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Eating rose petals is a great way to use the decorative flowers for culinary purposes. In this article you will find out what you should consider when eating.

Above all, roses are an expression of love. But the flowers are not only a popular decoration: You can also use their petals in the kitchen.

However, you have to pay attention to a few pointers. There are now up to 250 different varieties and new varieties are constantly being added through breeding. Only a few of them are actually suitable for consumption.

Eating rose petals: You should pay attention to that

To eat rose petals, you should always use wild and cultivated roses. In addition, they must belong to the genus Rosa. Other types of roses, such as peonies, Christmas roses or hollyhocks are not suitable for consumption. They are mostly poisonous because, despite their name rose, they belong to other plant genera.

You should also avoid eating bouquets of roses or potted roses that you have bought, as they can be heavily contaminated with pesticides. Also read: “Blooming business”: the global trade in flowers.

You can, for example, eat the rose petals of the following varieties without hesitation:

Gallica
Centifolia
damescena
All three species are fragrant roses. That’s why they taste particularly intense.

How to use rose petals

If you want to eat rose petals, you can use them either fresh or dried:

The leaves themselves are particularly suitable as a topping for salads, vegetable pans, but also for sweet dishes such as desserts or cakes.
If you pour hot water over them and let them steep, you can make rose tea.
The petals are also suitable as an ingredient for cold drinks such as lemonades, cocktails or punch.
Chopped rose petals add an interesting flavor to butter, spreads, cream cheese, hummus or other dips.
You can also add the edible flowers to oils or vinegar and let this mixture steep for a few days. So you can easily make rose vinegar and rose cooking oil yourself.
You can also use the rose aroma in the kitchen in the form of rose water. Originally, this comes from the Arab world and is often used in the kitchen as a condiment. Other products that contain rose petals are, for example, rose coffee, rose petal salt, rose pepper or rose syrup.

Rose Petals: Buying and Harvesting Tips

You can buy many products with rose petals ready-made. However, you also have the option of buying dried rose petals and using them yourself. If you want to use fresh petals, you can grow your own wild roses and harvest the leaves. You can find more information about growing roses here: Wild roses: important varieties, care and cultivation.

When harvesting, you should then observe the following tips:

Harvest the buds just before use. So they don’t wither.
Always choose buds that have just opened.
The morning is the best time. Then the essential oils have not yet evaporated due to the sunlight.
Carefully twist the petals off the calyx to avoid breaking them.
Wash your buds carefully.
Keep the buds fresh in a bowl of water if you decide not to use them immediately.
If you want to dry them, gently pat them dry and spread them flat on a smooth surface.

Cooking Tips

10 Vegan Foods That You are Guaranteed to Have at Home and That Will Fill You Up

A vegan diet does not necessarily mean just eating salad or relying on substitute products. Because you probably have these ten vegan foods at home anyway – and you’ll get really full of them.

If you want to eat vegan, you now have a large selection of vegan substitute products that are produced as an alternative to animal food. It’s a nice option, but it doesn’t have to be. Because many foods are already vegan anyway and you probably already have them at home. This is handy if you want to cook something without having to shop for it first.

Make sure that all food is regional and of organic quality. In this way you avoid long transport routes and chemical-synthetic pesticides and do something good for yourself and the environment. We can particularly recommend the Demeter, Bioland and Naturland seals, because they follow stricter criteria than the EU organic seals.

Red lenses

Small but fine: Red lentils can be the basis for many delicious dishes. Rich in proteins and minerals, they provide you with a lot of energy. In addition, they are already cooked after 15 minutes of cooking time – perfect when you need something quick.

Tomato passata

Tomato passata is easy to make yourself. All you need is onions, garlic, a carrot, celery, tomatoes, olive oil, and basil—just veggies you probably already have at home. You can find a detailed recipe here: Make Passata yourself.

Store-bought passata is also often vegan, which you can easily recognize by the vegan logo printed on the bottle or pack.

You can use the passata to make a refreshing tomato soup with oat milk right now in summer. You can also use it directly as a sauce for pasta or on pizza.

Spelled flour

Not only is it healthier than wheat, its hard shell also makes it easier to do without pesticides: spelled. Fortunately, wheat and spelled can be used in a similar way as flour. You can easily replace wheat flour with spelled flour.

A quick recipe with spelled flour is pan bread. You can prepare it in just 20 minutes with just a few vegan ingredients. Vegan spelled waffles are ideal for the coffee table: They are also ready in a short time. They are a healthier alternative to cakes, biscuits and the like and taste particularly delicious with seasonal fruit.

Potatoes

It is one of the staple foods in Germany: the potato. With a similar carbohydrate content as pasta or rice, it has only half as many calories.

The tuber can be used in many ways: you can make your own fries, for example. You don’t need much for these and they are healthier than frozen fries. Another delicious recipe is smashed potatoes. They taste delicious and can be garnished with various vegetables.

Quinoa

Filler and energy supplier: quinoa. The so-called pseudo-grain is gluten-free and can be eaten with vegetables or sauce instead of pasta and the like.

A summery recipe with the pseudocereal is a quinoa salad that tastes delicious and fills you up, but is not heavy on the stomach. But you can also make a sweet snack from quinoa, namely in the form of quinoa bites.

Chickpeas

It goes particularly well with meatless diets: the chickpea. Because the legumes contain many proteins that the body can otherwise get from the meat. Your body can also benefit from the high fiber content of chickpeas.

In oriental cuisine, chickpeas are often made into hummus or falafel. But the legume also tastes very good in curry.

Bananas

Many swear by bananas. And not without reason: because although they contain a lot of carbohydrates and fructose – also in comparison to other fruit – the banana is not unhealthy. Because it is rich in vitamins and provides energy.

If you get bored with bananas as a simple snack, you can also use them to make banana chips. The chips are also perfect as a topping for muesli. Or you make a simple dessert: a vegan chocolate cream. A slightly more unusual variant is the banana soup.

Note: Only buy bananas in moderation, because they have been transported long distances. Through food sharing, however, you can often save bananas that would otherwise have ended up in the trash.

Oatmeal

Gluten-free, healthy, low-calorie: oatmeal is a typical breakfast and gives you the energy you need for the day. This is also due to the high vitamin and mineral content of the grain. By the way: Oat flakes are also gluten-free (pay attention to the label on the pack). Therefore, you can eat them even if you have celiac disease.

One of the most popular oat dishes is porridge. Since you can vary the toppings – for example fruit or pieces of chocolate – very flexibly, you have variety every day. Those who prefer a hearty breakfast can prepare the porridge with vegetables. But oats also taste delicious when baked: It is not without reason that the so-called baked oatmeal – i.e. porridge from the casserole dish – is currently the trend breakfast on Tik Tok.

Coconut milk

It is true that coconut milk is high in calories and fatty acids and it does not necessarily score well with its CO2 balance, which is why you should not buy it too often either. However, it offers a good vegan substitute for cream or crème fraîche and it should not be missing in many Asian dishes. If you want to do without store-bought coconut milk, you can easily make it yourself.

A simple dessert is the coconut milk rice. You can prepare it with just four ingredients and garnish with seasonal, fresh fruit or fruit puree. In Indian korma, a mild curry with ginger and cauliflower, coconut milk is important for taste and texture. And if you want a fruity cool down in summer, you can make your own watermelon ice cream with coconut milk.

Cornmeal

Whether for thickening sauces, for making desserts or for tortillas and nachos: corn flour can be used in many ways. It is also gluten free. But be careful: In contrast to spelled flour, you cannot simply replace wheat flour with corn flour. That’s why other types of flour always have to be mixed into cornbread.

But even if you don’t want to bake bread, you can use cornmeal in your kitchen – for example to make tortillas yourself. Or you can make your own nachos. You can also replace potato flour with corn flour in the dumpling dough.

Cooking Tips

Warming Up Potatoes: You Should Know That

You want to reheat potatoes that are left over from the day before? Then you should pay attention to a few tips. Here you can find out what is important when heating up the potatoes.

Whether jacket potatoes, boiled potatoes, fried potatoes or mashed potatoes: the earthy tubers are a popular side dish for various dishes. If there are a few potatoes left over from a meal, you can enjoy them warmed up later. Since bacteria and fungi can easily multiply in potatoes that have already been boiled, you should follow a few guidelines.

Important: When buying potatoes, make sure that they are organic if possible. You are supporting ecologically integrative agriculture that, for example, does not use chemical-synthetic pesticides.

Warming up potatoes: the right way to store them

If you want to reheat leftover potatoes, there are a few rules you should follow when storing them:

Pack the potatoes in a clean, airtight container as soon as possible after they have been prepared.
Don’t put the potatoes in the fridge right away, let them cool until they’re lukewarm. If you immediately cool hot and warm food, the entire refrigerator temperature rises. This not only wastes energy, but also ensures that other products that require refrigeration may spoil faster.
Stored in the refrigerator, you can eat the potatoes up to two days after they are prepared.

Warm up potatoes: Here’s how

Basically, you shouldn’t use the microwave to warm up potatoes. This is because they cannot be heated sufficiently in it to ensure that any possible bacteria are killed.

The following methods are more suitable:

In the saucepan: Put some oil in a saucepan and let the potatoes simmer for at least ten minutes at at least 70 degrees.
In the pan: Fry the potatoes in a little oil in a pan at at least 70 degrees for at least ten minutes.
In the oven: Place the potatoes in an ovenproof dish and mix them with a little oil. Then bake them at around 180 degrees for at least 15 minutes.
Tip: You can tell that you have heated the potatoes sufficiently by the fact that they are consistently hot after heating them up.

Possibilities for further processing

Once the potatoes have been warmed up, you can process them in different ways:

Potatoes that have already been boiled, for example, are good for preparing fried potatoes from them the following day.
You can also bake the potatoes in the oven until they are crispy.
Another option is to use them to make a potato casserole.
The advantage: Since the potatoes are already cooked, these recipes don’t take that long to prepare.

Should it go a little faster? Then simply serve the reheated potatoes with a herb dip and a simple green salad.

Cooking Tips

Coconut Blossom Sugar: The Sugar Substitute Really is That Healthy

Coconut blossom sugar is also called palm sugar and is an alternative to white table sugar. Many manufacturers advertise that coconut blossom sugar is also healthier – but is that really true?

There are numerous sugar alternatives that you can use to sweeten coffee or yoghurt. One of them is coconut blossom sugar. It is said to be healthier than white sugar because it causes blood sugar levels to rise very slowly. The theory goes that the body metabolizes less insulin and you have fewer food cravings. However, there are still no meaningful scientific studies on this.

Coconut Blossom Sugar: Healthy Sweetness or Calorie Bomb?

In terms of calories, coconut blossom sugar is anything but healthy: the sugar substitute contains 384 calories per 100 g. For comparison: In white sugar it is not much more with 400 calories per 100 g.

The carbohydrates contained (approx. 90 g) correspond to the amount found in white sugar (approx. 100 g). In addition, the nutritional information varies from manufacturer to manufacturer: Some advertise that coconut blossom sugar contains a particularly large number of vitamins and minerals. However, these promises should be treated with caution. Because to get a health benefit, you would have to consume several kilos a day.

Cooking and baking with coconut blossom sugar?

You can replace coconut blossom sugar 1:1 with white sugar. Because coconut blossom sugar is almost as sweet, despite its name, it doesn’t taste like coconut. Its caramel note is well suited for desserts.

However, you should not use coconut blossom sugar for baking: it easily forms lumps in the dough and does not rise as well as white sugar. If you cook with coconut blossom sugar, you have to keep in mind that the sugar dissolves very slowly. You should therefore plan a lot of stirring and a few minutes more time.

How sustainable is coconut blossom sugar?

The coconut blossom sugar originates from the blossoms of the coconut palm: they are cut open and the nectar that flows out is caught in a bowl. A palm tree can release up to two liters of nectar a day – that’s enough for a 500 gram pack of coconut blossom sugar. The nectar is then boiled down until a crumbly mass is formed. This only has to dry and can then be packed.

Almost all of the coconut blossom sugar in Germany comes from Southeast Asia. In Thailand and Indonesia in particular, the nectar is collected from the coconut palms and processed into sugar – the long transport route pollutes the environment. Since the sugar from coconut blossoms is not much healthier, we recommend a sugar substitute from the region – for example regional organic honey or organic sugar beet.

Food

Collect Edible Mushrooms: You Have to Pay Attention to That

Do you want to collect mushrooms, but don’t have any experience yet? No problem! Here you can find out everything you need to know for your first trip to the mushrooms.

Collect mushrooms – when and where?

Autumn time is fungus time – strictly speaking, that’s not true. In theory, you can pick mushrooms all year round. However, most of them are ready for harvest, especially in late summer and autumn. The humid and warm climate is ideal for many mushrooms.

But where do edible mushrooms grow? This is not so easy to answer:

The morel likes to grow in damp alluvial forests,
the meadow mushroom in meadows.
On the other hand, you can often find the Edelreizker under pine trees.
As you can see from the examples, you sometimes have to go to different places to collect different mushrooms. The condition of the soil plays an important role: some mushrooms grow particularly well on sandy soil, while others require acidic forest soil. Overall, you have a good chance of encountering edible mushrooms in the forest. Which one you ultimately find depends heavily on local conditions and the time of year.

Equipment and what to look out for

When collecting mushrooms, there are a few things to keep in mind. For example, mushroom picking is taboo in nature reserves. In all other forests, you are usually allowed to collect mushrooms for your own use, but do some research beforehand to be on the safe side. As with any other stay in the forest, you should behave considerately.

To collect mushrooms you need the following equipment:

a basket,
a knife
and a good mushroom identification book.
The collected mushrooms lie nice and airy in a basket. Plastic bags are not good at all. In it, mushrooms spoil very quickly.

Collect and identify mushrooms: This is how you do it

Here’s how you go about picking mushrooms:

If you have found a mushroom, you should first identify it. You can use the guide book to help you with this. Over time, however, you will be able to identify some mushrooms without a book.
If it’s an edible mushroom, you can use the knife to cut it off just above the ground, or gently twist it out of the ground.
Then you should cover the resulting hole with some soil and leaves.
When in doubt, leave a mushroom that you cannot identify with certainty. Some toadstools can be mistaken for edible mushrooms! Don’t just rely on illustrations in your mushroom book. Depending on the environment, individual mushrooms of a species can look very different.

Important characteristics for identifying fungi are, for example:

Shape and color of cap and stem
Distinction between lamellae and tubes on the underside of the mushroom
Staining of the lamellae and tubes
The site
The season
Color and smell of the pulp
Striking coloring when cut or when pressed
Especially at the beginning it will be difficult for you to identify the different species with certainty. It is best to let experienced collectors accompany you when you go mushroom picking. Mushroom tours are a great help. They are often offered by adult education centers in the fall. NABU also offers such excursions in many regions. Other good people to talk to about identifying mushrooms are mushroom consultants. You can find them in many mushroom regions.

Important: If you feel unwell after consuming your mushrooms, you should seek immediate medical attention or go to a hospital. As I said, certain fungi can sometimes be deadly to humans. Symptoms such as drowsiness, sweating or diarrhea can indicate mushroom poisoning.

The most popular edible mushrooms

There are countless types of mushrooms. Some are deadly poisonous, others are simply indigestible or inedible, for example because they are extremely bitter. A lot of mushrooms are edible, but they don’t taste very good. And then there are the really good edible mushrooms.

In Germany, for example, you can collect these well-known mushrooms:

porcini mushrooms
chestnuts
Morels
chanterelles
Other popular edible mushrooms are muscari, young ink caps, meadow mushrooms or birch mushrooms.

Food

Cooking or Soaking Chickpeas – You Should Know That

Cooked chickpeas are delicious, healthy and add variety to your diet. We show you how you can easily prepare them yourself and when you have to soak the chickpeas.

The chickpea, which originated in Asia, came to Europe in the Middle Ages and is very popular today. Whether in curries, salads, falafel or hummus – the buttery-nutty-tasting legume gives many dishes an oriental touch and is also very healthy.

Never eat chickpeas raw

Organic chickpeas are commercially available in two forms:

as a pre-cooked preserve in a jar or in a can
raw and dried
If you are in a hurry, you can use the pre-cooked chickpeas directly. Do not throw away the chickpea water from the jar or can, you can use the aquafaba as vegan egg whites.

Dried chickpeas, on the other hand, have to be soaked and cooked first. If you cook the raw chickpeas, the toxin phasin they contain is destroyed and makes the valuable legume safe for us to eat. Caution: You have to throw away the soaking water in which the raw chickpeas were, because the toxin phasin dissolves in the water during soaking. The chickpeas and the cooking water can only be eaten after cooking.

Soaking chickpeas – time-consuming, but useful

Soaking the chickpeas takes time. It is best to plan one night for this. However, the time investment pays off: If you have soaked the chickpeas, they will be easier to digest. In addition, it shortens the subsequent cooking time considerably and thus allows energy-saving preparation that is gentle on vital substances.

How to properly soak chickpeas:

In a saucepan, cover the chickpeas with twice the amount of water and let them soak for at least 12 hours.
During the swelling period, the chickpeas absorb a lot of water. You may have to add a little more water if necessary.
Discard the soaking water afterwards to remove any residue of the toxin phasin.
Rinse the chickpeas thoroughly with fresh water.

How to properly cook chickpeas

You can boil the chickpeas in water the classic way:

Place the soaked chickpeas in a pressure cooker.
Cover them with fresh water. Make sure that the top third of the pressure cooker remains free.
Close the pot and set steam pressure level 2.
If the lid starts to hiss, turn off the stove or reduce the heat significantly.
After 20 minutes, open the lid as instructed in the pressure cooker instructions.
The chickpeas are done when you can easily mash them with a fork.
Put the chickpeas in a colander and rinse them with fresh water.
Tip: If you don’t have a pressure cooker, the peas will need to cook longer—at least an hour. Basically, the longer the chickpeas were soaked beforehand, the faster they will cook. That saves energy. If you let them soak in water for 24 hours, the cooking time in the pressure cooker is reduced to just ten minutes.

The cooking time also depends on whether you need the chickpeas buttery soft for making hummus or still al dente for use in curry or salad.

Another rule: the fresher the chickpeas are, the shorter they need to cook.

Chickpeas – not only delicious, but also healthy!

Chickpeas not only taste delicious, but are also extremely healthy. Chickpeas have these nutritional values:

With their high fiber content, they promote healthy digestion.
They have a high protein content and are therefore a vegetable protein source.
The legumes contain notable amounts of iron, zinc and magnesium.
Chickpeas are low in calories and fill you up at the same time.

Culture

7 Coffee Records That Amaze Coffee Lovers

The world of coffee is exciting, diverse and full of records that make even the experts and coffee machine manufacturers drop their jaws. Coffee sets a record on its own: with over 800 flavors, it is one of the most aromatic foods in the world. In addition, there are many curiosities and superlatives: Which is the most expensive coffee in the world? Which fully automatic coffee machine manufacturer has managed to produce the smallest fully automatic coffee machine in the world? And who owns the largest collection of coffee pots in the world? We introduce you to the strangest records about coffee and coffee machines.

1. The most expensive coffee in the world

The most expensive type of coffee in the world is by far the Indonesian Kopi Luwak. The so-called “cat coffee” is sold at a kilo price of the equivalent of 800 to 1200 euros and is considered an absolute luxury coffee by coffee lovers and experts such as coffee machine manufacturers.

But the somewhat – let’s call it “unusual” – production of the extraordinary coffee variety at least partly justifies the high price: the raw coffee cherries are fed to Indonesian civets, which can only digest the pulp, but not the beans. However, their stomach enzymes remove bitter substances from the bean, so that the roasted coffee has a rather soft and mild taste.

The second most expensive coffee in the world is based on a very similar principle: in the case of Black Ivory for 850 euros per kilo, it is Thai elephants through whose digestive tract the coffee beans migrate. The resulting coffee is only served in a few exclusive resorts in northern Thailand and the Maldives.

2. The largest collection of coffee pots

Once you have made your favorite coffee with the professional coffee machine, it must of course be filled into a container. Most people use a coffee pot for this – nothing special it seems. But Robert Dahl, a Rostock entrepreneur, probably had a great love for the coffee pot, because he has been collecting the most diverse types of crockery for many years.

Large, small, round, thick, decorated with gold rims or flowers – Robert Dahl has them all. Or at least very many. His collection of around 800 pieces in 2007 has increased fortyfold and has grown to over 32,000 copies. This makes Dahl the clear world record holder.

3. Swiss coffee machine manufacturer builds the world’s fastest espresso machine

Even if the Swiss are generally better known for taking a little more time with all things in life – there is no trace of comfort in the invention of the coffee machine manufacturers A. Schurr, J. Lüönd and A. Lütold.

The wondrous espresso machine actually manages to produce a proud 11.5 liters of espresso in one minute, which, according to the coffee machine manufacturer, is of course very enjoyable. With the “Swiss Espressi Extractor”, the coffee machine manufacturers have thus created the fastest professional coffee machine in the world.

4. World Barista Championship: There can only be one

Every year, the national champions of the barista championships meet to host the world championships: who will get the crown? In 15 minutes, the coffee experts demand everything from the professional coffee machine and make four espressos, four cappuccini and four of their own coffee creations.

These are then evaluated by a jury in terms of taste, appearance, aroma and consistency. Jooyeon Jeon from South Korea won in 2019, and in 2020 the World Barista Championship will be held in Melbourne, Australia.

5. The miracle of the fully automatic coffee machine manufacturer: The smallest fully automatic coffee machine in the world

It is only 180 millimeters wide, the smallest fully automatic coffee machine in the world. The fully automatic coffee machine manufacturer who has managed to do this is called KOENIG and once again comes from Switzerland.

Despite its small size, the coffee machine has all the components that a professional coffee machine needs: Patented brewing system, touchscreen, precision conical grinder, height-adjustable coffee spout – in short, everything that coffee lovers could wish for from the coffee machine manufacturer. The biggest advantage: This device really fits in every kitchen.

6. The biggest cappuccino in the world

The biggest cappuccino in the world that was ever made is a real giant: 2000 liters of cappuccino were prepared in Zagreb by 1000 baristas using a professional coffee machine and then poured into a large cup. We only have one question: Who was allowed to drink the giant cappuccino again…?

7. Time for a coffee party

Better, faster, more expensive – why not set a world record with comfort? That’s what 8162 coffee fans thought when they met in 2009 in Cologne’s youth park for a coffee party. Right at the front: Gisela – the unmistakable fictional character of the comedian Hape Kerkeling. What fun!

Food

3 Healthy Winter Smoothies That Will Warm You Up

Delicious winter smoothies can also be mixed from “winter vegetables”. Here are three delicious smoothie recipes with seasonal fruit and vegetables.

Of course, citrus fruits in particular are everywhere in winter, but they have come a long way. Tropical fruits are also delicious, but ecologically not sensible.

Instead, there are enough fruits and vegetables from local cultivation or from your own cellar to make healthy smoothies. Our winter smoothie recipes are based on the Utopia seasonal calendar. In it you can read when which fruit and vegetables are in season with us.

We have three simple recipes for you that require few ingredients, are therefore quick to prepare and are suitable for any time of the day. So that the fat-soluble vitamins can also be absorbed by the body, you should never omit the nuts.

Winter Smoothie Recipe #1: Spicy Beetroot

You only need a few ingredients for a smoothie that warms you from the inside with the spicy spiciness of ginger:

1 medium sized beetroot
1 large pear
1 piece of ginger
1 handful of hazelnuts
some water
How to prepare the winter smoothie:

Peel the beetroot and cut into pieces. Because the red juice stains strongly, it is better to wear gloves when processing the tuber or rub your fingers with lemon juice afterwards. Remove the core of the pear and peel the piece of ginger.
Now add water to taste and process all the ingredients into a creamy smoothie. The more ginger you use, the more warming the winter smoothie will be.
Tip: You can also use nut oil instead of grated hazelnuts. Simply add your nut oil of choice while blending so it emulsifies well. If you use roasted oil, the nut aroma is more intense.

Beetroot bulbs can weigh up to 600 grams and can be stored very well. That’s why they are also considered “winter vegetables”, although their harvest takes place in summer from July. So there is no reason to only eat them in winter.

The vegetables contain a lot of vitamins and minerals, especially potassium, B vitamins, iron and folic acid. With manganese, copper and selenium, beetroot also provides rare but important trace elements.
However, beetroot also has quite a lot of oxalic acid. Anyone who tends to form kidney stones should avoid excessive consumption of the red tuber.
Beetroot is also a good nitrate storer. Nitrates are used as fertilizer in agriculture and can be converted into toxic nitrite. If the field is over-fertilized, a relatively large amount of nitrate is stored in the beetroot. To minimize this risk, you should only buy organic beetroot.

Winter Smoothie Recipe #2: Winter Apple

Apples are a native fruit that is available to us practically all year round. They contain a lot of soluble and insoluble fiber such as pectins. Pectins are water soluble and cannot be seen with the naked eye.

Dietary fiber promotes digestion. They are also said to be helpful in preventing colon cancer. There is evidence that a high-fiber breakfast can directly or indirectly lower cholesterol levels. Tip: It is best to eat apples in their most natural form – as a whole fruit with skin.

The taste of this smoothie is reminiscent of baked apple. You need:

1 large apple
50 grams of raisins
1 handful of hazelnuts
Cinammon
some water
Here’s how to enjoy the winter smoothie for breakfast:

Soak the raisins in water the night before.
The next morning, remove the core of the apple. Then put the apple in the blender with the raisins, the soaking water and the hazelnuts.
If the raisins aren’t soaking in enough water to make them drinkable, add a little more water. Season with cinnamon and enjoy immediately.
In case you forgot to soak the raisins the night before, they will swell faster if you pour hot water over them. The better the raisins are soaked, the less power your blender will need. You can then also make the smoothie with a regular hand blender.

Smoothie Recipe #3: Fresh with lamb’s lettuce

Lamb’s lettuce also grows outdoors in winter in sheltered locations or under fleece. Not only in the cold months it is a good alternative to lettuce from greenhouses or southern growing areas.

Tip: If you don’t have any lamb’s lettuce at hand, you can also use other “winter salads” such as winter purslane, which is also called postelein.

For the green winter smoothie you need:

125 g lamb’s lettuce
1 large apple
1 tbsp walnuts
some water
How to prepare the winter smoothie:

Wash and clean the lamb’s lettuce well and cut the core out of the apple.
Put the apple and lettuce in a blender with a little water or use an immersion blender to make a green smoothie.
Roughly chop the walnuts and sprinkle over the smoothie. Do not puree with the other ingredients, the bitter substances in the walnuts would literally “bitter” the smoothie.
Tip: The smoothie recipe also tastes good with cress instead of lamb’s lettuce. In winter you can simply grow cress yourself on the window sill. You don’t need any special equipment for this: a plate and some kitchen paper are all you need to grow your own salad in the kitchen.

Food

Flaxseeds: They Really are That Healthy

Flaxseeds are considered a healthy local superfood. We will show you which nutrients they contain and how you can use and process them.

What are flaxseeds?

Flaxseed is the seed of the flax, also known as common flax. It grows up to a meter high and has blue flowers. It is mainly grown in China, Russia and Ukraine. But it can also be found in Europe, for example in France, Germany and the Netherlands.

You can buy flaxseed whole, ground or as flour. We recommend that you use organic flaxseed and choose a product that comes from regional cultivation. In this way you avoid long transport routes and the associated high consumption of resources as well as chemical-synthetic pesticides in cultivation.

It’s in flaxseed

Flaxseeds contain a lot of fiber, which has a digestive effect. In addition, so-called mucilage is found in the seeds. They form a protective layer in the stomach and ensure that pathogens and other impurities can be transported more easily through the intestine.

Flaxseeds are also rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which should be an essential part of your diet. They have an anti-inflammatory effect, are important for the metabolism and contribute to a healthy immune system.

In addition to fiber and omega-3 fatty acids, flaxseeds contain protein, magnesium, iron and zinc as well as vitamins B1, B6 and vitamin E.

Here’s how you can use flaxseed

Linseed has been used medicinally for thousands of years, also in the form of linseed oil. The seeds are particularly popular as home remedies for gastrointestinal diseases. If you suffer from constipation or irritable bowel syndrome, you can use flaxseed as follows:

Eat 1 tablespoon of whole or ground flaxseeds.
Drink around 250 milliliters of water.
Repeat this two to three times a day.
The flaxseeds take effect after about twelve to 24 hours. Sometimes it takes up to three days for the full effect to take hold.

Linseed in the form of poultices has proven itself for colds, skin inflammation and muscle tension. To put on a flaxseed poultice:

Place 2-3 tablespoons of flaxseed on a cotton towel and tie a knot. Alternatively, you can stuff the flaxseeds into a clean cotton sock.
Pour hot water over the flaxseed poultice and let the flaxseeds soak for about 15 minutes.
Place the compress on the affected area and fix it with a dry cloth.

You should keep this in mind when using flaxseed

Since flaxseed contains cadmium, you should consume a maximum of 20 grams per day.
Flaxseed is said to limit the absorption of drugs from the gut. If you are taking medication, you should only eat flaxseed three to four hours after ingestion.
If you are currently pregnant, you should only use flaxseed after consulting a doctor.
If you eat flaxseed, it is important that you drink a lot – at least 1.5 to two liters per day, preferably water or unsweetened tea. Or you can make yourself a flaxseed tea directly.
Do not use flaxseed poultices on open wounds.
Flaxseeds are not very suitable for children.
If you have severe abdominal pain, an intestinal obstruction or a narrowed esophagus, you should not eat flaxseed. In these cases, seek medical advice and have the symptoms clarified.

Process flaxseed

However, you can not only eat flaxseed when you have symptoms, you can also use it in delicious recipes. In the following recipe, the flaxseeds provide a filling effect and a thicker consistency. For a smoothie you need:

250 g unsweetened soy yoghurt
1 tsp agave nectar or maple syrup
1 tsp flaxseed
150 grams of raspberries
2 tbsp almonds

And this is how it works: Put all the ingredients in the blender and puree them until you get a creamy smoothie.

Food

Unhealthy Eating: 10 Foods That Aren’t As Good As Many Think

We think of some food as healthy when the opposite is true. Much of it is also too tasty to do without entirely. However, with these ten unhealthy foods, less would be better.

Actually, we all want to eat healthy – at least in theory. And you probably can’t hear nutrition tips anymore or you’re completely confused about what you should and shouldn’t eat. There are a lot of myths about food and especially about healthy eating. There are a wide variety of diets: from Paleo, to raw food and low carb, to veganism, detoxing or so-called clean eating. Ultimately, it is up to you to decide which diet you feel comfortable with.

However, some well-known foods fall under the category of unhealthy food – and sometimes even harm our environment. We should therefore not eat this food anymore (or at least much less often). Fortunately, there is a good alternative for almost everything.

Unhealthy Eating: White rice contains fewer nutrients

Rice is not just rice: For white rice, the grains are ground. This means that the husk, the so-called silver skin and the germ are removed from the paddy rice. Then the grains are polished. Only the starchy kernel of the rice grain remains. The valuable nutrients contained in the peel are lost in the process.

So white rice “only” fills you up without providing you with many nutrients. People who regularly eat large amounts of white rice can also increase the risk of developing diabetes.

So-called parboiled rice is a little better than white rice: it is soaked, treated with steam pressure and dried before it is peeled and polished. As a result, the nutrients migrate inside and the end product still contains around 80 percent of the vitamins and minerals. However, it lacks fiber.

The healthiest rice is wholegrain rice: it is neither ground nor polished and therefore contains much more fibre, vitamins and minerals. Wholemeal rice looks brownish and is also called brown rice. We recommend whole grain rice in organic quality Good to know: Öko-Test has proven that problems with cadmium and arsenic occur time and again in rice.

Instant Vegetable Broth: Too much isn’t healthy

Instant Vegetable Broth Powder is handy for quick soups, broths or sauces. But often there are not many vegetables in it: Salt is usually the first ingredient in the list of ingredients. Followed by the flavor enhancer glutamate. Glutamate has fallen into disrepute because it can possibly lead to allergic reactions and is said to stimulate the appetite. The scientific evaluation is not yet complete, so recommendations are ambiguous.

The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment and the German Society for Nutrition consider occasional consumption to be harmless. However, consumer centers advise against frequent consumption. In addition to salt and flavor enhancers, there are flavors, palm oil and sugar in vegetable broths. And they are a good reason to do without instant vegetable powder.

A better alternative are organic vegetable broths, no flavor enhancers and other questionable additives may be used here. Although there is yeast extract in some organic vegetable broths, which contains a small amount of glutamate, a study by the Münster University of Applied Sciences and the Bundesverband Naturkost Naturwaren could not make any clear scientifically based statement for or against the use of yeast extract in organic food.

Ready-made salad – an unhealthy food

Salad from the bag is tempting: no washing, no chopping, all that’s missing is the (ready-made) salad dressing and the “healthy” meal is ready. But unfortunately it’s not that simple. Apart from the fact that ready-to-eat salad cannot do without plastic packaging that is harmful to the environment and therefore ultimately unhealthy for people, it is also directly unhealthy for several reasons.

Instead of unhealthy white flour products, it is better to use whole grains

Unhealthy food: White flour usually refers to “Type 405” or “Type 550” wheat flour. It is normal household flour, which is often used for rolls, for example, because of its good baking properties. The number stands for a low degree of grinding and reflects the mineral content. Type 405 is the lowest number and therefore also contains the fewest minerals. The higher the number of a flour type, the healthier the flour.

In addition to the low nutrient content, white flour products have other health disadvantages: they are often high-calorie, high-fat and high-sugar products such as biscuits, croissants, cakes or toast. Similar to white rice, white flour products simply fill you up without supplying your body with important nutrients.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s wheat or spelt: with wholemeal flour, all the components of the grain are retained. Whole grain products therefore contain more minerals, vitamins and fiber and keep you full for longer.

Avoid unhealthy food: muesli instead of breakfast cereals

Unfortunately, chocolate muesli, cornflakes and honey pops are not a good start to the day. Breakfast cereals are highly processed and unhealthy foods because they often contain way too much sugar. They are high in calories, don’t fill you up for long, and are often fortified with artificial minerals and vitamins.

The latter sounds good, but it’s not: In Germany, most people are sufficiently supplied with nutrients. Excessive intake of fortified foods can even have adverse health effects. How about a muesli made from whole grain flakes, fresh seasonal fruit and a few hazelnuts from Germany instead? We have put together the best organic mueslis without palm oil for you – feel free to vote for your favourite.

Chocolate spread is not a healthy breakfast

A slice of white bread with chocolate cream on top. The perfect day begins, the ads lead us to believe. But the sweet cream for breakfast is not a good idea: Half of it consists of sugar, followed by palm oil, followed by hazelnuts and cocoa. This is actually more of a candy than a healthy breakfast.

Fruit juice drinks contain too much sugar

Fruit juice drinks promise an extra portion of vitamins for the immune system. Unfortunately, fruit juice drinks are rarely healthy: They contain a relatively high amount of sugar, which is why you should not drink them as a thirst quencher.

The fruit content in fruit juice drinks is often low. For this, water, sweeteners and vitamins are mixed in (therefore they can no longer be called “juice”). Manufacturers are happy to add vitamins C, E and provitamin A (beta-carotene). But the benefit of such artificial vitamins for our body is also controversial. Organic not-from-concentrate juices are better!

Legumes instead of protein and energy bars

As a (hobby) athlete, you treat yourself to a protein or energy bar every now and then. It gives you strength and promotes muscle growth – you think so. The reality is different: the bars are anything but healthy and natural. They are high in calories, highly processed and require added sugar, flavorings and isolated vitamins and minerals.

For athletes, a healthy and balanced diet makes more sense than energy and protein bars. For example, legumes such as lentils and peas or potatoes and whole grain products contain many valuable proteins. Or simply make energy balls yourself as a healthier alternative to energy bars.

Beware of unhealthy food: avoid cured sausage and meat products

Curing is an ancient preservation method. Meat and sausage products are preserved by treating them with curing salt, a mixture of salt and potassium or sodium nitrites (E249 – E252). The nitrite can form the so-called nitrosamines with amines (proteins). They occur particularly at high temperatures. Nitrosamines have been shown to be carcinogenic in animal experiments.

Today, meat and sausage products only contain small amounts of nitrite. But the consumer centers advise against frequent consumption. If you eat meat, choose organic meat instead. Organic farming associations such as Bioland or Demeter do not use nitrite curing salt.

Unhealthy food: better no light and diet foods

Light and diet products promise to contain less energy, sugar or fat. However, the reduced nutrient is often replaced by another and in the end the calorie content hardly differs from each other. To make light and diet products taste good, manufacturers use flavor enhancers, aromas and sweeteners.

Unprocessed products are better than industrially processed light and diet products. For example, try natural yoghurt with fresh fruit instead of light fruit yoghurt.