.

Perishable, but they tend to last longer than other things:

apples

carrot sticks/ baby carrots

Other ways to get fruit:

canned fruit in its own juice. My faves are pineapple and pears.

Dried fruit. I like figs, dates, apricots, prunes, and craisins

Applesauce. I get the small individually packaged ones because they're easier. But, when I buy a big jar, it gets mold before I am halfway through.

Staples:

crackers. Usually saltines, but sometimes I treat myself with fancy crackers.

Peanut butter.

Cheese.

Yogurt. I buy them by the 6 pack. I do sometimes treat myself to Greek yogurt if it's on sale.

Almonds (or other nuts). Compare prices with a baking aisle to see which is better.

Other things:

olives.

Hummus

tortilla chips

pretzels

salsa (though premade salsa can sometimes be very bad. But sometimes good)

Things that aren't really healthy but are filling or easy to eat:

Pop-Tarts

Pudding cups

granola bars

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (very good for quick boosts of energy)

Other things that are a sometimes food:

Summer sausage

beef jerky

smoked salmon

bread (bread usually goes bad before I get through the loaf, so I don't usually buy it. But wheat bread lasts longer than white bread)

Marmalade, pepper jelly, fig jam, tapenade (Not really healthy per se, but can break up the monotony)

(I generally avoid meats because they can be more expensive. And for me at least their health benefits are greatly outweighed by their health detriments. Plus I just really like fruits and veggies).

but yeah, then I basically just make little picnics in my bed. All I need is a knife and a spoon most of the time... if any utensils at all. And especially since I'm by myself, there is no shame in eating out of the container it comes in. Hope this helped somebody.

[sweetnessnwhump]

Surrender - whump

Prompt - surrender

Fandom - original

Characters - Samuel, Mordecai, Natsuki

tw - intense abuse, intense emotional abuse, referenced noncon, conditioning, dehumanization, a caretaker who means well but accidentally plays into conditioning, a relapse, uhh collars(?), please take care of yourself!!

-

He holds still, eyes trained on the floor. He is good. He is a good boy for master, and if he does well he won’t be punished. 

The warm, safe weight of the collar around his neck grounds him. If he’s wearing the leather collar, he is safe. He is a good boy and he is safe.

-

Mordecai messes with his keys, letting out a grunt when he fumbles and they fall to the floor. This day’s already down the can.

When he gets inside, his puppy is kneeling on the ground, eyes trained downward.

“Stay,” Mordecai snaps, and puppy does. He goes to put the groceries away, perhaps slamming the cabinets a bit too much. He’ll have to reward puppy for bearing it later.

He comes back to the living room with a dog treat, a big stick of beef jerky. “Come here.”

Puppy does, crawling with eyes kept down. Mordecai puts a foot on his shoulder. He stops obediently.

“Good boy. Eat this.”

Puppy takes it from his hand and eats only with his mouth. Mordecai smirks. “Good boy. Soon, you’ll even be ready for sale.”

Puppy doesn’t respond, so he scowls. “Speak.”

“Yessir.”

“How do you feel about being sold?”

“I.. I’ll miss ya, but I want. I want to be good. This is good, right? You.. trained me.” He looks up, green eyes desperate for attention.

Mordecai kicks him in the side. “Real answer.”

Samuel flinches, head bowing. “I-I wanna go home.”

“Home? Home? This is your home.”

“I know, sir-”

“No! No, you don’t! I do all this shit for you, everything, and you want to leave me? Do you know how that makes me feel?! Huh!”

Puppy sobs, curling in on himself. “I know- I know sir, ‘m sorry, ‘s my fault- shit-”

“What did I say about swearing?!” Mordecai grabs puppy by the hair, pulling him up by it. Puppy gasps, almost choking. He’s had problems with breathing ever since that incident with Lila.

“I can’t believe what you do to me, you know that? I don’t want to speak to you. Or even know you exist. Go to your crate until you’re told otherwise. You’re grounded.”

Puppy can’t breathe. His face is starting to go purple. Very unflattering.

Mordecai leans in close, nose brushing puppy’s. “You are home.” He kisses puppy hard, bruising, then drops him.

-

years later

Natsuki comes home from work one day to find his boyfriend kneeling on the floor. A belt is crudely lashed around his neck, his hair’s a mess and his head is bowed. He’s only in boxers. Natsuki frowns and shuts the door behind him, kneeling before Samuel.

“Baby?” he reaches forward.

Samuel’s head snaps up and he stares at Natsuki with nothing less than.. absolute adoration. “Master,” he breathes.

“What,” Natsuki says.

“I-” his eyes widen, “I was good, waited for you- got my collar ‘n everything, stayed on the ground like I have to.”

Natsuki focuses on the bags under his eyes. “Samuel, how long has it been since you slept?”

“Who..? I’m sorry, sir-r who’s that?”

Natsuki closes his eyes in pain for a long moment. When he opens them again, Samuel’s eyes are locked on his. Natsuki frowns. Samuel doesn’t like eye contact, and he knows Natsuki isn’t a big fan of it either.

“Samuel..”

“Sir?”

Natsuki’s still frowning, because he’s- he’s in so far over his head here. He’d do anything for Samuel, of course, but that’s the problem.. He could make it so much worse.

“Sammy, d’ you- do you want to take a bath?”

“Yes, sir.” Samuel responds almost before Natsuki is done speaking. Natsuki is close enough to see the way he tenses. Ever so slightly but there, abdominal muscles almost flinching.

“I won’t come in with you,” he blurts, desperate to fix it.

“I know, sir. I’ll put on a good show for you.”

Natsuki’s hands fly to cover his mouth. He stares, speechless, heart in his fingers, before forcing himself to recovery. “Okay- okay, Sammy, forget the bath.”

Samuel tenses again at the nickname and Natsuki mentally beats himself up.

“Do you.. are you hungry?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What do you want?”

“I don’t-” his eyes are alight with terror but he doesn’t look away, forcing himself to maintain that eye contact.

“Oh, baby, baby, baby.. It’s okay, it’s okay, you don’t have to want, I’m here, I’ll help you, I’m here.”

Samuel calms, so much it almost looks like he’s going to collapse. “Sir,” he breathes, eyes fluttering shut.

Natsuki is going to vomit. He has to- he gets up, stumbling away, towards the bathroom.

Samuel freezes once he moves, keeping his head bowed. He’s obedient, he’s a good boy. He’s a good boy.

When Natsuki comes back, he’s muttering it to himself and rocking back and forth. “‘M a good boy, a good boy, I’m a good boy, such a good boy.”

Natsuki swallows back a retch. He kneels down, carefully, carefully not-touching. “Samuel?”

“Sir.” Samuel is staring at him, laser-focused. Natsuki has to look away.

“Samuel, I’m going to need you to stand up now, please.”

Samuel does so, head still bowed. He’s breathing deeply and steadily, almost.. Meditatively? That makes sense, would’ve been a coping mechanism.. Focus.

Natsuki swallows. “Can you go to.. the living room, please?”

“Yessir.” He moves and Natsuki follows him, keeping careful distance. He’d prefer the bedroom for this, but that would probably be triggering.

“Can you lie down for me, Samuel?”

Samuel goes down carefully and lies on the floor.

“Can you lie down on the couch for me, Samuel?”

Samuel does so, silently, with his eyes downcast.

“Good job, baby, you did so good.”

He twitches and Natsuki is encouraged. “You’re doing amazing, sweetheart, you’re so good, I’m so proud of you.. You’re so strong. Oh! I’ll be right back.”

Samuel is still lying face-down, holding himself perfectly still. Natsuki troops through the apartment. He tucks Samuel in carefully, with one of his favorite blankets, tucks a pillow under his head, helps him sit up and drink some water.

“Can you sleep for me, baby?”

Samuel blinks, clearly disoriented but still holding himself rigid.

“Lie back down, baby, that’s it..” Natsuki helps him. “You’ll be okay, baby, you’ve got this. I’m going to give you some alone time now, okay?”

He hesitates. “I’ll be here when you wake up, okay? I’m.. I’m here for you. You’re okay. You’re safe.

“You’re home.”

By the time Samuel mutters his reply, Natsuki’s already gone.

“Yes, master..”

[lauralikesbaking]

Feedback on my short story?

Hello! So as a writing exercise I wrote a short story based on one of my secondary characters to understand the character more and now I have a completely different character than the one I started off with. And now I’m hoping to get some feedback on the character and my writing style. 

The short story just mainly follows the inner dialogue of the character, Jack Drummond. He’s the lead singer of a band and he’s supposed to be writing music but he’s having a bad bout of writer’s block and anxiety. His label creates a contest - Jack is going to pick a fan with an original song the fan wrote and produce it in his studio. It goes into his back story of how he became a musician and a certain gay love interest, and why he chooses the winning song. 

The book I’m writing is going to follow the contest winner’s point of view - this is like a prequel to that. The book is going to focus on how music production works and what it’s like to work up close and personal with your favorite band.

Anyway please and thank you in advance!!

Shit. Shit. Shit. Absolute shit.

Jack Drummond was lying on his back on his old leather sofa, cradling his laptop between his stomach and his thighs. Scattered around him, stuck in between the cushions and on the floor, were various open bags of beef jerky and peanut m&ms. A couple of empty cans of Monster energy drink were on the coffee table beside him.

Jack had lost count of how many nights he had spent in the studio. He was trying to force himself to write something, anything. It had been over two months and he hadn’t been able to write a single lyric, melody, or even a decent beat to work off of. He was sifting through his library of saved voice memos on his computer, hoping something would spark inspiration. He had over 500 tracks of recorded material, and he had so far been unsuccessful..

So much fucking shit.

His voice memos contained different melodies, drum beats, harmonies and various compositions that had come to him on the fly. Scores and instrumentals he drafted while he grocery shopped. There were harmonies inspired by a flock of sparrows nesting in the trees who called out to each other. Composed guitar riffs and percussion to match the beat of his nervous energy while sitting in interviews. He’d be on the toilet in the middle of the night and find that his hands would be tapping out a rhythm. It never seemed to matter where he was, or what he was doing, or what time it was - there was always music in his mind.

For the last two months however, his mind had been quiet. His normally restless hands remained steady at his sides. His knees didn’t bounce when he sat. He wasn’t walking to the pace of the half formed song. There wasn’t a soothing lullaby in the back of his mind either to lull him to sleep. He was no longer overwhelmed by the music notes no one else could hear. His brain remained stoically and numbingly silent.

Jack reached the last voice memo. A jarring, pop beat played out from his speakers and just as soon as it started playing, he hit the spacebar, cutting off the music. He groaned, rubbing his hands over his eyes that were sore from staring at his computer screen from too long. He had listened to all 500 recordings he had made over the last three years and every single one of them were absolute crap.  

He was supposed to be working on demos for a new album. Now that the Archives cycle was over, he was due to hand in 10 to 12 new songs in a year and a half from now. Usually, around this time after the last cycle had ended, he would have handed in five, different sounding demos. His label would then approve the ones they liked and would tell him to write more like them. By now, he should have already had ideas lined up that he had thought of while he was way on tour during the long bus commutes from city to city. He had some half assed ideas, but when he recorded them listened to them, he’d just as soon as scrap it.

His band mates suggested that he’d take some time to do some solo research and travel to a couple of cities famous for music. He decided on the U.K., hoping the country’s old rock sounds and history of producing world famous bands like the Beatles and Queen would give him inspiration. He toured all the old famous recording studios; Abbey Studios, Olympic Studios, and Trident Studios. He visited the venues and cafe’s where The Who had first played at. He browsed through vintage record shops and scored a couple of rad guitars that he couldn’t wait to play around on. He even went as far to travel to Scotland, but the only thing he gained from that trip was a severe hangover after being challenged by a local to a drink off in the pub. It turned out the pub had a fun time tricking Americans into drink offs, get them completely wasted, and then take their photo and add it to their “Make Americans Drunk Again” Wall of Fame. Jack returned home to the states with two new guitars, a severe headache, and still no new ideas.

He dreaded the meeting between him and the label when he returned. He knew that once he explained to the label he still hadn’t thought of anything new, they would threaten to let him go. There was no point for a label to continue to support a musician who couldn’t produce music.

Instead, the label had suggested the fan contest. For one week, Jack would work with a fan one on one with the fan’s original song and produce it in his studio. Jack wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea of having a fan shipped out here. It wasn’t that he despised or was afraid of his fans, even if he’d get the uncomfortably personal question at almost every meet and greet, or the time he was gifted a handmade doll of himself made with the fan’s own hair. He loved his fans, and he was grateful for their unyielding love and support of the band. It was himself he didn’t trust. He was afraid that he would disappoint the fan, that the fan would show up, eager to produce their song and Jack still wouldn’t have any fresh new ideas. The winning song is supposed to be released digitally at the end of the week of the fan’s stay, and if those digital sales and streams tanked, it would be Jack’s fault.

. The contest was a good idea. Sometimes working outside of your own work to someone else’s sound sparked creativity. But he also knew the contest was the label’s last ditch effort to get him writing again. If he didn’t, then Jack would know for certain; he would be done. He’d be Jack Drummond, former lead singer of the band 5 Years From Now, officially washed up at 27 years old.

Jack ran a hand over his tired face, feeling the scratchy stubble that had started to grow across his chin and jawline. It had been over a month since he bothered to shaved. He didn’t have any gigs, music videos, photoshoots or interviews he had to prepare for. He wasn’t supposed to be assigned to one for a while anyway. He was supposed to be using the time away to write music.

With an exasperated sigh, he closed out of his iTunes library and opened up Twitter. He ignored the hundreds of notifications he would get daily from fans tagging him in posts. In the search bar, he typed in #5YFNMYSONG. The page reloaded and displayed all of the fan entries, from most popular to most recently uploaded. The contest had closed a few days ago, but fans were still submitting entries.

Jack was responsible for picking a winner. Each of his band members and his team at the label were helping him sort through the entries, but in the end Jack would have the final say. The problem was there were literally thousands of entries. Word had spread about the contest, and aspiring musicians from all across the country were entering. The entries had a wide range of aged contestants, the youngest he had seen being about ten years old to contestants in their 20s.

They couldn’t help but remind him of his time in Hollywood when he was on Great American Voice, the country’s singing competition. There were thousands of people who had tried out over the course of the few days he was there. They had driven from all over the tri-state area. There were people of all ages, which had surprised Jack since the show had only ever cast competitors ranging between mid teens to mid twenties. There were little kids dragged in by their parents who hoped to make money off by sticking them in front of cameras. There were adults who hoped to at long last chase their dream of pursuing music. And everyone he talked to had a deeply personal, traumatic, backstory; one girl had been abused by her father up until she was 13 years old; an 18 year old boy suffered from severe bouts of depression. There was another girl who had at last minute decided to enter because she wanted to make her recently departed mother proud. These were the type of contestants who got film time with the celebrity judges, and that was when Jack realized what they were doing. They were using their trauma, deaths, mental disorders, any type of leverage they could to get themselves filming time with the celebrity judges.

Several fans who uploaded videos to his contest were doing the same. They would spend a few minutes before performing their song to explain their own backstories of depression, anxiety, death of a loved one, abuse, and other various traumatic experiences, and how music has helped them become stronger. He wanted to believe their stories. But he wasn’t interested in selecting a fan just because it was their parent’s dying wish. If they were talented on top of their tragic backstory, then great. But Jack needed someone who was both talented and sparked his own creativity.

Truthfully, Jack hated singing competitions, and he despised the fact that this fan contest was essentially just another form of one. At least this way, he could just choose one person and be done with it. He knew first hand the true toxicity of reality competitions. It had been over ten years since he was on Great American Voice, but the memories still burned in his mind.

It was difficult from the start. In the beginning he was sectioned off into group harmonies with contestants who thought they were better than everyone else and tried to take charge. Those first few weeks of group harmonies and group performances were tests to see how well you collaborated with the other contestants. The test was designed to make you feel uncomfortable. Really, they were just picking out anyone who succumbed to the stress early on and send them home.

As Jack advanced through the weeks, he found each week was always harder than the last. There was constant pressure to sound great, look great, and be great. You had to convince the judges and the fans each week to vote you back for the next round. It didn’t matter if he nailed Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” last week. If you got a bad review from one of the judges, it could cost you your spot on the show. Soon sounding and looking great weren’t enough. There was always something new added each week. Photoshoots, interviews, and costume fittings. Charities, children hospital visits, school visits, parade appearances and sponsorship commercials. And you were still expected to do four to five hours of vocal rehearsals. The schedule was endless.

By the time Jack was finished with the show he had lost about 15 pounds and was struggling with episodes of insomnia and depression. Jack thought he’d be relieved when he was kicked off the show. He could finally sleep in. He could finally eat whatever he wanted and not what his vocal coaches and stylists told him to avoid. He could finally relax from being under the spotlight, from being picked apart week from week by his stylists, the publicists, the judges and from the public. He didn’t have to be followed by camera crew from the moment he woke up to when he lay his head down to rest in the evening.

But he wasn’t relieved. He’d lay awake at night, angry that he had come so far in the competition, and with a single vote, he was kicked off. He had developed his own sound on the show. He loved working on new covers each week with his production team, and each Friday night he couldn’t wait to get on stage and show everyone what he had been working on. But the show had left him high and dry. He beat himself up, blaming himself for not being good enough to make it to the next round. He self critiqued constantly, watching and rewatching his performances, trying to figure out where he went wrong, and what he could have done better. The sickening truth was, he wasn’t done being in the spotlight. He wanted it more.

When he made the decision to stay in L.A. after the Great American Voice LIVE! Tour concluded, he jumped right back into the music scene, scoring a small one album record deal with Kathoulos Records. But that had been a mistake. Right before the album was supposed to released, the label was taken over by new management and dropped Jack and his band. The label refused to sell them back the rights to their album and the album was never released.

The days following the label drop crept from Jack’s memory like a slow, sinking infestation. The black, bleak days when he continued to make desperate attempts to get resigned by a label. The swell of bitter disappointment of doors slamming in his face over and over again; the paranoia of over hearing security guards murmuring into their ear pieces. The nights he spent stumbling through bars and dark alleys in a dizzy, drunken hazes…

He closed his eyes and breathed in through his nose. He counted to four and exhaled slowly through his mouth. The flashbacks were coming at him more often now that his mind wasn’t distracted with constantly writing music. It was why he was so desperate to get back to writing music. When his mind was silent, everything else he suppressed began to resurface. Each night he lost more sleep, and each night it would whisper in his ears, reminding him of who he used to be. Who he still could be. They would become louder and more insistent as the days and nights blended together. He heard it now as he struggled to slow down his heartbeat, quickly rising into panic. He needed to get back to writing music, and soon.

Not all of his memories from those years were bad. He still talked with his vocal coaches from time to time. His real saving grace during those first few months was his hotel roommate, Danny, a boy his age from Mississippi. They had become fast friends when they discovered they had a bunch of shared interests - music, movies, online gaming. Jack had never become so close with someone so quickly. Maybe it was just the pressure of the competition, and it was his own selfish desires to meet someone who wasn’t trying to sabotage his performances. When Danny and Jack had both made it to the top ten, they had celebrated by sneaking cheap champagne into the hotel room. They had gotten deliriously drunk and were jumping on their beds belting Queen. Danny had hopped from his bed to Jack’s, tackling Jack on to his back. As they lay there, laughing and out of breath, he had noticed the precise shade of green Danny’s eyes were. Clover green with specks of silver, like morning dew sparkling in the sun. The way his heart had pounded in his ears.

Jack forced his attention back to his computer, yanking himself out of the memory. He refused to let himself go back there.

He scrolled through the entries. Twitter automatically displayed the most popular entries first, and then the most recently added. Right now, the fan favorite was a girl from Tennessee named Missy Maeve, the red headed version of Ariana Grande, except instead of singing about goddesses and ninety nine problems, Missy Maeve sung in a strong country voice about being true to yourself in a world of fake media. She stared confidently into the camera, pouring all of her energy into the performance.She had spared no expense in creating her video, using professional cameras and lighting, and had an entire back up band performing behind her as she danced around on stage with her long red ponytail swinging hypnotically behind her.

Right away, Jack knew she wasn’t the one. He had seen these types of artists before. They may have sounded and looked good, but at the end of the day, they weren’t connecting with the music. They’d be more focused on how they looked and sounded to other people. A real musician didn’t care about performing; he played music for the sake of music. He didn’t give a fuck who listened. He also would rather be caught dead than write a fluff piece about being true to yourself.

There were several decent entries, but none of them had what Jack was looking for. Jack wasn’t even sure if it existed in other musicians. He was searching for the moment when the musician was no longer a musician. It was those moments he felt himself, when he became so in tune with the music itself that reality fell around him. He’d forget he was on stage, performing in front of hundreds or thousands of fans. The music would fill him so completely, it was like he was the music. Every time he performed like that, it would leave him shaking and exhausted. It was the best kind of high.

He sifted through the videos. He felt guilty knowing he couldn’t possibly watch all of them. There were just so many. His label assured him not to worry about watching them all. The label was responsible for looking at the numbers - meaning who ever had the most likes and views. The band was free to look through them at their convenience, just as long as he had an ideal entry picked out by tomorrow.

There were a lot of good videos - too many good ones, in fact. A lot of the fans showed off their riffing skills, as if that was the one vocal skill that proved how well of a singer they were. Jack secretly despised artists who used too much riffing in their songs. It always sounded like the artist was trying to say “look at me! Look out amazing I am at singing! No one else will be able to copy these incredibly complex arrangement of riffs because I’m so amazing!” There were artists who tried to over compensate with autotune, which he detested more than any other sound engineering tool. It always felt like cheating. If you can’t hit the note, why bother pretend you can?

Jack continued to click through the entries. There were just as many bad ones as there were good ones. There were fans who recorded with voices too flat, or too sharp. They were monotonous, or pitchy. Some hadn’t even tried to submit an original song and sang a cover of one of his song. It was almost always his song, “Perfect Chasers” that he had written about the toxicity of perfection and his own personal addictions. Even though it had been years since he released it, it continued to be a fan favorite.

He kept sifting through hoping a song would jump out at him or he’d find an artist with unique vocals. He kept checking the time. 12 hours before he had to pick someone. Then it was 9. Then it was 6. Jack shifted his weight, so he was lying on his side curled up and had his computer sitting on the coffee table and continued to scroll with his wireless mouse. The couch perfectly cradled his thin form. His eyes burned from the white light of the endless scrolling through Twitter…

“DUDE!”

Jack jumped awake. The bright lights of the studio blinded him. He blinked away the the thick eye crust coating his eyelashes. He made out a silhouette standing in front of him.

“Huh?” Jack mumbled.

“We’ve been trying to get a hold of you,” said the silhouette that Jack recognized as Cody, his guitarist. “The meeting with the label is in a half hour.”

“Shit.” Jack sat up. The room spun around him for a moment and stars popped into his vision. His neck and back was sore after another night of sleeping on the couch. He grabbed his phone to check the time. It was dead.

“Did you pick someone?” Cody asked.

“Um…” Jack couldn’t remember. He saw him computer still sitting on the table. He reached over and tapped the keyboard. The screen lit up and showed all of the Twitter entries he had been looking through. He had gotten deep into scrolling through the entries last night. He was almost at the end of the list.

“Yeah,” he lied.

“Cool. Get ready, the guys and I are out back.” Cody left.

When he was gone, Jack groaned and leaned into his hands. Taking a moment to gather himself, he breathed in deeply. He figured he got maybe three or four hours of sleep. His head ached, rebelling against him for the lack of sleep. After a few slow deep breaths he got up and washed his face and brushed his teeth in the studio bathroom, ignoring the dark shadows under his eyes that matched the shadow of his beard.

When he finished he sat back down at his computer. He still had to choose someone. At this point he didn’t care if they were bad. He couldn’t show up empty handed. He randomly chose a name, scrawled it on a piece of paper and tucked it into his jeans.

Jack climbed into the backseat of the bassist player, Mark’s truck. He slid in next to Brendon, the band’s drummer..

“Good morning, sunshine,” Mark called back to him from the driver’s seat. “You enjoy sleeping in?”

“Mhm, right.” Jack mumbled, if you counted barely sleeping at all as sleeping in.

Brendon looked at him. “You kinda look like hell man,” Brendon said, concerned. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” Jack said. Brendon handed him a pair of sunglasses.

Out of everyone in the band, Jack had known Brendon the longest. They had gone to grade school together and form a band after Jack finished on Great American Voice. Jack was close with all of the guys, but Brendon was always the one who somehow understood Jack and noticed all of Jack’s warning signs. Like right now.

Jack gratefully accepted the sunglasses.

Thank God for coffee, thought Jack as he filled a styrofoam cup.

At the label meeting, everyone was going around the room, pitching their chosen contest candidates. Someone mentioned Missy Maeve and Jack immediately shot it down, claiming if he had to write a bubble gum pop country song, he’d cut off his ears.

Each of the guys in the band got a turn to present someone. Jack waited to go last, since he technically didn’t pick out anyone in specific. He trusted his band, and hoped they would find someone decent enough to produce for that wouldn’t want to make him chuck himself over a cliff. Each band member played the video and explained why they chose it. Their reasons were good and valid, but despite the talent presented, none of them inspired Jack. He had been betting on one of the guys would find someone for him.

“Alright then Jack,” the label manager asked, swiveling his chair towards Jack. “Who did you pick?”

Jack swallowed the lump his throat. “Yeah, I’ve got someone. Her name is…” He pulled the piece of paper out of his pocket and read the hastily scrawled note. “...Robin Jones.” He walked up to the front of the room to the computer that was projected onto the pull out screen. He searched for her name in Youtube. Her video came up as the 7th result on the page.

Christ, she only has 6 views. Jack kicked himself. Why didn’t he bother to check the view count? He hit play. Please don’t suck, please don’t suck.

The video began with a blurry close up of blonde hair. The camera refocused as Robin leaned back from the camera. She was sitting at a baby grand piano. Around her were music stands, stage risers, and a variety of other instruments were stacked up against the wall. She looked like she was recording from a high school band room.

The girl cleared her throat and stated to the camera, “Hi. My name is Robin Jones. I am 18 years old. I am from Boston, Massachusetts and this my original song, Candle Light.” She turned to the piano, a curtain of blonde hair falling in front of her face. She paused for a moment to take a deep breath. Then she began to play.

She was nervous. Her movements were slow, calculated and careful. The notes began higher on the scale, and then steadily dropped into lower notes as she began to quietly sing the first verse.

“When did it begin?

Couldn’t you tell me where the start of it ends?

Cause I got caught in the light.

Yeah, it was too damn bright.

It left me blinded, just for you.”

She sang in a soft, lower register, which surprised Jack. He thought by the tone of her voice, she would have sung higher. But she was good. Thank God.

Her voice shook slightly through the first chorus. It wasn’t until she broke into the second verse, he noticed a shift in her performance. Her voice grew stronger, and she tucked the hair that had curtained off her face behind her ear. Jack found himself nodding along with the gentle rhythm of the song.

I had to take the long

way home, did you know I barely survived

I couldn’t see how and I,

Couldn’t see why after all this time

the goodbye still hurts you more.

Jack almost paused the video on that last line. It stood out to him. It was a good, subjective line that he liked to use in his own music. It was one of those lines he knew came from her specific experience, but it could relate to anyone. It could relate to him. It did relate to him. The goodbye still hurts you more. Jack knew exactly just how it related to him.

Memories of Danny popped back into mind. He saw Danny standing to the side of the stage with everyone else advancing, crying when Jack was voted off. He saw Danny fight with him at the end of the Great American Tour when he didn’t want to move back out to L.A. with Jack. The look on Danny’s face when Jack spit harsh words out of anger and regret. He saw himself a month later, staring at his phone, wishing Danny would just fucking text him back. Danny and his stupid, morning dew green eyes.

The harder lessons are learned

When you see the scars are from the burn

Wish I wasn’t so afraid to believe

That there could still be so much more.

There was Danny was again in the last line. Robin was good with her lyrics.

She launched into the chorus with a change of confidence. She sang with a soulful vibrato. Her eyes were closed as felt her way through the song, her fingers finding the right keys on their own. Her performance looked effortless, but Jack could tell she was pouring everything inside of her into the music.

Her fingers danced across the keyboard, racing towards the bridge. Robin’s entire body rocked along with the rhythm. Suddenly the song tapered off to the quiet notes from the beginning of the song.

I could for now, just stay where I am

Though I still don’t know how this all ends.

Until then I’ll hold on to a little light

So one day you might find me again.

When she finished, she rested her hands on the keys, drawing in a few deep breaths. Her hands dropped so suddenly from the keys, like someone had caught her playing when she wasn’t supposed to. Robin turned back towards the camera and leaned in to end the video.

There was silence in the room. Jack was holding his breath, waiting for someone to respond.

“Well,” the assistant manager started. “She has a nice voice, but -”

“This one,” Jack interrupted. “I want this one.”

His manager looked at him, arching an eyebrow. “You want this one? A romance song?”

Jack was equally surprised. What was he doing? He doesn’t write romance. He doesn’t even like songs about romance. And the memories that she pulled from the back of his mind should have given him enough of a reason not to pick this one. And yet, it had slipped out. He wanted this song.

Jack looked to his bandmates for their confirmation. He wasn’t about to make a decision without them, especially when it involved all four of them. They looked between the three of them, silently discussing the song. After a few moments, and some shrugging, Brendon nodded to Jack.

“Yeah,” Jack said. He cleared his throat. “She’s got a great voice, and the song sounds a little different from most romance songs I’ve heard. I think maybe the lyrics could use a little help, and I think if we put in some percussion with some better acoustics - “ Jack caught himself. He almost didn’t notice the click in his brain. It was like suddenly he turned on a light. Or lit a candle after the power had gone out. His was brainstorming. He was writing.

At that moment he knew for a fact - this was the winning song.

He looked around the room, waiting for everyone’s opinion. They exchanged glances, debating.

Finally, the manager stood up. “Alright, I guess that’s it then. We’ll go with…” He squinted his eyes, looking up at the project screen. “...Robin Jones. Tomorrow we’ll go live with the announcement.”

The meeting concluded. Everyone started packing up. Jack let out a breath of air he didn’t realize he was holding.

The guys approached him.

“So...romance now, huh? Didn’t know you had such a soft spot all of the sudden,” Cody remarked, smiling.

Jack shook his head, just as surprised as they were. “I guess maybe I need to start looking into the romance writing genre.”

“Hah, yeah man.” Brendon clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Good to have you back man.”

Jack gave him a smile of thanks.

When he got home, he pulled up Robin’s song again and rewatched it, beginning the process of drafting different types of instruments and background sounds he could add to the song. The ideas came easy, and he could feel something in him relax. He was relieved. He was writing again.

The song had resurfaced those memories of Danny that he fought for so long to forget. Some part of him still thought he was insane to want to work on this song. But another part of him, the part that he had shared with Danny all those years, demanded him to work on this song, and it refused to be ignored. He felt a nervous tingle in the pit of his stomach.

He didn’t want to acknowledge it, but the song had given that part of him a new, stronger voice. And it was screaming at him.

Jack continued to write.

[deafeningmoonmusic]

Meat Snacks Market Global Industry Insights, Trends, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis, 2018-2026

Meat snacks are snacks made by marinating meat in a curing solution and drying it. Meat processed in this manner provides it with a unique flavor and increases the shelf life of meat snacks. The strong flavor of meat snacks is attributed to the concentrating effects of the moisture removal process. The manufacturing process of meat snacks involves initial meat preparation, preparation of the curing solution, meat processing and curing, and quality check and packaging. The curing solution has antimicrobial effects that prevent growth of harmful bacteria.

Meat Snacks Market Taxonomy

On the basis of meat type, the meat snacks market is segmented into:

Chicken

Beef

Seafood

Turkey

On basis of products type, the meat Snacks market segmented into:

Jerky

Ham Sausages

Meat Sticks

Pickled Sausages

Pickled Poultry Meat

On the basis of flavors, the meat snacks market is segmented into:

Peppered

Original

Teriyaki

Smoked

Spicy

Request Copy Of This Business Report: https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/market-insight/meat-snacks-market-880

Major Keyplayers: Jack Link's, King Elite Snacks, Marfood USA, Hormel Foods, ConAgra Foods, Meatsnacks Group, Winterbotham Darby, Nutreco N.V., CampoFrio Foods Group, Oberto Sausage, Duke's Smoked Meats, and Wild Ride Beef Jerky.

About Us:

Coherent Market Insights is a global market intelligence and consulting organization that provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. We are known for our actionable insights and authentic reports in various domains including aerospace and defense, agriculture, food and beverages, automotive, chemicals and materials, and virtually all domains and an exhaustive list of sub-domains under the sun. We create value for clients through our highly reliable and accurate reports. We are also committed in playing a leading role in offering insights in various sectors post-COVID-19 and continue to deliver measurable, sustainable results for our clients.

Contact:

Coherent Market Insights 1001 4th Ave, #3200 Seattle, WA 98154, U.S. Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com United States of America: +1-206-701-6702 United Kingdom: +44-020-8133-4027 Japan: +050-5539-1737 India: +91-848-285-0837

[thebutchersdog]

A present Floyd got for Christmas... (from left to right) Rollover "Super Premium" dog food roll - FREE with my order!! 11" Roasted beef strips (2) - $8.99 Medium porkhide rolls (3) - $4.99 Beef jerky spiral (2) - $3.00 Turkey and cranberry stuffed porkhide (Bought at PetSmart, can't remember how much it was) Large beef chew spiral (6, he ate one) - $2.50 each

I spent $30.00 on their website so I got free shipping with this order. Rollover is having a nice sale right now, their beef chew spirals are really cheap and nice (I think these are tendons, they're not bully sticks).

I don't know if Rollover sells to America, but you can find their website at www.rolloverpetfood.com

[agilenano]

Agilenano - News: Top 15 Electric Foods

  Aucma Stand Mixer,6.5-QT 660W 6-Speed Tilt-Head Food Mixer, Kitchen Electric Mixer with Dough Hook, Wire Whip & Beater 2 Layer Red Painting (6.5QT, Red) Aucma Stand Mixer,6.5-QT 660W 6-Speed Tilt-Head Food Mixer, Kitchen Electric Mixer with Dough Hook, Wire Whip & Beater 2 Layer Red Painting (6.5QT, Red) - 【Ideal gift & multiple authentication】aucma electric mixer is fda approved and etl listedit’s perfect gift idea for your family and friends please always feel free to contact us if you have any questions during using. 【Multiple attachment set】 aucma stand mixer comes with three mixing accessories whisk, dough hook, mixing beaterthe splash guard with access hatch helps add ingredients without making a mess. 【Tilt-head & outside design】 the tilt-head design mixer allows access to install or uninstall bowl and accessories easily the mixer has a stainless steel decoration belt and blue led light as power indicator the red housing with two layer painting make it look more shining and beautiful in your kitchen. 【65qt large capacity bowl with handles】 65qt stainless steel bowl can meet all your kitchen needs the stand mixer is easy to use for making cakes, breads, cookies, pastry, muffins and waffle, and the dual handles are more convenient to hold. 【Powerful motor & variable speed control】 660w high performance pure copper motor and sturdy abs housing 6 optimized speeds with pulse function, access to multipurpose and a variety of recipes more powerful motor but lower operation noise ≤76db.   Tiger Chef Food Warmer – Full Size Countertop Food Warmers – Commercial Electric Steam Table for Buffet – Includes Steam Table Pan Cover Tiger Chef Food Warmer – Full Size Countertop Food Warmers – Commercial Electric Steam Table for Buffet – Includes Steam Table Pan Cover - Lower your utility costs with our energy-efficient designed electric food warmer that heats faster with 120v~60hz, 1200w, 10a. The heavy-duty stainless steel body is great for commercial or home use it has 3 settings low = 140°f / medium = 170°f / high = 200°f. Overall dimensions 22 1/2 inch l x 14-5/8 inch w x 9-3/8 inch h inside dimensions 20 inch l x 12 inch w x 6 inch h standard opening dimensions 20 inch x 12 inch fits most full-size pans up to 6 inches deep. Etl listed for electrical safety, conforms to ul-197 and etl listed for sanitation, conforms to nsf-4. Full size lid dimensions 20-3/4″ x 12-3/4 these steam table lids are manufactured of commercial grade 25 gauge stainless steel featuring double reinforced corners to withstand many years of use the cover, which features a non-stick surface, helps facilitate many applications in several capacities it also prevents excess water vapor from being released from the food during cooking which can impact quality.   Zica ZCK165A Commercial Stainless Steel Electrical Food Warmer Bain Marie Zica ZCK165A Commercial Stainless Steel Electrical Food Warmer Bain Marie - 【Thermal insulation function】 multi-ring heating tube, evenly heated, good warm-keeping effect. 【simple control setting】 with 5 control settings. 【Certification】 etl. 【Design】 stainless steel material, waterproof switch. 【Power】 1200w.   Americolor Soft Gel Paste Electric Food Coloring 4.5 oz. – Electric Purple Americolor Soft Gel Paste Electric Food Coloring 4.5 oz. – Electric Purple - This highly concentrated gel food colour is formulated with the necessary die concentration levels needed to achieve the most vibrant and brilliant colour available. Gel colour has a viscosity that offers the convenience of a pourable colour, making it easier to duplicate shades. Only a small amount is needed to tint icing, fondant, marzipan, gum paste, or dough without affecting the consistency and it will not break down buttercream or non-dairy icings like liquid colours. However, the colour may vary due to reproduction limitations and your monitor’s colour settings. 4½ ounce/127 gram squeeze bottlesize 4½ ozcolour/pattern electric purpleproduct of united statesingredients water, sugar, colours (one or more of red #40, red #3, yellow #5, yellow #6, blue #1, blue #2, or titanium dioxide), modified corn starch, vegetable gum, citric acid, and less than 1/10 of 1% sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate (as preservatives)allergens does not contain nut products and not manufactured in a facility or on equipment which processes such productskoshernote every effort has been made to reproduce the gel food colour. Use gel colour to colour bread dough, cookie dough, cake batter, whipped toppings and icings, buttercream icing, royal icing, rolled fondant, gum paste, marzipan, and compound chocolate.   Gourmia GFD1650 Premium Electric Food Dehydrator Machine – Digital Timer and Temperature Control – 6 Drying Trays – Perfect for Beef Jerky, Herbs, Fruit Leather – BPA Free – Black Gourmia GFD1650 Premium Electric Food Dehydrator Machine – Digital Timer and Temperature Control – 6 Drying Trays – Perfect for Beef Jerky, Herbs, Fruit Leather – BPA Free – Black - Fresh & healthy forget store bought processed junk now you can make a more flavorful, nutrient dense, preservative/additive free, and much much cheaper alternative to commercial products. 6 tray six trays provide plenty of room to get creative drying anything from sweet pineapple slices to sticky dates and even chewy beef jerky also comes with a bonus fruit leather sheet and drip tray. Transparent door door is clear for easy at a glance monitoring of all sheets. Etl certified we, at gourmia, take the quality of our products seriously this product is etl certified and bpa free, so you can be confident that you’re receiving a safe, efficient, high quality appliance. 360º circulation simple, precise, digital controls activate 360º airflow circulation for thorough uniform drying without overheating- no rotation required.   Food Chopper, Aobosi Electric Meat Chopper with 1.8L BPA-Free Glass Bowl, Braking Function, 2 Speeds Control, 4 Stainless Steel Blades, 300W, 7 Cups Chopper for Meat, Vegetables, Fruits and Nuts Food Chopper, Aobosi Electric Meat Chopper with 1.8L BPA-Free Glass Bowl, Braking Function, 2 Speeds Control, 4 Stainless Steel Blades, 300W, 7 Cups Chopper for Meat, Vegetables, Fruits and Nuts - 💗【18l glass bowl, bpa free】a 7mm thicken glass bowl will cater for every meal and give you a clear view make mashed potatoes for babies, milkshake for friends,pasta sauce for family party it is safe to use and easy to clean a non-slip mat on the bowl ensures the stable working of the mini meat chopper. 💗【brake function】different from the food processors in the market, our electric chopper features the “brake function”the running blade will stop as soon as you lift up the motoreffectively prevent food splashesno need to wait until the blade has completely stopped. 💗【easy one-button control】it is easy to get the electric food processor to start working just press the button and it will gofeaturing 2 speed control,the high speed is good for meats, nuts, carrots，pumpkin the slow speed is applied for eggs, vegetables, fruits, etc choose the right working speed to serve for you. 💗【powerful food chopper】🎁limitted time offer save 10% 💗the 300 watt pure copper motor makes it easy to chop, blend, mix and mince a variety of ingredients quickly chop vegetables in 6 seconds and chop meats in 8 seconds4 detachable stainless steel blades allow to chop food evenlythe blades do not wrap around meatmuch quicker than chopping by hand greatly save your time. 💗【warranty & carefree after-sales service】any product issue within 30 days,we promise 100% money back meantime, we take 100% responsibility of product issue and offer 1 year warrantyif you have any question about the small meat grinder, please contact uswe will provide the technical support and help to solve it in the best way.   Rosewill Countertop Portable Electric Food Fruit Dehydrator Machine with Adjustable Thermostat, BPA-Free 5-Tray RHFD-15001 Rosewill Countertop Portable Electric Food Fruit Dehydrator Machine with Adjustable Thermostat, BPA-Free 5-Tray RHFD-15001 - Adjustable thermostat 95 to 155 degress f, 250 watt of drying power. Use for drying-crafts flowers, apple wreaths, meat and more. 5 tray capacity bpa-free herb trays, roll trays and stackable trays. Bottom-mounted fan and heating element provide consistant air flow for optimum drying and no rotation needed. A fast & easy way to make delicious, healthy and natural snacks like banana chips, fruit roll-ups, beef jerky, and dried meats.   Secura Electric Food Steamer, Vegetable Steamer Double Tiered Stackable Baskets with Timer, 1200W Fast Heating Stainless Steel Digital Steamer 8.5 Quart Secura Electric Food Steamer, Vegetable Steamer Double Tiered Stackable Baskets with Timer, 1200W Fast Heating Stainless Steel Digital Steamer 8.5 Quart - Versatile of steamer setting the delay start time with 1 hour increments up to 10 hours, keep warm about 176℉. 1200 watt stainless steel digital steamer, 15 seconds generate steam, fast heat up and cooks fish, veggies, chicken, grains or rice, you can cook as many food as you want evenly. Steaming retains nutrients and eliminates the need for cooking oils boil-dry protection, auto shut off once no water easy clean and dishwasher-safe. 2-year on this product that ensures your satisfaction, so you can enjoy it for years to come. Stackable 2-tier food steaming, non-slip upper lid knob, anti-scalding handle, clear water line and led display.   Electric Lunch Box – #Boxing Day# Toursion Portable Food Heater Car and Home Dual Use with Removable Stainless Steel 304 Container & PP Removable Container Food Grade Material 110V&12V Electric Lunch Box – #Boxing Day# Toursion Portable Food Heater Car and Home Dual Use with Removable Stainless Steel 304 Container & PP Removable Container Food Grade Material 110V&12V - 【Large capacity】size 93 x 67 x 43 inch capacity 105l we have included a removable plastic compartment in case you want to separate different types of food also, we have included an spoon completely for free. 【Fast heating】using ptc original constant temperature heating, the use of a more safe and heat insulation dual function no need to wait in line for microwave heating, just plug in the cable and you can have a warm meal sitting in your seat. 【Food grade material】lfgb prove this electric heating lunch box is made of food grade pp material, inner container is made of 304 stainless steel high quality temperature resistant, non fragile material which is totally nontoxic and healthy. 【Car & home dual use】12v cars/trucks use adapter and 110v home use plugs are included with this toursion electric lunch box warmer, you can heat your meal at school, in office, or during travel suitable for driver who has to drive on the road for a long time perfect for uber driver and delivery driver. 【easy to clean & portable】it contains a removable stainless steel tray, which you can clean it easily no leaks sealed outer container to retain heat and keep foods fresh, built-in utensils tray, and anti-scalding handle to make it easy to carry the box.   Electric Food Chopper, MOSAIC 400W Food Processor with Titanium Coating Blades and 1.5L Stainless Steel Bowl, 2 Speed Kitchen Meat Grinder Mincer for Fruit Cheese Nuts – Upgrade Version Electric Food Chopper, MOSAIC 400W Food Processor with Titanium Coating Blades and 1.5L Stainless Steel Bowl, 2 Speed Kitchen Meat Grinder Mincer for Fruit Cheese Nuts – Upgrade Version - 👍 function food processor, great for chopping, blending, pureeing, mixing and mincing a variety of ingredients quickly such as onions, garlic, hams and steers, etc. 👍 titanium coating blades, 4 stainless steel blades with titanium coating allows the upper and lower blades to chop food evenly, chop vegetables in 6s and meat in 8s also improve the blades hardness and keep them sharp longer. 👍 powerful and durable, 400 w powerful motor and titanium coating blades, make it possible to grind, chop in a blink the knife set has been upgrade to make it more durable and strong enough to handle the heavy job while grinding or chopping. 👍 dishwasher cleaning safe, easy to assemble, all removable parts clean up dishwasher safe or easily by hand this processor is compact and lightweight for easy storage perfect for your home use. 👍 easy to use and storage, build with a safety function make it safer and user-friendly, press down to start and automatically reset also, the food chopper has a distinctive cable storage function, you just need to wrap the wire around the motor part and fix the end of the wire to the bayonet of this chopper.   Electric Lunch Box Food Heater – Farochy Heating Lunch Box Heater Portable Microwave Electric Lunch Box 2 in 1 for Car and Home 110V & 12V, Stainless Steel Food Warmer and Heater (Blue) Electric Lunch Box Food Heater – Farochy Heating Lunch Box Heater Portable Microwave Electric Lunch Box 2 in 1 for Car and Home 110V & 12V, Stainless Steel Food Warmer and Heater (Blue) - ☑【 Premium quality】the heater lunch box is made of fda approved pp material, which is high-temperature resistant, non-toxic, durable, eco-friendly and safe to use the removable container is made of food grade 304 stainless steel, sturdy and lasts longer. ☑【 heating notes】when indicators light up, it means the food is heating 40w power cyclic heating, please heat about 40 minutes earlier before eating if you are not happy with the product for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact us all issues will be solved within 24 hours your satisfaction is our priority. ☑【 Removable & portable & easy to clean】the stainless steel container is removable for easy cleaning, dishwasher safe 【kindly note】 do not wash the lunch box as a whole into the water make sure the cable plug is dry the lunch warmer is very convenient to take your meal with you. ☑【 Package includes】farochy electric lunch box food heater includes 1 electric lunch box, 1insulated lunch bag, 1metal tableware box, 1 spoon, 1fork, 1 plastic additional compartment, 1 car/trucks-use charging cable 12v, 1 home-use charging cable 110v, 1 manuel product size 94 67 43 inch capacity 15l. ☑【 Electric lunch box 2 in 1】farochy electric food warmer features 110v for home and 12v for cars/ trucks use the heating lunch box has 2 compartments it has a removable plastic compartment that can stop mixing your food.   Meat Slicer Electric Deli Food Slicer with Child Lock Protection, Removable 7.5” Stainless Steel Blade and Food Carriage, Adjustable Thickness Food Slicer Machine for Meat, Cheese, Bread (200W) Meat Slicer Electric Deli Food Slicer with Child Lock Protection, Removable 7.5” Stainless Steel Blade and Food Carriage, Adjustable Thickness Food Slicer Machine for Meat, Cheese, Bread (200W) - Safety protection to operate the deli slicer, you must press both the safety lock & power button simultaneously to start, avoid the mistake operation non-slip suction cup feet keeps the meat slicer stable during working. Commitment ostba is the only authorized online seller of ostba products we are committed to providing customers with a stressful-free shopping experience buy with confidence, we are always here to help. To be a chef the food slicer cuts the food precisely, it makes you like a good chef at home adjustable thickness from super thin to approximately 3/4 ” thick for slicing various of food such as meat, deli, cheese, roast beef, turkey breast, vegetables and fruits. 200w powerful meat slicer the update electric food slicer is driven by 200 watts of fast, high yield slicing power, 75” stainless steel serrated blade is sharp enough to cut the frozen meat, deli, cheese,etc, the slicer machine help you keep a consistent sharp cut. Easy to clean seamless and removable features make sanitation a breeze our removable ring-guard cover prevents debris buildup on cutting surfaces the blade, food carriage, slide-rod extension and food pusher are removable, it allows for thorough cleaning and sanitation.   Magic Mill Pro Countertop Electric Food Dehydrator, (Stainless Steel) Magic Mill Pro Countertop Electric Food Dehydrator, (Stainless Steel) - Usage perfect for dried fruit slices, long-lasting dried herbs, delicious beef jerky and more also a perfect way to preserve foods for a fraction the price of commercial. Healthy enjoy the homemade easiest healthiest snacks, preserve foods, without additives, made with bpa free machine. Digital temperature control with 95-167 degree fahrenheit (with 9 num increments) capability with 24 hour timer. 10 spacious, (15″ x 15″) adjustable stainless-steel drying racks, 5 plastic fine mesh trays, 5 nonstick trays, 1 set oven mitts, to accommodate a wide variety of fruits, herbs, vegetables, and meats, great for large families, gardeners, sportsmen, outdoor hobbyists, health-conscious enthusiast. Horizontal air flow system with rear mounted motor & fan ensuring more uniform drying.   Maxi-Matic EFW-6080R Warmables Lunch Box Electric Food Warmer with Stainless Steel Pot, 33oz, Red Maxi-Matic EFW-6080R Warmables Lunch Box Electric Food Warmer with Stainless Steel Pot, 33oz, Red - Approved ce/ rohs/ etl/ fda. Unique heating design will allow you to gradually heat your food and keep warm until unit is unplugged. Removable container and snack tray are refrigerator, freezer and dishwasher safe. Stainless steel removable container with 33-ounce capacity plus a bonus snack tray. Detachable 120v dc power cord. 40 watts. Small, compact size is perfect for small apartments, dorm rooms, office, school, rv campers, and more. Locking lid with convenient carry handle, safe and convenient for travel. Gradually heats up cold food in approximately 30 60 minutes depending on food contents. Power indicator light.   Euro Cuisine FS2500 Electric Food Steamer, White/Stainless Steel Euro Cuisine FS2500 Electric Food Steamer, White/Stainless Steel - Use hot or cold water, generates steam in a short time, letting food to start cooking immediately. 45 quart water tank holder, automatic 90-minute timer, switches to warm when food is ready. Stainless steel steam basket preserves the original flavor of the food and nutrients, along with being safe to cook with. Auto shut-off when cycle is completed and/or water is empty. 2 tier of 85 quarts each basket, removable steam basket easy to cook in. #TopProducts

Agilenano - News from Agilenano from shopsnetwork (4 sites) https://agilenano.com/blogs/news/top-15-electric-foods-2

[arplis]

Arplis - News: Top 15 Electric Foods

  Aucma Stand Mixer,6.5-QT 660W 6-Speed Tilt-Head Food Mixer, Kitchen Electric Mixer with Dough Hook, Wire Whip & Beater 2 Layer Red Painting (6.5QT, Red) Aucma Stand Mixer,6.5-QT 660W 6-Speed Tilt-Head Food Mixer, Kitchen Electric Mixer with Dough Hook, Wire Whip & Beater 2 Layer Red Painting (6.5QT, Red) - 【Ideal gift & multiple authentication】aucma electric mixer is fda approved and etl listedit’s perfect gift idea for your family and friends please always feel free to contact us if you have any questions during using. 【Multiple attachment set】 aucma stand mixer comes with three mixing accessories whisk, dough hook, mixing beaterthe splash guard with access hatch helps add ingredients without making a mess. 【Tilt-head & outside design】 the tilt-head design mixer allows access to install or uninstall bowl and accessories easily the mixer has a stainless steel decoration belt and blue led light as power indicator the red housing with two layer painting make it look more shining and beautiful in your kitchen. 【65qt large capacity bowl with handles】 65qt stainless steel bowl can meet all your kitchen needs the stand mixer is easy to use for making cakes, breads, cookies, pastry, muffins and waffle, and the dual handles are more convenient to hold. 【Powerful motor & variable speed control】 660w high performance pure copper motor and sturdy abs housing 6 optimized speeds with pulse function, access to multipurpose and a variety of recipes more powerful motor but lower operation noise ≤76db.   Tiger Chef Food Warmer – Full Size Countertop Food Warmers – Commercial Electric Steam Table for Buffet – Includes Steam Table Pan Cover Tiger Chef Food Warmer – Full Size Countertop Food Warmers – Commercial Electric Steam Table for Buffet – Includes Steam Table Pan Cover - Lower your utility costs with our energy-efficient designed electric food warmer that heats faster with 120v~60hz, 1200w, 10a. The heavy-duty stainless steel body is great for commercial or home use it has 3 settings low = 140°f / medium = 170°f / high = 200°f. Overall dimensions 22 1/2 inch l x 14-5/8 inch w x 9-3/8 inch h inside dimensions 20 inch l x 12 inch w x 6 inch h standard opening dimensions 20 inch x 12 inch fits most full-size pans up to 6 inches deep. Etl listed for electrical safety, conforms to ul-197 and etl listed for sanitation, conforms to nsf-4. Full size lid dimensions 20-3/4″ x 12-3/4 these steam table lids are manufactured of commercial grade 25 gauge stainless steel featuring double reinforced corners to withstand many years of use the cover, which features a non-stick surface, helps facilitate many applications in several capacities it also prevents excess water vapor from being released from the food during cooking which can impact quality.   Zica ZCK165A Commercial Stainless Steel Electrical Food Warmer Bain Marie Zica ZCK165A Commercial Stainless Steel Electrical Food Warmer Bain Marie - 【Thermal insulation function】 multi-ring heating tube, evenly heated, good warm-keeping effect. 【simple control setting】 with 5 control settings. 【Certification】 etl. 【Design】 stainless steel material, waterproof switch. 【Power】 1200w.   Americolor Soft Gel Paste Electric Food Coloring 4.5 oz. – Electric Purple Americolor Soft Gel Paste Electric Food Coloring 4.5 oz. – Electric Purple - This highly concentrated gel food colour is formulated with the necessary die concentration levels needed to achieve the most vibrant and brilliant colour available. Gel colour has a viscosity that offers the convenience of a pourable colour, making it easier to duplicate shades. Only a small amount is needed to tint icing, fondant, marzipan, gum paste, or dough without affecting the consistency and it will not break down buttercream or non-dairy icings like liquid colours. However, the colour may vary due to reproduction limitations and your monitor’s colour settings. 4½ ounce/127 gram squeeze bottlesize 4½ ozcolour/pattern electric purpleproduct of united statesingredients water, sugar, colours (one or more of red #40, red #3, yellow #5, yellow #6, blue #1, blue #2, or titanium dioxide), modified corn starch, vegetable gum, citric acid, and less than 1/10 of 1% sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate (as preservatives)allergens does not contain nut products and not manufactured in a facility or on equipment which processes such productskoshernote every effort has been made to reproduce the gel food colour. Use gel colour to colour bread dough, cookie dough, cake batter, whipped toppings and icings, buttercream icing, royal icing, rolled fondant, gum paste, marzipan, and compound chocolate.   Gourmia GFD1650 Premium Electric Food Dehydrator Machine – Digital Timer and Temperature Control – 6 Drying Trays – Perfect for Beef Jerky, Herbs, Fruit Leather – BPA Free – Black Gourmia GFD1650 Premium Electric Food Dehydrator Machine – Digital Timer and Temperature Control – 6 Drying Trays – Perfect for Beef Jerky, Herbs, Fruit Leather – BPA Free – Black - Fresh & healthy forget store bought processed junk now you can make a more flavorful, nutrient dense, preservative/additive free, and much much cheaper alternative to commercial products. 6 tray six trays provide plenty of room to get creative drying anything from sweet pineapple slices to sticky dates and even chewy beef jerky also comes with a bonus fruit leather sheet and drip tray. Transparent door door is clear for easy at a glance monitoring of all sheets. 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Use for drying-crafts flowers, apple wreaths, meat and more. 5 tray capacity bpa-free herb trays, roll trays and stackable trays. Bottom-mounted fan and heating element provide consistant air flow for optimum drying and no rotation needed. A fast & easy way to make delicious, healthy and natural snacks like banana chips, fruit roll-ups, beef jerky, and dried meats.   Secura Electric Food Steamer, Vegetable Steamer Double Tiered Stackable Baskets with Timer, 1200W Fast Heating Stainless Steel Digital Steamer 8.5 Quart Secura Electric Food Steamer, Vegetable Steamer Double Tiered Stackable Baskets with Timer, 1200W Fast Heating Stainless Steel Digital Steamer 8.5 Quart - Versatile of steamer setting the delay start time with 1 hour increments up to 10 hours, keep warm about 176℉. 1200 watt stainless steel digital steamer, 15 seconds generate steam, fast heat up and cooks fish, veggies, chicken, grains or rice, you can cook as many food as you want evenly. 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Stackable 2-tier food steaming, non-slip upper lid knob, anti-scalding handle, clear water line and led display.   Electric Lunch Box – #Boxing Day# Toursion Portable Food Heater Car and Home Dual Use with Removable Stainless Steel 304 Container & PP Removable Container Food Grade Material 110V&12V Electric Lunch Box – #Boxing Day# Toursion Portable Food Heater Car and Home Dual Use with Removable Stainless Steel 304 Container & PP Removable Container Food Grade Material 110V&12V - 【Large capacity】size 93 x 67 x 43 inch capacity 105l we have included a removable plastic compartment in case you want to separate different types of food also, we have included an spoon completely for free. 【Fast heating】using ptc original constant temperature heating, the use of a more safe and heat insulation dual function no need to wait in line for microwave heating, just plug in the cable and you can have a warm meal sitting in your seat. 【Food grade material】lfgb prove this electric heating lunch box 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Blades and 1.5L Stainless Steel Bowl, 2 Speed Kitchen Meat Grinder Mincer for Fruit Cheese Nuts – Upgrade Version - 👍 function food processor, great for chopping, blending, pureeing, mixing and mincing a variety of ingredients quickly such as onions, garlic, hams and steers, etc. 👍 titanium coating blades, 4 stainless steel blades with titanium coating allows the upper and lower blades to chop food evenly, chop vegetables in 6s and meat in 8s also improve the blades hardness and keep them sharp longer. 👍 powerful and durable, 400 w powerful motor and titanium coating blades, make it possible to grind, chop in a blink the knife set has been upgrade to make it more durable and strong enough to handle the heavy job while grinding or chopping. 👍 dishwasher cleaning safe, easy to assemble, all removable parts clean up dishwasher safe or easily by hand this processor is compact and lightweight for easy storage perfect for your home use. 👍 easy to use and storage, build with a safety function make it safer and user-friendly, press down to start and automatically reset also, the food chopper has a distinctive cable storage function, you just need to wrap the wire around the motor part and fix the end of the wire to the bayonet of this chopper.   Electric Lunch Box Food Heater – Farochy Heating Lunch Box Heater Portable Microwave Electric Lunch Box 2 in 1 for Car and Home 110V & 12V, Stainless Steel Food Warmer and Heater (Blue) Electric Lunch Box Food Heater – Farochy Heating Lunch Box Heater Portable Microwave Electric Lunch Box 2 in 1 for Car and Home 110V & 12V, Stainless Steel Food Warmer and Heater (Blue) - ☑【 Premium quality】the heater lunch box is made of fda approved pp material, which is high-temperature resistant, non-toxic, durable, eco-friendly and safe to use the removable container is made of food grade 304 stainless steel, sturdy and lasts longer. ☑【 heating notes】when indicators light up, it means the food is heating 40w power cyclic heating, please heat 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Arplis - News source https://arplis.com/blogs/news/top-15-electric-foods

[allaboutfoodgwu]

Tea Time: Harris “Tea”ter

On one of the first nice days of Spring, I decided to venture north to the Adams Morgan neighborhood of D.C. There, I stopped in the Harris Teeter grocery store to see what they offered for tea.

Walking down the street on the left-hand side of the photograph, I saw the large Harris Teeter sign on top of the building at the corner and very confidently approached the doors to enter. Imagine my surprise when through the glass I just saw a group of guys doing CrossFit and not a nice selection of fresh produce. Thank God I noticed this before I went in, but now I had no idea where the entrance was. Luckily, somebody walked past me with a Harris Teeter shopping bag, and I realized the entrance was on the side of the building, under a smaller Harris Teeter sign. Entering Harris Teeter: take two.

After taking the elevator up to the shopping floor, I looked around to find about 10 aisles, all uniform in size and spacing, stretching down the length of store. The store was not extremely busy, there were a few people in each aisle. I noticed people of a variety of ages, some appeared to be shopping as couples or families, others as individuals. Nearly every shopper, or group of shoppers, that I saw was using a shopping cart.

The overhead signs informed me that I could find “coffee/tea” in aisle 5. Here I found a wide selection of packaged teas. Strangely, the tea was next to beef jerky, which doesn’t seem like a typical combination, but to each their own. The varieties of tea available ranged from simple black tea to orange spice tea to glazed lemon loaf tea which, frankly, sounds gross. Though there were only two options for loose leaf teas, there were tea infusers for sale. There was also a sign with coupons for 75 cents off any one Tazo product. Many of the teas were on sale, with large yellow or purple tags sticking out of the shelves announcing the new price.

The shelves were well organized, with the products mostly organized by brand, except for a few products. The Harris Teeter brand teas seemed to be placed next to the boxes that they were trying to imitate, like the Yogi teas. The specialty teas from Bigelow, called Steep and Bigelow Benefits, were placed on the top shelf, away from the rest of the Bigelow boxes. This store also had a selection of K-cup teas that were all together, rather than with the rest of the brand. Finally, any big boxes were on the bottom 2 shelves.  

Overall I was impressed with the selection of tea available at Harris Teeter. I think there was a variety of choices that would appeal to everybody, whether they want green tea, chai, or tea to help them sleep. I was confused by the tea from Bigelow called Plantation Mint- I feel like we could find a better name for that.

[countdowntojosie]

Road Trip 2017: Final Random Thoughts, Budget, Tips, and Tricks

Our road trip was thoroughly amazing. I was kind of holding my breath, because with that many days on the road, something was BOUND to go wrong. But NOTHING did. And I mean NOTHING. Nobody got sick or injured; we had zero car trouble; we didn’t get bed bugs; nothing went wrong with any of our hotel bookings; the kids didn’t even get sick of being in the car; and it didn’t even rain on us! I am still in amazement with how perfectly everything went. I am giving almost all of the credit to how well Jake planned everything- he is a master road trip planner always, but this time he outdid himself!! 

We did the whole trip, all 19 days, for about $6,000. We thought that was pretty good, considering that a family of 4 can spend that on a week at Disney. So here is kind of a breakdown of how we spent the money: 

Hotels:

-Jake booked all of our hotels about 6 months in advance. Next time, though, we will book the nights in the national parks even further in advance- I would recommend at least 9 months to a year, because we *almost* didn’t get a place to stay in Glacier or Yellowstone. They book up QUICK. We did not get super cheap hotels anywhere (but also not the fanciest, of course). He used TripAdvisor reviews to pick where we stayed, and it was pretty spot on most of the time. We were pleased with almost everywhere, with the exception of just a couple of weird things at a few places. We stayed in cabins at Yellowstone, Glacier, and Grand Teton. We stayed at two Great Wolf Lodges (indoor water park hotels) for the kids. And those were definitely not the cheapest hotels, but they were great for the kids, and they are pretty good deal considering what you get out of it! We also stayed one night with friends in St. Louis.

Food: 

-We budgeted $20 a day for groceries, and $40 a  day for restaurants. Almost all of the hotels we booked had continental breakfast (something we made sure of when we were booking the hotels), and if they didn’t (like in the parks), we bought Pop-Tarts and Cliff bars and things like that to eat in the car or in the room. We also packed a cooler, but NOT with cold things. We just put the food in the cooler to keep it from getting crushed. We packed it with lunch stuff that didn’t need to be kept cold- peanut butter, Nutella, chips, nuts, pudding, beef jerky, dried fruit, crackers, cookies, Beanie Weenies, etc. Almost every day we found a place to eat a picnic lunch, and just ate the things from the cooler. A good tip for this- grab a banana or apple to go from the hotel breakfast to eat at lunch. Also, jelly packets from the hotel breakfast make eating peanut butter sandwiches more enjoyable. :) We became master scavengers. For dinner, we would use our restaurant budget to eat out. 

Now I definitely didn’t use the $20 of grocery money each day, because I didn’t need to replenish our stores every day. So the surplus just rolled over into the next day, and we would occasionally use it to eat at a nicer restaurant, or get ice-cream for dessert, etc. :) All that money was just coming from our “trip” fund anyways, I just kept separate totals in my log book so I could see how much we had left. I LIKE to budget. 

Because I kept totals, we were able to do some restaurant lunches on the way home, because I knew I had leftover grocery money. This was good, because it helped break up our long drives a bit, and at that point we were all kind of tired of our picnic food. :)

One more food tip: we each had a Yeti or Thermos bottles that we took in the car. I would fill them up with ice every morning in the hotel at the ice machines, and if they had a water bottle fill up station (which all the National Parks did), I would also fill them up with water. If not, we kept some cheap bottled water in our car for that purpose. This saved us a LOT of money, not having to buy drinks everywhere, and the nice cups kept ice all day long. (YETIs are SO expensive, but worth the money in the long run, in my opinion-especially if you catch them on sale like I did).  

Activity:

We also budgeted $100 a day for “activity money.” This could be used on anything special we did; tickets for boat rides, admission to parks, souvenirs (t-shirts, pins for the kids, etc.), random shopping, tram tickets in Jackson Hole, etc. We didn’t use all the money every day, so we just rolled it into the next day’s fund, and kept a rolling total. I am SO glad we did this, because we were able to do some fun stuff, and buy souvenirs, without feeling guilty. We even used this to buy special desserts some nights, and went antiquing on one of our last days with this fund.  This part of the budget actually allowed us to do a second night in a Great Wolf Lodge, because we weren’t planning on doing that, but had so much left in the activity fund at that point in the trip, that we knew we could! 

One good tip for this: if you know you are going to be visiting lots of National Parks/monuments on your trip, go ahead and buy the “America The Beautiful” pass for the year, and you won’t have to pay additional admission to get into the parks. This ended up saving us money, since we were going to several parks, and going in and out of the parks several times, too. 

Gas: 

We didn’t set aside a special number a day for gas, but just estimated our total mileage, and then budget $2.50 a gallon. We knew this was not going to be a perfect estimate, but we have gas money in our regular monthly budget anyway, so we weren’t worried about it. We are lucky that my car gets such good gas mileage (which is the reason we took it anyways)!

And here is another random list of “notes” that Jake and I compiled during the trip. Some of these are just goofy. :)

-sheep are way cuter in Wyoming -we were SO glad we didn't bring our camper, but if you are camping in the Black Hills, book a spot next to a lake, because they are beautiful -the Black Hills forest is strange because of all the grass growing in the forest -the Badlands were way prettier than we expected, and it comes out of nowhere! -Illinois roads are awful -Highway (NOT interstate) speed limit in Montana is 70 mph! -A detour through Wyoming and Montana construction areas means a rough dirt road. -For some parts of our drives (looking at you, Montana), it was a really good thing that we had already planned to picnic and had our food in the car, because there were NO restaurants. -Mexican restaurants west of the Mississippi (and north of Texas and Oklahoma) do NOT serve chips and salsa. -Before you hit the time zone change, it starts getting dark really late-like past 9:00. So if your kids need to stick to a bedtime schedule, be aware. -If you feel like you need to see everything in Yellowstone, you need about a week. If you are good with just hitting the main spots, 2-3 days is fine. -when you go up into the mountains, be careful opening sunscreen and Pringles cans-the altitude makes them explode! -Kansas-the land of clumped cattle. Seriously, we passed a LOT of cows, and they were always huddled together, although they had miles and miles of space to spread out.

We absolutely loved our road trip, and can’t wait for the next one! So many people have asked us SO many questions about our trip. If you would like our itinerary, just message me and I will send it to you. :) Like I said, Jake is a MASTER planner, and he did a great job! 

[makeitwithmike]

5 Ways to Use Psychology to Increase Social Engagement

By Bill Widmer

Ahh, psychology. It’s all the rage these days.

For good reason. Understanding how your customer’s (and your own) brain works can help you provide better content and increase social engagement.

Because of all that, we now have fancy-pants fields like neuromarketing. But, what about neurosocial? (Is that even a word? If not, I’m coining it.)

In this post, I’ll reveal fascinating concepts in psychology and explain how you can use them to increase your social engagement and website sales.

Ready to pick apart the brain? Let’s dive in.

1. Grow traffic by 50% with social proof

You’re probably not surprised to see social proof on this list. It’s a powerful psychological tool that helps build trust between brand and customers.

Think about it—when you see great reviews of a brand, are you more likely to buy from them, or at least follow them on social media and engage with their content?

Don’t take my word for it.

YotPo conducted a study on the consumer decision making process of 500 different sites. They found that when those sites added social reviews to their website, their traffic increased 50 percent on average, over the next three months.

Image via Yotpo.

But the question is… why? What makes reviews work?

What psychology has to say

In the field of psychology, social proof is the concept that people will conform to the actions of others under the assumption that those actions are reflective of the correct behavior.

In other words, people assume other people’s actions and opinions are normal and should be followed. Therefore, seeing a positive review instills in us a desire to copy that person’s action of sharing that content, following that page, or buying from that site.

We tend to listen to those reviews, especially when we’re on the verge of committing to buy a product or take social action, like commenting or sharing something.

According to Social Psych Today, when people agree with us, our opinions grow stronger; when people disagree with us, our opinions grow weaker.

So, if we’re ready to commit to a purchase (or, in our case, commenting on or sharing a social media post), we’re more likely to take the plunge if other people have confirmed our decision as a good idea by taking that action themselves.

To make things even more interesting, it seems many people ignore five-star reviews and are actually more likely to purchase products (or stick with brands) with a few negative reviews. I guess people don’t believe a product can be perfect!

How to implement these findings

Putting this knowledge into action isn’t particularly difficult. All it requires is two small changes:

Encourage users to provide reviews of your products or business

Display those reviews for all to see (especially via social media)

YotPo also found some interesting stats around displaying reviews on social media as a customer engagement strategy: adding reviews to Facebook boosts customer’s time on your site by 9.9 percent and adding reviews to Twitter boosts time on site by 35 percent.

2. Gain millions followers using personality

Being social means showing your true colors. But, just how far should you take that?

Well, I’m sure you’re familiar with Flo, insurance company Progressive’s fun-loving mascot. But, did you know that Flo has her own Facebook page? Furthermore, did you know she has nearly 5 million followers?

Image via Flo, the Progressive Girl on Facebook.

Compare that with Progressive’s 380,000 followers and you see just how powerful personality can be.

Image via Progressive on Facebook.

What psychology has to say

According to one study, it becomes easier for people to identify with brands as they become more human-like. Meaning, there’s a personality and a face to the brand.

That’s not all. One of Robert Cialdini’s famous six principles of persuasion states that people are more likely to buy from people they like. So, if they like your brand, they’re likely to buy from, or engage with, you on social media.

How to implement these findings

So, how do you add personality to your brand? Try these tips:

Use pictures of your team in your posts and in your social media header images

Sign Tweets behind a brand with a team member’s initials or name

Give your brand a mascot

Let your support team connect with customers one-on-one with their real names and identities

One of the biggest benefits of letting real people connect with your customers is the joy and laughter that often happens as a result.

3. Bond with followers using laughter

Laughter acts as a social glue that bonds people (and brands) together. You see, when you make someone laugh, it releases endorphins in that person’s brain, which makes them happier and literally changes their perspective of the world.

Think about the last time you were in a crabby mood. Maybe you were hungry, maybe your boss just gave you a huge deadline, or maybe your spouse forgot to clean the dishes.

Now, think to a time you felt that way and someone (or something) made you laugh. Changed your mood entirely, didn’t it?

At the very least, laughing made you slightly happier and more tolerant of the situation. Now imagine it was a business’s Tweet that made you laugh. Chances are, you shared the Tweet—or at least hit that like button.

That seems like a small act. However, you now have a stronger bond with that brand.

What psychology has to say

According to Cialdini, when you hit that like button, you’ve just started a chain in your brain’s consistency bias. Meaning, because you’ve taken an action—associating yourself with a particular brand—you’re now more likely to continue to take positive actions with that brand in the future.

Otterbox does this brilliantly with their April Fool’s joke video.

How to implement these findings

Alright, I can’t teach you how to be funny. What I can do, however, is give you a few pointers:

1. Be honest. Talk about real-life things that actually happened. Be like Charmin.

That awkward moment when you use the work bathroom and the seat is warm. #shudder #tweetfromtheseat

— Charmin (@Charmin) October 7, 2015

2. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Have a little fun.

3. Involve your customers. Or at least, random strangers on the street.

#relationshipgoalsin3words Stay to gohttp://bit.ly/2li0dlO

— Charmin (@Charmin) August 25, 2015

4. Boost sales by 300% with reciprocity

Reciprocity is one of the most powerful psychological principles you can leverage.

People love getting free stuff, and they’ll often return the favor by engaging with you and even making a purchase. That’s what makes social media contests and giveaways so effective—people want cool swag.

For example, Catan Boards—the creator of amazing board games like Settlers of Catan—ran a contest. The company gave away some awesome prizes, like a Reversible Custom Beech five to six Player Catan Board (which wasn’t available publicly), free Settlers of Catan Games, and even a Catan Baking Set.

In order to promote their contest, they used a point system where users could take various actions to acquire more entries to win.

By offering people free entries and free swag, Catan Boards made them want to reciprocate by liking, sharing, and commenting on the company’s social media posts.

The results of this contest? A 132 percent increase in engaged Facebook fans, a 313 percent increase in Twitter followers, and a 300 percent increase in sales.

But why does reciprocity work so damn well?

What psychology has to say

Reciprocity is a social rule that says people should repay, in kind, what another person has provided for them. But, why?

Basically, reciprocity was ingrained in us as an evolutionary principle to keep us alive. It goes back to our time as hunter-gatherer tribes, when we relied on a small group of people to help us survive.

We learned to share with our tribe members with the assumption that an act of kindness would be returned at some point. Maybe this week I brought back a deer… my family can’t eat the whole thing before it spoils, so we share it with the tribe. Next week, you have a successful hunt and return the favor. It makes sense to reciprocate.

If you didn’t return favors, especially back in tribal times, you could be ostracized from the group, and likely die. Reciprocity is rooted in life and death from the time of our ancestors.

How to implement these findings

Alright, enough of this history lesson. What does hunting and sharing have to do with social media engagement?

I’m not suggesting you go hunt some deer and send it to your customers (although, that would certainly make you stand out). What I am suggesting is that you try the following:

Give away exclusive free trials to your social media followers

Send handwritten thank-you letters to your top engagers (bonus points if you send stickers)

Share your followers’ blog posts and tag them

Comment on, like, and share your fan’s social media posts (this is a two-way street, after all)

Surprise your customers with cool gifts like shirts, hats, or even beef jerky

You can use a tool like ThankBot to send handwritten letters to all of your customers.

5. Partner with influencers for thousands of shares

I can’t mention psychology without talking about the importance of influencers.

For example, DrumUp managed to get Guy Kawasaki to Tweet about one of their posts. The result? Over 1,000 shares within 24 hours, and several hundred more over the next few days.

One Tweet.

100 Top Books on Social Media Marketing http://bit.ly/2mPN1AR

— Guy Kawasaki (@GuyKawasaki) June 11, 2015

The right influencers can make your blog traffic explode and make your social engagement go through the roof.

What psychology has to say

Influencer marketing works for many reasons. One of those reasons is the halo effect, a cognitive bias in which we judge someone’s opinion based on our overall impression of him or her.

In other words, if we look up to a person, we’re more likely to care about what they have to say. Thus, the “Guy Kawasaki effect” we observed in the case study above.

Another reason influencers have such a strong effect on us is the concept of implicit egotism, which states that most people subconsciously like things that “resemble” them in some way.

Studies show that we value the opinions of people we perceive as most like us, and we tend to liken ourselves to the influencers we follow (and take action based on their actions).

How to implement these findings

To get influencers to help you promote your brand, you first have to find the right influencers. Ideally, they should:

Be relevant to your industry or niche

Have a highly engaged social following (engagement is often more important than sheer numbers)

Not be a competitor (duh)

Ideally, have a big email list

Have a blog (or at least a website) with a high domain authority

There are many influencer marketing tools you can use to find the right influencers, including influence.co, BuzzSumo, and NinjaOutreach.

Also, don’t be afraid to branch out your search. While Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are the most popular sites, there are actually over 60 social networking sites you can use to reach more audiences and influencers.

Understanding psychology can give us an upper hand over our competition, help us turn customers into raving fans, and increase our social engagement.

These concepts aren’t hard to understand, nor are they very time consuming to implement. You don’t have to be a genius, you just have to follow a few simple steps.

I hope you now have a better understanding of the psychology of social media and how to use it for growth. If you enjoyed this article, please give it a share.

If you’re interested in learning more about psychology and how you can use it to make your life better, check out these TED talks.

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