Breaking
FoodNerdy Recipes Management System
Tag

spring

Browsing
Lifestyle

6 Tips for a Relaxed Spring Cleaning

After a long and dark winter, it’s time for spring cleaning. Some people start very motivated, while others try to avoid it. But with our spring cleaning tips and a checklist, your next spring cleaning will be more relaxed.

In order to feel comfortable in your own home again, you usually start the new year with a spring cleaning. Then everything is cleaned that has not been cleaned for a long time. So a lot of work is waiting for you. But our tips and tricks for cleaning your apartment will help you to save time and annoyance.

Why do you do spring cleaning?

It seems that spring cleaning has a long tradition. Because it is assumed that people in the Middle Ages already used the spring for cleaning. Since it was usually very cold in winter and the doors stayed closed, a lot of dirt accumulated in the house during this time. Therefore, the extensive cleaning began with better weather, like spring. It is also said that the Romans cleaned everything in February. Because the Latin word February means to clean. To make cleaning at home more relaxed, read our tips on cleaning the kitchen.

Spring cleaning tips and checklist

We have put together the most important tips for you so that your planned spring cleaning is a success. Since a haphazard start usually does not achieve the desired results, it is worth planning ahead. Then you can work through everything bit by bit without being exhausted. Spring cleaning also has a positive effect on your psyche. Please also note our tips for combating spring fatigue.

1) Create a cleaning schedule

It doesn’t all have to happen at once. If you don’t want to do the spring cleaning in one day or weekend, you can schedule a week. You should create a cleaning plan in advance. This allows you to set a sensible order of activities and leave some relaxation in between. Motivation also benefits if a clear goal and a structured plan are set in advance. You should also consider which cleaning products you need for your spring cleaning checklist. As a result, you can complete the purchase on time. Consequently, the most important tools at a glance. In addition, follow our instructions for cleaning the bathroom.

  • Rubber gloves to protect hands and, if necessary, an apron
  • Detergents (chemical or natural)
  • Broom, hand brush, and mop
  • A big bucket
  • If necessary, large garbage bags
  • dusters or cloths

2) Determine the order for spring cleaning

If you have all the utensils together, you can start. Then you should first tidy up the apartment, clean windows, dust, and clean individual appliances such as the oven. You should work your way from top to bottom in each room. Consequently, the floor is vacuumed and mopped at the end. And don’t forget, you do your spring cleaning at your own pace. Either in a day or within a week. You should also allow yourself breaks.

3) Use natural home remedies

Less is more. Instead of finding a special cleaner for each surface, you can use natural home remedies such as vinegar essence. You can also use citric acid or the popular home remedy baking soda. Because it can be used to clean many surfaces. Vinegar essence removes traces of limescale in the bathroom and kitchen just as thoroughly as the pathogens that the dog carries into the home. Even windows can be cleaned with vinegar water. The same applies to the grill and upholstered furniture. In addition, this is a good way to protect the environment in the household.

4) Equip the mop with rubber

Since you have to wipe the floor at the end, we have another of many spring cleaning tips for you. Because brooms or mops often fall to the ground if you lean them against something for a short time. So that you don’t have to bend down unnecessarily, take a pair of kitchen rubbers or the finger that has been cut off from an old rubber glove. Then pull it over the stem and you’re done. They are therefore guaranteed to be non-slip and easy on the back. Please also note our tips for back pain.

5) Clean the radiator with the hairdryer

Clean the heating – of course, you can wipe the outside with a damp cloth and behind it with a feather duster a bit here and there. But it’s still not really clean. Because the individual openings inside the radiator are almost inaccessible. They are too narrow to put your hand in. And this is where the hairdryer comes into play. Accordingly, first place a damp cloth on the heater, which hangs down behind the heater. Then the dust is blown against it from the front with a hairdryer – so all the dirt gets caught in the cloth. In addition, also note our other tips for dusting and removing cobwebs. And if you heat with a fireplace, then also note clever tips for cleaning the fireplace.

6) Neutralize odors

With the vinegar cleaner from tip no. 3, cleaning worked well, but the acrid smell still hangs in your nose and in the room? Then drip a few drops of your favorite perfume onto a lightbulb. Consequently, when the lightbulb is on, the scent spreads. Because when the pear heats up, the perfume evaporates and the vinegar-based cleaner gives way to a pleasant room scent that is so important for a feeling of well-being at home. You can also neutralize odors with simple means. For example, set up bowls of coffee in the apartment. Or create your own room spray.

Is now time for something new?

There is also a lot of mucking out during spring cleaning, similar to the Konmari method of tidying up. But cleaning in the spring should not only be considered for removing dirt. If you got rid of some old furniture, clothes or other things, you can also reward yourself with a couple of new items. Of course only if you feel like it. This makes tidying up more fun and you have a good motivation. In addition, many providers give discounts in the spring. So you can refurnish your apartment with little money.

Keep Reading
By
Food

Wild Garlic Recipes: 5 Simple Ideas for Cooking in Spring

From March, wild garlic will sprout from the ground here. Many are familiar with wild garlic, but are wondering: what can you do with wild garlic? We show delicious wild garlic recipes and have tips on how best to prepare wild garlic.

Wild garlic is also called “wild garlic”, but you harvest the leaves and not the bulbs. As soon as the first rays of sunshine tickle the forest floor in March, the green, garlic-scented leaves sprout out of the ground. And with the start of the wild garlic season, it is also time for sophisticated wild garlic recipes.

5 simple wild garlic recipes

Three important tips first:

If you want to collect wild garlic yourself, you should be careful what you pick. Read this in advance: Recognizing wild garlic and not confusing it with poisonous plants.
Most of the aroma is in the leaves as long as the wild garlic is not in bloom. Depending on the region and the weather, wild garlic dishes only taste good until the end of April, or the end of May at the latest.
If you want to eat dishes with wild garlic outside of the wild garlic season, the wild vegetables can be preserved well, preferably frozen. Read more: Freezing wild garlic and preserving it – this is how it works.

Cook wild garlic – the basics

Wild garlic replaces garlic, onion greens or chives in the kitchen in spring. It contains the most flavor when it is not heated and eaten raw. That is why many wild garlic recipes use it cold or only lukewarm in herb butter, cream cheese or pesto.

If you want to use the wild vegetables for hot dishes, such as a soup, be careful not to heat them for too long in order to preserve as much of the aroma as possible.

Preservation tips:

With a long-lasting wild garlic paste as a basis, you can also enjoy the delicious wild garlic aroma in pesto, soups, sauces and for seasoning in other seasons. More on this in the basic recipe for wild garlic paste.
If you dry it, it loses a lot of its flavor and that would be a shame. Better to freeze then.
By the way: The garlic aroma is less persistent than that of “real” garlic, so you don’t have to worry about a “garlic flag”.

Basic recipe for wild garlic paste

Oil and salt preserve the wild garlic and its aroma for several months if you keep the paste tightly sealed and in a cool, dark place.

For a small jar you will need:

150 g wild garlic leaves
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
This wild garlic recipe is vegan and is ideal for preserving wild garlic for a long time.

Important: With all ingredients, we advise you to pay attention to organic quality if possible. The EU organic seal is a good guide, the cultivation associations Naturland, Bioland and Demeter have even stricter ecological criteria.

Wild garlic recipe with dumplings

You can do much more with wild garlic than preparing wild garlic soup or pesto. If you like, you can serve the dumplings with a sauce seasoned with wild garlic paste.

Wild garlic recipe for about 8 dumplings

100 g wild garlic
4 stale rolls
1 onion
2 eggs
150 ml organic milk (alternatively plant milk)
some butter (alternatively margarine) or oil
pepper and salt
Cut the stale rolls into small cubes, about 1×1 cm. Mix milk and eggs and season with pepper and salt. Finely chop the onion and fry in a little butter or oil until translucent. Mix the egg milk and onions into the bun cubes and set aside.

Wash and finely chop 100 g wild garlic leaves. Put on a large saucepan with salted water. Knead the roll mixture with your hands or a hand mixer until all the ingredients are well combined and you can form dumplings. Form eight dumplings, place in the boiling water and leave to simmer for about 15 minutes over a low heat.

You can serve the dumplings however you like, for example sprinkled with grated cheese or with a fruity tomato sauce; with fresh spinach vegetables; with wild garlic sauce; with a crisp salad or colorful vegetable dishes.

Tip: If the rolls were too fresh, it may be necessary to thicken the dumpling mass with a little extra flour or breadcrumbs.

Wild garlic recipe for filled muffins

These muffins are ideal as finger food or as a main course with a salad. If you don’t have muffin tins, you can also put two paper cups inside each other or bake the small cakes in other containers, such as well-greased coffee cups.

Wild garlic recipe for 12 muffins

170 grams of flour
1 teaspoon Baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
50g Parmesan
75g butter or margarine
2 eggs
250 ml buttermilk
80 grams of cream cheese
1 bunch of wild garlic
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
4 sun-dried tomatoes (in oil or soft tomatoes)
Cut the wild garlic and sun-dried tomatoes into small pieces for the filling. Set aside about half of the wild garlic, mix the other half with oregano, thyme and the dried tomato pieces.

For the dough, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and parmesan. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and eggs, then gradually add the buttermilk and flour mixture. Finally, stir in the second half of wild garlic.

Fill the muffin tins with about a tablespoon of batter, covering the bottom. Using two teaspoons, place the wild garlic filling in the middle. Cover with about 2 tablespoons of dough so that the filling is completely covered.

Bake at 180 °C for about 30-35 minutes until golden and enjoy lukewarm.

Wild garlic recipe for feta cream

Make sure that the cheese used is made from sheep’s and/or goat’s milk and not cow’s milk. The protected designation of origin PDO has existed in the EU since 1997, after which only sheep and goat milk products from Greece are called “Feta”. Cheese made from cow’s milk that looks similar tastes and has a different name. The wild garlic cheese cream tastes wonderful on fresh toast, baguette or flatbread.

Wild garlic recipe for one portion that fills two people

150g feta
1 bunch wild garlic (approx. 100 g)
2 tablespoons cream cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
chili flakes
Crumble the feta with your hands and place in a shallow soup plate. Using a fork, fold in the cream cheese and oil until you have a creamy, fine-grained mass. Then mix in the chopped wild garlic leaves and season with chili flakes.

Harvest wild garlic in nature

In some regions (e.g. Brandenburg or Hamburg), wild garlic is listed on the Red List as “endangered”. It is also endangered in Bremen and Schleswig-Holstein. In general, you should be careful not to harvest it in nature reserves, unless the local protection ordinance allows it.

Wild garlic also enjoys a certain degree of protection outside of nature reserves, which prohibits collecting it for more than your own personal use. The wild harvest of wild garlic outside of nature reserves is fine for the occasional wild garlic soup. However, if you want to build up a large supply, you should switch to cultivated wild garlic from the trade or grow wild garlic in the garden yourself.

Grow wild garlic in the garden

Of course, it is also possible to grow wild vegetables, also known as “garlic spinach”, in the garden. It needs a rather shady and moist location, because when it occurs wild in nature, it usually chooses alluvial forests, shady stream edges or moist ravines.

For the seed to germinate, it needs cold, so it needs to be sown in the fall to sprout in the spring. Sometimes the seed takes more than a year to germinate. So be patient and let yourself be surprised in which spring it makes you happy.

If you have already seen the “witch onion” in nature, then you know that it usually occurs there in large “carpets of wild garlic” – and so the wild vegetables will also spread in your garden! If you don’t want that, you should regularly put it in its place by plucking it out – or build a rhizome barrier that prevents it from spreading.

Keep Reading
By
Food

Don’t Miss: 6 Wild Herbs to Collect in Spring

You can often find wild herbs that you can collect in spring on your own doorstep. They are delicious and very healthy at the same time. We introduce you to six herbs and suitable recipes.

It’s amazing what’s growing outside: In Europe, there are around 500 species of wild plants that you can collect throughout the year. In addition to the well-known medicinal and medicinal plants, this also includes wild herbs. These bring very different flavors, ranging from sweet to bitter.

But beware: Not all wild plants are edible! So before you start your search, you should read our article for tips on collecting, identifying and eating wild herbs.

In the following, we will introduce you to six spring wild herbs and how you can use them for culinary purposes.

Wild garlic: The classic spring wild herb

Wild garlic is one of the absolute classics among the wild herbs in spring. You will find the plant preferably in shady (meadow) forests. What is special about wild garlic is its unique aroma of onion and garlic. You can eat both the young leaves and pickle the wild garlic buds. Wild garlic is also good for your health: it is said to have a cleansing and detoxifying effect. Once picked, you can use wild garlic in a variety of ways: either as a spread or homemade wild garlic pesto, as a wild garlic soup or as a salad accompaniment. If you want to be a little more creative, you can also try more unusual recipes: Read our article to find out which wild garlic recipes are available.

Caution: wild garlic looks similar to many a poisonous double, for example the lily of the valley. If in doubt, you can recognize the wild garlic when you rub the leaves between your fingers. If you smell garlic then, there is a high probability that it is wild garlic. More on this here: Recognizing wild garlic – and not confusing it with the poisonous lily of the valley.

Dandelions with bright yellow flowers in spring

The dandelion is widespread with its bright yellow flowers. With their sweet taste, the flowers are ideal as a spice or in a salad. You can eat raw or cook the yellow flowers found in green meadows. However, please make sure to only use the flowers in moderation, as the oxalic acid they contain should not be eaten in large quantities.

If you want spring to come to your house, you can try your hand at a homemade dandelion salad or use the special aroma to make dandelion honey yourself.

Ribwort plantain as an ingredient for quark or scrambled eggs

You can get the buckhorn at the edges of paths or in meadows. People have always used its crushed leaves as a medicinal herb, but you can also eat buckhorn. Although it does not have a distinctive taste of its own, it goes well with other herbs.

Use the tender leaves, for example, in salads, as an ingredient in quark and scrambled eggs or for buckhorn tea. You can also use the spring wild herb in case of illness: It helps you as a home remedy for coughs in the form of plantain cough syrup.

Giersch: Edible weeds instead of weeds

For gardeners, ground elder is often nothing more than weeds, as the herb spreads across the board. So you have a good chance of finding it in shady meadows in spring. The taste of Giersch is reminiscent of spinach, so you can use it in many ways. You can make many delicious recipes from the vitamin C bomb, for example a wild herb salad or potato soup. You can read more goutweed recipes in the linked article.

Collect aromatic garlic mustard in spring

The completely edible garlic mustard can be found in masses as a weed on forest paths in spring. Its aroma is sharp and with a light touch of garlic. Younger leaves have a finer flavor and are less pungent than older ones. In the kitchen, you can use the garlic mustard to make wild herb pesto, for example, or to refine salads. In the linked article, we tell you what else you should know about the application and mode of action of garlic mustard.

Meadowfoam herb as a pepper substitute

Meadowfoam grows in abundance in meadows in spring. You can recognize it from afar by the lush, white flower clusters. Did you know that weeds are an important food source for bees and insects? You can also harvest the leaves and flowers, which taste like cress and use them in your home kitchen. For example, you can use the hot seeds as an alternative to black pepper for seasoning. In small quantities, the meadowfoam herb also tastes great in herb quark or as a spread.

Keep Reading
By
Food

Chickpea and Avocado Salad: High-protein Recipe for Spring

A chickpea and avocado salad goes well with springtime. It provides you with vegetable proteins, healthy fats and a large portion of fresh seasonal vegetables. We present you a vegan recipe.

Spring brings an abundance of fresh local vegetables. These include radishes, spring onions and spinach. They look particularly good in a nutritious and quick-to-make chickpea and avocado salad.

Chickpeas provide you with an extra portion of vegetable protein and the avocado contains many valuable unsaturated fatty acids in addition to vitamins and minerals. The avocado is considered a superfood – just one avocado a week can reduce the risk of heart attack.

However, you should not eat avocados in large quantities. The drupe is associated with a poor ecological balance, which is partly due to the high water consumption in cultivation and the long transport routes.

Recipe: This is how you prepare the chickpea and avocado salad

It is therefore best to only buy avocados as an exception and for special dishes – such as this chickpea and avocado salad. We also recommend that the avocado and other ingredients are organic if possible. Organic farming does not use synthetic chemical pesticides that can be harmful to the environment and health.

Ingredients:

265 g cooked chickpeas
200 g fresh spinach
3spring onions
200 g radishes
1avocado
4 tablespoons soy yoghurt
1 tbsp lemon juice
0.5 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper
sweetener to taste (optional)

Directions:

If you are using jarred chickpeas, give them a quick wash in a colander. Wash the spinach, spring onions and radishes. If necessary, remove the hard stems from the spinach.
Cut the spring onions into rolls and the radishes into slices. Peel and cut the avocado into chunks.
Place the chickpeas, greens, and avocado in a bowl. For the dressing, whisk together the yogurt, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Pour the dressing over the chickpea and avocado salad and mix well.
Season the chickpea and avocado salad with salt, pepper and, if necessary, a little sweetener. Let the salad sit for half an hour before serving.

Chickpea and Avocado Salad: This makes it even tastier

The chickpea and avocado salad taste particularly good if you add vegan feta and a homemade baguette. You can also vary the salad as you like:

  • Fresh herbs such as mint and chives add variety to the taste.
  • You can also choose other vegan yogurt alternatives for the dressing, such as coconut yogurt.
  • Or you try a completely different salad dressing for the chickpea and avocado salad.
  • You can also use lamb’s lettuce instead of spinach.
Keep Reading
By
Food

10 Cute Ideas with Strawberries – a Spring Treat!

It’s finally that time again: The strawberry season has started! Reason enough to use the aromatic fruits for spring desserts and cakes. We have put together for you 10 cute ideas with red fruit that will definitely delight you!

Bright red and wonderfully sweet: Take advantage of the strawberry season and add variety to your selection of strawberry recipes. Try our delicious strawberry dishes and discover the seasonal pleasure in a new way!

1. Chocolate cake with vanilla cream

This delicious cake convinces every guest: wonderfully chocolaty thanks to the chocolate base and chocolate chips and filled with wonderfully airy vanilla cream. The strawberries, which are used here as a cake topping, make it even more aromatic.

2. Strawberry ragout on rice pudding

Milk, lemon, rice, salt, strawberries, pistachios and maple syrup – this creamy dessert proves that a successful dessert doesn’t need many ingredients. Perfect for a spontaneous visit or as the crowning glory of a delicious summer meal!

3. Sweet Strawberry Banana Wraps with Peanut Butter

Wraps with a difference: This healthy snack is great for in-between meals. But the sweet wraps are also ideal for breakfast or as a dessert: Thanks to fruity strawberries, pleasant sweetness, and creamy peanut butter, they are simply convincing at any time of the day!

4. Creamy rhubarb and strawberry ice cream

Whipped cream makes this fruity ice cream particularly creamy, but thanks to the yogurt content, the dessert becomes a figure-friendly treat. The fresh berries and sour rhubarb round off the summery refreshment perfectly.

5. Rhubarb Strawberry Crumble with Apple

Everyone knows this classic dessert – so how about a particularly fruity variant with strawberries, rhubarb, and apple? During the strawberry season, this delicacy simply crowns every menu!

6. Sweet Spinach Pancakes with Strawberry Sauce

Initially, nobody would associate spinach with pancakes. But the leafy greens also cut a fine figure in the sweet version – for example, like here with delicious strawberry sauce.

7. Pink berry coconut drink with silken tofu

The bright pink color of this delicious drink puts you in a good mood and provides you with an extra portion of protein. The light coconut note also gets us in the mood for summer – what more could you ask for?

8. Fruit salad on quark cream with vanilla

Everyone knows quark cream – this delicious version with vanilla is a very special treat thanks to the aromatic, fruity, and sour accompaniment. A crunchy topping in the form of chopped pistachios completes the delicious dessert.

9. Poppy seed pancakes with strawberries

Whether as an unusual breakfast at the weekend, as a dessert, or as an alternative to cake – the poppy seed pancakes with whipped cream, strawberries, flaked almonds, and powdered sugar are a hit with every strawberry fan.

10. Strawberry cake with the shortcrust pastry base

A classic strawberry cake should not be missing with a summer coffee, right? This delicious variant convinces with a crispy shortcrust pastry base, a creamy layer of cream cheese, and bright red strawberries.

Keep Reading
By
Cooking Tips

Cut The Spring Onions Correctly: Nothing Can go Wrong With These Tips

Thanks to their finely mild spiciness, many use the vegetable as an all-round talent. Find out here how best to cut the spring onions.

Wash and cut spring onions properly – that’s how it works

With their mild, spicy taste, spring onions can be used in many ways in the kitchen. Before eating and slicing the spring onions, it is important to wash the vegetables carefully so that they do not grind uncomfortably between the teeth when eating. Both the green leaves and the white bulbs of the spring onion can be eaten. With the right cutting technique and the right steps, you can get the most out of the mild onion.

Before actually slicing, remove the outer leaves of the onion. These are often a bit dried out and therefore not quite as fresh. To do this, cut the sheet lengthways and then pull it off. Then you remove the root end, because this is the only part of the spring onion that is not used in the kitchen. In this step you can also remove the dried leaf tips. Depending on how wilted the upper end of the petioles is, you should generously cut off the dried, partly wilted areas.
In order to avoid a gritty, unpleasant feeling when eating the spring onions, we now have to wash them thoroughly. Rinse the scallions under cold water, removing any dirt or sand. The dirt is mainly on the lower tubers. Now all you have to do is shake the onions dry – and we’re ready to use them.
Now you can cut the scallions into thin rings or sticks, depending on your preference. This works particularly well with a sharp kitchen knife.
Good to know: If you notice a transparent slime when cutting the spring onion, there is no need to worry. The gelled plant juice is even a sign that the vegetables are particularly fresh. You can easily wash it off and process the onions further.

How healthy are spring onions?

The onion vegetable not only impresses with its fresh taste, but is also a true superfood. In particular, the essential and sulphurous oils contained in spring onions make them so healthy. Allicin has an anti-inflammatory effect and even promotes digestion – but this plant substance is the reason for the tears when chopping onions. The spring onion can also score points in terms of vitamin C, with 26 milligrams per 100 grams they already cover a quarter of our daily requirement. Spring onions also score points with their comparatively mild taste and, according to the Federal Center for Nutrition, are easier to digest than classic onions.

Tips and tricks for spring onions

When buying, you should make sure that the onions have light green, crisp and pointed leaves. The roots should also not be too long.
Spring onions have a significantly shorter shelf life than onions. They will keep in the fridge for about a week, but the cold will quickly make them damp and soft. Wrapping them in a damp cloth will keep them fresher for longer.
Did you know that spring onions are related to daffodils? The ultimate tip for keeping onion vegetables fresh for as long as possible is derived from this knowledge: place them in water like a bouquet of flowers. It is important to preserve the root, as the plant absorbs the liquid through it. If you change the water every two days, nothing stands in the way of optimal storage.
You can even freeze scallions. To do this, prepare the vegetables as described above, remove dry spots and root balls and store them in a freezer box. The onions can be kept in the freezer for up to a year and can be thawed and processed at any time.

Delicious recipes – spring onions are so versatile

Spring onions are not only healthy, but also a real all-round talent in the kitchen. They are used especially in Asian cuisine, such as in curries or woks. They are also excellent in salads or dips. So that it doesn’t lose its typical, fresh aroma, you should be careful not to heat it up too much and to keep the cooking time short

For a delicious sour cream you need 200g sour cream, 100g sour cream, 100g quark (40%), some sugar, salt, pepper and of course spring onions. Hopefully you now know how to prepare them perfectly with the help of our tips. For the sour cream, mix the ingredients in a bowl, add spices to taste and some garlic for an extra kick. Finally, the finely chopped spring onions and you’re done!

Keep Reading
By