Woman

Rice to the occasion

Rice and rice flour as ideal alternative for bread:

by Suharshi Perera

With the soaring bread prices in the market and health concerns, we all are looking for alternatives. Over the years rice and rice flour have been a tested and proven home grown solution to both these concerns.

Now you may consume bread, buns, noodles,biscuits, cake,sweets and many other items made out of rice flour at a cheaper price while improving health.

The demonstration organised by the Dhammacharini Society at the Dhamma Vijaya Foundation, Colombo was a platform for women who gathered to ‘try and test’ the rice flour based products. Red rice contains a person’s daily requirement of Vitamin B, Iron and calcium.

Therefore the consumption of a well processed rice variety may benefit you in terms of economy and health, Senior Research Officer(Food Technology) of the Post Harvest Technology Institute, Anuradhapura Dr. Swarnasikha Tilakaratne said.

“One should be very careful when washing red rice. The more you wash more you lose its Vitamin B,” she added.

A mixture of local ingredients like rice flour and green grams and a bit of wheat flour can turn out tasty and healthy meals and snacks for your family.

At the moment we have found the technology to bake bread made out of 30 per cent of rice flour.

Soon we will come up with more improved products, Dr.Tilakaratne said.

Imported corn flakes is very popular among children. Even mothers consider that to be the best breakfast for their children.

But Dr. Thilakaratne and her crew at the Institute suggest a more nutritious, reliable, cheap and home grown alternative for corn flakes.

“If you use rice flakes (Habala pethi), fruits and milk you can prepare a very nutritious breakfast,” she added.

Similarly mothers can prepare low cost but highly nutritious infant foods with dried and powdered bean sprouts, rice flour and sesame powder, the Research Officer explained.

“If we stick to local foods we can save lot of foreign exchange while improving health of the people. We need a proper, organised mechanism to promote this technology,” Dr. Tilakaratne said.

“Our Chairman N.T.V.A. Weragoda has already initiated a programme to promote rice flour.

But we need State and private sector support to popularise it in the market,” she added.

Add extra lustre to hair

Beautiful Hair is an asset for any woman. Some are gifted with naturally beautiful hair while others have to really work hard on it. But essentially everybody has to work on hair either for improving or for maintaining them. Here are some tips to manage your Crowning Glory.

* Shampoos

Dry Hair - Egg, Herbal shampoo or any shampoo for dry hair.

Normal Hair - For normal hair fruit shampoos or henna shampoo is good.

Oily Hair - Lemon Shampoo

* Hair Oil

Oil your hair at least once in a week. If you have dry hair then oil it twice a week. Hair oil gives the necessary moisturizers to your hair. Herbal hair oil provides you the necessary nourishment along with the moisturizers.

* Hair Conditioners

Dry hair - Add some milk, water and 1-2 egg yolks in henna. This mixture will not dry your hair and will make it soft and manageable. Apply it monthly.

Normal to Oily Hair - Add water, lemon, egg yolks in henna. You can apply Henna fortnightly.

* Home made conditioners

Add - cup of vinegar in - bucket of water. This will give a good shine to your hair. Mix curds and egg yolks together and apply it for 1 hour.

* Hair Tonics

Try tonic Hair Oil’s powder - Put 4 tsp of this powder in water, boil it and after cooling down apply it on hair. This will stop hair loss, rejuvenate and nourish your hair.

* Quick- fix hair tips

If you want instant luster just before a big night, beat an egg without the yolk, squeeze half a lemon into it and apply to hair avoiding the scalp then rinse and wash in another half an hour. Be sure to give your hair a last rinse with some rose water because we don’t want you going out smelling like an egg.

Henna soaked in water of used tea bags, coffee powder, amla powder and onion peels can make for a excellent conditioner giving your hair the much needed boost.

There are a dozen of hair accessories available in the market today. Use clips, pins and bands to give your hair a different style and an added touch of color.

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Handy tips

To keep butter from sliding around on the butter dish, heat the dish with hot water, dry off and then put the butter stick on the dish and then into the refrigerator. It will melt just a little of the butter which will freeze when put in the fridge. Doesn’t slide around when you use it.

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If you leave the clothes in the washer for a day or more, especially in warm weather, they will smell bad. Rewashing with 1/2 cup of ammonia gets the smell out better than laundry detergent does.

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Cleaning Leather. Small spots of dirt on glossy leather can be removed with a damp sponge.

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Broken Glass: Use bread to pick up fragments of broken glass

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Coffee stimulates skin circulation, helps reduce cellulite, exfoliates, and promotes skin¦s natural healing.

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Honey hydrates and exfoliates the skin by helping dissolve dead skin. (This is one of the few food ingredients that actually works when applied straight out of your kitchen.)

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Egg whites tighten the skin.

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Milk exfoliates the skin through lactic acids. (Avoid if you have dairy allergies.)

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Mustard warms and relaxes sore muscles.

Butter Buns

Ingredients

Rice flour 100g

Wheat flour 100g

Eggs 01

Butter/Margarine 25g

Yeast 10g

Milk Powder 01 tablespoon

Sugar 01 tablespoon

Salt 01 teaspoon

Method

Seive the rice flour and wheat flour. Add the beaten egg, salt and sugar to it and mix well. Dissolve the yeast in water and add to the mixture. Knead the dough adding water till the dough becomes unsticky.

Cover the dough with a wet cloth and leave for 20 minutes. Make six balls and leave them for another 5-15 minutes. Bake the buns for 15 minutes in a pre heated oven of 200 .c.