Brown Mommy Diary

Motherhood & Lifestyle

An EASY Way To Plan Family Meals

*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. You can read my full disclaimer here.

Planning our meals for the week takes out the guesswork. Before bringing meal ideas to EL, I usually pin a few meals that I think would be good to my Pinterest food board. EL and I will usually take a few minutes on Saturday to plan out our meals for the upcoming week. With planning our meals, it also makes it a lot easier to know what to purchase at the grocery store, which ultimately lowers your grocery bill.

Once we have agreed upon meals for the week, I go to our Samsung Family Hub Smart Refrigerator to make note of our meals. With so much going on, it can be difficult to keep up with what we planned to eat. Using this refrigerator keeps me on my toes and it’s also a great reference for my husband if he needs to know the plans for food. Trust me, they are going to ask what’s for dinner for the 50th time!

Pinterest is usually my saving grace when it comes to meal creativity!

Taking at least 10-15 minutes out of your day to plan meals for the week will save you a whole lot of headaches and scrambling during the week. I can not tell you how many times I have wasted so much time trying to figure out what we were going to eat. The combination of planning and using the Samsung Family Hub Smart Refrigerator is a bonus. If you are like me, sometimes that piece of paper with dinner plans gets lost. Along with being able to write dinner plans in the Samsung Hub Smart fridge, there are so many great features that this fridge offers like looking inside your refrigerator remotely or viewing who’s at your front door via the ring app. As a busy full-time professional, wife, and mom, I think it is worth investing in a refrigerator that keeps you connected.

I hope this was helpful in some type of way. Happy meal planning!

How To Restore Your Milk Supply With Lactation Tea

*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. You can read my full disclaimer here.

After consuming the Munchkin Milkmakers Lactation Tea for an entire week, my milk supply has returned to its normal output. About two weeks ago I noticed that I just was not producing the typical amount of milk when I was pumping. So on average I pump 4-5 ounces per breast, but during the time when my milk supply decreased, I was only pumping about 3 ounces per breast.

I pack four, 4 ounce bottles in EJ’s lunch box when he goes to daycare. Maybe two days out of the week he may return home with one bottle, but it is more common for him to return home with four empty bottles. I was starting to get concerned because the small stash of milk that I had was starting to become nonexistent, which meant we were going to have to resort to formula.

Since I am a tea lover, I searched for a lactation tea and I found the Munchkin Milkmakers Lactation Tea in the flavor berry. Here are some details about the Munchkin Milkmakers tea that I purchased.

Munchkin Milkmakers Lactation Tea

Lactation consultant recommended

12 biodegradable sachets

Makes 36 cups

Caffeine free

Consume hot or cold

Gluten Free

Ingredients: organic fenugreek seed, organic lemongrass, organic fennel seed, organic hibiscus, organic rooibos, and natural berry flavor

I am still not sure why my milk supply decreased, because there were no changes as far as EJ nursing, my water consumption, or eating habits. This was definitely a close call, because there was only one bottle left in the freezer, which meant I had to pump at least four- 4 ounce bottles that day. I had some doubts that the tea may not return or increase my milk supply, but I was definitely proven wrong. Based upon my results, I would encourage you to at least try the Munchkin Milkmakers Lactation Tea.
Have you ever had a change in your milk supply? How were you able to return your supply?

The BEST Thermometer for Babies/Toddlers

*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. You can read my full disclaimer here.

We love the Kinsa Smart Ear Thermometer, because it’s fast, accurate, and it connects with an app. After reading reviews about other thermometer brands, I found that many parents were not really happy about temperature accuracy. I dug a little deeper and found the Kinsa Quickcare and Smart Ear thermometer. I gravitated towards the smart ear thermometer, because I felt like it would be easier for me to take EJ’s temperature in ear versus using the traditional thermometer, and plus it is doctor recommended.

What makes the Kinsa Smart Ear Thermometer so great?
The Kinsa Smart Ear Thermometer gives a 1 second in-ear thermometer reading, which is great when you have a fussy, squirming baby.
The Kinsa Smart Ear Thermometer connects to the FREE kinsa app via bluetooth, which logs every temperature taken by the thermometer.
The Kinsa Smart Ear Thermometer has a large backlit display and the temperature reading can be in degrees fahrenheit or celsius.
With an ergonomic one button design, there is nothing complex about the Kinsa Smart Ear Thermometer.
The Kinsa Smart Ear Thermometer has a hygienic probe cap that keeps the tip of the thermometer free from exposure.

What retailers carry the Kinsa Smart Ear Thermometer?
Since I am a frequent Target shopper, I purchased our Kinsa Smart Ear Thermometer at Target via Target drive up. Below is a complete retailer list.

  1. Amazon
  2. Best Buy
  3. Buy Buy Baby
  4. CVS
  5. Meijer
  6. Target
  7. Walmart

Personal Kinsa Smart Ear Thermometer Testimony
EJ is going through a teething spell and it has been really tough these last few weeks. With a spike in temperature, increased irritability, and a runny nose, I called his Pediatrician to book an appointment. One of the first questions that the nurse asked was if he currently has a temperature and/or has he had a temperature. I quickly referred to the Kinsa app since all of EJ’s temperatures are recorded there. Temperature checks are a common occurrence in our household, which means there is no way that I would be able to remember EJ’s temperatures. The other great feature about the app is the “Home Care” guidance. Based upon age, temperature, and symptom(s), the app will advise you to either continue with home care, call Dr., call Dr. now, or ER. Having this feature helps guide us in making a sound decision.

The Kinsa App
Below are some of the features of the Kinsa app.

  1. Personalized guidance- as mentioned above, the “home care” guidance feature helps determine your next action (home care, call Dr., call Dr. now, or ER) based upon age, temperature, and symptom(s)
  2. Health log- keep track of healthy history
  3. COVID-19-this is a new feature of the app that gives you symptom and diagnosis support related to COVID-19
  4. Reminders- you can set a reminder for the next temperature check or medication dose

We have been using the Kinsa Smart Ear thermometer since February of 2020 and I honestly would recommend this thermometer to any parent. You can visit www.kinsahealth.co to learn more about Kinsa.