Tag

can

Browsing

After intestinal diseases it is sometimes necessary to resort to low-fiber foods. This allows the digestive system to recover more easily. Here you can find out which low-fiber products are particularly suitable.

Low-fiber foods should be the exception rather than the rule, because fiber is fundamentally the basis of any healthy diet. This is because fiber is essential for a healthy digestive system as it stimulates bowel movements.

When are low-fiber foods useful?

With certain complaints and illnesses, the gastrointestinal tract is so overwhelmed that high-fiber food can have a negative effect on digestion. This applies, for example, to gastrointestinal infections and many other diseases of the digestive tract, but also after certain operations. The digestive system is often so weak at first that you have no appetite and do not eat any solid food for a few days. Especially after such days, you should slowly get your intestines used to solid food.

In such situations, high-fiber foods would be out of place and would likely lead to bloating and stomach cramps. You should now resort to so-called “light foods”, i.e. foods that contain little fiber and are easy to digest. You should also make sure you drink enough fluids. It is best to use warm water or herbal teas.

Low-fiber foods: list

You should now avoid foods such as legumes, whole grain products and raw vegetables in particular. Suitable foods are e.g.:
White bread or rolls
mixed bread
zwieback
Noodles (not whole grain!)
white rice
Cornflakes (not whole grain)
bananas
stewed fruit
applesauce
Potatoes (without skin)
carrots (cooked)
Cucumbers (peeled, seedless)
zucchini
tomatoes
eggs
Dairy products
Vegetable oils (e.g. sunflower, olive and rapeseed oil)
butter

Animal products are low in fiber – but not recommended

In general, all animal products are very low in fiber. As part of a light diet, however, you should only include them in moderation or eliminate them completely, as they are often difficult to digest due to their fat content. In addition, meat and fish are anything but sustainable and should therefore only rarely be on the menu, if at all.

You should only use vegetable oils very sparingly and, for example, only add one or two teaspoons to your potato and carrot puree. Because fats are difficult to digest. If you would like to eat fruit, you should steam or boil it (except for bananas) in some fruit juice beforehand. Alternatively, you can use applesauce or other fruit puree – this is more digestible.

If you have fructose intolerance, you should use foods that are as fructose-free as possible. Here you can find out which products you can eat without any problems and which ones you should avoid.

What is fructose intolerance?

Fructose intolerance is a special type of food intolerance in which those affected tolerate foods containing fructose to a limited extent or not at all. This is because the fructose cannot be properly digested. This leads to digestive problems such as bloating, abdominal pain and diarrhea.

With a normal fructose intolerance, however, you do not have to do without fructose completely. In small quantities, it usually does not cause any problems. Only in the rare form of hereditary fructose intolerance does fructose have to be strictly avoided.

Exactly how much fructose is tolerated varies from person to person. Therefore, you must test how your body reacts to certain foods and consult a doctor or nutritionist.

After the diagnosis, you usually try to consume as little fructose as possible to protect your digestive tract. After that, you can continuously increase fructose intake and write down how you feel after eating certain foods in a food diary. Over time, your digestive system becomes more and more accustomed to foods that contain fructose. Sometimes the intolerance even disappears again.

Fructose-free foods – you can eat them!

Foods that have a very low fructose content or that contain at least as much glucose as fructose are generally well tolerated. These products include, among others:
Grain products: rice, rye, wheat, oats, spelt
Pseudo-cereals: buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa
Legumes: lentils, beans, peas
eggs
pure dairy products: butter, cheese, yoghurt and quark (unsweetened)
meat and fish
Herbs: basil, parsley, oregano and so on
a few types of fruit: cranberries, rhubarb and avocado
lots of nuts and seeds: flaxseeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, poppy seeds, chia seeds, peanuts
some low-fructose vegetables: chard, rocket, spinach, zucchini, chicory, lamb’s lettuce, fennel, cucumber, potatoes
soy milk (unsweetened)
vegetable oils
Apple Cider Vinegar

Other products contain a little more fructose, but you can usually tolerate them in moderation:
Vegetables such as artichokes, broccoli, mushrooms, chanterelles, carrots, sweet potatoes, turnips, parsnips, red cabbage, celery, pumpkin, eggplant
Fruits such as apricots, honeydew melon, papaya, plums, grapefruit, cherries, limes and lemons
hazelnuts
bamboo shoots
Ginger
coconut milk
Note: In the waiting phase, i.e. in the recovery phase after the diagnosis, you should also avoid these products. As you begin to increase your fructose intake, you can gradually incorporate the foods into your diet.

It also helps not to eat fruit pure, but to eat it in combination with low-fructose foods such as dairy products or cereals.

To make it easier for your intestines to process the fructose, you can also sweeten your food with a little glucose. The glucose makes it easier for your digestive system to absorb the fructose. How much glucose you have to consume varies depending on the food and your individual tolerance limit. However, you shouldn’t overdo it with this trick, since too much glucose can quickly have a negative effect on your health.

Fructose intolerance: You should avoid these foods

Products that are not tolerated by fructose intolerance include:
many types of fruit (such as apples, pears, berries, persimmons, mango, etc.)
dried fruit
Sweets
sugary drinks, such as fruit juices, soft drinks, beer and wine
Some vegetables can also be problematic, such as kale, green beans, or turnip greens.
Many baked goods, such as bread, rolls and crispbread, can also be relatively heavily sweetened. Therefore, you should look at the ingredients or nutritional information before consumption. This also applies to yoghurts or mixed milk drinks.

A moment of inattention and the whole elaborate dish is oversalted. However, that is no reason to waste your efforts and food! Here you can find out how you can easily make oversalted food edible again.

Dilute oversalted food with water, milk & Co.

It is a common method to first dilute oversalted dishes with a little water. In some cases, you can use milk or a plant-based alternative such as rice, oat, or soy milk instead. Fatty foods such as cream, sour cream, coconut milk or butter are even better because they mask the salty taste particularly well.

Save oversalted food with the potato trick

This trick is especially useful for over-salted sauces, soups, or stews that you don’t want to dilute with more liquid.

Simply grate a potato or cut it into small pieces.
Add them to the dish in the pot and let everything simmer for about ten minutes.
If the potato doesn’t go well with the dish, simply remove it before serving the soup or sauce.
The potato draws most of the salt out of the liquid by soaking it up like a sponge. Alternatively, you can use carrots or bread for this. However, the bread will quickly dissolve, making it difficult to remove from the dish. A few prunes will also do the trick. You should let it simmer for at least 15 minutes.

Sweet helpers with over-salted dishes

Sweet flavors also balance a strong salty taste very well. This method is particularly suitable for dressings, marinades or dips. You can use e.g. honey, sugar or cane or whole cane sugar as a sweetener. Agave syrup, maple syrup or coconut blossom sugar are also suitable from a culinary point of view. Due to their poor ecological balance, however, they are not recommended from an ecological perspective.

If the food no longer tastes salty afterwards, but is a little too sweet, you can balance this out with a little acidity: simply add some lemon or lime juice or vinegar.

Two is Better!

Even if your dish is extremely salty, you still have options for using it. For example, just take it as an opportunity to pre-cook for the next few days. Cook the dish exactly the same way again. Leave out the salt completely! Then mix it with the over-salted version and freeze portions of the meal for later, if needed.

With sauces that are too salty, you can also freeze parts of the sauce in small ice cube trays and use them later as a flavorful base for other dishes.

For soups or stews, it is also a good idea to cook a large portion of vegetables, potatoes or pasta and stir them into the over-salted food to balance out the salty taste.

“Can you eat acorns?” – this is the question many people ask themselves during an autumn walk in the forest. In fact, although poisonous when raw, you can also prepare acorns to make them edible. We explain how.

The fruits of the oak are popular for autumnal decorations. But almost every child has asked if you can actually eat acorns. Most people think acorns are poisonous, and they are, at least in their raw state. Especially in the post-war period, acorns were not only used to bake bread, but also to brew decaffeinated coffee substitutes.

Can you eat acorns? Yes, but not raw!

Acorns can come up with excellent ingredients, as reported by the Federal Center for Nutrition (BZfE): 100 grams of acorns contain around 40 grams of carbohydrates, six grams of protein and 24 grams of fat. The fats are predominantly in the form of unsaturated fatty acids, which are considered to be beneficial to health. Acorns are also rich in B vitamins. 100 grams of acorns provide about 390 calories.

In addition to all the healthy ingredients, acorns also contain the vegetable tannins in high concentrations of tannins. Because of this, the raw fruits taste bitter and are not easily digestible: large amounts of acorns can lead to severe gastrointestinal problems. That’s why you should never eat acorns in raw form!

However, since tannin is water-soluble, you can rinse out the vegetable tannins and thus make acorns edible. We explain exactly how this works in the next section.

By the way: tannins are not considered unhealthy per se. Health-promoting effects are also ascribed to them in certain quantities. Some tannins even exhibit anti-cancer properties.

Making acorns edible: instructions

So, to enjoy acorns, you need to flush out the vegetable tannins. To do this, you have to wash the fruit in water for a day or two:
Collect only ripe, undamaged acorns. Tip: Let the collected acorns dry for a day or two, then you can peel them more easily in the next step.
Break open the hard shell of the acorns. The easiest way to do this is with a nutcracker. Tip: If you don’t have a nutcracker at hand, you can crack nuts in different ways.
Remove the brown seed skin around the core.
Place the seeds in a bowl of water. The tannins are dissolved in the water over the next few hours and days. You can tell by the fact that the water turns brown-yellowish.
Change the water about every twelve hours, but at least once a day.
After a day or two, all tannins should be dissolved. If this is the case, the water will remain clear even after several hours. Then the acorns are edible.

Use and eat acorns: ideas and possibilities

You can process the now rinsed acorns as follows:
On the one hand you can puree the soaked acorns directly into a paste. You can either use them immediately or freeze them in the freezer.
The more common variant is to dry the acorns first: put the acorns in a dry, airy place – for example on a grid or a kitchen towel. Leave them there for a day or two until they are completely dry. Alternatively, you can dry the acorns in the dehydrator or in the oven.
You can use and prepare the dried acorns in a variety of ways in the kitchen:
Chop or cut the acorns into chunks, then roast them in a pan without fat. With a little salt, they’re such a delicious, nutritious snack.
You can also grind the roasted acorns and use them as a decaffeinated coffee substitute, among other things.
Without roasting the acorns beforehand, you can also process them into flour: To do this, you have to grind the dry acorns too finely, for example in a blender or coffee grinder.
You can then use the acorn flour in many ways – for example in cakes, cookies, biscuits or bread. By the way: Oaks used to be called “bread trees”, so common was their use as bread flour.
You can also cut the acorns into pieces and use them in soups or stews. Chopped into smaller pieces, you can also use them to fill a vegetarian cabbage roll.
Alternatively, you can roast the acorns whole – in a pan or on the grill. Prepared in this way, they are eaten like chestnuts in Spain, among other places.

The assumption that rowan berries are poisonous persists. We explain the actual connections and how you can use rowan berries.

Rowanberries are not poisonous

According to the Nature Conservation Union, the bright red rowan berries along the way are not poisonous – but you should only eat the tart wild fruits cooked. This is because the bitter parasorbic acid becomes easily digestible sorbic acid.

A special form of the rowan berry from Eastern Europe is the Moravian, also known as the sweet mountain ash. The bitter-free cultivar has such a high sugar content that you can eat it straight from the tree. Its berries are up to 1.3 centimeters thick. Moravian also grows here and is actually one of the most popular rowan berries.

The very sour and bitter-tasting fruits of the local mountain ash are rich in vitamin C (80-100 milligrams per 100 grams of berries). According to the Federal Center for Nutrition (BZFE), rowan berries also contain provitamin A, which is important for the visual process after it has been converted into vitamin A in the body. It also contains essential oils and fiber such as the gelling agent pectin.

A puree of rowanberries (see instructions below) is said to help against loss of appetite and indigestion. In folk medicine, rowan berries are also known to help with colds, gout and rheumatism.

For a long time, rowan berries had another medical benefit: a certain type of sugar, sorbose, used to be used as a sugar substitute for diabetics. Today it is produced industrially as sorbitol.

Non-toxic: rowanberry jam

Rowanberries ripen in October. According to conservationist Sönke Hofmann, the best time to harvest is after the first frost, as the fruits develop their sweet and tart aroma afterwards. You can boil the red rowanberries with apples and lots of sugar to make them edible.

However, if you wait too long, you can be unlucky that the animals have already eaten most of the berries.

You can make the following delicacies from rowanberries, as confirmed by the Federal Center for Nutrition:
You can use the berries to make jam or jelly for your breakfast.
you can make a sweet rowanberry syrup or juice yourself.
If you want to make a special drop, a liqueur or brandy made from rowanberries would be an innovative idea.
A chutney made from rowanberries, for example, goes well with a soft cheese. You can use onions, tomatoes, raisins and peppers in it.
Rowanberries also taste good in pastries and cakes.
For rowanberry puree, you should soak the fruit in water with a dash of vinegar overnight. You can then pass them through a sieve and mix them with mild-tasting fruits such as apples, quinces or pears. Cinnamon and cardamom are suitable spices.
You can also add the dried berries to fruit or herbal teas.

If you want to dry thyme, you can do this very easily in the air under the right conditions. It’s worth it, because thyme has a very long shelf life when dried, so you can use the spice for a long time.

In order to be able to use thyme for as long as possible, you should preserve it. The best way to do this is to dry it. In the dried state you can use it for seasoning, for example for potatoes, tomato sauce, various soups and vegetables such as eggplant or zucchini. You can also use dried thyme as a tea. Thyme tea is said to have a positive effect on colds. Simply pour hot water over the thyme. This works with both fresh and dried herbs.

Thyme is at its most aromatic when you harvest it just before it blooms, between May and September. You can also create your own small herb garden, there is even enough space on the balcony or windowsill.

Drying Thyme: Instructions

To dry thyme, use scissors to cut off several branches of the plant. If your thyme is outside, it is best to choose a day when it is not raining. Because if the thyme is very damp, the risk of mold increases. That’s why you shouldn’t wash the thyme if possible. If there are wilted leaves on the branches, remove them before drying.
Now take a piece of twine and tie several sprigs of thyme together in bundles.
Hang the bundles so the thyme hangs upside down. Choose a warm, dry place to hang. This place should be as dark / shady as possible. Make sure the bunches of thyme aren’t hanging too close together so they get enough air from all sides.
After two to four weeks you can remove the thyme, it is then well dried. You can tell by the fact that you can easily crumble the leaves between your fingers.
Separate the leaves from the stems and fill them in screw-top jars.
Store the spice jars in a dark and dry place. This way you can use the thyme for several months.

Young parents are often unsure whether babies are allowed to drink cow’s milk. We will show you whether cow’s milk is suitable for infants.

Can infants drink cow’s milk?

The first year of life for an infant consists of three feeding phases:
At first, your baby only feeds on breast milk or industrially produced infant formula.
In the course of this, the mashed food or complementary food also follows.
Finally, the toddler gradually participates in the family dinner.

Caution: Infant formula should not be made from cow’s milk or other types of milk.

Note: Make sure you only give your baby pasteurized or highly heated cow’s milk. As in pregnancy, you should bear in mind that raw or processed milk can contain dangerous germs for the child’s immune system.

Can baby food contain cow’s milk?

Children need numerous important nutrients for healthy development – including sufficient calcium, protein and iodine suppliers. Numerous plant-based foods, but also milk and dairy products can provide these nutrients. With supplementary food, you can use small amounts of cow’s milk or yoghurt, up to 200 milliliters per day, to prepare a milk-cereal porridge. Of course, you can also prepare the porridge with breast milk or formula milk.

Note that cow’s milk does not replace breast milk or infant formula, even during complementary feeding. Babies and children can be allergic to cow’s milk, if in doubt consult your pediatrician or midwife.

Note: When buying cow’s milk, pay attention to the organic seal or the seal for mother-tied calf rearing. In this way you ensure that the calves are also supplied with the necessary nutrients through their own breast milk.

Freezing yeast makes sense if you have leftover yeast after baking or you bought it in advance. Here we explain how you can freeze the fresh yeast.

Freeze yeast: in jars and in cans

Would you like to stock up on fresh yeast or did you only need half a yeast cube for your yeast dough? Then simply freeze the fresh yeast. Frozen yeast keeps for several months and you don’t have to waste food
Place the yeast cube in a small tin or jar

Thaw yeast after freezing

If you want to use the frozen yeast, thaw it ahead of time. There are two variants:
Defrost gently: Put the yeast in the fridge the day before you want to bake and let it thaw slowly.
If you’re in a hurry: Thaw the yeast in a warm liquid if your recipe uses that liquid. Note, however, that yeast does not tolerate temperatures above 45°C, as the yeast then loses its effectiveness.
The yeast may become slightly softer and runnier after thawing than before freezing. But that’s not a problem, you can use them normally for baking.

We recommend organic yeast

Organic yeast is the ecologically better yeast:
While conventional yeast is produced using chemical substances that have to be washed out afterwards, organic yeast is much more sustainable. Because organic yeast does not have to be washed out, it requires less water during production and no unnecessary chemical substances get into the waste water.
In addition, genetically engineered enzymes can be used in the production of conventional yeast. Since there are no long-term studies on the use of genetic engineering, it can harbor undiscovered risks. The production processes of organic products do not contain any genetically modified substances.

Freezing food preserves it and can thus reduce waste – and that works with a surprising number of foods. We show what you can freeze and what you should pay attention to.

Freezing is a good way to avoid wasting food, especially when you have leftover food that would otherwise go bad. Fruit or vegetables, for example, that you just can’t manage to use up or leftovers from dinner that nobody can eat anymore.

Of course, freezers or chest freezers need electricity – that’s why it’s important to make sure you choose efficient devices and the right location.

1. Fruits and vegetables

Mushrooms: Simply (dry!) ​​clean button mushrooms or oyster mushrooms, trim stems if necessary, then cut into quarters or slices and prefreeze flat on a chopping board or baking sheet to prevent them from sticking together, then transfer to cans. Blanch chanterelles briefly in salted water before freezing, otherwise they taste slightly bitter after thawing. Tip: simply use frozen mushrooms! If you let them thaw before processing, they will become slightly mushy.
Avocados: You should only freeze ripe fruits, either halved, without the stone and sprinkled with lemon juice, or pureed for dips like guacamole.
Better than buying strawberries in winter: Freeze seasonal strawberries. To do this, simply wash the whole fruit, remove the stems and pat dry, then pre-freeze flat on a board or baking sheet before dividing into freezer containers. Or you puree the strawberries and freeze the puree in small glasses or ice cube trays.
You can also freeze cherries: wash, remove the stalks – and the pits if you want – then prefreeze flat on a board or baking sheet before dividing them into freezer containers.
Although you can freeze apples, they are best suited for baking or cooking afterwards, as they lose their consistency when thawed. To preserve apples, you can also make applesauce from them – and you can freeze applesauce without any problems.
Freezing ripe bananas is a good idea, especially if you want to use them for smoothies, vegan egg substitutes, or nice cream. You can freeze bananas whole, sliced, or mashed, depending on how you want to use them.
Freezing tomatoes is not a problem, but they lose their flavor due to their high water content. They are then best suited for sauces. Tip: You can also freeze homemade tomato sauce in a jar and defrost as needed. Another method if you have more tomatoes than you can use: preserve them by canning them.

2. Ready meals

Here’s an idea for the summer: You can freeze cold coffee in an ice cube mold – and then spice it up with ice coffee or cold brew, for example.
Raw potatoes don’t work, but boiled potatoes or potato dishes do: You can freeze mashed potatoes or potato soup in particular without any problems.
If you have too much cooked pasta or rice left over, you can simply freeze both – the easiest way is to portion out the leftovers. To thaw frozen noodles, simply put them in boiling water, thaw the rice at room temperature and then warm it up in the steam.
Freezing soup is super easy – and you’ll have “ready to eat” ready to hand. Tip: Freeze soups in screw-top jars so you have ready-made portions straight away.

3. Animal Products

It will go rancid in the fridge after a few weeks, so freezing butter may be a good idea. It will then last up to six months. Simply put the butter pack in a tin and put it in the freezer. If necessary, thaw slowly in the refrigerator. Tip: You can also freeze pre-portioned butter for baking. You can freeze herb butter in ice cube molds.
Incidentally, you can also freeze margarine, but this only works with full-fat margarines.
Cheese: You should only freeze hard cheese or semi-hard cheese and only if you cannot use it otherwise. It keeps best whole and with the rind on, but sliced ​​raclette cheese can also be kept in the freezer for around two months without losing too much of its aroma. Re-thawed cheese is best for cooking and baking as it loses some of its flavor.
Whole eggs will keep raw or hard-boiled in the refrigerator for a few weeks and are not suitable for freezing. Raw egg yolks or egg whites or whisked eggs, on the other hand, go bad quickly – you can also freeze eggs in this form. Simply place in freezer-safe containers and thaw slowly in the refrigerator as needed. Be sure to heat it up properly before eating!

4. Dough & Yeast

Did you know that you can freeze fresh yeast dough? It is best to divide the dough into portions before letting it rise and freeze them in airtight wrappers. Tip: If you want to freeze pizza dough, you can freeze it rolled out to the right size, separating several layers with baking paper. It is best to let yeast dough thaw overnight or for several hours in the refrigerator.
You can also freeze fresh yeast – this is a good idea, for example, if you have half a cube of yeast left over. Simply place in a small can or jar in the freezer. It is best to put it in the fridge to thaw the day before you use it.

Buckwheat milk is a sustainable alternative to cow’s milk. Buckwheat is also not a nut and is therefore an ideal substitute for nut milk for allergy sufferers. We’ll show you how you can easily make the plant drink yourself.

The healthy pseudo-grain buckwheat is a good source of vegetable protein. With its essential amino acids, fiber and minerals as well as flavonoids, buckwheat is good for digestion and blood vessels.

Buckwheat milk is a good alternative to animal milk and plant-based drinks made from nuts. It is also gluten and lactose free. People with an intolerance or allergy can therefore drink and use buckwheat milk without any problems. In terms of taste, buckwheat milk can be classified as slightly nutty.

Ingredients: You need this for your own buckwheat milk

For 500 milliliters of buckwheat milk you need:
50 grams of buckwheat
about 500 ml water (the amount of water affects the thickness of the milk)
2-4 dates or another sweetener like maple syrup
1 pinch of salt
Optional: spices such as vanilla, cardamom or cinnamon
recommended kitchen utensils:
Key
measuring cup
food processor, blender or blender
Nut milk bags (you can also make nut milk bags yourself) or cheesecloth
Glass bottle with lid for storing the milk

Preparation: It’s so easy to make buckwheat milk yourself

You can make buckwheat milk in just a few steps:
Soak the buckwheat in water for several hours, preferably overnight. Put the buckwheat in a bowl and fill it up with enough water.
Drain the water and rinse the buckwheat well.
Blend the buckwheat on high until it forms a kind of puree.
Add the dates, season to taste and briefly mix the mixture again.
Prepare a bowl and hold the nut milk bag or strainer over it. Fill the mixture into the bag and squeeze it until all the liquid has dripped out of the bag into the bowl.
Pour the liquid into a sealable glass bottle.
Store the homemade buckwheat milk in the fridge. It stays there for a few days.

Tip: You can process the remaining buckwheat. Spread it out on a plate or cloth and let it dry. If you want, you can mix the dried buckwheat again. You can then use the result as a kind of buckwheat flour in recipes such as buckwheat bread or buckwheat pancakes.

Conclusion: Every milk alternative has different properties. Some are sweeter or nuttier in taste, have a creamier or waterier consistency, are better for coffee or baking, and have different ingredients. Every plant drink has its own advantages and disadvantages. It is not possible to say exactly which milk is the most sustainable. It is important that you pay attention to the country of origin and an organic seal for the raw materials.