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13 real mamas share their must-have back to school lunches + snacks

Feb 21, 2020 Posted by: Jemelee Arcibal healthyfood, new moms, parenting

Discovering the best foods for lunches and snacks is an important step in back to school preparation. But with new routines and packed schedules on the horizon, finding time to think about what to pack for back to school lunches can be a challenge. Some kids are super picky and won't eat anything but grilled cheese. Others could eat endless amounts of nutritious snacks all day, everyday. Regardless of where your child falls on the food spectrum, we're here to help you find what works best for your family.

We asked #TeamMotherly to share their favorite go-to lunches and snacks for the back to school season. Mix it up and add some variety in there and you'll be good to go! Here's what they had to say:

1. "Cubed ham, cheese, cut grapes, yogurt covered raisins."—Tiffany S.

2. "Granola bars, carrots or cucumbers and ranch, peanut butter crackers, fresh fruit."—Melissa B.

3. "For me? Wine."—Nicole N.

4. "My little one loves to take tuna or chicken salad with grapes and crackers, yogurt and ice water with fresh cucumbers and garden tomatoes or chicken Alfredo with toast and veggies or peanut butter celery tomatoes cucumbers chips and water."—Jackie P.

5. "The cafeteria!"—Toni H.

6. "Once a week, it's usually ham and cheese sandwich with raw baby carrots and grape tomatoes. And for dessert, I do yogurt or fruit. It doesn't really matter if it's always the healthiest or the best lunch, what I find really good is alternating and rotating and trying to get creative."—Erica W.

7. "Bananas, string cheese, blueberries, apple sauce, raspberries."—Melina S.

8. "Cut strawberries or cut apples & peanut butter for snacks! & Sandwich with ham or turkey, tomato, lettuce, & mayo separately! And yogurt."—Melodi B.

9. "I roll a hotdog in a flour tortilla and toast it in a skillet until crispy. Like a hot dog burrito."—Elda E.

10. "Sandwiches (meat or sunbutter and jelly), quesadillas, hummusdillas (hummus in tortilla), leftover pizza, bean salad with tortilla chips, boiled eggs/cheese, pesto pasta salad, yogurt and granola, bagel with cream cheese, empanadas (bean and cheese or meat). And always fruit/veggies as sides."—Tran L.

11. "I make a sandwich with hummus then pack carrots, applesauce, Z-Bar and some crackers."—Suzanne W.

12. "Vary it between ham sandwiches, dairylea dunkers, breadsticks and then healthy snacks and juice box. [I also include] water in a sports bottle for during the day."—Danielle B.

13. "Gluten-free pretzels and peanut butter, ham and cream cheese rolls, GF tortillas with PB & J."—Heather T.

source: Motherly

8 Household Items That Can Make Your WiFi Work Poorly

Feb 21, 2020 Posted by: Jemelee Arcibal new moms, parenting

Raise your hand if you’ve never experienced the stress of a lousy internet connection. Sometimes, the problem originates in the router’s settings or the poor service offered by the hired company. But most of the time, a bad WiFi connection arises because of specific objects or furniture that we have at home that are too close to the router or our computers.

Bright Side wants to tell you which items are your WiFi’s main enemies. You’ll find useful tips at the end of the article that you can use to avoid encountering a bad connection, don’t miss them!

1. Metal surfaces and furniture

Metal is a conductor, which means it absorbs electricity. Since your WiFi releases electromagnetic waves, any metal surface or object in your house will prevent the waves from spreading. If you want your internet connection to work problem free, it’s necessary to place the router away from metal.

2. Brick and stone walls

Some types of walls stop your WiFi signal. Between the most common materials that prevent a reliable connection are marble, cement, concrete, plaster, and brick. This explains why in 2-floor houses, people usually experience a very weak internet connection on one of the floors. To fix this, place your router in an open area and away from walls.

3. Mirrors

The material that lets us see our reflection in the mirror also reflects the signal released by the router. This object acts as a shield, making the internet connection bounce. When it’s close to the router, it can make the signal strength feel slower and unstable.

4. Refrigerators and washing machines

As a general rule, electrical appliances that have pipes that circulate water are not very friendly to the WiFi signal. Water can retain some of the energy from the wireless waves, which negatively affects the quality of the internet connection.

5. Christmas lights

Colorful Christmas lights can also be the cause of a weak WiFi signal at home. They have sparkling chips that generate a magnetic field that interacts with the electrical waves issued by your router. In December, try keeping your router away from your Christmas tree.

6. Baby monitors

These monitors generate a 2.4 GHz interference, the same as WiFi. When 2 or more devices transmit the same frequency, they use air to send their data instead of transmitting waves, like in the case of a wireless connection. Although baby monitors usually require a connection to a network to function correctly, avoid placing them too close to the router.

7. Drones

Drones also operate at 2.4 GHz, but not all models generate that interference. It all depends on the amount of power each model needs to function.

8. Microwave

This is another device that has a frequency spectrum similar to the one used by WiFi. If you have your router located near one, lift it to a place that’s higher than the level of the microwave. This will substantially reduce the negative effect that the microwave can have on the connection.

Bonus: How to enhance your WiFi connection

There are different measures you can take to improve your internet connection at home. Keep them in mind if you regularly encounter a bad signal:

1. Based on the items listed above, choose a proper location to place your router.

2. Keep your router updated.

3. Get a more powerful antenna.

4. Encrypt your WiFi and protect it with a strong password, one that can’t be guessed easily.

5. Buy a WiFi amplifier, also known as a WiFi extender.

6. Try using only the latest and most modern WiFi technologies.

7. Broadbands operating at 5 GHz usually offer a much faster connection than others, because it’s a less busy channel than the 2.4 GHz band.

8. Reset the router, even if it sounds like a cliché. This action will erase its memory and will enable you to install updates.

Do you usually encounter a lousy WiFi connection? Do you have any other advice to add to our list? Tell us in the comments!

source: Illustrated by Natalia Tylosova

Costco is already selling 4-pound pumpkin pies, and you can buy one for just $6

Feb 21, 2020 Posted by: Jemelee Arcibal new moms, parenting

Costco shoppers can't get enough of the store's pumpkin pie (not pictured.)

If your Thanksgiving tends to include a lot of family members, Costco is the place to be. The warehouse store is known for selling food and home goods in bulk, but you don't want to pass over the store's fresh-baked items either. The 4-pound Costco pumpkin pie is back early this year and will keep all your family and friends happy at the Thanksgiving table. (OK, technically it weighs 3.63 pounds, but we're rounding up here.)

The pumpkin pie probably isn't new to frequent Costco shoppers — the warehouse club has been offering the tasty fall treat for years now. Still, if you're the one responsible for supplying the dessert at this year's gathering and you don't feel like baking your own pie, this is an easy (and totally affordable) option. Plus, for all that family, you're gonna need a big pie.

How much does each Costco pumpkin pie cost?

These Costco pumpkin pies were first discovered to be officially back in season by Instagram user @CostcoBuys. The pie will only cost you around $5.99 at most locations, though some appear to be charging $7.99 for the pies. Still, that seems like a small price to pay for something that could quite literally feed an army.

Get a slice right now!

It looks like the treats are already for sale across the country (even though we only just kicked off PSL season). If you want to snag one for Thanksgiving—or even earlier—don't wait until the last minute. When I worked the front-end at Costco a few years ago, the bakery was completely sold out before the store closed on the day before Thanksgiving. (That includes the pumpkin pies as well as the other treats, like cookies.) So plan ahead if you're set on getting that pie.

Simply wrap the pie in foil and plastic wrap, then pop it in the freezer until two days before Thanksgiving. Then move it to your fridge to thaw.

source: insider.com

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