Blog Posts by Babble.com

Jell-O! Is it the firm jiggles or the dissolve in your mouth sweetness that makes finger jello such a hit with people of all ages? My family has been making finger jello since before I could say "boo." Every party, every celebration, every sunday family gathering there it was. Depending on the occasion it was usually cut into squares, but when it's party time my Auntie Rosie usually cut them into fancy shapes and placed the scraps in a big ziplock. The big ziplock was reserved for the scavenger types who would go hunting for more once all the fancy shapes were gone. Yes, that's how I got introduced to finger jello, except my family made it with real fruit juice. Here's the recipe….. Enjoy!

Related: 10 tasty mug cakes you can make in under 10 minutes

Ingredients for Real Fruit Juice Finger Jello:
6 cups real fruit juice (the choice is yours, but I use Cran-Strawberry, Pom-Blueberry, pink lemonade, grape, apple, sweetened jamaica tea, or cherry juice)
6 envelopes of Knox unflavored gelatin

Green TeaThe seemingly benign green tea leaf has long been touted for it's almost magical health properties, namely cancer prevention and aiding weight loss. Although staving off cancer is vitally important, it's the latter benefit that piques the interest of most people. But what is it about green tea that can help melt off the pounds? Can green tea help weight loss?

This study from Korea is speculating that green tea's weight control properties can be narrowed down to a component called gallated catechins. Gallated catechins are a type of flavonoid that help with prevent the absorption of sugar and fat in the intestines, which theoretically thereby helps decrease weight gain potential. The problem however, is that when galleted catcehins reach the bloodstream, they can actually increase insulin resistance, which perpetuates weight gain and type 2 diabetes. This study looked at finding a way to utilize the power of the flavonoids in green tea without causing the harmful side effects.

Fitness in 3-2-1What if I told all you exercise haters than you only need 3 minutes of exercise a week? Would you be my new best friend? Would you be motivated to finally get off the couch? I could probably find it in me somewhere to handle just 3 minutes of exercise a week. You couldn't possibly sweat that much in 3 minutes, so I wouldn't even have to add an extra shower to my daily routine. Now that's a huge bonus.

You might think I'm teasing you with this seemingly silly little claim, but doctor-turned-journalist Michael Mosley put this theory to the test and found it to be true. Now there is a catch, of course. It can't be a casual 3 minute stroll to the mailbox. It's 3 minutes of intense exercise. You may have heard of HIIT, or high intensity interval training. That's exactly what this is, but taken to a whole new level. Instead of 30 or 60 minutes of cardio with moments of intense exertion thrown in the mix (which is a very effective workout), this routine consists of super quick

Look, I have a teacup chihuahua (total accident, she found us) so I totally understand that there is an actual purpose for canine apparel. In the dead of Winter, here in Los Angeles no less, poor Stinkerbell shivers to the bone if we don't wrap her in her best snowflake sweater. (It's adorable.) However…HOWEVER I'm not convinced that there is any reason ever to subject your dog to these fashion faux paus (or should I say faux paws…punny, no?) despite their being totally hilarious. So without further adieu, Ahoy. Sailors say that right? Whatever. These dogs look ridiculous. - By Morgan Shanahan

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Pop culture has always influenced baby names. We get inspired by what we read or see and then the name of a favorite character ends up as the name of our bundle of joy. The trends of these names is sometimes instantly obvious. Such is the case with the name Arya. Other times it takes a year or so for the trend to take off. This collection of baby name trends focuses on spikes in name trends and then locates what the pop culture influence might have been.

-By Dresden Shumaker

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Nobody's perfect, but sometimes it's nice to look that way. Sadly, hairdos that help you achieve that effect are often time consuming and obviously effortful. Who wants to look like they had to work hard to pull off natural beauty? Not to worry- here are 7 swept-back hairdos trending this spring that create the illusion of casual just-threw-it-together elegance.

-By Rachelle

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Thirteen years ago, after Casey and I let the cat out of the bag and told everyone we were engaged, we were both bombarded with marriage tips. Some of that advice was good advice and some of that advice was… not. Unfortunately for us, we didn't know which tips were good tips and which tips were bad tips. We had to learn through trial and error, and some of those learning experiences almost cost us our marriage-and many nights of sleep. I'm sure that some of the advice is good for other couples, but it was just plain bad advice for us. And I'm also sure that some of the advice I would give to a newlywed couple would turn out to be terrible advice for them in the end as well. But some of the tips we received, we'd never give to anyone else regardless of the couple and I have no idea how some of these tips ever passed as good marriage advice in the first place. Here is my list of the top 7 worst marriage tips that I received before I got married. - By Cody Coombs

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I tend to dread packing so much that I hold it off until the very last second - sometimes that means 3AM as I'm running to get into the airport shuttle. Since I've discovered these 7 tips for perfect packing, packing has been a breeze. Simple changes, like packing clothes in a similar color scheme, have made such a difference. Even the kids have started to do their part by packing outfits into individual plastic baggies for each day of the trip. Before you pull your hair out while packing for your next family vaycay, check out these 7 tips for perfect packing to help you along the way…- By Jacinda Boneau

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