text:
Posts Tagged ‘karnataka recipes’

This is my last entry for RCI Karnataka! I know all of you will be wondering , why so late! I could get the authentic recipes for these preparations only now!:)) The main ingredient used is Urali Kaalu ( horse gram)

Bas Palya

Bas Saaru

  • Horse gram – 1 cup
  • Turmeric powder – 1/8 teaspoon
  • Onion – 1 medium
  • Tamarind – 2 inch piece
  • Tomato – 1 medium
  • Garlic – 2 pods
  • Curry leaves – 1 twig
  • Pepper corn – 1 teaspoon
  • Jeera (cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
  • Red chillies – 2 nos
  • Oil – 2 teaspoons
  • Grated coconut – 1 tablespoon
  • Salt – to taste
  • Coriander leaves – 1 twig

  1. Wash and pressure cook the horse gram with 2 cups water and turmeric powder.
  2. Cut the onions and tomatoes roughly. Heat oil in a kadai, fry the red chillies.
  3. Add the onions and tomatoes and keep stirring on a low flame.
  4. Add curry leaves, garlic and grated coconut and fry for 2 more minutes. Allow to cool.
  5. Grind this mixture with tamarind, peppercorns and jeera to a fine paste.
  6. Add 1 cup water to the pressure cooked horse gram. Strain the water(stock) in to a MW safe container. The whole cooked gram will be used for the palya.
  7. To the horse gram water(Stock) add salt and the ground paste and MW high for 5 minutes.
  8. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with rice and ghee.

Bas Palya

Bas palya

  • Cooked horse gram after stock is strained for the saaru.
  • Onion – 1 medium Finely chopped
  • Grated coconut- 2 table spoons
  • Green chillies – 2 nos finely chopped
  • Salt- to taste
  • Oil- 2 teaspoons
  • Curry leaves – 1 twig
  • Mustard seeds – 1/2 teaspoon

  1. Heat oil in a kadai. Add mustard seeds. When it crackles add onions, green chillies and curry leaves and saute on a low flame.
  2. Add coconut and saute for 1 more minute. Add the cooked horse gram and salt and saute for 2 more minutes on a medium flame.
  3. Your bas palya is ready.

Read Full Post »

Ragi Rotti is another unleavened bread made in Karnataka. For previous ragi recipes from Karnataka refer to Ragi Mudde and Ragi Dosa.

Ragi Rotti
Ragi Rotti with Uchellu Podi

  • Ragi flour – 2 cups
  • Fresh Sabakki Soppu (Dill) or Fresh Coriander – 1/2 cup (finely chopped)
  • Onions – 1/2 cup (finely chopped)
  • Water
  • Green chilly – 2 finely chopped (optional)
  • Salt to taste
  • Oil

  1. Mix all ingredients except the Oil and knead into a smooth soft dough. The dough is a softer than Wheat flour Roti dough. Divide the dough into 2 inch diameter balls and set aside.
  2. Spread a plastic sheet/ banana leaf on a smooth surface. Grease with a drop of oil. Take a ball of the dough and pat into a round pancake of 6 inch diameter. Use a little oil to aid in patting the roti.
  3. Transfer to a skillet and cook both sides over a medium flame until the roti turns brown in colour.
  4. Repeat for the remaining dough.

Serve hot with Uchellu Podi, Green Tomato Chutney, Vethal Kozhambu or Gojju.

Asha, Ragi Rotti for RCI Karnataka.

Read Full Post »

Long before the Green Revolution supplanted traditional crops with paddy and wheat across India, there was Ragi, Jowar and Bajra. Ragi, Jowar and Bajra were traditionally cooked up in a likes cakes, pancakes or unleavened breads especially in places whose natural constitution made only one crop of a water sucking variety like rice in a year possible. They constituted the much needed dietary fibre content in the Indian spread.

Ragi or Finger Millet is associated with the labour classes – in a typical feudal set up the lady of the master’s house prepared ragi based foods for the farmers who worked on their lands.

As a baby, I was a snob at the other end of the spectrum – I hated canned cereals preferring traditional Kanji or Porridge. No I wouldn’t settle for anything less than Ragi Malt – a concoction of Ragi, Jaggery and Milk that I was fed daily.

Fortunately, a generation after the Green Revolution made ragi “unfashionable”, the grain seems to be picking up pace as a health fad. Elaboration of Ragi’s goodness cannot be missed in modern media – superior in mineral and fibre content as compared to rice, a health grain for the diabetic, food that digests slowly, food that can be grown with environment friendly practices, food that is cooling – ragi is now being heralded as the “wonder grain”.

Kezhvaragu (in Tamil) or Ragi Dosa is a preparation from Kongunadu’s cuisine. Describing Kongunadu is difficult but you can vaguely think of it as the stretch from Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Pollachi to Erode, Salem and Dharmapuri.

Ragi Dosa
These Ragi Dosas are medium sized ones. You could pour batter to make larger dosas.

Here’s the recipe:

Preparation Time: 20 minutes (includes soaking), Cooking time: 5 minutes, Yield: 10 – 12 Dosas/ Pancakes

  • Ragi # – 2 cups
  • Grated Coconut – 1 cup
  • Salt – 1 tsp
  • Fresh Coriander – 3 twigs
  • Curry Leaves – 4
  • Green Chilly – 1 no.
  • Jeera/ Cumin – 1tsp
  • Oil – 1 tbsp
  • Water – 4 1/2 cups (approximately, this will vary with how much water the flour soaks)

*cups= 225ml, approximately 8 oz

# Ragi flour doesn’t stand for long – so I suggest buying in fresh small quantities for best results.

  1. Soak Ragi flour (Millet flour) in some warm water for 15 to 20 minutes.
  2. Grind the Coconut, Green Chilly, Coriander, Curry Leaves, Jeera and Salt in a blender.
  3. Add this to the soaked Ragi flour (Millet Flour) and mix well. Add water to bring to Rava dosa batter consistency. Note: This will be somewhere between butter milk and dosa batter or fresh cream consistency.
  4. Dust a broad skillet or tawa with 1/2 tsp oil and heat it for 30 seconds. On a high flame pour the batter from outside towards inside to form a round. Cook on a high flame. Turn and cook the other side on a high flame. Reduce flame to low and turn and cook for a minute. Take out dosa on to serving plate.
  5. Repeat for remaining batter. Refer to Rava Dosa making technique to get lacy, crispy dosas.

Alternatively, one could make these like soft Uthappams

  • At step 3, mix water enough to bring to to dosa batter or fresh cream consistency.
  • Pour a ladle full in the center of a tawa on a medium flame. Cover and cook for 30 seconds on a medium flame. Repeat for remaining batter.

This recipe was handed down to me by my mother in law, Vasantha Ayyaswami – who makes many other dosas of Kongunadu in varying styles – having lived in Coimbatore for many years. So technically speaking, I have been introduced to this as part of Kongunadu’s cuisine.

But then I don’t see why people on the Karnataka side of the border would not be indulging in this Ragi delicacy. After all when I mixed the batter together, I was greeted by a very prominent almost musty smell of Malnad – if you have ever treated your nostrils to the fresh dew on earth from a mild early morning drizzle, you know what I am talking about. I must warn you that it’s a smell that refuses to go. 🙂

To further the argument, if you look at the ingredients closely, its almost like neer dose or pan pole. I can almost imagine obscure homes in remote bits of Shimoga cooking this up. For the record, google led me to one more person who seems to think of this as Pan Pole – Manjula at Dalitoy!!!

So Asha, do you think this could pass off as Ragi Pan Pole or Ragi Neer Dose?

Coming to think of it, I am sure your “toothless” Thatha must have savoured these besides the standard Mudde. 🙂

Read Full Post »

Huli Anna

Hulianna for me is similar to puliyogere. There is a slight difference in preparation. Aaruni’s recipe goes like this.

  • Rice – 2 cups
  • Tamarind – 2 lemon sized balls
  • Coriander seeds – 1 table spoon
  • Channa dal – 1 table spoon
  • Urad dal – 2 teaspoons
  • Jeera/ Cumin – 1 teaspoon
  • Methiseeds – 1 teaspoon
  • Hing – a small piece
  • Red chillies – 4 nos + 2 nos for seasoning
  • Groundnuts 2 tablespoons
  • Curry leaves – 2 twigs
  • Mustard seeds – 1 teaspoon
  • Sesame oil – 2 table spoons
  • Turmeric powder – 1/2 teaspoon
  • Salt to taste

*cups= 225ml or 8oz.

  1. Wash and cook the rice with 4 cups water so the the grains are separate.
  2. Soak tamarind in warm water and squeeze adding required amout of water to make 1 and 1/2 cup thick pulp.
  3. In 1 teaspoon oil roast coriander seeds, channa dal, urad dal, jeera, hing, redchillies and methi seeds till golden.
  4. Grind the roasted ingredients to a fine powder.
  5. In a kadai heat 1 table spoon oil and add the mustard seeds.
  6. When it crackles add red chillies cut into small pieces.
  7. Once the redchillies is brown add curry leaves and fry for a minute.
  8. Add the tamarind pulp and cook for a few minutes on low flame till the oil rises up.Add salt and turmeric powder and cook for 1 more minute.
  9. Roast the ground nuts in the MW or in a kadai and remove the skin.
  10. In a shallow dish, spread the cooked rice and sprinkle the remaining oil. Add the powder, tamarind pulp and groundnuts and mix with a *thuduppu with out breaking the rice grains.
  11. Serve with sandige (papads/ vattals) or aloo chips. Good dish to take for travel and picnics.

* Thuduppu is a flat laddle used to turn dosas.

For Mysore Style puliyogere

If we use sesame seeds and dry coconut and leave out jeera/ cumin the same recipe will be Mysore Style puliyogere.

Asha was desperately waiting for this recipe! I hope this matches her expectations. This is my next entry for RCI Karnataka!

Read Full Post »

Jowar or Sorghum is widely grown in dry areas with scanty rainfall. It is used in many parts of India to make rotis or unleavened bread following different methods. I am posting the method followed by Kannadigas that Aaruni shared with me. Jolada Rotti or Jonna Rotte is a zero oil bread cooked extensively in Northern parts of Karnataka.

Niger seeds are called Uchellu in Kannada and are used to make a powder used as an accompaniment to all the breads.

Niger Seeds – Uchellu

Uralikaalu (huralikaalu) or Horse Gram is combined with Niger seeds to make the powder.
Uralikaalu or Horse Gram
This is my next entry for RCI Karnataka hoted by Asha of Foodie’s Hope.

Jolada Rotti/ Jowar Roti/ Sorghum Roti with Uchellu Podi (Niger Seeds Powder)

For the Uchellu podi (Huchellu Podi)

  1. Dry roast the urulikaalu (horse gram) on a low flame you smeall an aroma. Add jeera and roast for a minute more and take out on a plate.
  2. Roast the uchellu (niger seeds) on a low flame till it crackles. Take out on the same plate with roasted urulikaalu (horsegram).
  3. Roast the red chillies it it turns dark brown. Take out on the same plate.
  4. Wash and wipe the curry leaves and dry roast till dry.Tranfer to the plate.
  5. When all ingredients are cool, add salt and grind to a fine powder in a mixie.
  6. Store in an air tight container. Tastes good with all rotis and dosas.

Patting to form the Jolada Rotti/ Jowar Roti/ Sorghum Roti

For the Jolada rotti (Jowar Roti)

  • Jowar flour – 2 cups+ 2 tablespoons for rolling
  • Salt – a pinch
  • Water – 2 cups

  1. Bring water to boil in a heavy bottomed pan.
  2. Add the salt and sprinkle the flour evenly . After a minute stir and mix well.
  3. Once the flour absorbs all the water take off the flame and knead to form a ball. Divide into 2 inch balls.
  4. On a plate sprinkle some flour, take a lemon sized ball and press to form a round. Start pressing with your palm moving the roti in a circular direction to form a thin round like chapathis. You could alternatively roll using a rolling pin.
  5. Remove excess flour on the rotti with a cloth and cook both sides on a medium flame in a tawa. An evenly made thin roti puffs up.
  6. Serve hot uchellu podi and avarekaalina (field beans) saaru (lentils gravy).

Read Full Post »

There are two ways of looking at Akki Rotti – you can think of Akki Rotti as unleavened bread made out of rice flour or as spicy pancakes.

Personally, I prefer “Sada” Akki Rotti (plain rice flour bread) to the many different the masala ones which have onions, grated vegetables, cumin and green chilly. Sada or Plain Akki Rotti is a zero oil bread much like the phulka and is super soft and fluffy like the Gujrathi rotlis. It is typically served with uchellu podi and ennegayi or gojju.

While one can find nifty workarounds for getting the masala ones, the sada ones aren’t that amenable to cheat sheets. The masala akki rotti has been a saviour once – when absent mindedly I made naan dough out of rice flour. Amma and I converted it into some kind of masala akki roti – dosa 🙂 – rich in milk and absolutely yummy.

Yet, nothing can beat the divine taste of plain akki rottis which I have been wanting to try for quite sometime. I faithfully followed Aaruni’s (introduced in the earlier post) recipe and method and I am glad to say the results have been fantastic for a beginner like me. I was quite delighted when the rotis puffed up. Yay, yay!!

Akki Rotti
Akki Rottis (Rice Flour Rotis) folded into a quarter

Akki Rotti
A Closer View

These are a wee bit thicker than they are supposed to be and though round, have tapered edges (booo hoo!!!).

Here’s Aaruni’s recipe that I faithfully followed:

Preparation Time: 5 minutes , Cooking Time: 30 minutes , Yield: 6 Rotis (these are slightly bigger than wheat flour rotis)

  • Rice Flour – 2 cups
  • Water – 2 cups
  • Salt – 1 tsp

*cups=225ml or 8 oz measures.

  1. Bring salt and water to boil in a heavy bottomed cooking pot on a medium flame.
  2. When the water starts bubbling, reduce flame to low and throw in the flour evenly. Do not stir. Keep on a low flame for a minute.
  3. With the back of the ladle whisk the contents into a smooth paste. Remove from stove and keep aside for cooling.
  4. Knead into a dough. The more you knead, the less you sweat while making the rotis. Divide into 6 parts and shape into balls.
  5. Keep aside a little rice flour for dusting. Wipe a flat board/ roti rolling surface with a clean wet cloth. Wipe your belan/ rolling pin with the wet cloth.
  6. Take one ball of dough and roll in the flour. Flatten the ball into a round. Roll into a round with the belan/ rolling pin (exert very little pressure), continuosly moving the roti in a circular direction. The roti should be rolled out thin. Dust off the flour and wipe the roti with a wet cloth.
  7. Heat a tawa. Slip the roti in the tawa. Cook on a medium flame. When you see about two or more air pockets bloat up, turn and cook the other side. The roti would have started puffing. Turn again and cook for a few seconds.
  8. Repeat for all the other balls of dough. Remember to clean the rolling board and belan/rolling pin and wet them with a cloth for each roti.

One pack of soft fluffy “a wee bit thick” Akki Rottis packed off to Asha for RCI-K.

You might want to check out few other versions of plain Rice flour breads:

Read Full Post »

Ragi mudde (Finger Millet Cakes) and Avarekaalina Saaru (Flat Beans) are 100% Karnataka recipes. I know Asha is excited to see these recipes. Do I need to say that I am sending this for RCI karnataka! 🙂

I am surrounded by many interesting and talented people – like this lady who makes and sells sandige(papads etc). She is also a good cook and does catering during monsoon and winter. Her name is Aaruni and she comes to my place to help me with some odd jobs and learn new recipes. She has learnt to make perfect mysoor pak and milk chocolate. When I told her about RCI karnataka, she was very excited and promised to help me in making some Authentic Karnataka recipes. Ragi mudde is one of them.

Aaruni lost her husband quite a while back and is not educated one bit. She brings both her children with the money that her culinary skills bring her. Having a recipe published in her name with pictures in the blog means a whole lot to her. After cooking she always asks “photo thegithiraa?” (Will you take a photo?). Some of my friends and I are helping her to get catering contracts so that she can educate her children. One of her daughter is doing BBA (Bachelors in Business Administration) and the other is doing + 1.

Here goes the recipe for Ragi mudde and Avarekaalina saaru which Aaruni made for my lunch today.

For Avarekaalina saaru

  • Avarekai – 1/2 cup(Tender seeds)
  • Potato – 1 medium size
  • Tomato – 1 small
  • Onion – 1 small
  • Sambhar powder – 2 teaspoons
  • Grated coconut – 1 table spoon
  • Tamarind – 1 inch
  • Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
  • Hing – 1 pinch
  • Oil – 1 table spoon
  • Salt to taste

  1. Cut potato into small cubes. Wash avarekai and potato.
  2. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add the potato and avarekai.
  3. Add hing and turmeric and saute on a medium flame.
  4. Grind all other ingredients together in to a smooth paste. Add to the vegetables.
  5. Add 1/2 cup water and close and cook on a low flame till the vegetables are soft.

Tastes good with all kinds of rotis and chapathis also.

For ragi mudde

  • Ragi flour – 1/2 cup
  • Water – 1 cup
  • Salt – 1 pinch

  1. In a heavy bottomed pan boil water on a medium flame. Add salt and 1 teaspoon ragi flour.
  2. Allow to boil for a while and add remaining flour and leave for 1 minute on low flame. Do not stir.
  3. Now stir the contents with the back of a laddle and mix well and let it cook for a while. The mixture will look crumbled.
  4. Put off the flame and Knead to a ball when still hot. Serve hot with Avarekaalina saaru.

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »


Content-Type: application/http; msgtype=response

WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: application/xhtml+xml

WARC-Truncated: length

WARC-Type: response

text:
Posts Tagged ‘Rice varieties’

In bangalore tomato is available throughout the year. The only problem is , the price fluctuates from Rs.5 per kg to Rs.40 per kg with in a span of three months! I buy a few kilos when it is cheap and make this paste. The paste can be stored in the freezer for more than three months, in Tupperware containers. I am giving the timings for 1 kg tomato.
Fresh Tomato

Fresh tomatoes

  1. Wash the tomatoes and drain the water.
  2. In a Microwave safe container, MW at 600 watts covered for 10 minutes.
  3. Allow to cool for a few minutes and grind to a smooth paste. Pass through a strainer if required and grind again.
  4. Transfer the pulp to the same MW container and MW at 600 watts for 1/2 hour stirring once in 5 minutes.
  5. Pour this into a freezer container and allow to cool. Keep in the freezer and use as you like.
  6. Take out the pulp from the freezer 15 minutes before use. It is easy to scoop out with an ice cream scoop.

This is my entry for Srivalli’s basic MW cooking event.

After cooking in MW for 10 minutes
After keeping for 10 mins in microwave

Tomato Paste

Storing in freezer container

You can use the pulp for Preparing

  1. Tomato thokku.
  2. All gravies for which you need tomato paste.
  3. Chutney
  4. Rasam
  5. Soup
  6. Tomato rice

Hope all of you find this preparation useful.

I have published a post on Microwave cooking tips almost 2 months back. That is my second entry for Srivallis event.

Read Full Post »

Huli Anna

Hulianna for me is similar to puliyogere. There is a slight difference in preparation. Aaruni’s recipe goes like this.

  • Rice – 2 cups
  • Tamarind – 2 lemon sized balls
  • Coriander seeds – 1 table spoon
  • Channa dal – 1 table spoon
  • Urad dal – 2 teaspoons
  • Jeera/ Cumin – 1 teaspoon
  • Methiseeds – 1 teaspoon
  • Hing – a small piece
  • Red chillies – 4 nos + 2 nos for seasoning
  • Groundnuts 2 tablespoons
  • Curry leaves – 2 twigs
  • Mustard seeds – 1 teaspoon
  • Sesame oil – 2 table spoons
  • Turmeric powder – 1/2 teaspoon
  • Salt to taste

*cups= 225ml or 8oz.

  1. Wash and cook the rice with 4 cups water so the the grains are separate.
  2. Soak tamarind in warm water and squeeze adding required amout of water to make 1 and 1/2 cup thick pulp.
  3. In 1 teaspoon oil roast coriander seeds, channa dal, urad dal, jeera, hing, redchillies and methi seeds till golden.
  4. Grind the roasted ingredients to a fine powder.
  5. In a kadai heat 1 table spoon oil and add the mustard seeds.
  6. When it crackles add red chillies cut into small pieces.
  7. Once the redchillies is brown add curry leaves and fry for a minute.
  8. Add the tamarind pulp and cook for a few minutes on low flame till the oil rises up.Add salt and turmeric powder and cook for 1 more minute.
  9. Roast the ground nuts in the MW or in a kadai and remove the skin.
  10. In a shallow dish, spread the cooked rice and sprinkle the remaining oil. Add the powder, tamarind pulp and groundnuts and mix with a *thuduppu with out breaking the rice grains.
  11. Serve with sandige (papads/ vattals) or aloo chips. Good dish to take for travel and picnics.

* Thuduppu is a flat laddle used to turn dosas.

For Mysore Style puliyogere

If we use sesame seeds and dry coconut and leave out jeera/ cumin the same recipe will be Mysore Style puliyogere.

Asha was desperately waiting for this recipe! I hope this matches her expectations. This is my next entry for RCI Karnataka!

Read Full Post »

Thattai is another must be item for Srijayanthi! Do use freshly ground flours (Rice and Urad dal) whose recipes have been posted earlier.

  • Rice flour – 2 cups
  • Urad dal flour – 1/4 cup
  • Grated coconut – 1 tablespoon
  • Channa dal 2 teaspoons
  • Moong dal – 2 teaspoons
  • Curry leaves – 2 twigs
  • Ghee – 1 table spoon
  • Pepper powder – 1teaspoon
  • Salt to taste
  • Oil for deep frying
  • Broken Cashew (Optional)

  1. Soak the channa dal and moong dal for 10 minutes.
  2. Mix the flours , coconut, salt , pepper powder, chopped curry leaves, soaked dals and ghee in a large container.
  3. Add water and knead to a smooth dough. The dough should be soft so that it does not break or crack while flattenning.
  4. Knead well for a while. Take lemon sized balls and flatten the dough to a round of about 4 inch diameter on to a white cloth. If the thattai cracks or breaks, just add some more water to the dough.
  5. To make the thattais you can also grease your fingers with little oil.
  6. Finish making the rounds with all the dough.
  7. Heat oil in a deep pan and Check the oil temperature by dropping a small piece in to the oil.
  8. If it rises up immediately then the oil is ready for frying. Start frying around 6 thattais at a time, Frying the dried ones first.
  9. Always keep the flame between low and medium. Turn the thattais to cook the other side.
  10. Once the sound subsides, drain well and remove on a kitchen napkin.
  11. Your thattais are ready for the neivedyam.

Read Full Post »

Vella seedai is a must for janmashtami! Quite a simple snack! Use the fresh rice flour and urad dal flour prepared for these snacks (follow this link for instructions on flour preparation).

Coconut cut pieces
Coconut pieces for Vella Seedai

  1. Mix the flours, cardamom powder and the coconut pieces in a container.
  2. In a kadai mix jaggery with 1 cup waterand boil on a medium flame.
  3. Once jaggery melts, pass through a filter to remove the dirt.
  4. Clean the kadai and boil again.
  5. Keep the flame low and add the ingredients mixed together.
  6. Stir well, this will form a ball. add 1 tablespoon ghee and mix. leave to cool for a while.
  7. Make 1 inch balls with the dough.
  8. Heat oil in a kadai, on a medium to low flame fry a few balls at a time till they are brown.
  9. Drain well and take out on a kitchen paper. The vella seedai is dark brown and slightly broken.
  10. Your vella seedai is ready for the neivedyam!

Read Full Post »

This is a famous snack of Karnataka! I have learnt many versions of this snack. I am posting the recipe that I liked most. This is my entry for Asha’s RCI Karnataka.

  • Rice flour – 2 cups
  • Maida – 1/2 cup
  • Wheat flour – 1/2 cup
  • Pottukadalai or chutney dal(Urikadale)- 1/2 cup
  • Dessicated dry coconut (Kopra) – 1/2 cup
  • Ghee – 1 table spoon
  • Hing – 1/4 teaspoon
  • Salt to taste
  • Chilli powder – 1 teaspoon
  • Oil – 2 cups for deep frying

  1. Grind the pottukadalai and kopra to a fine powder.
  2. Lightly roast the wheat flour and maida together on a low flame till it turns light golden.
  3. In a large bowl mix the rice flour, ground pottukadalai and the roasted flours.
  4. Add ghee, salt, hing chilli powder and water and knead to a thick dough.
  5. Heat oil in a kadai on a medium flame.
  6. Take a little dough and shape into rings (Thickness of a pencil)
  7. Fry a few rings at a time on low to medium flame, stirring occasionally.
  8. When the sound subsides, drain and take out on a kitchen paper.
  9. Store in air tight containers.

The oil should be on medium heat while dropping the rings and reduced to low till it gets cooked.

Update: I am sending this to Asha of Foodie’s Hope for RCI- Karnataka.

Read Full Post »

Uppu seedai is a must for Srijayanthi! This snack is some thing you can do in a leisurely way. You can mix the maavu, sit in front of the TV and watch a programme of your choice, white rolling the seedai balls on to a white cloth. Or you can listen to music while preparing these. A relaxed atmosphere will make cooking a pleasure! Use the flours prepared as per previous post. Click here for the flour recipe.

  • Rice flour – 2 cups
  • Urad dal flour – 1/4 cup
  • Ghee – 1 table spoon
  • Jeera – 2 teaspoons
  • Hing powder – 1/4 teaspoon
  • Grated coconut – 1 table spoon
  • Salt to taste
  • Oil for deep frying – 2 cups

  1. Mix all the ingredients except oil and make a soft dough using water.
  2. Make small balls around 3/4 cm in diameter( smaller than a marble) and leave to dry on a white cloth.
  3. After you finish with all the dough, Heat oil in a deep kadai and start frying the seedais a handful at a time.
  4. Keep the flame in medium throughout and stir in between for even cooking.
  5. Once the sound subsides totally, lower the flame, drain the seedais well and remove on a kitchen paper.
  6. Store in airtight containers.

Since many people inform me that Uppu Seedai is a mini terrorist who causes explosions in the kitchen here are some tips to avoid explosions:

  • The scientific reason for bursting seedais will be water trapped in between or small rice grains. Roll the seedai well.
  • To avoid Knead the dough very well. Seive the flour before roasting.

Read Full Post »

The Rice flour and Urad dal flour for Seedai, Thattai, Vella seedai (Traditional Tamil Festival Snacks) are the same. You can prepare the flour in one go. To make lovely coloured and crunchy snacks this is the best maavu (flour).

If you are grinding in a mixie, make one kg maavu. If you are grinding in a flour mill you can grind more.

Rice flour

  1. Wash and soak the required amount of rice for 15 minutes.
  2. Drain well and spread on a white cloth to dry for 10 minutes.
  3. Grind little rice at a time a seive to get soft flour.
  4. Repeat with all the rice.
  5. Alternatively you can grind in a flour mill.
  6. Lightly dry roast the flour on a low flame till the flour becomes hot and slightly yellowish. This is to remove the moisture.
  7. You can make this a day before and store in an air tight container.

Urad dal flour

  1. Dry roast 2 cups urad dal till golden.
  2. Allow to cool and grind to a super fine powder.
  3. Store in an air tight container.

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »

warcinfo:
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-166-65-126.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2017-26
operator: Common Crawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for June 2017
publisher: Common Crawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf


WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: text/html

text:
The Unnatural Death of Affordable Housing

The Unnatural Death of Affordable Housing?

By Jim Grundy

Many years ago one Tory councillor said to me that it was about time that there was a political debate about whether the market should be left to meet all housing needs in future. At the time, this was so absurd a suggestion that it was laughed off. Now it is government policy and few people are laughing. (Probably not even the individual who said it, who was forced from office for fiddling his expenses.)

This Government has stopped developing new affordable housing. Yes, it calls its new programme ‘Affordable Rent’ [1] but if ever there was a better example of Orwellian newspeak I’ve yet to hear it. You see, the Tories define ‘Affordable Rent’ as 80% of local market rents. But with private rents wholly unregulated, these are soaring way beyond the ability of millions to pay half of those levels let alone four-fifths of the price.

The Tories have abandoned those in housing need to the whims of the market and then blamed them for the rising cost of housing benefit. The reality is that 10,000 new claims for housing benefit are being made by working households every month.

I’ll repeat that: 10,000! [2] They’re obviously not striving enough.

But, not content to rest on their laurels, the Tories – with Liberal Democrat backing – are about to introduce Welfare Reform and a number of other goodies that have major implications for our housing market and those unable to get the taxpayer to pay for their stables.

Take Universal Credit, for example, which is due to be phased in from next year.

Housing Benefit, currently paid directly to the housing association or council, will be paid together with any other benefits received by the household, in one lump sum and paid directly to the tenants. Obviously this involves ‘savings’ too and the Chartered Institute of Housing found that 400,000 low paid working families will indeed be worse off as a result [3]. Even leaving aside the cuts involved, paying housing benefit directly to people already struggling to make ends meet, many with poor money management skills, some in the hands of pay day lenders, is a recipe for chaos.

Scare-mongering by a ‘nannying leftie’ not prepared to allow people to stand on their own two feet and take control of their lives? That line has been used to defend the Government’s plans and there might be some justification for it had not the impact of direct payment already been demonstrated for all to see.

Trials of the new arrangements have been held in six pilot areas. In each case between 20-30% of tenants struggled to pay their rent on time [4] and rent arrears have at least doubled [5]. Contrast that with existing levels of rent collection – where I live it is 98.9%. There’s no reason to think that tenants in my part of the world are so radically different from those in the pilot areas. I’m guessing that this time next year we won’t be collecting just shy of 99% of the rent due. And, remember, this is before the introduction of other changes like the Bedroom Tax, cuts to Council Tax Benefit, below inflation ‘increases’ to other benefits and pay, not matched by similar reductions in the cost of fuel, food, etc.

The task facing managers of social housing will be huge. It has already been estimated that 23% of tenants will require assistance to help them adjust to the new system [6]. But the costs of not doing more will be infinitely higher.

This has led to calls for the introduction of Universal Credit to be delayed. The chief executive of the National Housing Federation, David Orr, said recently: “Our research shows that one million social housing residents risk falling into debt if all their benefits are paid to them directly in a single monthly payment and will need extra support to manage their budgets when Universal Credit is phased-in next year. A delay would give time for a full evaluation of the Government’s trials before the system is rolled-out nationally, and enable safety nets to be arranged for the most vulnerable.” [7]

What does this mean? For tenants, a significantly increased risk of losing their home through the accumulation of rent arrears. For landlords – largely unsupported by capital grants – it will mean that many will struggle to get the finance they need to develop new homes that are so desperately needed as their income stream – rents – is undermined.

Recent research estimated that social landlords stand to lose £750m due to Universal Credit and a further £50m arising from the Bedroom Tax [8]. The £800m lost represents nearly double the total Government investment in new housing. That stands at £450m, compared to £3bn in 2009/10 [9]. I wonder what could have happened in between times.

For a government so obsessed with debt it is cruelly ironic that this unwanted, unnecessary change –one that Iain Duncan Smith refused even to publish the business case for [10] – will lead directly to more bad debts, more tenants evicted but fewer new homes being built as lenders will look upon some parts of the sector as a bad risk.

The rise in bad debts doesn’t just affect the development of new housing but the very viability of ‘dozens’ of social landlords, with the research cited previously suggesting that even the smallest organisation stands to lose £750,000 p.a., whilst the very largest could end up with an annual loss of £22m. [11]

Historically, very few social landlords have gone out of business, so this will be very much new territory. Presumably, following other business models, it will lead to more ‘consolidation’ within the sector, as the smaller associations become less and less viable, leaving more and more houses in the hands of fewer and fewer landlords. And that brings with it its own dangers for the very concept of social housing.

As Michael Meacher commented recently, “Social housing landlords generated their largest profit ever last year, a total of £1.4bn on a turnover of £14.2bn, i.e. a return on capital as high as 10%. All the big corporate landlords – L&Q, Guinness, Circle HG, Sanctuary HG, Places for People – made a profit per unit of stock of between £250 and £1,380.” [12]

In times of rising rents and a growing shortage (if that makes sense) of housing, there’s big money to be made by landlords right now; the growth in the private rented sector is evidence of that. And if providing housing for low income households becomes uneconomic then in order to survive a housing association could consider changing its client group and move into the private for profit sector. To whom will those who can’t afford their rents go?

It is being said many times but we are in the middle of a huge housing crisis. Normal advice is when in a hole to stop digging. The Coalition has, instead, hired a digger – not by accident but by deliberate design. The social cost does not bear thinking about. But there’s gold in them there slums.

  1. Inside Housing: Not so affordable rent
  2. This is Money: National Housing Federation : Benefit doubles- Landlords demand more
  3.  Inside Housing: Low Income Families lose out under welfare reform
  4.  24 Dash: Welfare reform puts dozens of housing associations at risk – research
  5. Social Tenants’ Finances
  6.  Inside Housing : A quarter of tenants need help with universal credit
  7.  24 Dash: Landlords back MPs call to delay direct payments under Universal Credit
  8.  24 Dash: Welfare Reform puts dozens of housing associations at rise – research
  9. Michael Meacher: Social Housing turned into a money spinner
  10. 24 Dash: IDS refuses to publish Universal Credit Business Case
  11. PHHSL: The Financial Implications of Welfare Reform for Social Landlords
  12. Michael Meacher: Social Housing turned into a money spinner

8 thoughts on “The Unnatural Death of Affordable Housing

  1. Pingback: The Unnatural Death of Affordable Housing | Welfare, Disability, Politics and People's Right's |

  2. Pingback: Councils in a Pickle | Think Left

  3. Pingback: The Bedroom Tax: The Unkindest Cut of All? | Think Left

  4. Due to cuts to government spending housing associations already have to rent a small percentage of new homes to the private sector. The profits do however funnel back into new projects to provide accessible affordable homes. Currently 1.8 million households are on council waiting lists for rented accommodation.

  5. In Germany we are getting support for our public works project from the Left Party.
    The SPD is just like the Labour party and is not for workers but for banks.
    In the UK the TUSC coalition needs full support. Labour is not up to it.

  6. Pingback: The beginning of the end of Social Housing? | Think Left

  7. Pingback: Will the ‘left’ throw the baby out with the bathwater? | Think Left

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Logo

You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s


text:
Infant Silent Reflux is NOT Silent – Our Search For An Answer To Our Baby’s Cries

silent reflux is not silent image

I think it’s time to do a little series on our experiences with infant and toddler reflux (GERD).

I’ve been shocked over the past few years by the number of people who have asked questions about our experience with our son and daughter. I rarely go more than a month without reflux coming up in a conversation, email, or phone call – because a beloved child is hurting.

These friends, family and acquaintances want answers. They need someone to validate their intuition that something just isn’t right. They want hope – someone to tell them that a doctor was able to help our child and will be able help theirs. They want to know what questions to ask.  Sometimes after we talk, the conclusion is that their child’s symptoms do not sound like reflux, but all-too-often, what is described sounds like reflux.

Regardless of the situation, I always point them towards going to their doctor. I am not a doctor. I can only share our experience and encourage you to get help for your child if you think something is wrong. Please check with a medical professional to confirm whatever you suspect.

When I started this blog, I thought reflux would be one of the first topics I’d write about. But in truth, I’ve held back on posting about our experience.

It’s complicated. It is painful to recall those moments when we could do nothing to console our hurting child. And because there is SO much information about our experience, it is hard to organize my thoughts. Oh, and it is hard to remember details out of the haze that was one year of severe sleep-deprivation.

But, most of all, I paused because I want to be sure what I write honors our son. Sometimes when I share with other parents, they tell me how sorry they are that he was a ‘difficult’ baby. But it wasn’t HIM that was difficult. What was difficult was that he HURT.

Sure, it was a hard first year for all of us. And he did cry. A lot…all night long, night after night.  But he was a beautiful, sweet baby boy. He just hurt. A hurting baby can’t help themselves so they express their pain through tears. Silent reflux is a terrible and painful thing. His whole body told a story of pain as it tensed, writhed, and screamed until his voice rattled and he had no air and was gasping for it.

But he was our baby, our son, an immense joy and blessing. He smiled, giggled, and talked – melting our hearts. It was just that those moments were less frequent and all-too-brief because they happened between bouts of pain. But those special moments were no less profound or fulfilling, and are cherished.

Let me be clear: This article is not a complaint about that first year. This is how life was for our family. I write this to share with other parents whose children also hurting.  Sharing our experience has two purposes: to help hurting children, and to give encouragement to their parents. It takes a village…

If you are reading this because your child is hurting, I hope this points you in the right direction. If this helps just ONE family, it has achieved its purpose. I hope this encourages you – whether your child has symptoms of reflux or another source of pain, know we understand what it means to care for a hurting child. I’m glad you’re here. Looking for answers is a great place to start helping your child.

Today’s post is our story of searching for an answer. Many of you have a similar story, only after diagnosis and starting medication, it will be the end of your story. The medication will reduce acid and help your child’s muscles heal and tighten. Your story will be short – I hope and pray it is! Our story did not end there. I will tell that part of our story at a later date, but sharing how we go to the point of identifying the problem will help the most people, so I’m starting here.

Our story:

We named our son Aiden. We loved that Aiden means “little fire”.  Never in our wildest dreams did we think he’d be born with a fire of acid in his belly that would cause him pain.

He screamed all night long, inconsolably, from the first night in the hospital, through most of the next 10 months. In the first weeks, it was my mom who observed that even when sleeping, he was never relaxed; his fists clenched, his back arched, and crying out in his sleep. Although he certainly had moments of calm, especially in the early morning when he hadn’t eaten yet, they were short and infrequent. And the older he got, the worse it got.

As a first time mom, I knew babies cried. But what did I know? Who was I to say that our child cried too much? It felt like it was saying he wasn’t good, or wasn’t normal, or that I wasn’t equipped to be his mom. At his one and two week appointments, I told his doctor I was concerned about how much he cried. But I was unsure of myself and my assessment – especially when my son was bafflingly calm EVERY time we entered the clinic. So weird! I didn’t go into detail, and didn’t really explain that he cried ALL night long, or that feedings were a disaster. I figured I was doing something wrong nursing him and that like all the moms told me…at some point soon, ‘it would click’.

Since Aiden was growing (99% on the growth chart the first 6 months), the doctor wasn’t concerned with how much he cried. He explained to me that some babies cry, a lot. Perhaps it was colic. He told me colic often has no explanation and goes away on its own after peaking at 6 weeks. I felt like he was telling me I was over-reacting. I doubted myself and didn’t press the issue.

But in reality, it was an understatement to say that we were concerned. Something did not seem right and I couldn’t accept there might not be an answer.

Night after night, at 3 am, as our child screamed in my arms, I cried with him. I prayed for help, for sleep, for healing, for silence. I was his mother, helpless to soothe him, even with nursing. During the day, he wanted to nurse endlessly; he would have nursed for 10 months straight if that was possible for either of us. I learned later that he was self-medicating; soothing his throat from burning. At night, nursing was different. Frantic. He would be desperate to eat, only to push away and scream, writhing in pain. It was awful for him. And for me. Most night nursing sessions took hours. My poor husband would find us both crying in an actual puddle. He would graciously and lovingly scoop him out of my arms and take a shift pacing the house.

The nights were LONG.

No amount of walking, rocking, singing, shushing, dancing, swaying, swinging, swaddling, or standing still made a difference. The only thing that seemed to give him pause was what I’d call the deep squat. UP, down, UP, down, UP, down…I did more squats after giving birth than I have my entire life. And so did my husband. Squats would soothe him for a while as he’d look at us, wide-eyed…but as our legs, and back and arms gave out, so did the silence.

Not a really viable solution – you can only do so many squats.

I researched all kinds of causes of colic. I remembered a co-worker mentioning their child had acid mild reflux and required medication. I had never had heartburn, so it was hard for me to understand how it could be this painful. And, he never spit up – ever! But I remembered stories of adults with heartburn thinking they were having a heart attack and spending the night in the ER. When I first experienced heartburn during my second pregnancy, I realized just how awful my son felt for that entire year. It broke my heart all over again.

I researched colic, hoping to find a reason for his cries, and was often pointed towards infant reflux. But almost all references to infant reflux symptoms at that time noted that babies with reflux refused to eat and lost weight, causing failure to thrive. Our son didn’t spit up. At the time, I didn’t understand that at night as we struggled with nursing, he was refusing to eat.

Information on silent reflux wasn’t really out there – or at least, I couldn’t find it.

Finally, I found one mom’s account of her son. Their story echoed our own (I wish I could find it to thank her!). Her son, like ours, was not failing to thrive, and was also bafflingly calm in the clinic. After refusing to accept his symptoms were colic and could not be explained, she took him to other doctors and found someone who agreed with her. They diagnosed him with silent reflux. I had never heard of it.

Silent reflux is when your child has acid reflux but never spits up. Acid comes up from the stomach because the sphincter muscle at the top isn’t strong enough to close tightly. But what makes it ‘silent’ is that instead of spitting it up, they swallow it. It burns coming up and going back down. A lot. A baby should be content after they eat, but with silent reflux, it brings pain. They arch their back, throw their heads back and clench their fists – without relief. Some babies refuse to eat while others want to nurse slowly all day long.

Let’s get something straight before describing how you can identify reflux that is painful: All babies have reflux to some degree. Your child may have gurgly burps or spit up a lot but this doesn’t mean you need to be concerned. What matters is whether it hurts them.

Although most literature says a baby can’t have acid reflux right away because they don’t have stomach acid yet, our son’s symptoms were the same on day 1 as at 7 weeks, only at 7 weeks they were worse. Much worse.

Our sons’ symptoms of painful silent reflux included:

  • excessive crying that was worse at night. A whole body cry – red in the face, voice rattling, gasping for air
  • basically never slept or slept for only 40 minutes of fitful sleep at a time (there will be a separate post dedicated to our experience with reflux baby sleep)
  • would cry out in pain during sleep, especially after eating
  • repeated hiccups – not just a nuisance, they were obviously painful and would last forever. My daughter had hiccups too, but not like these. They were vicious
  • audible gurgling in his throat, followed often by red-faced coughing fits or sound of clearing his throat
  • body always tense, fists clenched
  • not content after eating, often with back arched and screaming in pain
  • during the day, wanted to nurse constantly (self-soothing) but never seemed satisfied
  • at night, frantic to nurse, only to pull back in pain and scream, then be frantic to nurse again (frantic to eat to eat, starting to eat, refusing to eat, repeat). This is the ONE repeated symptom that I’ve heard the most from other parents
  • diapers were not normal – runny, greenish, acidic (we did not know this at the time – we had no idea what a normal newborn diaper looked like until my daughter was born)

That mom’s story gave me the motivation to keep hunting for an answer. Her words gave us confidence to demand a response from the doctor and to describe, in detail, EVERYTHING that was happening. It took countless phone calls to nurses and lactation specialists, doctor visits, and finally nursing him in the clinic with a lactation specialist to diagnose him. It took the lactation specialist less than 5 minutes to figure out what was going on after our son finished eating and began writhing in pain (if you think your child has reflux and have trouble getting someone to agree, I’d reach out to the lactation specialist at your pediatrician’s office).

They diagnosed him with silent reflux at 7 weeks.

The pain had a name that made no sense – Infant Silent Reflux is NOT silent.

Read more about our experience navigating reflux treatmentmy personal experience nursing and caring for our son during his first year. and look for future posts that will describe our experiences with toddler reflux and reflux sleep (or lack-of). If you found this story to be like yours – don’t hesitate to get your child help. If you need more information sooner than the next post, email me (thisgratefulmama[at] I’m happy to share anything I know and help in any way I can.

33 thoughts on “Infant Silent Reflux is NOT Silent – Our Search For An Answer To Our Baby’s Cries

  1. Pingback: Infant Silent Reflux is NOT Silent – Our Experience Navigating Reflux Treatment | this grateful mama

  2. Thanks for sharing your story. I have two boys now 2.5 and 3.5 who weren’t diagnosed until my eldest was 2. They both ended up having to have the fundoplication surgery (amongst 14 other operations) and suffered extensive damage from silent reflux. I now volunteer for RISA (Reflux Infant Support Assoc) and I’m fiercely passionate about raising awareness.
    All the very best to you and your fanily

    • Thank you for sharing. I am sorry it took so long to get help for your boys and for all the struggles you’ve had. I am also passionate about awareness and think it is key to get help early and education and awareness is so important so parents know reflux in babies even exists, let alone what it looks like! Our son’s reflux came back at 2 with fury although I’m not sure it really ever went away as he always had some symptoms. I’ll have to learn more about RISA, seems like a great organization! Best to you and your family as well.

  3. Pingback: Happy Birthday thisgratefulmama! (Top 15 Posts From Year One) | this grateful mama

  4. Thank you for sharing your story. When you posted this in February 2015, we were in the darkest days of our reflux journey; I wish we had seen this then. Thanks for your encouragement to other families, and for sharing in a way which we can use to help those closest to our families understand a little bit of how life is during this time.

    • You are welcome. I know how difficult the journey can be. I can tell you that you will be stronger for having gone through it all with your child and you will be WELL equipped to help others by sharing your experience. You will know a reflux child when you see them – reach out and encourage the next mama 🙂

  5. Thank you for sharing your story – it was as if I’d written it! We’ve had (and continue to have) the same situation with our son Noah, and had one hell of a battle to get him diagnosed with silent reflux as he, like your son, was putting on the weight and a big comfort eater. 8 months later and we’re still battling, but it has gotten easier to some extent. I’m so fed up with people saying “oh it’s ‘just’ reflux,” and thinking all he does is spit up and I’m making a mountain out of a molehill. Only those who have had reflux babies truly get “it,” and I thank you for sharing your experiences so that people can begin to understand what these poor bubs go through.

    • You are welcome. We struggled to communicate well to others what we were really dealing with too. Writing was healing for me and I had many come back and tell me they had no idea. Keep explaining and being honest with others – most of the confusion is over misunderstanding what reflux IS. Praying for your little one and for you as parents. It DOES get better, hang in there!

  6. You have described our own experience. In the beginning I was told by my GP that ‘all babies cry dear’. And I remember thinking ‘not like this one they don’t. At three months I was finally able to prise her fists apart to wash in between her tiny hands and fingers… before that I had to try and push an ear bud through to clean them as she was in so much pain. I AM complaining about that first year. It was horrendous for all of us and I am heartbroken that it took over a year before my daughter was able to giggle and belly laugh because she was no longer in pain. A lot of GPs see silent reflux as a middle class ‘white woman’s’ malady. As the head practitioner at my surgery told me… ’30 years ago women just got on with it’. Well my response was if an adult was screaming in pain 24×7 and couldn’t eat without being in excruiating pain… they would probably be taken to hospital. It is shocking that some GPs through ignorance are happy to let babies go home and suffer from this horrible condition. Thankfully my daughter was diagnosed by a specialist and by one year was starting to be able to re-learn sleeping and eating behaviours from a ‘healthy’ point of view. Please keep up your support and I hope that all of us continue to reach out and support the next mamma. 🙂

    • Oh Alina, my heart breaks for you. These babies hurt so much and so do those who love them because we see the pain first hand. Those clenched fists are ingrained in my memory of our son’s first year as well. Clenched…Never relaxed. I agree not all doctors see the urgency of treating reflux and doing what CAN be done to help babies who are legitimately HURTING. I am relieved to hear you found someone to listen and that your daughter is improving. She is blessed to have you advocating for her and loving her. You are doing a good job and you are all going to get through this. Bless you.

  7. Thank you so much for sharing what sounds like had been an immensely difficult tine for all of you. This made me cry so much for your son and for you and your partner As it must have been so horrible doubting yourself and your instincts for so long. I’m relieved you got a diagnosis but saddened it took you fighting all the way to get it. Peace to you all now 🙂

    • Thank you. We did get a diagnosis and our son is now 5 and reflux free (although we avoid acidic foods just like an adult with heartburn tendancies would). The road wasn’t easy but it ended well for us and we have a very healthy boy 🙂

  8. Thank you for sharing these story. My 8 week old baby is also going through the same situation and his name is also Ayden. Right now we are on trail of zantac and gaviscon. Hope it will work for him as it took me 4 weeks and number of visits to health visitor, doctor and A and E to explain every one that this things not colic. As u mentioned in your story I have spend all these night crying with my baby too. All babies are blessings they cry because they are in pain not because they need attention. I am waiting for writing about sleep and reflux. Thanks once again this show the I am alone.

    • You are not alone! I hope they work for your son! Just know if Zantac and Gaviscon don’t work – keep asking for a solution. There is always more they can do for him. Good job being his advocate and for sticking with your gut as you search for the right solution.

    • Hi Thisgratefulmama – is it ok for me to share what worked for us – for any parent new to silent reflux reading this thread?

      • We found it was a bit of trial and error with drugs and usually took a week before you could tell if the medicine is working. Each case is different. In the end my little one was on Ranitidine and liquid Omeprazole (easier to administer) alternatively every four hours during the day and that seemed to help ease her pain.
      • We found it very difficult to get medicine in a screaming child. We started off putting a tiny small hole at the end of a bottle teat so that the medicine could be easily swallowed as she sucked it like a dummy. Then we found a dummy at our Chemist specifically made for this purpose (genius idea).
      • Towels placed under the bassinet and cot mattress to slightly raise the head end makes it less easy for the acid to come up. From memory there are wesites that specialise in things specifically for Reflux Babies – but we used old fashioned towels.
      • We found that our little one enjoyed tummy time more than others and was mostly happy asleep or awake upright – so a lovely soft front sling became our best friend.
      • And whilst some parents are hugely anti using them, our daughter used a dummy until she was one years of age (towards the end mostly when sleeping). Our wonderful consultant Doctor Eltumi said that dummies/pacifiers can be a reflux child’s best friend as sucking soothes their pain.
      • Hook up with other parents whose children are suffering from Silent Reflux. Their support and kind understanding is invaluable.
      • There is light at the end of the tunnel. It may seem a life time away now, but each month does bring a little bit more ease for your beautiful baby. 5 1/2 months was when we noticed that we could take our daughter out shopping without her screaming the place down 😉 and by 9 months to one year things were a massive difference again. Sometimes people find that when they start weaning a child at the appropriate time they notice a difference (avoid acidic foods) – but again each child is different.

      On an emotional level, I am glad that I took lots of photos of times when my darling daughter was happy and smiling during that first year as it took a long time for me to forget the hard times…. and I was in danger of having that define my memories of that early time. They grow up so very quickly!!! Freya has just started school, eats everything (never thought we would get there) and is an absolute loving joy. And she is healthy. Super healthy. That’s the best part! xx

      • Thanks Alina, I am definitely behind doctors to help my child doesn’t matter if it takes me thousands of visits. I have also found out that ayden do like dummy as well may be he is using it as soothing effect. Currently he is sleeping on my chest day and night because elevating his head with towel didn’t worked so far but I am not in hurry to sleep train him now unless he is on right medication. I liked the idea of sling I will definitely try that out. Thanks again these blogs gave me so much stregnth to fight for the peace of my child. I also don’t want ayden to loose his 1 year of childhood in pain.

  9. Hi Rubina, babies with Silent Reflux do sleep better on their tummy as it is that much harder for the acid to rise up the oesophagus. Just think of the shape/letter ‘b’. With the tail being the oesophagus and the ball being the stomach. On the back it is very easy for the acid to rise into the oesophagus. Lying on the ball part of the ‘b’ (i.e. tummy) can help. As you probably know, it is not recommended for babies to sleep on their tummies in order to reduce the chance of Sudden Cot Death Syndrome (SIDS). But talk to your GP or consultant as they may recommend more time durng the day being on their tummy. My daughter slept on her tummy during the day from 9 weeks where I could keep an eye on her (on advice of my consultant). Thinking of you Rubina.

    This really helped me as we continue to seek answers to what I suspect is my daughter’s silent reflux.

    It is so helpful to read about other people’s experiences and I appreciate the time you took to write this!

  11. Pingback: Happy New Year! {And Top 10 Posts of 2015} | this grateful mama

  12. Pingback: Infant Silent Reflux is NOT Silent: My Experience Nursing and Caring for Our Hurting Son During His First Year | this grateful mama

  13. Wow! thank you so much for sharing your story. It was as though I read an account of the year my husband and I have just had. We too have a beautiful boy, a true gift from God, who has been so much in pain from silent reflux.

    Reading your experience was so validating. It can be an extremely isolating time. I am still very traumatised by the whole thing. I felt hurt and defensive that so many people had no idea what really went on for us and they would say ‘oh yeah, our baby cries too’… And then suggest some basic soothing techniques. It made me stop sharing as I would so often come away feeling patronised and angry.

    We too felt incredibly helpless as we held our son screaming, arching his back, sweating, red with agony and breathless.

    Thankfully, the silent reflux is much more under control these days (our little guy just turned one)!

    Thank you again for posting with such honesty. Xx

    • I’m glad it validated how things were for you. It feels so lonely, but there ARE those who do understand, we just need to be open to shae with them when we come across them. You’ll be surprised when you come across someone else dealing with reflux – you WILL be able to encourage them and lift them up in prayer. I am glad your son i feeling better. It can take a while to process all of it and heal yourself from the emotion of it all as a parent too. I had trouble finding those who understood as well – and yes, people often suggested ways they soothed their baby who didn’t hurt all the time. We still tried all of it – it just didn’t work. Thank you for sharing YOUR experience. Appreciate your insights.

    • Hi Rebecca, it is an incredibly hard year that first one. It truly does test you. I found it helpful to talk about my experiences at seminars for private maternity nurses who specialise in looking after reflux babies. For me, what I noticed was that it was difficult to let go of the emotions from that first year and stop talking or referring to that time as though we were still victims of that struggle. I am not a parent of a refluxy baby – she is now 5 and the picture of health. I WAS a parent of a refluxy baby and now need to let go of those memories and replace them with all the pictures and videos we took of when she was smiling and happy. Thank goodness for those pictures! Sending you much love. Alina xx

  14. Wow, as I was reading, I could relate to everything you were saying. Feels good to know I am not alone. I swear if I hear one more person say oh babies cry… It is very difficult, we have been to the doctors and hospital, and my son is on zantac, which does help a bit,but he still has pain. He is gaining weight, so the doctors now blame it on colic… I feel like I am always searching for answers, trying to figure out what’s wrong, trying to make him feel better, I wish i could just make it all better. Thanks so much, reading this made me feel like there is a light at th end of the tunnel.

    • You are welcome. Sorry for the slow response. We welcomed our third baby in May and she also has reflux. We are in the same boat as you – Zantac that is working some but doctors blame colic. We are also seeing a chiropractor with some improvement this time around. I am in it with you – and there is a light at the end of the tunnel as we’ve seen before, but I find myself needing to be reminded as well. Hang in there – you’re not alone!

  15. Pingback: Hands FULL. My Cup Runneth Over | this grateful mama

  16. Pingback: Infant Silent Reflux Is NOT Silent – 5 Ways to Help Older Children Cope | this grateful mama

  17. Pingback: Infant Silent Reflux is NOT Silent – God is faithful, still. | this grateful mama

  18. Pingback: Doubt, Love and Freedom | this grateful mama

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Logo

You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s


text:
Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Back of the Bag: Mission Tortilla Strips

My daughter spotted this recipe and said I should give it a try. It took about 5 seconds to make and would be a great party appetizer.

Black Bean & Roasted Red Pepper Dip
1 pkg. (1 oz) taco seasoning mix
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 jar (7 oz) roasted red peppers, drained
1 pkg (12 oz) light cream cheese
1 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
1 to 2 tsp. lime juice
Mission tortilla strips

In food processor, combine all ingredients except garnishes; mix thoroughly. Serve with Mission Strips and assorted raw vegetables. Makes 2 cups.

Janet's Notes: Even though the roasted red peppers were in the title, I went all rogue like Sarah Palin and substituted diced Ortega chiles. I also left out the cilantro because I don't like it, but that's just me. Also, my package of cream cheese is only 8 ounces. Not sure where I would find a 12-oz package because 8 ounces is the standard size that I always buy at the store, so I threw in 1/4 cup of sour cream so it wouldn't be too salty. The kids devoured this.


text:
Look who’s talking

Jen, aka Other Dog, is very ‘chatty’ – making sounds that approximate human speech in order to copy what she hears Chris and me doing.

Being a Border Collie, she knows a lot of English words and a fair few human concepts – for instance, smiling. On seeing someone she likes, she bares her teeth – not to snarl but to try to copy the smile reaction she sees from humans.

Her chatting has incorporated two phrases and concepts. Whenever I open the back door, I call out “peepees and poopoos!”. Now, if she wants to go outside, her chatter contains the word “reeree ah rooroo”.

She has also taken on board the most common thing she has heard Chris and I saying to each other, developing the word “ru-roo” to mean “human/person/not dog” – a corruption of “love you”.

The other day she came up with her first sentence. Chris popped out to the corner shop while she was in the back yard, so she didn’t see him leave. She was inside for his return though, and when he came through the door excitedly announced “ru-roo uh reeree ah rooroo!” – “you were outside!”

Are you a dog person or a cat person?

One man and his dogs

Apologies for the wind noise. You won’t miss anything if you watch with the sound muted.

Give a dog a bone

A gallery of bitches


text:
If you have patients that are suffering from depression or an anxiety disorder,
there is a strong change they will greatly benefit
from undertaking one or more of our courses.

How Does It Work?

Prescribe and Monitor

You can prescribe these courses to patients and supervise them as they work through the lessons.

If you would like to refer your patients to This Way Up Clinic, you can contact us for availability.

Suggest Self Help iCBT Apps

Or you can recommend to your patients to take up the self help courses, available on desktop or mobile devices.

Why Clinicians Use This Way Up

  • Effective
    Efficacy has been established in randomised control trials conducted by our research unit – Virtual Clinic. The courses produce improvements comparable to good face-to-face treatment with number needed to treat (NNT = 2).

  • Less Demanding
    Clinician’s time can be considerably reduced without compromising clinical outcomes or acceptability. Clinicians can prescribe THIS WAY UP courses to patients on wait lists, in order to assist them during the waiting period.

  • Improves Adherence
    In our randomised control trials, about 80% of people who enrol in our research programs complete all lessons.

Register as a Clinician – FREE

Free CBT Training Courses for Clinicians

In this course you can learn the skills to effectively treat patients with anxiety and depression.
The course teaches the skills used in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
and what treatments to use for patients under your care.

Access the CBT course now

Clinician Testimonials

Don’t just believe us. See what other health professionals have to say.

“The automated administration and scoring of standardised measures throughout treatment means I can easily track client progress in a much more time-efficient way than administering and scoring the measures myself. The online clinician view lets me see all my client’s scores in one place, all at once.”

“I loved receiving an email from a patient who could not afford, or find the time, to see a professional; she was amazed that just from a few simple online lessons, she had learnt the tools to overcome her anxiety.”

“THIS WAY UP’s online services have been hugely useful for my clients and for myself as a clinician. Clients find the material logical, easy to follow and practical; and they appreciate the 24/7 web access.”

“It’s really like having an intern in the practice.”

“My patients tell me they no longer feel they are ‘weird’ or suffering alone. This Way Up courses have a tremendous normalising effect..”

“It’s wonderful! Thanks so much. This gives me more time to work with clients in implementing and learning the skills they need to manage anxiety and depression.”

Good Luck to you ALL!”

Frequently Asked Questions

I’m not a GP, can I still register

Yes. Any clinician (e.g. general practitioner, psychologist, mental health nurse or any other allied health professional) is eligible to use THIS WAY UP.

Who is suitable for a course?

Patients who have a mild, moderate to severe anxiety and depressive disorder are suitable for a THIS WAY UP Clinic course.

How do patients enrol?

Patients enrol via our THIS WAY UP website. In order to register as a prescribed patient, they will require a completed prescription from you.

Read More FAQ


text:
Features / Usability

You are viewing a reply to blogs and users

Re: blogs and users

posts: 4082

There seems to be just one database table column to store every username that posts in a given blog, so there's no way to distinguish the blog creator from others who post in the blog.

This looks like a bug, or design flaw, to me too, especially since the blog creator changes when somebody new posts, which definitely misrepresents things. A bug report should be filed at dev.tikiwiki.org. In the meantime, as far as I know, the only solution is to not let people other than the creator post in each blog, or to tolerate the added names.

-- Gary

Why Register?

Register at tiki.org and you'll be able to use it at any *.tiki.org site, thanks to the InterTiki feature. A valid email address is required to receive site notifications and occasional newsletters. You can opt out of these items at any time.


text:
My Timesheet Reminders

We have introduced this feature to give the quick preview of the time cards that are not submitted.

As soon as you click the Timesheet Reminder, it shows the current week is submitted or not.

With click of a Quick Search Filter option “Last Week, This Month, Last Month and other filter options” you can see the missing time cards.

As soon as user click on the Start Time Period link, it will navigate to the New Time card of chosen week, it makes easier for filling the time cards.

Hope you like this feature!

Getting Started with tmsHUB

tmsHUB Welcome Screen

Welcome to tmsHUB! Now that you are here, we can better explain how TMS Hub is organized and how to set things up, so you can get most of your account.

TMS Hub is a SaaS based multi-tenant web application used for creating and managing user times tracking, billing, invoice and ease payroll processing. The main goal of creating this application is to make everything easy with just one click feature. User can log in to this application in two ways –

  1. Microsoft Office 365 login
  2. or Organization email Id (aka Form Authentication)

Major Features and Benefits

For User

Browser-based time-entry

Time is entered more efficiently because employees can access TMS Hub from any computer, anywhere. PC, Mac, and Linux users can all access their time sheets.

Daily or Weekly Time-entry

Employees can choose to enter time by day or by week, whichever is most appropriate for their work style.

For Managers

Missing Timesheet Alerts

Managers spend less time chasing down unfinished time sheets -he can go click on the Timesheet reminder link and managers will know who hasn’t submitted their timesheets.

Email-based authentication

Because your email address is your user ID, there are no clumsy usernames or codes to remember

Roles and Permissions

  1. Employee
  2. Manager
  3. Administrator

  1. Create timesheet
  2. View timesheet
  3. Save timesheet
  4. Submit timesheet
  5. Resubmit timesheet

  1. Create timesheet
  2. View timesheet
  3. Save timesheet
  4. Submit timesheet
  5. Approve/Reject timesheet
  6. View their team timesheets
  7. Monthly view
  8. Send reminder timesheet
  9. View projects
  10. View Assigned team members
  11. View customers

Administrator: Administrator will have access to all.


text:
TOK Course Tools

Throughout this course we will use a variety of tools for course management and creation.

Examples (not exhaustive)

Posterous blogging platform (individual and class blog spaces)

ManageBac (recording grades / posting assignments – all linked back to blog)

Remind101 (communication via text)

email (with school Google Acct)

Twitter (for research and backchannelling)

TodaysMeet (for backchannelling)

Diigo (social bookmarking and collaboartive annotation)

Screencast tools (Quicktime, Explain Everything, Screenr, Screenchomp)

Tridacer (for brainstorming and social polling)

Google Docs (for spreadsheets, forms, etc.)

Prezi (presentation tool)

WIX (web site creation)

dslja and TILLTOK blogs (for creation and participation in a learning community)

YouTube (for annotating, posting, and viewing videos)

iMovie or WeVideo (video creation)

Themeefy (digital newspaper)

TED ED (for lesson creation)

Thinglink (hypermedia images)

Learnology site (for collaboration with an Australian school)

Socrative (for instant response via mobile device)

smartphones or iPads (for recording for vlogs, etc.)

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Logo

You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this:


text:
YaleNews | Yale historian shares ‘sobering’ analysis of the past, and an action plan for the present, in new book

The Sage of Yale Law - The New Yorker

Tanning Dependence Linked to Other Addictive Behaviors, New Study Finds | Yale School of Public Health

Center for Justice at Columbia University on Livestream- BEyond the BArs Conference Videos

Tiger Woods opens up on racial slurs that drove his desire for dominance | Ewan Murray

Survey: Poverty's Effects In Connecticut Are Far-Reaching

FACEbook live Link , Tom Ficklin Radio Show Interview with Kai Perry and Hillary Bridges

The Tom Ficklin Show | Kai Perry and Hillary Bridges


text:
House of Lords

Oral Answer – Multilateral Disarmament – Question, House of Lords, 28 November 2016

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer Liberal Democrat 2:36 pm, 28th November 2016
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to oppose the proposed United Nations resolution on taking forward multilateral nuclear disarmament; and, if so, what alternative measures they consider could lead to progress being made on multilateral disarmament negotiations.

Earl Howe The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
My Lords, the UK voted against this resolution on 27 October as we do not believe that the negotiations it mandates will lead to progress on global nuclear disarmament. We are committed to a world without nuclear weapons, in line with our obligations under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, but the best way to achieve this goal is through gradual multilateral disarmament, negotiated using a step-by-step approach and within existing international frameworks.

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer Liberal Democrat
My Lords, I welcome the Minister reiterating this country’s commitment to multilateral disarmament, but does he share the frustration of the UN Secretary-General, who said that:

“The UN disarmament machinery is locked in chronic stalemate”?

Although, as the Minister says, Article VI of the NPT is supposed to ensure progress, in fact some nuclear weapons states such as India, Israel and Pakistan have not even signed the treaty while others, including the UK, US, Russia and France, oppose the current resolution the Minister is talking about—and all this is happening at a time when the world as a whole is going to spend $1 trillion on the modernisation of nuclear weapons. How will it be possible to open the dialogue that would lead to what the Minister asserts we hope will happen?

Earl Howe The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The noble Baroness points to a number of obstacles which I do not for a moment wish to dispute. But in the end the only way to achieve global nuclear disarmament is by creating the conditions whereby nuclear weapons are no longer necessary, and the precursor to that has to be achieving consensus among and between nuclear states. We remain determined to continue to work with partners across the international community to make progress on multilateral disarmament, and that in turn depends on building trust and confidence between nuclear and non-nuclear weapons states. The United Kingdom has been at the forefront of a number of initiatives to achieve that.

Lord Trefgarne Chair, Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (formerly Merits Committee)
My Lords, can my noble friend confirm that the Government will agree to nothing in this field which is not both balanced and verifiable?

Earl Howe The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
My noble friend makes two very important points. The UK is currently working with Norway on the verifiability of disarmament to achieve what my noble friend wishes to see in the long term. But a balanced treaty, if we arrive at that point, is obviously a necessary condition.

Lord West of Spithead Labour
My Lords, does the noble Earl agree that this resolution is not very helpful at all? As he says, there are other areas that we need to focus on such as reactivating some of the existing agreements; trying to take weapons off immediate readiness for release, which our nation does not do but some countries still do; getting rid of short-range missiles; holding a debate about ballistic missile defence, and finding methods of talking immediately with the Russians and others about de-escalation where necessary.

Earl Howe The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The noble Lord makes some very good points. Among the actions that the UK has recently been taking is work with Norway on disarmament verification, as my noble friend Lord Trefgarne referred to. We initiated the P5 process in 2009 to bring together nuclear weapons states to build the trust and confidence that I referred to. We proposed a programme of work at the conference on disarmament held in Geneva in February this year with the aim of reinvigorating the conference’s work—in fact, that was eventually blocked but we made a good attempt at it—and we continue to press for the entry into force of a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty. So there is work that we are trying to push along.

Lord Hannay of Chiswick Crossbench
My Lords, are the Government giving any thought to globalising and generalising some of the constraints in the agreement between Iran and the P5+1, thus building a basis on which that agreement could extend far longer than the 15 years it will currently last?

Earl Howe The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
I completely take the noble Lord’s point. It is early days to be thinking in those terms, although he is right to do so. It is encouraging that the November IAEA report to the board of governors confirmed that Iran remains compliant with the nuclear-related measures set out in the joint comprehensive plan of action. We welcome the findings of the DG’s report. We praised the IAEA for its progress and continued work on that very challenging task, but no doubt lessons and messages will emerge from that strand of work.

Lord Harris of Haringey Labour
My Lords, the noble Earl has talked about the need to move towards multilateral disarmament, but there are stocks of fissile material in various parts of the globe. How confident is he that those stocks, which could be turned into nuclear weapons, are sufficiently secure to avoid them falling into the hands of aspirant nuclear powers or, worse still, non-state actors that might wish to possess such materials?

Earl Howe The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
My Lords, that is clearly a constant concern and the noble Lord is right to raise it. Against that background, the UK continues to push for the early start of negotiations, without preconditions, on a fissile material cut-off treaty in the Conference on Disarmament. We supported a Canadian-backed resolution at the United Nations first committee on that topic, in October. In this country we have a voluntary moratorium on the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other explosive devices. We have not produced fissile material for nuclear weapons since 1995.

Baroness Jolly Liberal Democrat Principal Spokesperson for Defence (Lords), Shadow LD Spokesperson (Defence), Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Defence)
My Lords, in 1968 the UK signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and, as the noble Earl said, a lot of progress has been made since then. President Reagan met with President Gorbachev in Helsinki in 1986, and that resulted in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. What encouragement will the Government give to President-elect Trump to talk to his friend President Putin to kick-start multilateral talks on further reduction, in time for the 50th anniversary of the NPT in 2018?

Earl Howe The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
I hope the noble Baroness will be glad to know that at the appropriate time we will convey to President-elect Trump the importance of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. We should not underestimate the role it has played for almost five decades in helping to limit proliferation and provide a framework for disarmament and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Nearly all United Nations member states are signed up to it—that is a tremendously important point in its favour. That treaty should form the basis on which we make progress in this area.

Written Answer – Vanguard Submarine Replacement — Question, House of Lords, 10 February 2016

Lord West of Spithead Labour 3:22 pm, 10th February 2016
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the planned timescale from start of fabrication to commissioning of the first Successor Vanguard replacement submarine, and how much will have been spent on designs, long lead and other items of the total programme, including upgrade to Faslane Naval Base, by April.

Earl Howe The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
My Lords, I regret that I must withhold planned build times, as they relate to the formation of government policy. Although the department will consider a number of planning assumptions for build times when conducting concept and assessment studies on projects, build times are not confirmed until projects are approved. Information on the annual spend on the programme is updated each year in the successor annual report to Parliament, which is due to be published this year.

Lord West of Spithead Labour
My Lords, I thank the noble Earl for that rather disappointing Answer. If one digs around in all the documentation that has been produced, it is quite clear that the build time for the first successor submarine will be something like twice as long as it was for the first of the Vanguard class. There was no real answer on the costs but, again, one has from open source the fact that almost £4 billion has either been spent or is committed to be spent already.

I know that the noble Earl understands how crucial the replacement of the submarines and the maintenance of the deterrent are to the security of our nation, yet the decision which has to be made in the other place is being delayed and delayed. It could have been made at any time since last November. I know that it is fun to watch Labour wriggling in anguish, and that having cartoons such as that in the Times, with pictures of Spitfires and Fokkers—I hasten to add that that is a type of aeroplane, in case people get confused—is very amusing, but this is too important for scoring party-political points. The British public, for whom I have great respect, understand that and will not be impressed.

Has there been a ministerial direction to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Defence authorising him to spend, so far, £4 billion, which will grow and grow, when he knows that a decision will be taken in the House of Commons about whether it should go ahead?

Earl Howe The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
My Lords, I have no wish to score party-political points on a matter as serious as this. The noble Lord may remember that Parliament voted in 2007 to support the programme to replace the Vanguard-class submarines. That authorised the investment in the programme, including the design work and the long leads. This is the stage we are at now. If we had not commenced the work when we did, it would not have been possible to design and construct the successor submarines before the Vanguard class left service. We are moving ahead with all speed. We are committed to a parliamentary vote because it is only right and proper to give the democratically elected Chamber of Parliament the opportunity to endorse the principle of the deterrent.

Lord Boyce Crossbench
My Lords, I thank the Minister for that confirmation of the Government’s commitment to the successor programme. There has been some badly informed talk by some people in positions of responsibility on the subject of the vulnerability of the successor to detection in the future. Does the Minister agree that such statements are totally speculative; show serious lack of understanding of anti-submarine warfare, the science of oceanography and the science of the impenetrability of water; and are probably being made with irresponsibly and wilfully misleading intent?

Earl Howe The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
My Lords, yes. To be effective, the nuclear deterrent has to be credible. We take the responsibility to maintain a credible nuclear deterrent extremely seriously. We continually assess all the threats and review them against the capability of our submarines to ensure their current and future operational effectiveness, including threats against cyber and unmanned vehicles. We are confident that the deterrent remains safe and secure and will be so in the future.

Baroness Seccombe Conservative
My Lords, does the Minister consider that our national security would be at risk if the rest of the world knew that our submarines carried no nuclear armaments?

Earl Howe The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
My Lords, to state the obvious, a nuclear deterrent requires nuclear warheads. The Government were elected on a manifesto commitment to retain a nuclear deterrent, so having anything less than a nuclear warhead in our submarines would not offer a credible deterrent.

Baroness Jolly Liberal Democrat Principal Spokesperson for Defence (Lords), Shadow LD Spokesperson (Defence), Liberal Democrat Lords Principal Spokesperson for Defence
My Lords, without doubt, there is a shortage of engineers to cope with the nuclear programme. Whenever it starts is relatively academic. What action is the MoD taking to recruit, incentivise and train young men and women to be the nuclear engineers of the future?

Earl Howe The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
My Lords, extensive work is going on across Government to incentivise people to enter the engineering profession. The noble Baroness is quite right. We are working not only within Government but with industry to ensure that the attractiveness of engineering, in the nuclear field in particular, can be shared and that people who enter the profession can look forward to a rewarding career throughout their lives.

Lord Touhig Opposition Whip (Lords), Shadow Spokesperson (Defence)
My Lords, under this Government we have seen a reduction in the size of the Armed Forces. We have no aircraft carriers any longer. At the time when the Russians are increasing submarine patrols by 50%, we have no maritime patrol aircraft. On top of that, the Government want to extend the life of the Vanguard nuclear submarines. I would be less than honest if I did not admit that my party had some problems with defence too; noble Lords might have been reading about them in the newspapers. But there is one policy that does unite at least the two Front Benches in this House, so will the Minister put a simple question to his right honourable friend the Prime Minister and say: “Dave, pull your finger out and damn well get on with committing ourselves to replacing the Trident programme, because it is the first duty of any Government to protect our country”?

Earl Howe The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
My Lords, I think that the noble Lord is being less than generous to the Government, who for the first time in a long time have increased the defence budget, with an extensive programme of equipment in train. However, the message that he sought to give is well taken. I tell him that we are proceeding apace with the successor programme. As I have already indicated, we have an assessment phase, the cost of which so far is £3.3 billion, as budgeted. That will go up to £3.9 billion in the design phase, including ordering essential long-lead items for the fourth submarine. I hope that the noble Lord will take away the message that we are not being slow off the mark.


text:
Take better pet photos with the camera you've got. / by Tracy Munson

Adorable chihuahua in a pink coat.
Adorable chihuahua in a pink coat.

Welcome to the tips and tricks section of Hair of the Dog Photography. My goal in writing this is to help you take better photos of your pets with the camera you've got - even if it's just a point and shoot or a smart phone. These tutorials will be aimed mostly at pet owners who want to take better photos of their furry friends and shelter staff whose intake photos of the animals that come through their doors could make the difference between life and death. The common thread is that both groups are usually trying to photograph animals in less than ideal conditions, with less than ideal gear. That doesn't mean you can't get a good photo, though - one that will make your Facebook friends gush or have streams of people wanting to adopt the cat with the cute shelter picture, it's just a bit more challenging.

I've spent a lot of time in the last three years learning about photography. The understanding I've gained has helped improve the photos I take with my "big girl camera" (my DSLR), by leaps and bounds. The thing is, even I don't always have my big camera with me when moments happen. When I'm at work, in the animal shelter, I need to be able to take decent photos of the animals with an outdated point and shoot and no photoshop to fall back on. What I have learned about how the camera works has helped me to get better photos, even with inferior gear. I understand, though, that if you're here, it's probably more because you're a pet lover than an aspiring photographer, so I will keep my explanations simple and show lots of examples and cute pet photos. When possible, I will also provide links to articles exploring the subject in more depth for those who are interested. I hope you'll have fun learning about pet photography along with me. You'll probably find that most of these principles will work equally well to improve your photos of your children and just about everything else, as well. If there are any specific topics you are anxious to see covered, comment below and I'll move them to the top of the list! If you want to make sure you don't miss a post, you can subscribe to my blog by email and you'll receive notifications whenever there's a new post. Alternately, you can sign up for my newsletter and receive updates once every month or so.

[button link="http://eepurl.com/UfKbj" type="big" color="teal" newwindow="yes"] Subscribe to my newsletter[/button]

Next post in this series: Light, light, light


text:
Italy - Subsidies and other transfers (% of expense)

Subsidies and other transfers (% of expense) in Italy was reported at 49.58 % in 2015, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources.

 italy subsidies and other transfers percent of expense wb data

We will not not share your email with third parties and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Please Paste this Code in your Website

Subsidies, grants, and other social benefits include all unrequited, nonrepayable transfers on current account to private and public enterprises; grants to foreign governments, international organizations, and other government units; and social security, social assistance benefits, and employer social benefits in cash and in kind.

Italy | Public Sector


text:
• 0%
    0 votes
  • Rate this show
    What did you think?
  • 9
  • 311
  • 204
  • 14

Ikkitousen: Xtreme Xecutor 2010

  • 2010-03-26T00:00:00Z
  • 20 mins
  • 4 hours, 0 mins
  • Japan
  • Action, Adventure, Animation, Comedy
Academy clans wars escalate. Time to unleash the true powers of all the fighters. A new enemy appears, but fooled by only what the eye can catch, Hakufu doesn't notice the true and mighty enemies lurking on the shadows, ready to assault all that she treasures the most. Deathful eyes and souls join the fight for supremacy, a fight that no longer involves the academies only but the whole world.

All Episodes
Recent episodes

1 season

If you like Ikkitousen: Xtreme Xecutor, check out...


text:
All 16 photos

Detached house – Administration of Macedonia and Thrace, Greece

155,000 €
Submit request
Total area: 110 m² Land area: 1,000 m²
  • Total rooms: 4
  • Sea at 2,000 m

Location and nearby objects

supermarket-iconCreated with Sketch.
school-iconCreated with Sketch.
cafe-iconCreated with Sketch.
Cafe and restaurants
hospital-iconCreated with Sketch.
airport-iconCreated with Sketch.
Similar listings

We are looking for similar listings

Alexander Hincu
Alexander Hincu
Real Estate Expert Tranio in Administration of Macedonia and Thrace
+44 20 3608 1267
Free advice on real estate in Administration of Macedonia and Thrace
By clicking «Submit request», you agree with the terms of Tranio's User Agreement.
Submit request
    Send one more request
    • 0% commission to Tranio
    • Residence permit support
    • Mortgage rates from 3.5%


text:
This listing has been removed

Please make a property search request or check out another listings in Hungary
Bashitha Kariyawasam
Bashitha Kariyawasam
Real Estate Expert Tranio in Hungary
+44 20 3608 1267
Free advice on real estate in Hungary
By clicking «Submit request», you agree with the terms of Tranio's User Agreement.
Submit request
    Send one more request
    • 0% commission to Tranio
    • Residence permit support
    • Mortgage rates from 5.5%


text:
All 7 photos
This listing has expired.

Contact a manager at, and we will find you a suitable Apartment or property from among our 100,000 offers across 54 countries around the globe

Apartment – Calpe, Valencia, Spain

164,000 €
1,929 € /m²
Mortgage calculator
Submit request
Total area: 85 m² 2 bedrooms 2 separate bathrooms

Apartment situated in the town of Calpe, with a surface of 85 m², divided into 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Equipped with a fully furnished kitchen. Has private urbanization with swimming pool and landscaped areas. It is located next to the beach.

We can help you to get a mortgage on favourable terms. A residence permit can be obtained with the purchase of this property. Please ask our team for more information.

Similar listings

We are looking for similar listings

Alexander Hincu
Alexander Hincu
Real Estate Expert Tranio in Calpe
+44 20 3608 1267
Free advice on real estate in Calpe
By clicking «Submit request», you agree with the terms of Tranio's User Agreement.
Submit request
    Send one more request
    • 0% commission to Tranio
    • Residence permit support
    • Mortgage rates from 2.5%