If you’re the type of person who loves a good midnight snack, you may be wreaking havoc on your quality of sleep without even realizing it. While some foods are okay to eat right before bed, others will make it much more difficult to drift off into a dream state. Here are a few foods to avoid before hitting the hay!

1. Potato chips. Foods that are filled with grease and fat, such as potato chips or French fries, take quite a bit more effort to digest. With your stomach working overtime, it is much more difficult to fall asleep.
2. Ice cream. Think twice before having that bowl of ice cream while watching late night TV. Fatty foods like this are also more difficult to digest, which could lead to you lying awake with cramps and discomfort.
3. Candy. Sugar-packed candies will cause your blood sugar levels to spike, leaving you feeling too restless for rest.
4. Red meat. If you grab a fast food burger on your drive home after a late night, you may not be able to fall asleep once you actually crawl into bed. Red meats like this sit in your stomach much longer than other types of foods, and your body uses a lot more effort to digest them.

9 Things Your Should Never Eat or Drink After 9PM [Bodybuilding.com]
The 5 Worst Types of Foods to Eat Late at Night [Prevention]
The 10 Best and Worst Foods to Eat for Sleep [Fitness]
10 Foods to Avoid Before Bed [Fox News Health]

CC-BY-2.0/Flickr stevendepolo

Are you guilty of buying fresh produce only to have it spoil a few days later? You're not alone: Studies have found that Americans throw away a fourth of all the produce they buy! Here are some tips to help keep your fruits fresh as long as possible.

• Fruits such as avocados, tomatoes, mangoes, melons, apples, and pears will ripen quicker if they’re left sitting out on your countertop.
• Keep your other fruits away from bananas. They emit gases that will speed the ripening of any fruits that are nearby.
• Fruits such as grapes, citrus, and berries should always be refrigerated.
• Refrain from washing berries until you are ready to eat them. You want to store them in a dry and covered container.
• To extend the freshness of lemons, limes, oranges, and grapefruit, store them in your crisper drawer or in a mesh bag in your refrigerator.
• Once fruits are fully ripe, you can refrigerate them to help them last a little longer. However, for the best flavor, you want to return them to room temperature.
• One of the worst things you could do for a fruit is to store it in an airtight bag. The lack of air flow speeds up decay.

The Kitchn's Guide to Storing Fruits and Vegetables [The Kitchn]
Keep Fruits & Vegetables Fresher Longer [American Heart Association]
Spoiled Rotten – How to Store Fruits and Vegetables [Vegetarian Times]

CC-BY-2.0/Flickr/Gemma Billings

There’s nothing like the itch of a bug bite or poison ivy to bring down your mood in the summer time. Instead of heading to the drugstore for relief, there are few household remedies you can use to ease the itch. (Some say they might work just as well as any over-the-counter medicine!) Here are some tips to help ease your poison or bites.

• Wrap ice cubes in a towel and press it against your bites for around 10 minutes. The ice will numb the bite area and can help control the swelling.
• Press a used tea bag against your bites until the itching seems to calm down. Tea contains natural tannins that act as an astringent, which removes the toxins from your skin.
• Tea tree oil can help treat both bug bites and poison ivy. Just dab a little onto a cotton swab and rub it on to your bite or rash. The oil's antiseptic properties will help calm the itching and promote healing.
• Use a mixture of water and baking soda to apply directly onto your bite and allow it to dry. This will help neutralize the pH and reduce itching. Apple cider vinegar will also do the trick.

DIY: 7 Best Natural Mosquito Bite Remedies [Gardenista]
Poison Ivy, Oak, and Sumac [American Academy of Dermatology]
9 Genius Ways To Relieve Bug Bites [Women's Health]

CC-BY-SA-2.0/Flickr/carterse