Do you sometimes feel like it’s impossible to talk to your kids, and actually have them listen? Well you are certainly not alone. A new survey finds that 20% of parents say they struggle to have a meaningful conversation with their kid, while 71% struggle to communicate with their children. And when it comes to actually talking to their children, 40% of parents say the average conversation is rarely more than 10 minutes.
It's pretty apparent kids would rather do anything than talk with mom and dad. Turns out, 82% of parents say they fell like their kids do their best to avoid having conversations with them, while 23% say kids will often give just short answers or even grunts or noises during a talk. As you can imagine, all this lack of conversation is upsetting to parents, with 72% feeling like they’re being shut out of their kid’s life, noting that such distancing usually begins around age 11.
But it may not just be the kids fault. It seems lack of time plays a big role in lack of communication between parents and kids, with 36% of moms and dads saying their busy schedule gets in the way of having meaningful conversations with their children. Work, of course, is the biggest thing taking away parents' time (41%), followed by cooking (27%).
Source: SWNS Digital
These days restaurant portions are often huge, leaving many to bring a good deal of their food home in a doggie bag. But while you may think this is a smart move for your waistline, it actually may be doing more harm than good.
A new study suggests that folks who bring home leftovers wind up actually eating more, and also exercising less. It seems regardless of how big a portion is, and how much food someone ate at the restaurant, by bringing home leftovers they think they didn’t actually eat all that much. This leads folks to reward themselves with unhealthy snacks, and possibly bigger portions in future meals, feeling as though they “earned it.”
The study also shows that people who bring home leftovers are less motivated to exercise as compared to someone who didn’t bring anything home, but actually ate the same amount of food as the original person.
"The psychological drivers of this phenomenon are twofold," the study’s co-author Linda Hagen explains. “Larger leftovers reduce perceived consumption, which leads people to feel better about themselves. And feeling better about themselves, in turn, reduces people's motivation to compensate.”
Source: The Mail
Health-conscious Americans are trying harder to cut back on sugar in their diets, but some of the worst culprits are actually beverages. While we’re careful to fill our plates with greens and proteins, lots of us think nothing of knocking back a drink with more sugar than we’re supposed to have in a day - we’re looking at you Frappuccinos and Venti Pumpkin Spice Lattes.
The FDA recommends consuming no more than 50 grams of sugar in a day and if that doesn’t sound like much, consider that the World Health Organization calls for just half that amount. But some of the most popular drinks in the U.S. pack over 50 grams of sugar in just one cup or bottle. Starbucks knows it’s an issue so they’re starting to revamptheir Frappuccinos with less sugar. So how much sugar is actually in our favorite drinks? Here’s the truth about some of the most popular drinks in the country.
Coffee:
- Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino Grande - 16 ounces, 49 grams of sugar
- McDonald’s McCafe Mocha - 16 ounces, 52 grams of sugar
- Dunkin Donuts Frozen Coffee - 14 ounces, 146 grams of sugar
Sodas:
- Coca-Cola - 12 ounces, 39 grams of sugar
- Pepsi Cola - 12 ounces, 41 grams of sugar
- Sprite - 12 ounces, 38 grams of sugar
- Pepper - 12 ounces, 41 grams of sugar
Energy Drinks:
- Red Bull - 8.46 ounces, 27 grams of sugar
- Monster - 16 ounces, 54 grams of sugar
- Rockstar - 16 ounces, 60 grams of sugar
Source: Business Insider
Everyone who’s spent time in the kitchen has created a disappointing dish before. It’s no fun to have your hard work turn into a flop, but it could be because of one of these common cooking mistakes. Here are the innocent errors most of us have made in the kitchen.
- Mistake #1: You didn’t read the recipe through before you started cooking - Lots of us try to cut corners and rush by not fully reading the recipe, but it leads to lots of kitchen mishaps. Slow down and read, scanning for action words so you know what needs to be done before you start cooking.
- Mistake #2: You overcrowded the pan - Covering the entire pan traps heat and creates steam, which is the enemy of browning. So use two pans or cook in batches instead.
- Mistake #3: You cooked pasta in a small pot and ended up with a pile of gummy noodles - You want to have enough water that your spaghetti can really swim in there and not end up tasting starchy.
- Mistake #4: You sautéed wet greens - That excess water on the leaves creates steam in a hot pan, so your spinach ends up stewed and mushy, not bright and tender. Avoid this mistake by using a salad spinner on those greens first.
- Mistake #5: Using dried herbs in a recipe in place of fresh ones - Adding a tablespoon of dried oregano instead of the same amount of fresh seems like an easy fix, but you’ll end up with a heavily over-seasoned dinner. Some herbs lose their flavor when dried, others get more powerful, but as a general rule: if a recipe calls for a fresh herb to be added at the beginning of the cooking process, it is probably stronger when dried; if it’s called for at the end of the process, it is probably mild when dried.
- Mistake #6: You fried food in oil that wasn’t hot enough - With pan frying and deep frying, food will absorb too much oil and get greasy and heavy if the oil isn’t 350-degrees or hotter.
Source: Real Simple