Bought a new apartment? Make it Eco-friendly!

With the green revolution flourishing all over and replacing the conventional style of construction, the current home buyers are more conscious about the environment and are ready to shell out extra money in order to enjoy lower electricity bills.Green buildings are beneficial for both the builders and the home buyers.Today, most of us are aware about the three Rs; Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.Here are some tips on how to make a new apartment eco-friendly; 

Install solar panels

Install solar panels on the rooftop using wires instead of using electricity to heat up things at home. This will help you to collect power and store it. Advantage: It saves your money for electricity and fuel.

Fluorescent bulbs

Opt for fluorescent bulbs all over your apartments instead of standard light bulbs. These bulbs are well known for saving energy and save about 70-75 per cent of energy.

Get the roof coloured to reduce temperature

It is believed that light coloured tiles on the roof reduce the heat generated indoors.

Get eco-friendly upholstery and furniture

With the market coming up with innumerable forms of eco-friendly furniture as well as upholstery, you can choose over a range of objects for your new apartment. 

Use low energy bulbs outdoors

It is always better to minimize the usage of bulbs outdoor or get low energy bulbs.

Avoid leakages in your home

Check for any forms of leakage in your home. Check the bathroom fittings and ensure that they are long lasting and ask for low flow shower heads to save water.

Get energy efficient equipments with BEE (Bureau of Energy Efficiency)

When you go shopping for the gadgets and utilities for your home, ensure that you get only the BEE certified products.

Exhaust Fans

Having exhaust fans in your apartment is good idea as these fans pull all the unwanted heat, odours and humidity from rooms especially the bathroom and the kitchen.

Have solar control tinted windows

Having colourful window tints in your apartment will help reduce the heat as well as give your apartment a colourful look. This also reduces the glare of the sun and has in energy saving effects. During winter, it reduces the heat loss indoors and eliminates up to 99% of damaging ultraviolet rays from entering as well as from fading the fabric.

Article Source: http://www.commonfloor.com/articles/bought-a-new-apartment-make-it-eco-friendly-18310.html

Create A Study Environment For Your Child

Education in today’s world plays an important role in every individual’s life. In order to keep pace with it various citizens residing in the apartments follow various techniques of home based learning in order to train their kids in academics during their examinations. Home schooling is considered as an important criteria for a child who is preparing for an examination.

The process of education is basically carried out in a school and to polish the child in it both the school and the home based education play an important role. A child is enlightened with details in depth at home schooling, as the parent considers the child’s education a priority and dedicates ample amount of time during their examinations. Home schooling can either be carried out by the tutor or the parent.

In order to make the child’s examination more successful, here are some tips to follow;

Energetic grooming: Plan a precise schedule for your child and let the child follow it. Normally a child turns paranoid as exams get closer. Make sure that you do not stress your child and help him prepare according to the timetable. The child has to regularly follow the healthy diet intake. At the end of the day the child has to be ready to face the portions and examinations.

Follow a regular bedtime and wake up time during examinations: Children need more sleep than adults and hence they tend to sleep in class or require a nap after school. In such cases a child should be groomed well for regular bedtime schedule during the examinations. In some cases the child experiences insomnia, that’s when you see a physician for your child.

Follow a short recreational activity before bedtime: One can let the child de stress through any of the calm activities like a bath, light snack and brushing their teeth after rigorous studies. Permit the child to relax by having short conversations or story telling or story reading before going to bed. Avoid the child from being involved into activities like television, engaging over the phone, computers or exercises during his examinations.

Balanced food intake: Children easily get distracted during school hours if they’re hungry. Make sure you feed the child well with a balanced meal. Also make time for family dining, as this will perhaps create an even more comfortable atmosphere for the child. A balanced diet can include large amount of fruits, vegetables, grains, milk products and more.

Motivate the child: A parent can always motivate and encourage the child during his examinations. Interest shown by parents towards a child’s examination encourages the child to perform better. One can always make the child realize the importance of education and make the child do better in his academics.

Convey your expectations: A parent can convey his/her expectations from the child during the examinations. Make the child believe about how important his studies and examinations are. Always encourage and appreciate the child for his/her achievements in the completed portions or assignments.

Model reading: You can make time for your child during the examinations and sit with the child and read the lessons along with him and explain the concepts.

Time management: Time management is very necessary during the examinations. Prepare a timetable with the number of lessons and the amount of hours for each chapter. Do not over schedule the hours with studies, let the child relax and take his time to get back to studies.

Article Source: http://www.commonfloor.com/articles/create-a-study-environment-for-your-child-7811.html

Hyderabadi Biryani Recipe

Hyderabadi Biryani is one of the most popular biryani dishes which its origin in the Nizam’s Sate of Hyderabad in India. There are basically two styles of preparing the Hyderabadi Biryani. The Kacchi Biryani is prepared with the Kacchi Akhni method (with the raw meat) and it is usually accompanied with Raita (a yogurt dish) and in the Pakki biryani, the meat and the rice is cooked in a dough sealed vessel.

Ingredients:

• Chicken : 1 whole
• Basmati rice : 1 kg
• Onions : 1 cup (thinly sliced)
• Coconut milk : 1 cup
• Ginger and garlic paste : 2 tea spoon
• Chilli powder : 3 tea spoon
• Turmeric : 1/2 tea spoon
• Cashew nuts : 100 g
• Bay leaves : 4 to 5
• Cloves : 5 to 6
• Cinnamon sticks : 1 inch long
• Cardamom pods : 3 to 4
• Mint leaves : 5-6 strands
• Coriander leaves : 4-5 strands
• Garam masala powder : 1/2 tea spoon
• Lemon : 1
• Ghee (clarified butter) : 1 cup
• Oil : 4 table spoons
• Yogurt : 1/2 cup
• Saffron : 6-8 strands
• Salt to taste

 Method:

1. Mix turmeric, chilli powder, salt, garlic paste, yogurt and 1 table spoon of lemon juice.

2. Next, make deep incisions on the chicken pieces such that the spices are absorbed well.

3. Apply the above prepared paste onto the chicken pieces and let it marinate for an hour.

4. Heat 4 table spoons of oil in a vessel. Roast cloves, cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, 1/2 spoon cumin, 1 spoon coriander powder,bay leaves and 1/2 cup onions.

5. Roast it for 1-2 minutes and then add some mint leaves.

6. When the onions turn golden brown, add the marinated chicken pieces and cook for about 30-35 minutes.

7. Note that the chicken should not be fully cooked at this stage.

8. Now add garam masala powder and coconut and turn off the flame once the chicken is about 3/4th cooked.

9. See to it that the gravy should not be much and also, the chicken pieces should look as if they have been roasted.

10. Meanwhile, when the chicken is still cooking, prepare the biryani rice.

11. Wash 3 cups of basmati rice and add water slightly less than the quantity of the rice itself so that it is only half cooked.

12. Add 1-2 tea spoons of salt to it.

13. Soak 3-4 strands of saffron in 4-5 table spoons of milk.

14. Now take 1/2 table spoon of this half cooked rice and dip it into the saffro flavoured milk.

15. Take a utencil having a base of 12″ and place half of the semi-cooked rice in it.

16. Prepare a layer of half of the above prepared chicken on top of this rice layer and again, top the chicken layer with rice (half of the remaining).

17. Again, another layer of remaining chicken and finally with the layer of the remaining rice on the top, ends the rice-chicken layering process.

18. Heat 2-3 table spoons of oil and deep fry 1/2 cup onions until they turn golden brown. Next, roast the cashews.

19. Garnish the top layer of rice with the fried onions, cashews, coconut milk, ghee, coriander and the saffron flavoured rice.

20. Cover the vessel with a lid and place it on a high flame for about 5 minutes. Note that the flame should not concentrate at the vessel’s center, but on one side of it.

21. Wait for 2-3 minutes and rotate the vessel to heat the opposite side. This way, keep rotating the vessel every 2-3 minutes for about 20-25 minutes. Every time you rotate it, carefully disturb the contents by a small jerk so as to avoid settling of ghee at the bottom.

22. Turn off the flame and keep it aside for 10 minutes before taking off the lid.

23. Before serving, mix thoroughly, the medley from the bottom.

24. Serve with boiled egg halves to enjoy the dish fully.