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Persimmon Recipe: Versatile and Healthy

There are a wide variety of recipes for the versatile kaki – you can prepare the exotic fruit, for example, as a winter salad with pomegranate seeds. In this article, we will show you what other savory and sweet options there are.

Persimmons are available in Germany from October to December. During these months you can use the sweetish fruit in different ways. The pulp is very compact and easy to prepare. Persimmons also contain many minerals and vitamins, such as magnesium, calcium, potassium and phosphorus. Here are some suggestions for persimmon recipes.

Persimmons originally come from Asia and are mostly imported from there. In Europe, the fruits are also grown in Italy and Spain. The persimmon is therefore not regional: it travels long distances before it is available in the supermarket. This creates climate-damaging CO2 emissions. In order to keep the transport routes as short as possible, it is best to buy kakis from European cultivation areas. Incidentally, this also applies to the pomegranate in the winter salad recipe.

Chemical-synthetic pesticides are often used in persimmon cultivation to protect the persimmon trees from pests. Pesticide residues can build up on the fruit. In order to avoid persimmons contaminated with pesticides, you should pay attention to organic quality.

Persimmon Recipe: Winter Salad with Pomegranate and Walnuts

Ingredients:

1pomegranate
1Kaki
50 gwalnuts
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp water
3 pinch(s) of salt
4 pinch(s) of pepper
1 tbsp chopped herbs
300 g lamb’s lettuce

Directions:

First open the pomegranate and remove the seeds. See also: Opening and pitting pomegranates works without mess
Cut the persimmons into small pieces. Peeling the persimmon is not absolutely necessary if you wash the fruit beforehand and it is organic.
Crumble the walnuts and put them in a bowl with the pomegranate seeds and persimmon.
Now add the oil, vinegar, water and spices. For example, you can use chives or parsley as herbs.
Mix everything well and finally add the lamb’s lettuce.

Persimmon recipes: This is how you can still prepare the fruit

Persimmons are not only suitable as a salad topping. You can also use the winter fruit in other savory and sweet dishes. More ideas for recipes with persimmons:

Savory Persimmon Recipes:

The sweet taste of the kaki is a great component in a vegetable curry. You can cut the persimmons into small cubes and add them to the curry sauce.
Persimmon and goat cheese also go well together. For example, you can bake persimmon slices with goat cheese. To do this, cut the persimmons into thin slices, place them on a baking sheet and spread the goat’s cheese over them. Bake the slices in the oven until the cheese has melted or, depending on the type of cheese, has slightly browned.
Sweet Persimmon Recipes:

Persimmons taste sweet. They are therefore perfect as a natural sweetener for muesli or porridge.
You can also bake a delicious fruit cake with persimmons.
Persimmons are also very suitable for jam, jelly, syrup or compote.
You can also easily prepare a vegan persimmon lassi. This is an Indian soft drink made from fruits and yoghurt.

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Food

Recipes with Rice Paper: It’s so Versatile

Recipes with rice paper are usually easy, quick and healthy. Due to the neutral taste of rice paper, it can be used in many ways – we’ll show you how.

Rice paper is used in Asian cuisine to wrap a wide variety of ingredients. It consists of rice flour, tapioca starch, water and a little salt – so the rice paper is also gluten-free. The leaves become slightly transparent due to the tapioca starch. In dried form, they break very quickly.

Rice paper scores with its many uses. You can use rice paper in a classic way, for example for summer rolls. If you’re craving more unusual rice paper recipes, try vegan bacon with rice paper.

It’s supposed to be healthy, vegan and light – but you’ve had enough of summer rolls? Below we show you a recipe for Coucous Rice Paper Rolls.

You can get rice paper either in Asian shops or in selected supermarkets. You can also find rice paper in an organic version. For the remaining ingredients, you should also pay attention to certified organic seals. In this way you avoid residues of chemical-synthetic pesticides ending up in your rice paper dishes.

Recipe: Couscous Rice Paper Rolls

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons red lentils
7 ELCouscous
1 tsp paprika powder
1 pinch(s) curry powder
200 ml water
1 tablespoon linseed oil
1 small onion
1 small carrot
1 small red pointed pepper
1tomato
1 pinch(s) of salt
1 pinch(s) chilli flakes
8 pieces of rice paper
5 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

Cook the red lentils according to package directions.
Put the couscous with the paprika and curry powder in a suitable saucepan. Add the water. Stir everything and let it simmer on low heat until the couscous is done. Add a little more water if needed.
Mix the couscous mixture with the cooked red lentils and add the linseed oil. Mix everything together.
Cut the onions and put them in a pan. Cut the remaining vegetables and add them along with the salt and chilli flakes. If the mixture is too dry and burns, add another tomato.
When the vegetables are cooked, remove them from the stove and stir in the couscous and lentil mixture. Set the mixture aside and let it cool down.
Prepare a bowl of lukewarm water. As soon as the mass has cooled down, you can soak the individual rice paper sheets in the water. When the paper is soft, take it out of the water.
Place the soaked rice paper sheets directly on a baking sheet. It is best to place parchment paper or a parchment paper substitute on the tray before placing the rice paper on top.
Place about 2 tablespoons of the filling in the center of each soaked rice paper sheet. Then roll up the rice paper like a wrap.
Spread some olive oil on the rolls so that they are covered on all sides.
Bake the couscous rice paper rolls at 200 degrees top and bottom heat for about 30 to 40 minutes. Important: Turn the rolls occasionally so that they are crispy on all sides.

Couscous Rice Paper Rolls: Additional Tips

If you want to make the rice paper recipe above completely gluten-free, you can alternatively use rice or quinoa instead of couscous.
Of course you can also enjoy the couscous filling without rice paper – it tastes just as good.
A fresh green salad goes wonderfully with your couscous rice paper rolls.
Soy sauce is great for dipping your rolls.

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Lifestyle

Versatile Savings Tips: How You Can Effectively Save Money and Energy

Rising energy and food prices are presenting more and more people with financial challenges. Many households can barely cope with their daily expenses. What to do when running costs eat up all income?

Take a close look at current contracts and insurance policies

The first step is to take a close look at existing contracts, advises the NRW consumer advice center. It is often possible to switch to cheaper tariffs, for example for insurance or mobile phone contracts. Many contracts are even superfluous and can be terminated subject to the contractually agreed deadline. That relieves the expenses.

Another spending trap is insurance. The following applies here: “As much as necessary, as little as possible,” advises the consumer advice center. Policies that only cover minor damage are often superfluous. For a standard vacation, for example, luggage insurance is often not necessary, since the loss of a suitcase is usually easy can be replaced. Mobile phone insurance usually has many gaps and pitfalls. You can usually save yourself this holey protection in the truest sense of the word. Glass and death benefit insurance are often dispensable. Extra equipment insurance for bicycles, laptops or glasses is only worthwhile for very expensive purchases. There are significant price differences for important insurance policies such as private liability or household insurance, so it is worth comparing prices. Modern policies often also offer better protection. Switching to annual payment can also save money.

You should also carefully check your current contracts for telephone, smartphone and internet. These are indispensable, but you can also save money here. You should first determine your actual needs. How many minutes are you on the phone? How much data volume do you use per month? If you know your needs, you can also compare the prices of different providers better. Product information sheets, which dealers must hand out on request, help with this. After the minimum contract period has expired, every telecommunications contract that is not actively extended, for example by a change of tariff or a new smartphone, can be terminated with one month’s notice. The change is therefore possible faster than you think. Porting your phone number is free regardless of the provider.

Pay attention to the fees for memberships and financial institutions and check the legal situation

If you have subscriptions or memberships, for example for magazines, streaming services or a gym, then you should also put them to the test. These are often particularly cheap or even free in the first few months, but over time high costs can arise. Especially a long minimum contract term of up to two years is often a cost trap in difficult financial times. Some contracts are automatically extended by a further year if you do not cancel in good time. The advice of the consumer advice center: check existing contracts, prioritize them and note the notice periods in order to end unnecessary memberships and subscriptions in good time.

Financial institutions have very different price models and fees for a current account or the use of a credit card. Some banks charge flat rates for account management, others charge a basic price plus costs for individual booking processes. Free account management is also still offered. Some banks also offer special conditions for students, trainees, pensioners or union members. A comparison of different banks can therefore be useful in order to reduce running costs. You can usually terminate current accounts at any time and without notice. There are no fees for closing the account. Particular caution is necessary with loans: the installments and additional costs put a strain on the budget. You should not exhaust the overdraft facility either, because double-digit interest rates are due here. In the case of acute and major financial problems, debt counseling should be sought in good time.

Rising costs for providers mean that prices in current contracts rise. However, this is not easily possible. Because once a contract has been concluded for a specific price to be paid regularly, the contractual partner cannot unilaterally change it. It is different if a price adjustment clause is agreed in the contract, on which the provider bases his price increase. Such clauses are usually found in the fine print, but are subject to strict requirements. In many cases they are ineffective, so that the providers cannot refer to them. So it’s worth taking a close look.

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Food

Anise: Effect and Application of The Versatile Medicinal Plant

Anise is best known as an ingredient in Christmas cookies. Anise has long been used as a medicinal plant because of its expectorant and antispasmodic properties.

Anise belongs to the umbelliferae and reaches a height of about half a meter.

Although they share the name, anise is not related to star anise. This article will only deal with anise.

The spice plant originally comes from the Mediterranean region. The commercially available anise comes mainly from Turkey, Egypt or other tropical growing areas such as Argentina or Southeast Asia.

In Central Europe, anise very rarely grows wild. You should also never collect anise yourself, as the fruits look very similar to the poisonous hemlock fruits.

You can buy anise both in the pharmacy and in the health food store. We always advise you to use organic quality spices to avoid pesticides in the environment and in the product.

If you store aniseed with exposure to light, chemicals called photoanetholes with estrogenic properties can form. It is therefore particularly important to store aniseed away from light and air.

Effect and application of anise

A study from 2012 shows that anise has the following effects, among others:
antibacterial
antifungal
antiviral
muscle relaxant
antispasmodic
expectorant
This is mainly due to the essential oils that make up up to 80 percent of the seeds. Anise also contains valuable flavonoids.

Due to the different modes of action, anise can also be used in many different ways in terms of health. The main areas of application include:
Colds: The expectorant effect clears the bronchi, while the antispasmodic effect relieves the upper respiratory tract.
Digestive problems: Anise relaxes the intestinal tract and at the same time stimulates the production of digestive juices. This relieves bloating.
Milk production: Anise is said to stimulate breast milk production in breastfeeding mothers. In addition, the spice reduces flatulence in the baby, since the active ingredient is passed on through breast milk.

Preparation of anise

A tea made from the seeds of the aniseed plant is recommended for use as a remedy.

Preparation:
In order for the essential oils to develop in the best possible way, you should first grind the seeds lightly with a mortar.
Pour about 250 milliliters of hot water over about 1 teaspoon of ground anise seeds. Because of the volatile nature of essential oils, it is important that the water does not boil.
Then let the tea steep for about 10 minutes before removing the seeds.
You can also mix anise with fennel and caraway. Both plants support digestion and also stimulate milk production.
You can also use anise as a pure essential oil. However, it is very rare and therefore quite expensive. Star anise essential oil is often offered instead, but it is of lower quality and has different effects.

Anise is also often used as an addition to pastries or desserts. Anise is very popular, especially around Christmas. Anise is often found in gingerbread spices and mulled wine.

But aniseed is also ideal for flavoring hearty dishes such as red cabbage or carrots.

In addition, alcoholic drinks made from anise, such as ouzo, are not only popular in Greece. As an aperitif, it is said to stimulate digestion before eating.

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Food

Lemon Balm: A Versatile and Tasty Medicinal Herb

Lemon balm is a versatile medicinal herb that can alleviate a variety of ailments. We will show you how to grow lemon balm at home and how you can use it fresh or dried all year round.

Lemon balm has been a popular medicinal herb since ancient times.
calming and anxiolytic,
relaxes the intestines (against flatulence and a feeling of fullness),
against the first signs of cold sores (as a high-dose cream).
Thus, the lemon balm can help against various ailments.

Lemon balm: application and cultivation

You can use the lemon balm in many ways. For example as:
relaxing tea,
refreshing syrup or as
delicious herb in the kitchen.
If you want to grow the plant yourself, you can plant it in a large pot where it can spread well. The lemon balm is a perennial shrub. Once planted, you can harvest the leaves for many years.

The lemon balm…
…likes a sunny spot,
…needs a relatively large amount of water,
…also grows well in a herb spiral,
…needs no fertilizer,
…should overwinter on the windowsill.
In winter, the plant continues to grow slowly on the warm window sill, so that you have something of it all year round.

Cut and propagate lemon balm

When fresh shoots sprout from the lemon balm in the spring, you can cut them back and plant these shoots. For this type of propagation you should only use strong young shoots that serve as cuttings.

How to successfully plant a cutting:
To pull a new plant from the shoot, you only leave the top two leaves on the shoot. Cut off all other leaves. You should use a sharp, clean knife for this.
Put some potting soil in a pot and plant the cutting so that the top two leaves are sticking out.
Place the cutting in a warm place and water it thoroughly.
You can also propagate lemon balm by dividing it. To do this, carefully remove the perennial from the pot and free the roots from the soil. With a sharp, clean knife, cut the root system in two. Make sure each half of the plant has young shoots.

Tip: No matter which method you choose, remember that the plant needs more water than usual, so you should water it more.

Harvest and dry lemon balm

In winter you can still grow the lemon balm on the windowsill. However, it does not grow as quickly in the cold season as it does in summer. Therefore, you can always harvest a few strands to dry in summer and early autumn. From the first rays of sunshine in spring, the plant will thrive again and sprout.
You can use the dried leaves as a relaxing tea or as a culinary herb.

How to dry lemon balm:
First, cut off individual strands from the plant.
Pluck off the lower leaves.
Tie some stems together loosely with a rubber band.
Use string to hang the bouquets upside down in a dark, dry place.
The lemon balm should be dry within two weeks.
Caution: Other recipes recommend drying the lemon balm in the oven. However, this requires leaving the oven door open or preheating the oven and turning it off before adding the leaves. These processes require a lot of energy – that’s why we at Utopia advise you to dry herbs better in the air. If you have a dehydrator, you can use that as well.

The smell of lemon balm changes slightly when you dry the leaves. They no longer smell so strongly of lemon. But don’t worry: If you infuse the leaves as a tea, the typical taste and smell will come back.

After drying, you can store the leaves in a tightly sealed screw-top jar in the cupboard.

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