How-to

If you’re in the market for a new TV you’ve undoubably encountered the dilemma of whether to go for a Smart TV, or just a regular TV with a seperate streaming device. Each option has it’s pros and cons. Today we’ll take a look at each to help you decide which is best for your needs.

Losing a smartphone, or having it stolen is a terrible feeling. For such a personal device, a smartphone is highly susceptible to either scenario, and as such, some precautions should be taken to mitigate the fallout from it. Each mobile platform has some form of protection in place, but they usually aren’t on by default. Here’s what you need to know and what you can do to for preparation and response.

With the new school year right around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about quick and easy snack ideas for those seemingly endless brown bag lunches. But rather than simply tossing in a granola bar and an apple, why not think out of the box and add a delicious, homemade muffin to your kid’s lunch bag? Here are five reasons why muffins are the perfect food for back to school.

Like it or not, there’s no denying that back to school has arrived once again. Wasn’t it just yesterday we were all celebrating not having to come up with another lunch for kids who were sick of the ‘same old, same old?’ I know by the end of June I was ready to pull my hair out because my kids were sick of everything, but now that I’ve had some time away from the daily lunch grind, I’ve got some great ideas for back to school lunches. 

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!    The summer ain’t over yet (thank goodness), and the heat is a perfect excuse to have more ice cream—not like that stops you in the winter! But when it’s hot outside, the chimes of the ice cream truck make your inner child jump for joy. Here are 5 cool treats you can make at home. 

The most important part of your Smarthome network has nothing to do with the products you choose or how they interact with each other. Flashy coordination is nothing without a solid network connection. Without a stable wireless network setup, you won’t have a stable smarthome network. Read on about how to create an easy and smart wireless network for your smart home.

I spend a lot of time talking about creating recipes here on Shelly’s Friday Favourites, but I’ve discovered recently that some of the most delicious things in life don’t have to involve cooking at all. In fact, they don’t have to involve eating either.

Families today are extremely busy. Both parents usually work, and then have to fit their kids’ many extracurricular activities, such as swimming, art, tennis, soccer, hockey, and playdates, into what’s left of the day. In this hectic environment, eating dinner as a family is enough of a challenge, let alone preparing the meal with your kids. But getting them involved in making their favourite dishes is worth the effort. This might be hard at first if your kids are doing homework (or just pretending they are), playing on their phones, or sitting in front of the TV. Convincing them that cooking is cool is a good first step. Once they start, they’ll love it, and the key is to make it fun.

How fast do you get out of the house when you have kids? We all know 45 minutes spent at the front door without ever crossing the threshold is not unheard of. I make a habit of getting everything ready hours before we actually have to be anywhere.  It is a feat of incredible magic and coordination to get out the door without screaming your head off, breaking a sweat or a nail or both. Here are a few suggestions that may help.

It’s nice to see more gluten-free options at restaurants and grocery stores, especially for people who have celiac disease. But people who aren’t celiac are also leading a gluten—or at least a wheat—free lifestyle to lose weight or avoid bloating. I attempted to follow a gluten-free diet to dig deeper into this trend. Read on to find out what I learned: