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Growing Potatoes on The Balcony: This is How it Works – and What You Have to Pay Attention to

no garden? You can also plant potatoes on the balcony. We’ll tell you how to do it!

Potatoes for the balcony – the preparation

If you want to grow potatoes on your balcony, success starts with the preparation. It is best to use ripe potatoes for planting. It’s best to buy seed or seed potatoes from a gardening store. For planting on the balcony, let them pre-germinate in a box in a dark, cool place. This can already be done in March and takes about four weeks.

The right location is important. Potatoes like it warm and light. But make sure that they are not directly in the midday sun. Use vegetable soil or regular garden soil that you have mixed with some compost for the potatoes. So your plants have enough nutrients. Your potatoes also need enough water and space: Potatoes want to spread and always need a lot of water. The soil should not dry out.

Plant bag, bucket or tub: you need that

If you have prepared everything and the sprouted potatoes are ready, you can almost start. But first you have to decide whether you prefer to work with plant bags, buckets or tubs:
Plant sacks: You can buy special plant sacks in specialist shops, but you can also use plastic sacks made from strong PVC fabric. Even rice or jute sacks are suitable for planting potatoes.
Buckets: Buckets or closed tubs are also suitable as long as they are large enough. In order for you to be able to harvest enough potatoes, your container should definitely have a volume of ten liters and a height of about 40 centimeters.
Pots: As with the plant bags, you can also get plant pots from a gardening store. Here you need dark-walled plastic buckets that are as high as possible so that the soil is warmed up well by the sun’s rays.
It is important, no matter which planter you choose in the end, that you ensure sufficient drainage. Potatoes do not tolerate waterlogging, which is why an additional drainage layer made of gravel is worthwhile. For drainage, you can equip your planters with a hole or some slits before filling. Then the water can drain well.

Growing potatoes on the balcony: Here’s how

With the right equipment, you can now plant your own potatoes step by step:
First fill the drainage layer in your planter (think of suitable holes or slots beforehand).
Now you fill in a 15 centimeter high layer of soil that has been enriched with sufficient nutrients.
Now you can spread the seed potatoes evenly over the soil. About four potatoes per pot. Fill in enough soil to just cover the tubers.
Keep everything moist.
After about 14 days, the potatoes are already 15 centimeters high. If the plants have reached a height of 30 centimeters, you can refill 15 centimeters of soil. After that, you can add soil twice more at intervals of 10 to 14 days. This will cause your plants to form more tubers and new shoots further up the shoots.
After about three to four months, the first potatoes are ready to be harvested. At the latest when you watch the leaves of the plants wither, it is time to harvest. Potatoes can usually be harvested from May to October, depending on when and how they were planted. Simply empty your planter. Then you can enjoy your first own balcony potatoes.

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Food

Peppers Stuffed with Minced Meat and Potatoes

Peppers are very high in vitamin C. This turns the dish into a real Vitamin-c-rich lunch that the whole family will enjoy, especially for the cold season. It’s quick to prepare and finishes baking alone in the oven. A quick dish that is easy to prep and then finishes quickly in the oven.

Ingredients for 4 persons

– 4 peppers
– a bit of salt
– 125 ml milk
– 1 bag of mashed potatoes
– 1 onion
– 3 tomatoes
– 1 tbsp. oil
– 300 g mixed minced meat
– 200 g spread (paprika) e.g. B. from fracture
– 2 tablespoons tomato paste
– 250 ml vegetable broth
– Fresh herbs for decoration

Preparation

  1. Cut off the top of each pepper. Then clean the peppers (remove white skin and seeds) and wash.
  2. For the filling, 375 ml of water are boiled with a little salt. Then remove from the stove and pour in the milk. Then stir in the mashed potatoes with a whisk. Let the mashed potatoes swell a bit.
  3. In the meantime, peel the onion and cut it into fine cubes. Clean the tomatoes and cut them into wedges.
  4. Now heat a pan with some oil and sauté the onion and minced meat. Then season with salt. Then add the tomatoes, fry the whole thing briefly and stir in the spread.
  5. Then this mixture is mixed with the finished mashed potatoes and the peppers are filled with it.
  6. For the sauce, mix the tomato paste with the broth and pour into a casserole dish. Then the peppers are placed in the casserole dish.
  7. The whole thing is baked in a preheated oven at 200 degrees top and bottom heat or 175 degrees circulating air for about 20 minutes.
  8. Finally, garnish with fresh, chopped herbs and serve.

Refinement

If necessary, grated cheese can be sprinkled over the peppers, which then gives the whole thing a grand finale.

Useful additional knowledge

It takes about 30 minutes to prepare and the dish is easy to prepare even for beginners.

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Lifestyle

Curious Household Tip: Cleaning The Shower With Potatoes – What Does it Do

Clean the shower with a potato? What does the strange household tip bring?

Why would you clean your shower with a potato?

If the potato is already a useful helper here, it can do even more in the shower. If you have a shower with walls or doors made of glass, treat them with a potato to give them a natural impregnation. This ensures that water and dirt roll off the surface and do not stick to it.

Of course, this impregnation doesn’t last forever, but you save yourself having to grab a wiper and towel every time you shower. Another advantage: The potato is an absolutely environmentally friendly and inexpensive household item that you can use at any time without hesitation.

You don’t even need very fresh potatoes for this, but you can also use specimens that are already germinating a bit. This is irrelevant for the cleaning process itself. This way you can also use sprouted potatoes for yourself at the same time and don’t have to throw them in the trash.

Clean the shower with the potato: That’s how it’s done!

So that you can clean your shower in an environmentally friendly and quick way with a potato in the future, you only have to do a few simple steps:
First, clean your shower of all previous limescale stains and water residue. Make sure the shower is completely clean.
Use a raw potato for the subsequent impregnation. It’s best to peel them so you don’t get dirt on your hands or the walls of the glass.
Now cut your potato in half and rub all the glass walls and the doors of the shower stall with the cut inside. Rinse again with water. This will remove any remaining streaks from the remains of the potato and the shower cubicle will not smell of the tuber afterwards.
The next time you take a shower you will notice how the natural lotus effect kicks in and the water rolls off. The sap of the tuber acts as a kind of impregnation agent and makes it difficult for the dirt to stick. Repeat the process after a few showers so that the impregnation is renewed.
This simple method can save you a lot of time and nerves in the future. You are also doing something for the environment at the same time and you can leave expensive bathroom cleaners on the shelf without hesitation. Tip: You can also soak heavily soiled clothes with unsalted potato water. This makes it even easier for dirt to be removed during the subsequent wash cycle.

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Food

Basic Recipe for Gluten-Free Bread with Potatoes

You wouldn’t want to be without this basic gluten-free bread recipe on your daily menu: Now you can make your own fresh, crispy white bread, dark bread, mixed bread, sunflower bread, rolls, and other delicious baked goods at any time. The recipe is enough for 2 loaves of bread (24 servings)

Are you constantly on the lookout for new, unusual yet light recipes for a healthy diet? Recipes that are easy to replicate, recipes that don’t require overly unusual ingredients? Then you should definitely try this recipe for gluten-free bread so that you always have homemade, crusty bread and other baked goods fresh on the table.

Ingredients for gluten-free bread

  • 50-60 g fresh yeast (alternatively 2 P dry yeast)
  • 1 tablespoon of sugar
  • 1 cup (150-200 ml) non-fat milk (or whole milk if desired)
  • 100 grams of butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 500g boiled, mashed potatoes
  • salt (to taste)
  • 650 g potato starch
  • 2 loaf tins (about 25 cm x 10 cm x 8 cm)
  • Some butter or fat for brushing the mold

Preparation of gluten-free bread (basic recipe)

In a large bowl, mix the yeast and sugar until liquified. Now add milk, butter, eggs, mashed potatoes, and salt and mix well. Then gradually add the potato starch and mix well until the mixture is smooth and sticks to your hands. Now cover the bowl with plastic wrap (or plastic film) and let the dough rest for about 30 minutes.

The mass is then divided into two equal parts and each is placed in a buttered (or fat) loaf tin and smoothed out with a wet spatula. Let the dough rise in the mold for another 30 minutes. The slices of bread are baked in a preheated oven at about 200° C for about 30 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool on a wire rack so the bread stays crispy.

Information and tips

Gluten-free bread brings a healthy change to your diet, not only for those suffering from celiac disease or sprue but also for athletes, and athletes and as a daily, tasty treat. Rice flour, corn flour, starch, buckwheat flour, soy, quinoa, and tapioca are gluten-free, whole wheat, barley, oats, and rye contain gluten. You can get gluten-free baking ferment in organic shops or health food stores; Sourdough works too.

Of course, this stomach-friendly bread can also be processed with mixed flour to make multigrain bread or with rye flour to make dark breakfast bread. Fresh rolls and other baked goods can also be produced very well with this basic mixture. Vary it with sprinkled sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame, or linseed; add whole or chopped nuts to the batter.

Here’s a special insider tip: brush your bread with a little oil 10 minutes before the end of baking, it will then become uniquely crispy.

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Food

May Plaice with Bacon and Fried Potatoes

All landlubbers agree on that. A fried plaice is always a delicious meal and worth the slightly higher effort.

Ingredients for 2 people

  • 1 small cucumber
  • 1 medium onion
  • 2-3 sprigs of dill
  • 2 tablespoons white wine – vinegar
  • ½ tsp mustard, salt, pepper
  • 3 tbsp oil
  • 500 g waxy potatoes
  • 2 ready-to-cook plaice
  • 2-3 tbsp lemon juice
  • 40 g smoked and streaky bacon
  • 2-3 tbsp flour
  • 2 tbsp clarified butter
  • lemon for garnish

Preparation

  1. Wash the cucumber and slice or cut it. peel onion. Cut one half into wedges, one into cubes. Wash and finely chop the dill. Whisk together vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper. Beat in 1 tbsp oil. Mix with cucumber, diced onion, and dill.
  2. Peel, wash, and thinly slice the potatoes. Fry in 2 tablespoons hot oil for 20-25 minutes, turning occasionally. Add the onion wedges after about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. keep warm.
  3. Wash the place thoroughly and pat dry. Drizzle with lemon juice. Finely dice the bacon. Fry in a large coated pan until crispy. Then take it out.
  4. Place flour on a large plate. Pat the clods dry again. Season with salt and pepper and dredge in flour. Knock off excess flour. Heat 1 tablespoon of clarified butter in the bacon fat and fry the plaice for 4-5 minutes on each side until golden brown. Keep warm or fry the plaice in two large pans at the same time.
  5. Serve the plaice with fried potatoes and cucumber salad. Heat the bacon in the frying fat and spread it over the place. Garnish with lemon and serve. Good Appetite.

Useful additional knowledge

Sea fish such as plaice, salmon, herring, or sardines contain many important nutrients. This includes plenty of iodine for the production of important hormones, valuable protein for cell formation, and omega-3 fatty acids for the heart and circulatory system. Nutrition experts, therefore, recommend sea fish 1-2 times a week.

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Food

Diabetic Potatoes with Chicken Ragout (Jerusalem Artichoke)

Jerusalem artichoke is known, among other things, under the names earth artichoke, earth apple, earth sunflower, or even “diabetic potato”. It resembles the potato, its taste is sweet and artichoke-like. Due to its high inulin content, an indigestible carbohydrate that does not affect blood sugar levels, it is ideal for diabetics.

Ingredients for 4 servings

-500 g chicken breast fillet
-1 small stick of leeks
-1 bay leaf
-2 large carrots
-150 g of celery
-750 g Jerusalem artichoke


-50 g of diced bacon
-3 tbsp butter
-Salt, pepper, nutmeg
-200 ml strong Instand vegetable broth
-100 ml apple juice
-4 tablespoons of flour
-200ml milk

Preparation

First cut the chicken breast fillet into small pieces. Then wash the carrots thoroughly, clean, peel, and cut into small sticks. Wash the celery carefully under running water, removing the leaves on the sides. Then cut the celery into slices. The leek is also washed, cleaned, and then cut into small rings. Set all the chopped vegetables aside. Now the Jerusalem artichoke is washed, peeled, and cut into small cubes. The bacon is now fried with 1 tablespoon of butter, then the chicken and Jerusalem artichoke are added and roasted.

The chopped celery and carrot pieces are now also added. Finally, the whole thing is seasoned with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. The apple juice and the instant broth are added. Bring everything to a boil over high heat. Then simmer gently over medium heat for about 30 minutes. It is important that the Jerusalem artichoke is soft at the end. Sweat the remaining butter, i.e. the 2 tablespoons of butter, with the flour until a dark yellow semi-solid mass is formed. Stir constantly with the whisk so that nothing burns. Then add the cold milk and let it boil. Pour the sauce into the stew while stirring and continue to cook for a few minutes.

Useful additional knowledge

When buying Jerusalem artichoke, you should definitely make sure that the skin is intact, because the vegetable is very sensitive. Varieties with particularly light skin have the best aroma and taste fine and nutty. Unlike potatoes, Jerusalem artichoke cannot be stored for long and is, therefore, best prepared soon after purchase. Jerusalem artichoke is a wonderful alternative to potatoes. Almost every dish that is prepared with potatoes can also be cooked with Jerusalem artichokes. The tuber is ideal for puree, gratins, soups, or salads.

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Vegetarian Balls with Potatoes and Salad

Vegetarian balls with potatoes and salad are simply conjured up.

Ingredients for 4 persons

– 1 pack of veggie balls
– 400g of potatoes
– 250g of mushrooms
– 1 head of lettuce
– 1 tomato
– 1/4 cup cream
– Olive oil, salt, and pepper

Ingredients for the sauce

– 3 tbsp butter
– 1 pinch of asafoetida
– 1 tbsp soy sauce
– 300ml of water

Preparation of vegetarian balls

  1. Peel the potatoes and cook for 30 minutes. The veggie balls are fried in a pan, the whole thing takes 5 minutes. Cook the veggie balls.
  2. Mix soy sauce with 300 ml water. Then melt the butter in a pan and sauté the onions. Add the flour and deglaze with the soy mixture. Now add the pre-cooked mushrooms and season with cream. Simmer on medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the balls at the end.
  3. Serve the lettuce head together with the tomato and a balsamic mustard dressing.
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Potatoes – Info, Tips and Home Remedies

Useful household tips and natural home remedies for potatoes. We use the potato very often in the household, but until now we have used it far too little as a remedy and health maker.

Eat and use delicious potatoes

Potatoes are a fruit we love very much, and they thrive in almost every field in our region. Sometimes the tubers from the supermarket don’t taste good, and they don’t keep very long either, so they’re even thrown away. Potatoes from organic farms in the immediate region are hardly more expensive, but usually taste much better. You should get some at the market and even buy a few extra pounds to store in the basement so that you always have some and can be sure that they really taste good.

Grow potatoes on the balcony or in the apartment

You can also grow and pull up potatoes on the balcony yourself. On the balcony, terrace, or in the apartment. The tubers are easy to grow in a large bucket.

Save oversalted potatoes

There is a simple trick for oversalted potatoes. It depends on how salty the tubers are. Re-boil the potatoes with fresh water and one raw, peeled potato. The potatoes placed next to it will absorb the excess salt.

More vitamins in boiled potatoes

In order to make the best use of the vitamin content, it is better to cook them unpeeled and only then peel them off. At the same time, you have the effect that you have less work and all family members participate in peeling the potatoes. At the same time, these skins are also much thinner, so that almost the entire potato can be used to the full.

Clever peeling of jacket potatoes

For jacket potatoes, this trick makes peeling things quicker. You can make peeling easier in a matter of seconds: cut each potato in the middle before cooking. Then cook the tubers as normal and at the end quench the potatoes in really cold water for a few seconds. Then you can simply peel off the peel with your hands or even push out the cooked potatoes.

Use the cooking water for the sauce

If the potatoes are washed completely clean and cooked, then you can use the cooking water, which is rich in vitamins and minerals, to mix the sauce or for a soup.

Make chips out of the potato peel

After peeling the potatoes, you can collect the potato skins. The shells contain a lot of nutrients and minerals. You can reuse them for hearty potato chips. It’s easy: put all the potato skins on a baking sheet. Drizzle with vegetable oil and season with salt, pepper, chili, or paprika to taste. Then bake in the oven for about 15 minutes at 180 degrees until the chips are crispy.

Potatoes as a household remedy

  • Potato water for weed control: The water is ideal for weed control. Simply pour the hot cooking water over the plants. A natural alternative to chemical weed killers.
  • Use potato water as fertilizer: You have to boil the potatoes without salt. The potato water is very suitable as a garden fertilizer or plant fertilizer. It contains a lot of potassium and valuable vitamins.

Potato as a natural remedy

Potatoes can also be used to cure colds and sore throats. They are boiled and wrapped in a cloth while hot. You put this cloth on your chest or around your neck if you have a sore throat, lie down in bed, and try to sleep. After a certain time, you start to sweat, and after a good night’s sleep, the symptoms can be significantly reduced.

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Cooking Tips

To Peel Potatoes or Not: is it Safe to Eat The Peel?

Should you peel potatoes or not? Many are unsure whether there are actually many vitamins under the skin. You can read everything you need to know about the potato and its skin here.

Potatoes: That’s why you should peel them in the future

In principle, according to the consumer center, potatoes can also be eaten with their skins on. However, this does not increase the health value. On the contrary: When eating the peel, there is a risk of absorbing increased amounts of solanine. The natural toxin mainly forms directly under the skin and in the sprouts. In order to keep the solanine content as low as possible, the potato plant must be stored correctly.

If stored incorrectly, the solanine content can increase to levels that are harmful to health and ultimately irritate the mucous membranes and damage the nerves. Stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea and headaches are often the result.

Since solanine is heat-resistant and is also retained during cooking, roasting and deep-frying, it is advisable to always eat potatoes without their skins. In order to avoid major losses of vitamins and minerals, it makes sense to first boil the potatoes and then peel them.

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Food

Sprouting Potatoes: Can You Still Eat Them or is it Poisonous?

Potatoes develop sprouts after a few days of storage. These increase the amount of solanine in the tuber. Many are therefore wondering whether sprouted potatoes should be eaten at all – because solanine is poisonous.

Potatoes have natural toxin in skin and sprouts

Basically, potatoes are one of the staple foods. Rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytochemicals. Their fat content is also low. The “German Society for Nutrition e.V.” therefore recommends “eating plenty of potatoes”.

However, potatoes are also rich in solanine – a toxic glycoalkaloid. It is a natural toxin that builds up just under the skin and especially in the sprouts. Solanine is also found under the skin of the potato, which is why you should peel potatoes in the future. The Bavarian consumer advice center therefore warns that the solanine content in “wrongly stored” potatoes in particular can rise to levels that are harmful to health.

If potatoes are stored at more than twelve degrees Celsius, the potato tubers often sprout prematurely. Like the green spots that appear when exposed to light, the shoots also contain poisonous solanine and other bitter substances.

Too much toxic solanine in sprouting potatoes

The more buds the potato has already formed, the more poison there is in the tuber. If potatoes are shriveled and soft due to incorrect storage, we should no longer eat them. The consequences are otherwise noticeable in irritated mucous membranes, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. These unpleasant symptoms can occur even after consuming as little as one milligram of solanine per body weight.

“Cutting away” the buds and liberally peeling the potatoes is often not enough, experts warn. Large areas of green or heavily sprouted potatoes should no longer be eaten. Eating unpeeled potatoes also increases the risk of consuming too much solanine.

Important: The cooking water from potatoes should not be used for anything else either. Because some of the solanine goes into the water.

Solanine is heat-resistant – it is better to cut off sprouts generously

Also treacherous: solanine is heat-resistant and remains largely intact even when cooking, roasting or deep-frying. Consumer advocates therefore advise buying potatoes in opaque packaging, such as paper bags, if possible. They should then be stored in a cool, dark place, for example in a cellar or pantry. If this is not possible, it is better to buy only small quantities and use them up quickly.

The rule of thumb is: If the germs are no more than one centimeter long, the solanine concentration is still low. If you cut off the sprouts generously, nothing stands in the way of consumption. If the sprouts are already very long – the tuber is densely covered with sprouts – it is better for the potato to go in the garbage. Potatoes with very green spots also contain a lot of solanine and should better be sorted out. It is often not enough to cut generously.

By the way: Solanine is also contained in other nightshade plants such as tomatoes. The bitter-tasting glycoalkaloid protects plants from predators.

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