Breaking
FoodNerdy Recipes Management System
Tag

simple,

Browsing
Cooking Tips

Cutting Onions: Simple Instructions For Fine Cubes

Chopping onions is one of the most disliked cooking tasks for many. We show you two methods with which you can easily cut onions into small pieces or into rings.

Slicing Onion: Onion rings are the easiest

The easiest way is to cut an onion into many (half) onion rings. You take advantage of the structure of the onion:
First, peel and halve the onion. It is important that you cut through the onion on the side where the tuber base is located.
Then place the onion with the flat side on a board and cut narrow strips down the side.
The thinner the strips, the thinner the onion rings.
Tip: If you want whole rings instead of half onion rings, you must not halve the onion beforehand.

Cut the onion into very small pieces

To dice the onion, the following three-step method works best. However, it is not very easy. That’s why you’ll find an easier way to cut onions below.

1. First, peel and halve the onion and place it in front of you with the base of the bulb facing you.
Then use a knife to cut narrow strips into the onion half.
However, you don’t cut all the way to the back end, but stop just before the end. This way the onion doesn’t fall apart.

Cut onion – Step 2

2. Next, you need to rotate the onion 90 degrees and cut horizontal strips into the onion at the open end (see image). You need a sharp knife for this and you have to be careful not to cut yourself.

You should cut about three strips horizontally into the onion.
Again, don’t cut all the way to the end of the onion to keep it from falling apart.

Third cut: Dice the onion

3. Finally, cut the onion into small cubes. To do this, cut straight strips into the onion.

Since you rotated the onion in the previous step, cutting the strips again creates small cubes.
The thinner the strips, the smaller the cubes.
You can finally cut the end piece into small pieces.
This method gives you very fine onion pieces. However, you need to try them on an onion or two first and get some practice. If you don’t get along with this method, we have an easier method for you. The onion pieces don’t get that small.

Alternative method of slicing onions

First you need to peel and halve the onion.
Then you have to cut the onion into thin strips as with the halved onion rings.
Now turn the onion 90 degrees and cut it again into thin strips.
However, please note:
The onion pieces get bigger because the horizontal cut is missing.
Since there is no real end piece, you have to be careful not to slip off with the knife, especially at the end.

Cut onions without tears – 3 tips

The two substances alliinase and alliin are in the onion. When cutting onions, they meet and make our eyes water. This is a natural defense mechanism of the plant to protect itself from mice and other animals. The following tips will help:
Safety goggles or diving goggles ensure that the substances from the onion do not get into your eyes.
If you cut the onion at the window, you cry less. Because the onion vapors can be drawn off directly.
You can also peel the onion under water, for example in a bowl. The water ensures that the vapors cannot rise.

Keep Reading
By
Lifestyle

Simple Face Masks Made from Healing Clay for All Skin Types

Healing Earth is a traditional beauty product that is still valued and used all over the world today. Targeted treatments with healing earth are particularly suitable for gentle care of the skin. In the case of skin problems, healing earth should not only be applied externally but also taken as a cure at the same time. 1-2 teaspoons of healing earth in warm water, drunk in small sips, detoxifies and regenerates the body in the long term, which ultimately also affects skin, hair, and nails. Face masks with healing earth and additional essences such as herbal teas or essential oils can be prepared quickly and inexpensively. Continuous use replaces a visit to a beauty salon in the long run.

Additives for effective face masks made from healing earth

On the one hand, there is the possibility to add about 5-10 drops of good quality essential oil to the healing earth paste, on the other hand, you can mix the healing earth mixture with lukewarm herbal tea (1 teaspoon per cup). In the following, the appropriate healing earth application is presented for four different skin types.

Observe the exposure time of the face mask

Most face masks need a certain exposure time to show their full effect. You should use this waiting time sensibly and devote yourself entirely to your relaxation. It is best to treat yourself to a warm bath while it is taking effect, in order to strengthen the effect of the mask with the warm vapors. For all beauty masks made of healing earth, the exposure time is 20 to 30 minutes.

Care for oily and impure skin

Caused by a malfunction of the sebaceous glands and should be treated with a clarifying healing clay mask 1-2 times a week. Consider essential oils: lemon, cedar, mint, rosemary, sage, tea tree, or lavender. Please do not use it as a mixture, but use it individually. If you opt for a healing earth herbal tea treatment, the following herbs are available: yarrow, pansies, daisies, chamomile, arnica, and sage.

Care for sensitive skin

tends to quickly irritate the skin and requires particularly careful care. The healing earth mask should not dry up completely and should only be applied every 10 days. The following come into question as essential oils: calendula, geranium, and chamomile. The following are suitable for the herbal tea treatment: chamomile, linden blossom, lemon balm, calendula, and St. John’s wort. Honey or quark can also be mixed into the healing earth mash.

Care for dry skin

is often innate and you should pay particular attention to the right care products. The healing earth mask has a balancing effect, but do not let it dry out completely and only use it once a week if possible. The following come into question as essential oils: geranium, lavender, chamomile, and rose, as herbal tea chamomile and calendula. In addition, the healing earth paste should be enriched with a teaspoon of jojoba oil.

Care for mature skin

The aging of the skin takes place in stages and can be drastically accelerated by certain factors, in particular smoking but also an unhealthy diet. A rich healing earth mask provides blood circulation, tightens and nourishes the facial skin, and should be used once a week. The following essential oils are suitable: arnica, rosemary, rose, cypress, and ylang-ylang. The mask can also be enriched with egg yolk, honey, quark, or jojoba oil. Lavender and rosemary are good herbal teas.

Keep Reading
By
Lifestyle

Make Natural Cosmetics Yourself: 3 Simple Recipes

Make your own natural cosmetics with just a few natural ingredients. We have collected simple recipes for homemade natural cosmetics. This is good for your body and saves you money.

Instead of buying expensive and supposedly natural cosmetics, you can make natural cosmetics yourself. So you know exactly what’s inside. As a result, you avoid harmful ingredients.

What are real natural cosmetics?

Genuine natural cosmetics contain no chemical substances. These include raw materials from the petroleum industry, such as silicones. Likewise, no artificial colors and fragrances are used. In contrast, real natural cosmetics consist of vegetable oils and fats, beeswax, or essential oils. But be careful!

Since terms such as natural cosmetics, herbal cosmetics, or natural ingredients are not legally protected, they are often misleading. As a result, many product manufacturers are heavily greenwashing. In addition, there is no nature in it just because nature and plants are shown on the product. So you should always pay attention to the ingredients or buy products with a corresponding seal of approval.

Make your own recipes for natural cosmetics

There are numerous different recipes for making natural cosmetics yourself. You can choose the right one for you and tailor it to your needs. If you use homemade natural cosmetics, you are doing your skin good. This way you don’t expose them to the many harmful ingredients in the usual cosmetic products. We have collected some recipes for you below. Also, read how to make your own soap.

1) Purifying salt scrub with olive oil

The use of olive oil and the household remedy salt results in a natural peeling. You can use this for skin detoxification. It is also an effective home remedy for dry skin. To do this, mix 3 tablespoons of table salt with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and massage the dry areas with this natural peeling. Then leave it on for about 10 minutes. Then you have to wash everything thoroughly with water. The salt has a purifying effect and removes toxins from the skin. The salt also binds moisture and makes the skin soft. This stimulates the skin to produce a new protective layer from the body’s own fats. Also a good natural home remedy for rough elbows.

2) Avocado mask makes skin soft

You can easily make homemade natural cosmetics with the popular household avocado. This is a great product for soft and delicate skin. For this, you need the following ingredients: 1 ripe avocado, 1/2 tsp honey, and 1 tsp natural yogurt. Then puree the avocado well and add yogurt and honey. Then mix it well and put the creamy mass on your face or other dry skin. After a reaction time of 10 to 20 minutes, wash off thoroughly with lukewarm water. The dry and stressed skin is velvety soft and moisturized by the avocado. In addition, note our tips for smooth facial skin and other natural face mask recipes.

3) Almond cream as homemade natural cosmetics

With the use of healthy oils, you can easily make natural cosmetics yourself. For example with the following ingredients: 60 ml almond oil, 40 ml safflower oil, 40 ml distilled water, 10 g beeswax, and 15 g cocoa butter. First, fill all the oils and waxes in a waterproof container (e.g. jam jar) and heat it in a water bath to 60 degrees until the ingredients have melted into a mass. Then heat the distilled water and spoon it into the oil mass. Stir gently while doing so. You can vary the consistency with the amount of water. Then let the finished almond cream cool down for 30 minutes. The mild almond oil gently cares for your skin.

4) Homemade Lip Balm

You can also make your own lip balm. You only need a few ingredients for this, such as shea butter and coconut oil, they make your lips soft and help against dry, burning lips. Watch the video below for detailed instructions. Here you will also find more recipes for a body cream and soap. Also, note our face masks are made of healing earth.

Buy ingredients from the internet

You can often get the ingredients at health food stores. But good deals can also be found quickly on the Internet. You can also buy larger quantities here. This is particularly useful if you also want to produce other natural products. Accordingly, you can also make your own shower gel without plastic. Or use a homemade deodorant without aluminum in the future.

Keep Reading
By
Cooking Tips

Roasting Hazelnuts: Simple Instructions For Pan and Oven

We’ll show you how to easily roast hazelnuts in the pan and in the oven. This is how the nuts unfold their full flavor – and become a delicious snack.

Hazelnuts are in season from September to December. They are a healthy supplier of energy, contain many B vitamins and unsaturated fatty acids. They also contain important trace elements such as iron, zinc and calcium.

This also applies to roasted hazelnuts: when you heat them, the healthy ingredients are only slightly changed and are not completely lost.

Roasted hazelnuts can be found in many autumn and Christmas recipes – from cookies to chocolate to liqueur or hazelnut butter. You can buy them pre-roasted at the supermarket. However, we recommend that you simply roast the delicious nuts yourself – this way you save on plastic packaging and sometimes also CO2, which is emitted on long transport routes.

Maybe you have a hazelnut bush in your garden or you can buy hazelnuts in an organic shop or get them from a farm near you. It is best to use a jute bag to transport them.

How to roast hazelnuts in the pan

To roast hazelnuts at home, you can use a simple frying pan. Proceed as follows:
Crack the shells of the hazelnuts, for example with a nutcracker.
Put the hazelnuts in a pan without fat. Portion them so that they are not on top of each other.
Place the pan on the stove over medium-high heat.
Roast the hazelnuts for about 7 to 10 minutes. Stir regularly so that nothing burns.
Take the hazelnuts out of the pan.
Tip: If you want, you can now easily skin the nuts by wrapping them in a cloth. If you rub the nuts together in the cloth, the skin will almost come off by itself.

If you don’t want to use the nuts right away, you should let them cool down and put them in a sealable container. Store them in a dark, cool place. This keeps the roasted hazelnuts for several months.

Roasting hazelnuts in the oven: this is how it works

Alternatively, you can roast the hazelnuts in the oven.
Crack the hazelnuts.
Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet. Again, they should not be on top of each other.
Place the hazelnuts in the oven at 180 degrees top/bottom heat for eight to twelve minutes. (Tip: If you want to save energy, don’t preheat the oven. Put the nuts in the oven right away and just let them toast a few minutes longer.)
Check regularly to see if the nuts are ready – this will prevent them from burning. They should be brown in color and smell nutty.
Remove the hazelnuts from the oven and then from the baking sheet. Let them cool down and then put them in a sealable container.

Keep Reading
By
health

Grated Apple: A Simple Home Remedy For Diarrhea

Grated apple is one of the traditional home remedies for diarrhea. Here you can find out how the apple works and what you should pay attention to.

With their many nutrients and vitamins, apples are considered a regional “superfood”. Directly from the region and thanks to the variety of varieties, there is something for every taste. If you suffer from mild diarrhea, apples can be a helpful home remedy – especially when grated.

Grated apple – this is how it helps with diarrhea

Apples are rich in the fiber pectin. This supports digestion on several levels:
On the one hand, pectin swells in the intestines and thus binds excess liquid – the stool becomes firmer as a result.
On the other hand, these plant substances line the intestinal wall with a protective film and stimulate intestinal peristalsis, the natural movement of the intestine.
Even toxins in the digestive tract should be able to bind pectin to a certain extent.
A study from 2015 shows that pectin helps with diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome and has a positive effect on the intestinal flora. In another study, diarrhea in children was successfully treated with an extract of pectin and chamomile.

Grated apple works particularly well because the surface of the apple pieces is larger and the pectins can bind liquids even better. In addition, the apple is easier to digest than if you swallow it in larger pieces. This is particularly important if the intestines are already ailing. It also makes sense to leave the grated apple in the air until it turns brown and more pectins have formed.

Important: Most of the pectin is in and directly under the peel, so you should definitely grate and eat it as well. It is therefore also important to choose untreated organic apples.

Instructions: Arrange the grated apple correctly

You can prepare grated apple very quickly and easily. You only need:
organic apple,
a kitchen grater (alternatively a sharp knife)
Here’s how you do it:
Grate the whole apple very finely with a kitchen grater. You should halve or quarter a very large apple beforehand.
Spread out the grated apple and leave it in the air until it turns brown. This takes about ten minutes.
Eat the grated apple by the spoonful – one to three apples a day, depending on your symptoms.
Note: If you don’t have a kitchen grater, you can also use a knife to cut the apple into pieces or strips that are as fine as possible.

Keep Reading
By
Cooking Tips

Clean Mushrooms: Simple Step-By-Step Instructions

Cleaning mushrooms requires a little finesse. We’ll tell you how you can get rid of the dirt particles on the popular mushrooms and what you should look out for when buying them.

Clean mushrooms carefully!

Mushrooms are an all-round ingredient. For example, they can be used to conjure up delicious mushroom pans and soups. But bought or collected mushrooms sometimes show slight soiling and soil residue. That’s why you should clean your mushrooms before you use them in the kitchen. You should keep these tips in mind:
Mushrooms are very delicate mushrooms. Store-bought mushrooms are not always dirty. So it is enough to clean them with a brush or cloth.

Do the following:
Hold the mushrooms by their stems so you can gently brush the dirt off the head from top to bottom.
Then use a brush to remove coarse dirt from the underside of the head and the handle itself. Tip: If the dirt cannot be removed, you can sprinkle the brush with a few drops of water.
At the end you can rub the fungus again with a cloth. This is how you clean the mushroom from finer dirt residues or dry it.

Keep Reading
By
Cooking Tips

Cut Melon – With These Simple Tricks

Melon is as much a part of summer as sunscreen or bathing. But slicing melon can sometimes be a challenge.

Both muskmelons and watermelons hide their tasty flesh under a thick and hard rind. Watermelons in particular are also very large, which makes them even more difficult to cut.

With these tips you will succeed:
Use a sharp knife with a blade longer than the melon.
Place the melon on a slightly rough surface, such as a wooden board, so it doesn’t slip.
Caution: Always cut away from your hands.
Depending on whether you want to eat the melon right away or process it further, you can cut it differently. You can find out how to do this below.

Cut melon into sticks: Ideal as a child-friendly snack

This method is especially great for kids who can’t get enough of melon in the summer and prefer to nibble on it themselves. Unlike melon boats, these pens do not leave a mustache on your face and children’s small hands can easily hold the melon pens.

It’s that easy:
1. Halve the melon on the long side.
2. Cut the melon along the grain into strips about two thumbs wide.
3. Then repeat this process against the grain to create a checkerboard pattern. You may need to hold the melon to keep it from falling apart.
4. And your melon sticks are ready. You can eat them simply by holding them by the shell.

Keep Reading
By
Food

Roasting Sunflower Seeds: Simple Instructions and Delicious Variations

You can roast sunflower seeds in the pan or in the oven for a delicious and healthy snack. We will show you what options there are and what you should pay attention to when preparing them.

Roast sunflower seeds: The seeds go particularly well with this

Sunflower seeds are known to contain a lot of unsaturated fatty acids. They are also rich in vitamins and provide valuable fiber. This makes them a healthy snack that you can eat raw or roasted. If you roast the sunflower seeds beforehand, their nutty taste will develop even better.

The roasted sunflower seeds taste particularly good in salads, as a topping in soups or in muesli in the morning. They are also suitable as an ingredient in bread and biscuits or as a basis for homemade pesto. Roasting the seeds not only develops a stronger aroma, they also have more bite.

Roast sunflower seeds: Fat-free in the pan

The quickest way to roast sunflower seeds is to heat them up in a pan. A coated pan works best for this. This means that the sunflower seeds are less likely to burn during roasting.

Place the pan on the stove and heat it on high.
Add the sunflower seeds to the heated pan and turn the heat down to the lowest setting. The kernels only need a few minutes to finish roasting.
Swirl the sunflower seeds around as you toast them, being careful not to burn them.
The kernels are ready as soon as they are slightly brown in color and smell aromatic.

Roast sunflower seeds with oil

If you don’t have a non-stick pan or want to add spices, you should also use some oil to roast the sunflower seeds.

Put a tablespoon of oil in a pan and heat it on high. Use sunflower oil, for example: it has a high smoke point.
Add the sunflower seeds and toast them over low to medium heat for a few minutes until golden brown.
Swirl the sunflower seeds regularly while toasting or spread them out with a spatula.
Finally, you can season the roasted sunflower seeds with a little salt and spices.

Roasting sunflower seeds: This is how it works in the oven

If you want to roast a larger amount of sunflower seeds, it is best to use the oven. This method works like this:

Preheat the oven to 175° C top/bottom heat. Tip: If you want to save energy, you can also do without preheating. Simply roast the sunflower seeds a little longer.
Spread the nuts out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Make sure that the cores are not on top of each other.
Put the tray in the oven and roast the sunflower seeds for a few minutes. Turn them occasionally so they can brown evenly.
Tip: You can store roasted sunflower seeds in an airtight container for a few days, but they lose their aroma very quickly. They taste best freshly roasted.

Roasting sunflower seeds: delicious variations

For a special touch, you can season the roasted kernels with spices and other ingredients. Here you can find some ideas:
Sweet and hot sunflower seeds: When roasting the sunflower seeds, add one or two teaspoons of sugar and add some chili or cayenne pepper at the end. If you only want to add spices, it is best to heat the kernels in some oil.
Caramelized Sunflower Seeds: For this sweet twist, add 1-2 teaspoons of sugar or honey to the pan and let the seeds caramelize in it. A pinch of salt completes the aroma.
Add other nuts and seeds: If you’re toasting sunflower seeds, you can add other seeds like pumpkin and pine nuts if you like. Different types of nuts are also suitable.

Keep Reading
By
Lifestyle

Becoming a Vegetarian: Simple Tips for Beginners

Becoming a vegetarian has never been easier than it is now: there is a wide range of vegetarian products, recipes and restaurants to choose from. Our tips will make the transition easier for you.

Why become a vegetarian?

There are many reasons to reduce meat consumption – above all the sometimes cruel processes in industrial factory farming and animal husbandry. A vegetarian diet is also better for the environment.

Four-fifths of the world’s agricultural land is required for the production of animal products. In addition, animal husbandry produces high greenhouse gas emissions and a lot of water is consumed. After all, animals on fattening farms are rarely kept in a manner appropriate to their species and are often treated with antibiotics.

The good news: it has probably never been easier to become a vegetarian than it is today: there is a large variety of vegetarian cookbooks and blogs. More and more vegetarian restaurants are opening in the cities and “normal” restaurants often have many delicious vegetarian dishes on the menu. Nevertheless, it is not easy to change your diet overnight. The following tips should help you get started.

Change gradually and replace habits

Start slowly but set specific goals: for example, build in one or two vegetarian days a week and try to increase this number over time. Such precise guidelines are far more effective than saying to yourself, “I’m trying to eat less meat.”

It is particularly difficult to replace habits such as sausage sandwiches in the evening. The best way to do this is to replace them with new habits. How about a vegetarian spread instead of the sausage?

Become a vegetarian and cook for yourself

The best way to get to know the diversity of vegetarian cuisine is to cook it yourself. You can get inspiration from vegetarian friends, cookbooks or blogs. You will quickly realize that vegetarian dishes are really tasty and filling.

There are some national cuisines that offer many vegetarian dishes, including Indian and Italian cuisine. But there are also traditional meatless dishes from many other regions.

You can also replace the meat in many recipes: for example, you can prepare a delicious Bolognese sauce based on soy, lentils or mushrooms. This quickly becomes a vegetarian lasagna.

Schnitzel and sausage without meat?

There are now many vegetarian schnitzels, sausages and cold cuts on the market that are very similar to their meaty originals. However, before you buy them, we recommend checking the ingredients list, as many of these substitutes contain many additives.

If you have an appetite for the spicy flavor of meat, opt for foods that are naturally similarly spicy. This applies to mushrooms or cheese, for example.

Keep Reading
By
Cooking Tips

Separate Eggs: 3 Simple Tricks

Separating eggs is sometimes necessary when preparing pastries, desserts, or sauces. It’s not difficult with a variety of techniques – we’ll also show you how recipes can be made without eggs.

Some recipes require the egg white and yolk to be separated. You don’t need any tools to separate eggs. The yolk has a relatively stable shell. Nevertheless, it can sometimes happen that this shell tears and the yolk flows into the albumen.

If you need to separate multiple eggs, do it one at a time, separating the eggs over a cup and placing the two components in two more bowls. If an egg yolk runs out, only one egg is mixed and you can use the remaining eggs for the recipe.

When the yolk runs into the egg white, it becomes difficult to whip the egg whites out of it. You can then simply use it for other dishes, such as omelets or pancakes. You can also prepare other things with leftover egg whites or use the yolks for other purposes.

Separate eggs without tools

You can separate egg yolks from egg whites using a variety of techniques without tools. Set out bowls ahead of time to collect the whites and yolks separately.

Use the eggshell to separate the egg:
Prepare a bowl. Crack the egg on the edge of the bowl. You now have two egg halves, one of which contains only egg white.
Add the egg whites from this half to the bowl.
Carefully pour the yolk from one half of the egg to the other, allowing the egg white to run over the edge of the shell and into the bowl. Shake the egg back and forth until only the yolk is left in an eggshell.

Use your hand to separate the egg:
Form a bowl with your hand, leaving small gaps between your fingers.
Crack the egg open on a hard edge and pour the egg into your hand over a bowl.
Run the egg white between your fingers into the bowl, catching the yolk.

Separate eggs with tools

A tool for separating eggs is particularly useful if the egg is already open in a bowl. There are various jugs and coarse sieves to separate the egg white and yolk.

With a suction effect, you pull the yolk out of the egg white with special rubber figures. You most likely don’t need such a special utensil, because you can achieve the same effect with an empty plastic bottle:
Squeeze the bottle with your hand, holding the opening close to the yolk.
release the pressure The resulting negative pressure pulls the yolk into the bottle.

replace egg white

When egg white is called for in a recipe, it is often made into whipped cream. There are many reasons you might want to substitute egg whites: if you’re intolerant to eggs, if you’re refusing eggs for ethical reasons, or simply because you don’t have enough eggs on hand

Since raw eggs can contain salmonella, you can substitute them, especially in dishes with uncooked eggs. You can easily replace egg whites with the water in which the chickpeas were boiled. This is called aquafaba. You can process this with just a few ingredients into a vegan egg white. Silken tofu is a good basis for mousse au chocolat instead of egg.

Keep Reading
By