Refrigerator and its Care

Hello All! 

As the summer vacations are over in Bangalore, So are mine too!!!  Lets get back to work again! 

The topic that we are going to take up is Refrigerator.  It is the second appliance to hob/cooktop that completes a kitchen. Its not only an expensive item that has to be bought with a good insight about the family’s requirement, but also, with a deep comparison of  similar products available in the market. The family’s requirement helps to decide the capacity in litres of the fridge that needs to be bought and the space that it is going to acquire in the home or kitchen. 

Its a human nature that we tend to buy certain appliances again in our life when they start giving a dull or an untidy look to us, although, it might be functioning properly. One of these in again-bought item-list has the name of refrigerator. Almost, after a decade long use, we feel like changing it or replacing it with a fresh one.

                           

The thing which I identified in my fridge, that was giving it an untidy look, was the Gasket (rubber that moves length and breadth wise on the refrigerator door). This is the gasket that maintains the sealed (no-leak) cooling of the fridge. I found some kind of the blackness and somewhere grey colour mildew appearing on the gasket in my fridge. Also, in the rushy hours of cooking, I tend to use the same hands that has a touch of turmeric on it. 

                               

Regular cleaning of the fridge with a damp cotton or muslin cloth every week before we refill the fridge for the next upcoming week is a very healthy habit. It maintains the freshness of the fridge somehow. It not only cleans the spill that has happened over the week but also the removal of some recent spots that may turn into stubborn spots at later stage. Aligned, sorted and a clean look!

Cleaning the gaskets is required once in a while , to say, I do it twice a year. And, it can be done with the help of a solution (mix)  made up of white vinegar with some drops of turpentine oil in it, which is readily available in the market. Vinegar is a regular kitchen item in Indian cooking; turpentine oil has a steep smell but it has a property that it evaporates very fast. Turpentine oil is made from the resin of certain pine trees. Don’t confuse turpentine oil with gum turpentine, which is the resin. We can put the same solution in a spray bottle for an easy use.

Points to remember:

1. This gasket cleaning should be done on the day when fridge is minimum required. 
2. Switch-off the fridge. Empty the full fridge.
3. The broader side of the gasket can be cleaned with a cotton cloth dipped in this solution.
4. The inner layers of the gasket can be cleaned with the buds (cotton swab) dipped in this solution.
5. The fridge doors should be left open for 2-3 hours once the cleaning is complete.

And, your fridge is ready to be used again. Most of the Indian kitchens have the facility to place the fridge inside it, then, the roof top of the fridge is found to have some grey layer that results from the use of oil while cooking in the kitchen. The same can be cleaned too with the same solution. This solution is also good, in case, some spot has come from the fridge magnets, only precaution is that the cloth should not be rubbed against the layer of the paint of the fridge in a rough manner. The regular cleaning of the fridge takes just 15-20 min a week. 

Additional tips:

1. Try to lid all the vessels that are placed inside the fridge. 
2. Use small sized boxes as  much possible for optimum usage of the space.
3. Cut fruit and chopped veggies if kept in closed containers in fridge maintains their moisture level.
4. Opt for brown paper bags instead of polythene or plastic bags.
5. In case of some spill having strong aroma, you can place some twigs of mint or a half lemon on the same shelf for few hours.

I hope you will find this article helpful for yourself. Another step-up in maintaining and organising your home.

Signing-off once again, will wait for your responses. You can also write me on upasanagarg@gmail.com. Will be back again next week .

Upasana

Management of Medicines @ Home

Hi all,

Before I start up, I would like to share a thought and an experience- I recently got a chance to visit a school for blinds and when I stepped out the premises, I felt, we generally tend to count in the things- to the God we had deserved but did not get; however, we never count the things which we never asked, still God has blessed us with!!!

Now, lets hop on to our core subject- home organising! Today I am going to talk about a thing that is present almost in every home with an equal importance of as salt in the kitchen. Its Medicines. The cupboard/shelf/drawer where we keep our medicines needs an equivalent attention of organising as any other place in our home. Medicines are inevitable, inescapable to some extent especially in a family where aged members, toddlers or babies are present.

I experienced that I was not able to fetch time every month or now and then, to relook into my medicine cupboard. It was least in my concentration focus. But what came up was rushing in the need of emergency to the same cupboard and then, rotating and flipping the sides of bottles and medicine strips to check for their expiry. 

So, the question in the mind was how to arrange it? The foremost step I took was, bought a 3-tier organiser. They are easily available in the market at very economical price.

And, the arrangement I followed in it was-

1-tier - has all the medicines strips.

2-tier- has thermometer, respules (if any), bandages etc

3-tier has some ointments . 

Thats sorted. Now come bottles. Lets look into it. First, arrange them in the height-order.  The idea behind organising this is that the day you sort this cupboard, next 3 months you should make use of this sorting! How?

Pick a permanent marker, the bottles that are going to expire in next three months, on the top (round lid flat top) of that bottle, mark a cross with the marker. Marking with cross represents the medicine is going to get expired. Now, in the upper part of the cross, or any 'v' part of the cross, write the month number in which it is going to get expired, as shown below. For example - You are sorting in March, bottle A getting expired in April, so cross should have 4 in it, in case of May, cross should have 5 in it. 

↓

The first picture of the bottle is showing the expiry date of the medicine i.e April 2017, and, the second picture shows that the cap of the bottle has been crossed with the month April (4th in the year).

The benefit of writing on the top flat part of the cap of bottle is that it becomes prominently visible and catches attention while picking up for the use and gives us a check on its expiry fast.

Medicine strips when we use them, we generally tear without caring to keep the expiry print on it, so, better way is to mark it with expiry date under its name on front or back side itself. 

This picture shows that the medicine strip was torn during the usage but has been inked with marker at several places reflecting expiry as on 10/18 i.e October-2018.

Names on the strips are written at multiple places for its safe use. You can cross the ones with near expiry by writing again the month number in that cross as shown below in the pic.

I would also like to mention one thing here that there are some medicine bottles that have powder in it (like kid’s probiotics) and needs to add cold boiled water and make it ready. They have short span of life in days time. So, to avoid any confusion, its always better to mark it on flat top of bottle cap its expiry date or the date you made it ready to use (any one as per your convenience). 

This saves a lot of time and energy in hush-bush scenarios. Neat look is the output too. Organising is a vicious circle, having small steps as its segments like scrutinising, shunting, placing and rearranging etc. However, I feel its like learning a bicycle, once learnt making balance, you will never forget it, and, also, it will help you in driving and riding other vehicles too!!

I try to keep minimum medicines, however, medicines for fever, a probiotic, some bandages, betadine solution for small wounds, mild cough etc are the ones which are all-time present and needs time to time fresh replacements also.

You can try this method and write me the feedback and suggestions.

Another bye from my side..soon will come back with my next article. Your responses  and questions are most welcomed.

Upasana

A Pragmatic approach to Steel over Plastic and Melamine

Hi All, 

We work hard all the day to fill in our bowls and plates with healthy meals. Good kitchenware (cookware and storage ware) is an integral part of any cooking and can have a substantial amount of impact on our health. Therefore, its important to know the pros and cons of different storage materials, so as we can make safe choices for our kitchen. Nowadays, easy availability, economical  purchase, colourful designs , prints, shapes has made us cover our kitchen with plastic and melamine. There has been a lot of buzz around these days about - to what extent plastic and melamine are safe to use in kitchen - both for cooking and storage as well.

So, as we progress in this article, I have tried to fill in the basic information in context to these storage products . While selecting the vessels and containers, my focus has always been on - to minimise the quantity of metal absorption into the food. Lets first get insight to what these materials are:

1. Plastic-  As market floors were flooded with these easy to use, colourful, bright, light weight vessels and containers, I too had got attracted to buy them, especially because they were available in more than the standard sizes. The label that caught my attention was- BPA Free, which was not mentioned on all plastic products. The few of them that were labelled, were kid’s water bottles, sippers, tiffins, snack boxes, but, most of the other vessels and containers did not had this label.

So, what is plastic?  What is BPA? Plastic is a synthetic material made from a wide range  of polymers like nylon, polyethylene, etc that can be moulded into different shapes while soft into a rigid or slightly flexible vessel or container. BPA stands for Bisphenol A- a kind of special chemical used in industries for making plastic.

When Plastic comes in contact with food (hot food especially) , there is a major risk of some of that plastic and bisphenol A,  reacting with the content(s) of the  food (especially spice/ vinegar/ citric/ tomatoes etc). Some researches show that BPA can seep deep into the food or even beverages. BPA also have impact on brain, developmental growth of fetuses, infants and children. However, the plasticware having the label of been BPA free, too has some age, in use, not appearance wise; due to the base of chemicals it is made up of from.

My daughter’s paediatrician once suggested me to slowly shift from plastic to steel tiffins, water  bottles, the vessels and the storage containers. This lead me to go through many research papers written by specialists on the usage of plastic and its impact in life.

A new study says that even if plastic don't contain BPA, most of its products release estrogenic chemicals. George Bittner, one of the study's authors and a professor of biology at the University of Texas, Austin and his testing company CertiChem, chopped up pieces of some plastic product and soaked them in either saltwater or alcohol to see what came out. The testing showed that more than 70 percent of the products released chemicals that acted like estrogen. (refer to-http://www.npr.org/2011/03/02/134196209/study-most-plastics-leach-hormone-like-chemicals). Estrogen is the primary female sex hormone. Among other roles, it promotes the development and maintenance of female characteristics in the human body. It plays an important role throughout a woman's life. In teens, estrogen contributes to healthy bone growth and development and influences reproductive processes. However, use of more plastic products brings up  estrogen level and leads to set in early puberty in the girl child. To some extent, its affects the fertility level also. (refer to- 

http://www.livestrong.com/article/245567-what-effects-does-estrogen-have-on-an-adolescent-girl/)

2. Melamine- Melamine is basically a chemical used in making plastics tableware. It is added so as to mould, to create tableware, when heated. Melamine plates, bowls and cups are hard plastic dishes that are extremely durable, crack-proof and come in a wide array of shapes, colours and patterns. They have a distinct smooth texture also. 

Researches say that there is a potential risk of contamination of food with this chemical from the tableware as it leaches into the food, mostly if the food is hot or acidic. Microwaving food in plastic containers or melamine (even microwave-safe plastic) is a big-health no-no.

3. Steel- Steel is an iron-carbon alloy that does not undergo eutectic (a mixture of substances that melts and freezes at a single temp that is lower than the melting point of the constituents). Stainless steel is more stable than the other metals used for cookware  and storage as well, as it does not leach significantly into the food. They do not get scratched easily. Another, its tough, does not chip and hard to break too. Steel has replaced many materials like plastic, aluminium in  a big way due to its strength, life span, durability and easy handling. Its dish washer safe too. It is not only used in households all over the world, and also by the professional chefs. It is dent and scratch resistant. It can go to the refrigerator easily. Struck food will generally come-off with a little elbow grease. Researches that resulted in showing the effect of estrogen chemical of the container to food, suggested to even store all the raw food material also in steel containers. As per an Indian family’s kitchen, raw-lentils (daals), rice , flour, sugar, tea, coffee powder, spices, from tamarind to jaggery powder, biscuits, cookies, chips- everything is advised to go to steel containers.

After spending considerable time in choosing and preparing nutritious food for our families, it can be pretty frustrating to learn that the products we are using to cook, bake, eat and store food with may actually put our families health at risk. The good news is- there are many safer alternatives as well as things you can opt. Crux is that steel is a safer metal to be used in kitchen for storage purpose, over melamine and plastic. Melamine and plastic are not recyclables. It makes a real eco-conundrum if you want to get rid of melamine and plastic kitchenwares.

I have, slowly and gradually shifted from plastic - melamine to steel. Replacing each and every in the kitchen to steel in a single leap can be difficult. So, we can always prioritise and initiate steps. I would also like to mention that there are many containers available in the market whose lid has a glass shield in it to make the container a see-through for an easy use. To mark, its a short term investment for reaping long term returns.

Points to consider

• Start with replacing the tiffin boxes, water bottles first. Especially, for the kids. It gives an immense satisfaction when we step-up for their health benefit.

• Follow-up with the replacement of spice-box (masala-box), tea, sugar and coffee container. A combo for such is available too.  

• Count your additional spices and replace them with steel containers having see through lid. 

• Count your containers for lentils/ rice/flour etc for the next replacement.

• Steel sprinklers for powdered spices like cumin powder, black pepper powder, cardamom powder etc are also available. 

• Small steel tub shape containers for cut-fruit , salad etc for putting in fridge .

This is how i did! 

Signing-off for today. Hope this article would help you to think once more when you make a next purchase of vessels and containers. I will save the discussion on cookwares for another day. 

Upasana 

The Wonderful use of Brown Paper in the Kitchen

The first of many:

Let us start with the Kitchen first. The place where aroma rules, where tactics work, where every single experience makes our way!!

Our grannies and mothers have been in general practice to place newspaper in kitchen drawers, cupboards and shelves. In today’s world where occupation has gone multifold, where working couples juggle for home chores and maintenance, this old method of using newspaper is time consuming. Its time consuming when it needs replacement with a new one, by again folding it in the measurement of the drawer or cupboard. Instead, there is one more economical way to do it. With a use of Brown paper - Yes! the brown paper which we use for covering books etc for school going kids, which on its top have a thin cellophane sheet by default attached to it. 

The benefits of using it- 

1. If something spills on it, this dark coloured paper down and plastic cellophane sheet attached to it on top, helps us in cleaning faster with a wet wipe and dry cloth . Its ready for reuse !
2. It definitely lasts longer than a newspaper, almost a year to say. While cleaning, just use a damp cloth and put it back in place again.
3. Not to ignore, the use of it in all drawers and cupboards of the kitchen uniformly adds aesthetics to the  user.
4. There are few drawers and cupboards that are used more like the one which has tea/ coffee/ sugar/ spice box etc…there if we put a layer of newspaper and then on top we use brown paper, then its life increases as drawers are generally made up of thin rods.
5. Last, this brown paper is readily available.

So, try this out in your one drawer, and if you like it, you may spread it in your full kitchen. 

Please do write in your feedback. 

Shall share more soon!!!

Upasana

Introduction

Wow! its a great feeling to give words to your thoughts; just like giving faces to your imagination. Home Sweet Home - I chose this name to blog; for one and the only reason that in our childhood , most of us had one or the other wall hanging in our homes stating the same words, be on the main door or in the then called drawing room, or in some corner of the house.  And believe me, these words gained meaning and importance in my life when i became a wife, a doting mother and then, finally a home maker! These three words were alive in my mind and heart, though in a dormant manner.

Hi, I am Upasana Garg, have worked as SAP HCM consultant with a software company, have teaching experience for management subjects too. Before I take this baby step, I would like to thank my parents, especially my mother who let me what i wanted to be, my husband who is in constant support to me with words- ‘You can do it’! and my eight year daughter , whose nursing needs gave me a chance to stay back at home; and my friends.

So, this home management and organising is an acquired trait that bloomed with little interest, mild thoughts and more of passionate learning. I got a chance to organise one of  my friend’s kitchen and she encouraged me to write about this passion.

I have been staying in this house from past 7 years, and in these years , whenever I have opened the locked main door, I get a pleasant feeling, not of being posh but a simple yet an organised home.

I have been an avid reader, but things did not fall in place till the time I started thinking how to do this work and home chores more efficiently and effectively. There is a very minute difference between the two. The former says the percentage out of 100 and the later one tells how close we are to the goal.

And I felt that a thoughtful work when put into practice brings in satisfaction. This blog will have some home chronicles , reflections of my personal experiences, steps easing in my life resulting in better home management and time saving too.

My main focus will be on home management and organising. I welcome you all aboard with your feedbacks, likes dislikes, as we all are unique. Freud said- Uniqueness is there in each and every!! We get different experiences being into different situations and try to adapt the things as upon our suitability. The small steps that I took to organise my home and related activities may give my readers some usefulness. 

Upasana