Recommendations for Air Asia With the Perspective of Different Cost Analysis

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1 Introduction:

Starting from short haul operation strategy, Air Asia airline in south-east Asia provides cost effective flying solutions for travelers. To formulate this cost effecting strategy, Air Asia first determine different cost such as capital, fixed, variable, maintenance, labor, fuel, facility, inventory, environment and technology cost to establish new point to point airline service. To investigate different kinds of cost Air Asia first identify potential market in south-east Asia by strong commitment at all level of services; for instance in safety, security, customer service and benefits. Air Asia also established their strategy by building strategic alliances with other airlines. This low cost strategy from Air Asia airline also proven to be formidable puzzle of interest as different proportion of constant changing variables affect on policy making, segmenting market, inventory control, yield system and so on. Basically, implementing such strategy was indeed complex in nature for example, providing direct services between two destinations route increase LOS (level of service) but on the contrary if the airline does not fill up with sufficient passenger then the airline surely will incur huge losses..

2 Different Cost Analysis of Air Asia:

2.1 Capital cost:

For Air Asia, capital cost is associated with initial setup of project, generally which occur at the beginning of project likewise, investment or buying airplane, cargo, aircraft, lands, buildings, construction, alternative route, high speed train (HST) facilities for different route and so on. Recently, Air Asia is going to expand its market in air cargo which again asking for lots of capital investment. Though, airline capital investments is highly intensive and most of the potential project failed due to limited funds. For example, MAXjet airways, EOS and SilverJet all failed at the initial stage of capital investment only because lack of funding and competitive business models (Wensveen, Leick, 2009). Thus, Air Asia is required to understand this issue for successful business require sufficient amount of capital investment at initial phase.

2.2 Fixed cost:

Here, the price of Air Asia has to be determined on capacity, seats and utilities to minimize total cost. In addition, fixed cost also consist of ticketing operation, ground facilities, airport counter facilities, forward booking and dispatching aircraft from the fleet which can be spread over more passenger as traffic density rises.

2.3 Variable cost:

These costs are determined based on operating, maintenance, labor, fuel, facility, inventory, environmental and technology cost.

3 Operating cost:

The effects of operating cost are un-quantified as the scope of system is varied on point to point service. Here the basic operating costs are administration, ticketing, sales & promotion, passenger service, en-route airport maintenance and landing cost. These operating costs have determined on the level of various operations on airline including air service such as cargo operation, employees.

3.1 Flight operating cost: Is typically associated with aircraft, fleet, flying operation as well as cost related to repairing of equipment and depreciation & amortization.

3.2 Ground operating costs: this cost incurred from handling airport station, landing fees, charges, processing cargo, passenger baggage, travel agency cost, retail ticket office, distribution, commission, reservation, ticket and sales and so on.

3.3 System operating cost: this cost include passenger service cost (i.e. foods, entertainment, flight attendant and in flight service and transport related cost (i.e. regional airline partners providing regional air service, extra baggage expense and miscellaneous overheads.

4 Maintenance Cost:

The next stage is maintenance cost which is related to engine maintenance and components maintenance cost. In 2009, the proportion of engine maintenance cost was 43 percent where component maintenance cost was 20 percent and line maintenance was 17 percent. The maintenance cost also increases due to direct operating cost as for daily air flight operation. Thus, maintenance cost is crucial for our Air Asia because this overhead cost doesn’t depend although it varies to the number of times due to requirement of service, demand or other factors. For example, any break down on engine or component hamper airline services for on time flight or even any disruptions increase additional charges as well as minimizing level of services which eventually drive away passenger.

5 Labor cost:

For Air Asia, labor cost is major factor as it is related with salary, benefits, pay rate for cabin crew, pilot, stuffs and other employees. However, labor cost also includes with aircraft services, cleaning, and passenger handling and catering. For example, providing service for customers likes catering, cleaning or even emergency service during flight require services from stuffs. For these additional services, employers expect to receive additional incentives.

6 Fuel cost:

Constant fluctuations on fuel price are also causes great impact on airline service in terms of competition on point to point service. This has been evident that approximately overall 20 percent operating costs are incurred from fuel, and due to price sensitivity, flexibility and quick responsiveness fuel price causes negative effect on ticket price.

7 Facility cost:

Here all kinds of aircraft, electricity, water, availability of spare equipments, machine, tools, ground maintenance filtering, pipeline and route maintenance costs are related to facility cost.

8 Environmental cost:

Airline industry is usually always remaining under pressure to decrease negative impact on global warming and noise pollution. Growing awareness on environmental issues is becoming a huge challenge now days to introduce new technology, aircraft and new air flight. For example, Singapore airlines attempted to keep its fleet as modern as possible. The new A380 is a cleaner and greener aircraft compared to the Boeing 747 on a per-seat basis but introducing such new service was really costly.

The only solution is to become greener and eco-friendly is adapting technology which doesn’t pollute air and doesn’t increase global warming. For example, eco-friendly gas could be an alternative solution to mitigate this issue as well as reducing costs. In Air Asia, it’s very important to forecast future environmental threats to sustain in market. This cost is hard to eliminate but since Air Asia is based on south-east Asia; rules and regulation are considerably favorable to sustain in market. On the other hand, it’s necessary to forecast estimating cost of environmental tax.

9 Technological costs:

Poor technology like traditional system i.e. manual ticketing, checking system, decrease significant amount of level of service. Though the cost are differentiate but to reduce substantial amount of cost for example, online booking, online assistance, and online information could be minimized by 24/7 online help line. For safety and security, RFID technology or 2D reader, barcode, e-service can be used.

10 Conclusions:

To sum up, cost is always a major factor in all aspects like in marketing, operational, safety, technological, maintenance, environmental for Air Asia. Though cost is flexible in nature and complex but for Air Asia could easily switch their cost due differentiate their market and taking advantage on existing alliance. Here, Air Asia airline need to identify proportion of cost to invest at the right sector over the long period of time. As, the company is already offering 20 percent low flight than competitors; thus, it’s necessary to control cost with proper budgeting, planning and scheduling. In this case, Air Asia can also learn from Jet Asia and Singapore airlines, how these successful companies operate their cost-effective business to sustain in the market.

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Source by Mohammad Yousuf Chowdhury

Energy Saving House – Tips For Every Family

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An energy saving house doesn’t necessarily require a household to only reduce energy consumption by means of depriving themselves of using the staple appliances and electronics within the bounds of homes. It is beyond our knowledge that the usage of energy on one’s household doesn’t end. From the moment you sleep until the time you wake up, energy runs non-stop. Although it is quite hard to find out how to construct an energy saving house, still there are simple ways that can lead to a lower monthly bill. Here are some of them.

Start with home appliances. An energy saving house starts from the basics – lowering the wattage and consumption of household electrical devices. Instead of using high watt-ed bulbs, 100 watt bulb for an instance, use lower ones like a 20 watt bulb on non-functioning rooms such as balcony and storage rooms. Reduce the temperature of your fridges as it makes up to 30% of your energy consumption.

Give your home a proper insulation. Insulating your home’s ceilings and walls are crucial when constructing an energy saving house. Not only it reduces up to 30% of your electricity bills, but it minimizes CO2 emissions as well. CO2 emissions are responsible for the greenhouse effect or what we call global warming. This means that while you are conserving energy, you are actually helping out prevent climate change as well.

Use energy-efficient products. If you wish to totally give an energy saving house a try, then you have to at least replace some of your old appliances such as boilers, furnace, and heat pumps with high-efficiency ones. As much as possible, choose those that have an “Energy-Efficient” or “Energy Star” label as they guarantee to save energy as well as the environment.

Plant trees around your area. Though this sounds quite out of the ordinary, trees and plants are very capable of minimizing heat, providing shade and cool atmosphere during the summer seasons. This will help you to block off the extreme heat that is being produced by the sun. Not only is it a factor of building an efficient energy saving house, but it is a way of protecting and saving our environment as well. While most people are too innocent on the ways to reduce utility bills through an energy saving house, our nature becomes more and more damaged. It is important that we become more aware of the things that can save or harm the environment.

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Source by Orlando Racelis

Roll Ice Cream Machine: Facts You Need to Know

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Ice cream is one of the traditional treats during warm-weather. When we talk about it we feel it as an icy mixture of cream, milk, sugar, and flavorings.

Making ice cream is generally laborious and slow process, with several issues about protecting from bacteria and having the custard right. With this method, the ingredient becomes smooth mellifluous and can be prepared in really easy without gums, stabilizers, and emulsifiers.

Generally, we know about common ice cream, but the roll ice cream is entirely a different item. It is an amazing Thai frozen dessert. This is also well-known as Thai fried ice cream. The Thai ice cream is commonly a hand-made food made with delicious milk poured, mixed with various ingredients fruits, eggs, and deserts on the ice pan.

The ice cream rolls are made by properly pouring a base of sugary milk on a very cold steel surface. Metal scrapers are then exerted to chop ice cream toppings in the base and suitably scrape it around to make air. When the base is solid and frozen, it is spread very finely and crawled at a specific angle to make the stunning ice rolls. The cream rolls are then carefully kept in a suitable cup. Finally, it is topped with ingredients like chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and fresh fruits.

Different cookies, candy, eggs, and even pizza can be added to the rolls to make them more delicious. Additionally, these can be topped with coconut, hot fudge, gummy bears, and toasted marshmallow for a different taste.

Roll Ice Cream Machines

Roll Ice Cream Machines let you make the food effortlessly while enjoying the natural taste of ingredients. These machines allow you to prepare customized cream mixed and chopped with fresh healthy ingredients.

If you are planning to set up a 2017 double pan roll machine for your business, you can get lots of advantages. According to your customer’s choice, you can make items less than 2 minutes. A frozen pan of the machine at -30°C helps to make deliciously frozen rolls instantly. You can feel that it’s not just a nice food – it’s very much entertaining and satisfying too.

Ice cream roll machines can be varied in number of pans or plates, designs, sizes, control panels, defrost functions, storage, power, voltage, and refrigerating fluid.

Users can buy an ice roll machine for their home usage, or business purposes. The reason may be anything, but you must invest in that machine which will serve you most.

Day by day, everything is upgrading and this machine is also the same. The double pans machine is getting much popularity due to its efficiency. For fastidious people, along with size, the design is very important. A suitable size machine with quality design can make a change in your business.

Before selecting the machine, make sure that your provider is a popular brand. Many manufacturers are providing Thai fried ice cream machines specifically, and some others are providing machines along with late printer, and coffee printer machines.

Before buying, a common thing should be considered is the quality. There are different manufacturers providing various roll machines as the restaurant supplies. Not all the machines are made of same quality materials. Many of them even don’t use food grade materials and therefore, the prepared foods are not healthy and tasty enough. The popular brands use food grade materials for their frozen pans.

For some conveniences at an affordable rate, you will surely want a machine that is user-friendly and comes with many auto controlling options. Your machine should be automatic to control power, voltage, temperature and refrigerating fluids.

Some Common Features of Thai Roll Machine

  • The best quality roll ice cream machines are made of top-notch quality food grade stainless steel materials.
  • They are built in quality thermal insulation organism.
  • User-friendly operating system – easy to handle. The advanced fried machines can make fried ice instantly.
  • It offers long service life and outstanding performance with imported brand compressors.
  • The machine implements the top quality copper that lasts longer.
  • The efficient fan keeps the compressor cool when need and ultimately, protect the compressor.
  • Each good machine has a fast cooling speed that can make ice less than 60 seconds.
  • It enhances the taste; maintain rich nutrition and refreshing flavor.
  • Different buttons of the machine have different colors that help to operate the machine accurately.
  • Users can make various types of ice cream including soft or hard, ice mud, smoothies, snow ice, slush, ice porridge, fruit ice, etc.

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Source by Neamul Nahid

Tips to Buying a Condo Off Plan

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Buying off plan gives you the chance to choose your own floor plan from a variety of options. You can choose from a host of features and upgrades, ensuring that when you move into your new condo it is exactly what you wanted, finished to meet your unique specification to provide you with a home that you can be proud of and enjoy for years to come.

One of the first things you will notice when buying any condos off plan is that you will be able to enjoy a discounted price. Once the units are completed, the condo sales price usually increases as a result. Getting in early will help you get the best prices, but at the same time, the earlier you commit to purchase, the more likely you will be to buy completely off plan before the foundation is set.

Another reason you may want to consider condo sales off plan is that you secure ownership of your condo, but you get to enjoy a long settlement, which gives you some much needed breathing room when making such a large investment. Payment is normally only made once the project is completed and transfer takes place, this is just before you move into your new home and start enjoying your future.

Ensure you do your research into the developer, the architect, the builders and the engineers. Ensure that the complex you are looking at is being constructed by the best local construction companies and handled by the best developers, so you can buy with complete confidence.

Location is essential when looking at condo sales off plan. You want to try and choose an area which is considered prestigious, an area where you know you will get a good return on your investment in the future. Remember when looking in good areas, you will pay considerably more for single family home than you will for a condo off plan. Once the condo is completed, it is worth more, which means you have a good investment in a good area that you can enjoy.

There are certain very important factors to note when it comes to the contract that you sign. Read every line in detail, ensure you understand the contract and have your attorney look over it and help you with sections you don’t understand.

The first thing to note in the contract is whether there is a “Cooling Off’ clause. These days all contracts should contain this clause when buying off plan. This clause gives you a set period of time where you can pull out of the contract if you change your mind for any reason. Check the contract thoroughly to ensure you are offered a cooling off period to put your own mind at ease.

Next you want to ensure that the full details of the plans you have chosen are detailed and added to the contract. This way in the event when your unit is completed there is something missing or not as you chose, you can have it rectified. This clause ensures you know what you are paying for and also ensures the contractor completes your particular condo based on your unique specifications.

Read up on the deposit clause, the warranties, inclusions, defects and completion dates.

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Source by Reg Liyanage

Hot and Chilled Food On-The-Go the Ethical Way

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The nice people at Kids Konserve keep on having cool ideas! Their beautiful-looking and extremely practical insulated food jars add an extra exciting dimension to packed lunches, picnics and snacking on the go. Now you can take a piping hot or tasty chilled meal to school, to work, on days out and adventures of every kind. Perfect when the British winter weather has taken yet another turn for the worse and signs of spring are few and far between, ideal for yummy snacks whatever the weather.

Safe, clean, sturdy containers for hot and cold food

The fab Kids Konserve hot food container is made from a sturdy double layer of lovely, clean stainless steel and features a leak-proof screw top. All you do is heat your food, pop it in and it’ll stay nice and hot for at least four hours.

To maximise the heating or cooling properties of the jar, either pre-heat it with hot water before adding hot food or pre-chill in the freezer for a few minutes if you’re carrying cold food. This is the fun bit… when the jar is full of piping hot food it feels cool on the outside. When it’s packed with scrummy chilled snacks there’s no damp or condensation.

Beautiful colours, impeccable FDA credentials

Available in a beautiful lime green, deep ocean blue and pretty ‘sky’ turquoise colour-ways, the containers are made from food-standard stainless steel, with lids made from clean, safe, non toxic PP #5 plastic. Unlike some food containers there’s absolutely no nasty BPA, phthalates, PVC or lead.

Like all Kids Konserve products these beautiful jars meet the strict standards of the USA’s famously fussy Food and Drug Administration, which takes responsibility for food packaging and food contact safety through their specialist department, the Centre for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

Made with love by independently audited manufacturers

Kids Konserve products are made with love, care and attention to detail in China, India and Taiwan, by manufacturers who are working towards green best practice and support the company’s mission to cut food packaging waste to the absolute minimum. The factories are independently audited and dedicated to safe, fair working practices and good environmental standards.

Plus: fab leak-proof stainless steel food containers

If that sounds good you’ll love the company’s popular leak-proof stainless steel food containers too, which fit neatly inside one another for space-saving storage. A cool way to complement the hot and cold insulated food jars, they’re ideal for yogurt, fruit salads, pasta salads… you name it. Made from food grade stainless steel with leak proof, recyclable lids, they’re playing their part in the anti-food packaging waste revolution, which is gathering pace by the month.

Help make your world a sustainable place

With more and more of us wanting to play our part in making the world a better, more sustainable place for future generations, the entire Kids Konserve range is proving very popular indeed. Good looks, practicality, functionality and ethics are placed right at the heart of the products from start to finish, making them excellent ethical presents for anyone, of any age, who loves good food on the go.

If you prefer to buy goods made with as much recycled and recyclable material as possible and want to do your bit to reduce the millions of tons of waste associated with single-serving packaged foods and plastic bottles, buy from Kids Konserve and support the ethical revolution!

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Source by David Robert Bowen

Glass – Environmental Friend or Foe

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Serving a large purpose with little consideration, glass is a key ingredient in many of our everyday products. Tableware, light bulbs, mirrors, stove tops, windshields, windows: the list is large for something not given a second thought. Friend or foe, we need to consider the implications of glass making on the environment.

The ‘What Is’ of Glass

Glass is a combination of three types of substances that occur naturally in North America;

  • silica, the most popular being white sand
  • alkali, such as sodium bicarbonate
  • limestone

Sometimes a metallic oxide (lead) is added to the mix. Depending on which alkali is used and whether or not lead is added, the clarity or color cast of the glass changes. The expense of producing and the quality of the glass is determined by the choice of alkali and the percentage used, combined with the choice and percentage of silica used.

The ‘How’ of Glass Production

A silica, an alkali and limestone are first crushed into a powder form, sifting out any coarse particles. They are then blended and put into a furnace at an extremely high temperature for as long as 24 hours. This yields molten glass which is then cooled several hundred degrees resulting in a thick liquid. The resulting matter is called frit which is then blown, pressed, drawn, molded or rolled into glass objects. If the glass is to be molded the molds are also heated at high temperature so the liquid poured into them does not wrinkle. The cooling process involves washing with water.

Environmental Impact of Glass Production

The process of making new glass is not at all environmentally friendly. The initial crushing and grinding step sends particulates of metals, chemicals, acids and dust into the air. These are easily inhaled causing irritation to the nose and throat, potentially causing damage to the lungs. The particles of metals are hazardous to the environment as they can find their way into surrounding soil and water.

The need for extremely high temperature furnaces to melt the mixture of substances makes the melting stage of the glass making process very energy intensive. It is estimated to take 15.2 million BTUs of energy to produce one ton of glass. During any one of the formation processes the glass may need to be reheated to keep it in liquid form. This means the heat in the furnace must be kept up until the process is complete.

Discharges from the glass making process may find their way into the aquatic environment during the cooling and cleaning processes where the most significant amounts of water are used. Discharges may contain some pieces of glass, some soluble used in the production like sodium sulfate, lubricant oil used in the cutting process, dissolved salts and water treatment chemicals.

Glass manufacturing processes also emit a significant amount of greenhouse gases especially carbon dioxide. Additionally, the processes spit out air-polluting compounds like nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and particulates.

Benefits of Glass

Glass is nonporous making it impermeable to other substances. For this reason glass is a very hygienic surface as any bacteria and germs that come in contact are not absorbed into its structure. Glass surfaces take to strong cleaning with a disinfectant and hot water with no effect on its quality. For this reason glass containers can be easily reused many times over.

The impermeableness of its structure eliminates any interaction with the stored contents. This, along with glass being made from nontoxic raw materials, dismisses concern of leaching chemicals into the contained substances. In the case of food storage, this also insures the freshness and uncompromised taste of the stored substance. Glass containers also do not absorb the smells of the foods in or around them.

Unlike other materials, glass used in the microwave does not leach any toxins into contained foods or liquids. Nor does it stain, corrode or deteriorate no matter how many times it is reused.

Glass dishes and containers are very versatile as they can go from freezer to microwave or oven. Glass is very attractive looking beautiful on table top or as decorative pieces like candy dishes, storage jars, vases and mirrors.

And glass is 100% recyclable.

Turning Foe into Friend

Many manufacturers have put into place practices to reduce the negative environmental impact of glass making. Consideration has been given to use of more efficient furnaces to cut energy use, producing thinner glass to employ lower temperatures and reduce transport costs, use of air and water purification systems, and use of recycled glass to make new.

Here are some ways to reduce the environmental effects and still enjoy the benefits of glass products.

  • Reuse glass food and storage containers. Because of its natural properties there is no chemical reaction with the glass container and its contents. Glass items at home can be safely used over and over with no loss in the quality of the glass.
  • Recycle. Glass is 100% recyclable and can be reused to make new glass. Unlike other types of materials, the reuse of glass in no way degrades the integrity of the material. Glass can be melted and reused over and over again. A glass bottle ending life in a landfill can take one million years to breakdown. But a recycled glass bottle has about a 30 day turnaround time from recycle bin to being a new bottle on a store shelf. Every ton of glass that is recycled saves more than a ton of the raw materials needed to create new glass. Because cullet (glass pieces for reuse) melts at a much lower temperature, making glass products from cullet consumes 40 percent less energy than making new glass from raw materials.
  • Reduce the amount of new glass products you purchase. Because it has found its way into so many commercial uses it is now easy to find products made from recycled glass. Look for tableware from cullet, recycled glass jewelry, decorative tiles, counters and landscaping materials that utilize recycled glass.

Glass is a versatile and beautiful material to use in many facets of our lives. Let’s do our part to turn glass production from foe to friend.

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Source by Lynn Lavanga

Benefits & Uses Of Spot Coolers

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So, you have never heard about spot cooling before? Then, trust us that you have missed something very useful and effective when it comes to make a hot place cooler.

A spot cooler is a sort of portable, standing ventilating/air conditioning unit. It is an independent framework, which implies its primary components, similar to the fan systems, and vents, compressor unit, evaporator unit, and others are incorporated and installed in one completely protected cabinet that is either made of metal or plastic.

What is Spot Cooling? We can say that spot cooling is the process of cooling a targeted or specific space using smaller, compact, and portable air conditioning system. Despite the fact that anyplace is good for spot cooling, the areas that most perfect for this sort of ventilation and cooling are usually enclosed spaces where comfort must be kept up or where the temperature must stay steady and adjusted, for example, an industrial area.

How Does A Spot Cooler Work?

The spot cooler works as an air conditioning system, and therefore follows the normal air conditioning procedure, which is basically the expulsion of heat through heat transfer or heat exchange, and dehumidification process to expel humidity.

Check out the way how a spot cooler works.

  • It absorbs the warm air from inside the area through the assistance of the refrigerant. For this situation, the refrigerant gets pressurized with the assistance of the compressor, and then gets evaporated at a low pressure that enables it to absorb the warm air.
  • Then, the refrigerant gets transformed into a hot fluid from a hot gas state.
  • The hot refrigerant in fluid travels to the condenser where the heat gets depleted and is discharged outdoors through the vents of the unit.
  • Then, the refrigerant, which is currently a sub-cooled fluid yet at the same time, stays extremely hot, goes to the evaporator. This flow of the fluid refrigerant reduces through the metering device.
  • The fluid refrigerant starts vaporizing when it comes to the coils of the evaporator and transforms into cool gas.
  • Then, this cool air is dispersed in the room, industrial area, or any other place through the tubes while the hot air is regularly evacuated through the vent.
  • The process keeps on repeating until the point when the set temperature is reached.

The Accessories Of A Spot Cooler

Beside the fundamental internal segments, similar to a fan system, evaporator, compressor, and condenser, a spot cooler normally comes with these accessories:

  • Air filter
  • Air pipe seat covers
  • Screws
  • Water tank
  • Drain pipe
  • Cold air pipe
  • Cold air pipe bend
  • Hot air exhaust pipe
  • Hot air exhaust pipe seat

Remember, spot cooler is quite often used as an industrial cooler so there might be a few more accessories required and different coolers come with various types of accessories.

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Source by Jessie Cooper

Make Delicious And Healthy Meals At Home

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Eating healthy is not always the easiest with the temptation of fast easy food all around us. Sourcing your food from either your own backyard garden or a farmer’s market is the best, freshest way to ensure your food is full of nutrients and flavour. The next step of turning it into something inviting and appetizing is offered on every page of “From One Small Garden”. With over 300 recipes developed over a span of 30 years of research and development this book brings it all to the table in a pleasantly delicious way.

Award-winning authors Dave and Lillian Brummet began experimenting with recipes and compiling them into this book in the early ’90’s while living in the Okanagan area. Over the next 3 decades the manuscript traveled with them to the Boundary region where they resided for 12 years, and then on to their permanent home in the Kootenays. All through these travels, the Brummets re-tested the recipes, perfecting them for this collection.

The couple experimented with a vegetarian diet for a few years, went vegan for a short time, and finally settled down to a more balanced diet that included some animal protein with a huge array of fruits, grains, vegetables, wholesome breads and healthy desserts. Together they have managed a rural mountaintop spa (building and maintaining 3 acres of vegetable gardens) where they hosted larger hand drumming events that always include snacks or meals at break time – helping to perfect the recipes in this book.

This collection of recipes is the ultimate guide to utilizing fresh fruits and vegetables from backyard gardens to farmer’s markets. It will help you make delicious and healthy meals at home with fresh fruits and vegetables from local sources. Whether from your own backyard garden or from a farmer’s market you are getting the best, freshest ingredients.

Never be bored again with your own home cooking armed with the proper collection of recipes. Tired of buying packaged foods and condiments and all the waste as a result? From salad dressings to dips and sauces and syrups, this book has a ton of homemade versions of many things you normally have to purchase.You will be making food that is better than restaurant fare and much cheaper. Loaded with interesting tidbits of historical and nutritional information, this book is more than just a recipe book – it is a way of treating yourself to the healthy, delicious rewards of the freshest, purest source of food we can draw from.



Website: BrummetMedia.ca

Order your copy now at Amazon to start enjoying fresh food in a delicious, nutritious new and exciting way.

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Source by Dave Brummet

Is Your Child’s Lunch Box Safe?

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Did you know that your child can get food poisoning from food that has come in contact with the interior of her lunch box?

To avoid food borne odors and possible food poisoning it’s important that lunch bags or boxes are routinely cleaned.

Ideally a kid lunch box should be wiped with a damp cloth which a little antibacterial soap has been added. The kid lunch box should be then rinsed and dried thoroughly. If your child’s lunch box can withstand regular washing and rinsing it should be done daily and left to drip dry. Never zip up or replace the lid on a kid lunch box that is not thoroughly dry.

Counter surfaces where prep work is done should be cleaned prior to bringing out any of your ingredients or wrap/container supplies. Likewise, your hands and any utensils should be thoroughly washed.

To protect your child from the threat of food poisoning consider freezing sandwiches ahead of time or packing a frozen/partially frozen drink or ice pack in your kid lunch box. Most school lunches are left to sit at room temperature for about four hours. Frozen sandwiches even in insulated bags will thaw during this time giving your child a fresh sandwich by lunch.

Sandwich freshness is maintained when you use fresh ingredients and you prepare and freeze quantities for no more than two weeks.

It’s important however that sandwich fillings are carefully selected as not all ingredients can be safely frozen. Good fillings include deli meats, cooked poultry and roast beef, low fat cheese, peanut butter (and jam) etc. Do not freeze eggs or sandwiches such as tuna or salmon with mayonnaise.

Sandwiches should be wrapped securely in plastic or sealed in plastic bags without excess air. To be sure that your sandwiches are used within the freshest time frame place all similar sandwiches back into the original bread bag and label with a best before date.

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Source by Sherrie Le Masurier

How Often Should You Have Your HVAC System Serviced?

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Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning systems need to be cleaned, inspected, and serviced every year, at the very least. It’s advisable to have your heating system examined by a technician during fall and your cooling system checked in spring to make sure they’re in perfect condition when you need to use them.

In this article, we’ll discuss a few things you need to consider to learn why annual HVAC system inspection is necessary:

As your HVAC equipment ages, it becomes less efficient and starts undergoing problems that require your immediate attention. There many factors that can contribute to the slow decline of your system, such as dirty and clogged vent, degrading moving parts like the condenser coil, a decrease in the fluids, etc.

If you get your system serviced regularly, you’ll be able to minimize the problems that are expected to arise with time, increase the life span of your system, and make sure your utility costs don’t increase due to the units working extra hard to meet all your comfort needs.

You may think that paying for a yearly inspection is a lot of money, especially if your system hasn’t shown any visible signs of malfunction. However, when you ignore preventive measures, you’ll increase the chances of your HVAC system running a lot less efficiently and it may suffer a breakdown sooner than you expected.

This would lead to an increase in your utility costs and the price you’d have to pay for repairing different components that you ended up neglecting over the months. It’s better to pay a small amount for routine service instead of letting the repair and maintenance costs add up over time.

As you’re probably aware, your HVAC system is good for more than your heating or cooling your property. It’s also responsible for proper ventilation and improved air quality.

When you have a well-maintained system that’s in optimal working condition, you wouldn’t have to worry about pollutants, dusts, and other such irritants causing health complications for you and your loved ones.

It’s not as simple as hiring a service technician to take a look at your unit once or twice every year. If you truly want your HVAC to last longer, you need to take preventive measures to maintain it regularly.

This may include keeping your outdoor units clean and free of dirt and debris and checking for any water leaks in the system, strange noises, and uneven temperatures. It’s also important to clean or replace your air filters every month at least to minimize the load on your unit and make sure it works smoothly.

It can be easy to overlook problems in your HVAC system when it’s not in use, but delaying routine service can lead to a major breakdown when you least expect it. Don’t take your well-running HVAC unit for granted and make sure you’re getting it serviced regularly so that it can work efficiently for a long period of time.

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Source by David Kagan