Chocolate Peanut Butter Bites (No bake, gluten free)

It's been a LONG time since I've shared a recipe on here. Honestly, it's been awhile since I felt like baking anything because working from home has kept me so busy and I no longer have coworkers to take treats into. 

Slowly but surely I've gotten back into the kitchen. This week has been super stressful so I've found myself baking more than usual. I don't know what it is about baking, but it's such a good way to relax. 

With the summer heat the last thing I want to do is turn on my oven. Instead of baking, I've been testing out no bake recipes. This one has been a winner with my hubs and our neighbors. It's quick, easy, it's a great one to involve the kids on, and best of all you can keep your ovens off!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bites

• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 3 Tablespoons butter (I used plant butter and it works just as well as dairy butter)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 4 oz bakers chocolate

In a mixing bowl using an electric mixer combine peanut butter and butter until smooth.

Add in powdered sugar to peanut butter/butter combo and mix until combined.

Next, using your hands roll the mixture into balls and place on a plate. Depending on the size of your balls you will get between 10-15 balls. 

Place plate with peanut butter bites in freezer for 15-20 minutes until firm. 

When you take peanut butter balls out of freezer, put 4 ounces of bakers chocolate into a microwave safe bowl and heat up in 30 second intervals until melted. Depending on the strength of your microwave it will take between 1-2 minutes. 

Once chocolate is melted coat one peanut butter bite at a time until all have been covered in chocolate. 

Place chocolate covered peanut butter bites in freezer again for 15-20 minutes until the chocolate has hardened, then dig in!

Store chocolate peanut butter bites in fridge for up to a week. 

If you make them tag me in your photos on instagram @rachael_miner, I can't wait to see your creations!

Let's Talk About Defunding the Media

This topic gets me all sorts of fired up. First off I hate the term, "The Media." There are different types of media and there's a huge difference between local and national media. Not to mention the media is not funded, media outlets survive off advertising. Before I dive into those topics I want to give you a little background into what it's actually like to be a reporter. 

My experience is as a T.V. reporter which is very different from being a radio or newspaper reporter, however we largely cover the same things minus feature stories (the feel good stories). Being a T.V. reporter is a ton of fun, but it's not a walk in the park. Local news reporters, the ones in your towns not the national ones, don't get money for clothes, hair, makeup, let alone there are not people who do our hair or makeup before each newscast. Often reporters are doing their makeup and hair in a rush before the newscast starts and it's likely they're doing it in a news van (or live truck) without great lighting. 

As a reporter every single day is something different. We pitch story ideas which are usually things happening in the community and any sort of breaking news from the day. Once we have our story or stories for the day we set up interviews which I shoot and edit by myself. I write my own story, track my voice, put the entire story together, get it up online, and present it in a newscast or two. It's a ton of work, but it's fun because no two days are ever the same. Same days are nuts with breaking news or big events like elections, protests, state executions (yes, those are a thing here), etc. 

HOWEVER, What most people don't know is not only do we do every single thing by ourselves, we pay for our own clothes and makeup and we make less than people working at McDonalds. We do not get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to be on T.V. In fact, reporting is one of the worst paid businesses out there aside from retail. First time reporting jobs make on average 25k a year. THAT'S BEFORE TAXES Y'ALL. No one goes into T.V. to get rich quick, that simply does not exist in the news business. 

Not only are we paid crap, we get to deal with viewers harassing us on a daily basis both online and in person. People think that because someone is on T.V. it gives them license to say anything about them- NOT TRUE. If you wouldn't say it to my face don't say it online. If you do want to say rude things to my face, which a few people have, I will 100% call you on it. I always made sure to live in a secure, locked building while I was single because people are creeps and try to find out where we live- I don't even want to think about what they'd do if they figured it out. I've been sent dick pictures, more men than I care to count have harassed me, and don't even get started on the sexually explicit messages that have been sent to me- I don't take crap from anyone and have filed numerous police reports. I'm not sure in what universe anyone thinks these things are ok to do just because someone is on T.V. but it's not ok and no reporter gets paid enough to deal wit that sh**. Even if I made 150k I still wouldn't tolerate that behavior. 

Now that you have a little background, let me explain how T.V. stations operate. T.V. stations are license by the FCC- Federal Communications Commission- and they regulate what can and cannot be aired on television as airwaves are publicly owned. There are restrictions against indecency and obscenity that stations can be fined huge amounts of money over (think 250k per offense) and even lose their FCC license over. There's a ton more that goes into regulating what can and cannot air on television but I don't want to bore you to tears. Just know broadcasters are held to a very strict standard and there are huge consequences for any sort of actions (if interested look into the changes the FCC made after the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction).

T.V. stations are funded by advertising- both traditional over the air advertising and digital advertising. Digital ads bring in money but the majority of money is brought in by traditional over the air broadcasting. Prices of advertising, or "spots" which are 30-60 seconds in length, depend on ratings in the market. If you're the number one station in the market- that is you have the most viewers tuning into your newscasts- you can charge more per advertising spot than someone with less viewers. Ads are sold both locally and nationally, but largely local news stations are supported by LOCAL advertisers who pay for the airtime to get their product/service in front of people. There's other small ways that local television stations make money, but it's primarily based on advertising. 

When people talk about "Defunding the Media" not only do they have no clue what they are talking about, they largely have no idea how a news station is run. A television station could not run without advertisers, if advertisers choose to pull their advertisements from a station for any number of reasons it does impact a station. The federal government/taxpayers do not fund T.V. stations but T.V. stations are required to operate in the, "public interest, convenience, and necessity." Stations have to air PSA's (Public Service Announcements)- things like wildfire prevention, stop the spread of COVID information, etc. 

Local news stations do not have an agenda. Let me say that again for all the naysayers- LOCAL NEWS STATIONS DO NOT HAVE AN AGENDA. We are required to give equal air time to political candidates (if you don't believe me check with the FCC) and we have to remain unbiased. It's not our job to tell you who to vote for, but it is our job to tell you there's an election happening, tell you who the candidates are, and tell you how long the polls will be open for. Not once have I ever had a news director (the person who's in control in a newsroom) tell me to not say or do something because of politics. Reporters don't have an agenda, we're just doing our job. 

National outlets are an entirely different ball game as are cable outlets. National outlets like ABC news, NBC news, CBS, they are separate from your local stations. Stations are affiliated with a network (I won't even go down that rabbit hole to explain things) for programming and other things. In recent years national news outlets have let their politics be known by their coverage of political issues. Network anchors and reports have been very open about their politics, which is a HUGE NO NO at local news stations. We always said if someone could figure out our politics we have not done our job correctly. Other national outlets like The New York Times have come out with their hatred of our current President and that is their choice. They lost advertisers because of it because some advertisers don't want to be aligned with a political preference.

Here's the great thing about news and media- YOU choose what YOU consume. If you think ABC News is too liberal don't follow them. If you only want to see a conservative opinion follow Fox News (cable news outlets are typically very open about their political opinions). You are 100% in control of what you see on your social media feeds. If someone kept posting on their Facebook about what a terrible person you are you would unfriend them, so why not do the same with news. Be a critical consumer. News outlets seek expert opinions on matters- doctors, scientists, etc.- and you get to evaluate if you believe what they are telling you or not. If you don't want to see their content anymore unfollow them it's that simple. Not every single thing you see on the internet is true and not every site that claims to be "news" is in it for the good of the public.

Defunding the media not only does not make sense, it's actually harmful to our communities. Local news stations give people in your community and mine a chance to have their voices heard. Locals news stations help criminals get caught, they partner with local charities giving away tens of thousands of dollars, they share vital medical information that saves lives. Local T.V. stations do so much good in their communities.

No one goes into news for money or fame. We get into news because we care about our communities and we want to make them better places to live and work for everyone. We want to tell you about the amazing work someone in your community did and we want to catch people who prey on other people so our communities are safer.  If you think you can do a better job than a local reporter then by all means apply for a job. I can guarantee you would be shocked by how hard your local reporters work, how little they make, and by how much they actually care about their local communities. Also, if there were no reporters how would you ever know what is going on in your community?