Reducing Food Waste

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There is, understandably, food waste in any kitchen whether it is peelings and cutoffs or unused extras. Wasted food means wasted money and in the case of expired leftovers, a potential mess with odours. Either way, wasted food is unfavourable.

Fruit and vegetable peels and seeds are packed with fibre and nutrients, so removing them from our diet is counterproductive. There are many dishes that require one to peel the fruit or vegetable to get a certain desired texture but in some cases you can avoid that. For instance, when making tomato sauce a quality immersion blender can liquefy skins and seeds, creating a smooth and thick wholesome sauce. When making jams and preserves where the fruit is to be peeled, consider using a blender to process the fruit into a smooth paste and save those wholesome nutrients.

We have a steam-juicer for making wines, jellies or syrup and use that left over pulp to make fruit leather. Our dogs absolutely love blackberry and apple pulp leather and we use it for training in place of expensive dog treats.

Juicing is another example where waste (in this case pulp) is produced. That left over pulp is either compostable, or can be feed for chickens; if you have these options definitely utilize them. Otherwise, the pulp can be dehydrated and blended into a powder. Store in a sealed jar in the cupboard as you would for spices and herbs. The fruit powder can then be utilized in smoothies or salad dressings.

Owning a compact food dehydrator is also handy for processing garden harvests. Actually, anyone with a kitchen could benefit from owning one as it so easy to dehydrate any leftover cooked vegetables or fruits. Various veggie powders can be combined to make flavourful additions to soups, stews, casseroles and more. Dehydrated tomato or green pepper powders help thicken enchilada and tomato sauces. Add to homemade pasta and tortilla wrappers or sprinkle a mix of fruit and vegetable powders on your dog’s food for additional nutrition. In the past we dehydrated leftovers, soups and even refried beans for backpacking.

Get creative; you never know when these powdered foods can come in handy. We made a batch of chicken lasagna recently, freezing several portions for later. Upon the first try of that recipe we found it was quite watery. So when we took out the next frozen meal of chicken lasagna, we decided that the solution was to put a layer of tomato powder in the bottom of the casserole dish before laying the still frozen lasagna on top of it – resulting in a thick tomato sauce base after it had baked.

Check out the Brummets’ cookbook: From One Small Garden, with over 300 delicious, nutritious recipes! Available at:

AMAZON USA: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08T7YRHPN

OR AMAZON CANADA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08T7YRHPN

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Source by Lillian Brummet

Breeding Discus – 3 Ways to Encourage Spawning

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So you have a mature pair of discus fish that have shown an interest in each other but there not laying any eggs.

The most important factor in discus breeding in the water quality, make sure it is soft, acidic and clean. If you have this water, your most likely stressing over why there isn’t hundreds of eggs in the tank. If you have discus ready to lay eggs there are a few ways in which you can give them a helping hand.

The first way you can tempt them to lay is to feed a rich diet of frozen bloodworms for about a week. Feed it everyday as well as their other meal. This should condition the female and get her ready to breed. Other foods that are good for breeding discus are white worm, adult brine shrimp and chopped up crab sticks or prawns. Make sure you buy frozen food as there is less chance of disease.

Another way to encourage your discus to breed is by doing a 25% water change but drop the temperature by a couple of degrees of the water going in. This imitates there natural habitat and can trigger spawning. This is a little trick I use on all my young pairs when trying to get them to spawn. Make sure all the pH and hardness is the same making only the temperature different.

The third trick in getting your discus to breed is by separating them for a couple of days before reintroducing them. To do this you can add a tank divider or move the male to another aquarium. Make sure the female gets plenty to eat when the male is away. When you reintroduce the discus just keep a close watch over the next 24 hours as males have known to be aggressive towards the female. They should start the courtship over the next couple of days and hopefully lay eggs after.

There are more ways to encourage your discus to breed as well as many more tips on breeding and caring for discus fish on my site www.discus-fish-secrets.com

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Source by Rob Mellor

Type 2 Diabetes – The Five Most Damaging Refined Carbohydrates

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The bulk of carbohydrate foods consumed today are highly refined and processed. Most of it is simple sugar, but not just table sugar; corn syrup, sweet drinks and different types of candy. Usually, the nutrients and fiber have also been stripped away. Not all carbohydrates are bad for you, but the following are classed as being the worst of the worst…

1. Pastries. While pastries serve as a tasty treat; cakes, muffins, donuts, and even bagels can cause significant blood sugar issues. These refined carbohydrates can cause a sudden spike. As the blood sugar in our body rises, the pancreas starts to make insulin to help the cells absorb the blood sugar. However, when we consume an excessive amount of refined carbs, we can become insensitive to insulin and it can become less effective at lowering blood sugar levels leading to Type 2 diabetes.

It is best to avoid pastries as they are super high in sugar. If you miss your favorite sweet treat, once in a while enjoy a treat made at home using stevia and this should help curb any craving! You can also make a low-sugar chocolate “milkshake” using full-fat unsweetened coconut milk, raw cacao powder, and a half of a frozen banana. This may do just the trick to satisfy your sweet tooth craving.

2. Bread. Bread, especially white bread can cause a spike and then a crash in blood sugar. Bread is also notorious for containing high fructose corn syrup which can increase your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. It is best to avoid bread and choose healthier options like gluten-free wraps made with cassava or almond flour. You can also use lettuce leaves in place of bread when making sandwiches to help prevent blood sugar imbalances.

3. Packaged Snacks. Packaged snacks tend to be very high in refined carbohydrates. Foods like crackers, cookies, and even granola bars contain loads of added sugar. Instead of choosing packaged snacks, choose whole foods like nuts, seeds, a half of an avocado, paired with a piece of fresh fruit.

4. Frozen Meals. Not only are frozen meals known for containing excessive amounts of salt, but they are also made with refined carbs like white pasta or white rice. Skip the freezer meals, and do your best to make as much of your food as you can! This way, you know exactly what goes into what you are eating.

5. Cereal. Breakfast cereal often contains high levels of added sugar. Instead of cereal, choose a whole grain option like rolled oats paired with a healthy fat such as almond butter to help stabilize your blood sugar.

Refined carbs can be detrimental to our overall health and can make balancing blood sugar levels challenging. Instead of refined options, try adding in some of the healthy swaps instead. You would be surprised at how much better you feel both physically and mentally with stabilized blood sugar!

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Source by Beverleigh H Piepers

Things to Eat Or Drink to Help Bring Fertility Back – I Want to Get Pregnant Now!

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There is not any one magic food recipe that will guarantee conception, but what you eat can increase your chance for conceiving. One thing you have to do is start eating healthy. Start by eating less meat and more vegetables. You should be eating a lot of green vegetables. If you are not big on vegetables, you can chop them up real small and add them to your meatloaf and you probably won’t even taste them.

Things to Eat Or Drink to Help Bring Fertility Back

It is good for you to drink plenty of green tea and Vitamin C too. Studies have shown that women who make these a part of their diet are more likely to become pregnant. Trans fat is something that you want to avoid whether you are trying to get pregnant or not. Trans fat is found in all kinds of foods. Here is a list of the top seven Trans fat foods.

1. Margarine – is loaded with trans fats and saturated fats, both of which can lead to heart disease. Look for soft-tub margarine because it is less likely to have trans fat.

2. Packaged foods – Cake mixes and other mixes have several grams of trans fat per serving. Look for reduced fat mixes.

3. Soups – Ramen noodles contain high levels of trans fat. See if you can find fat free or reduced fat soups.

4. Fast Food – Fries, chicken, and other foods are deep-fried in partially hydrogenated oil.

5. Frozen Food – Those delicious frozen pies, pot pies, pizzas, and waffles hs trans fat. In frozen foods, baked is always heart-healthier than breaded.

6. Baked Goods – More trans fat are used in baked products than any other foods.

7. Cookies and cakes from your local grocery have plenty of trans fat in them.

If you and your partner are really trying to get pregnant you should consider the importance of a healthy diet. Making small changes in what you eat and drink can make the difference between conceiving or not being able to conceive.

You don’t have to drastically change your diet to improve your chances of fertility, but one easy thing you can do is to drink more water. Drinking at least eight glasses of water daily will help to increase your fertility levels. Also, you should be eating high-fiber low-fat foods. This will improve your hormonal balance which will help your chances to conceive.

Add Color to Your Diet

You should eat more brightly colored fruits and vegetables. These foods are nutrient rich and have plenty of vitamin B and folic acid. These foods are essential for healthy sperm and ovaries. Fruits and vegetables also have plenty of vitamin C and iron. Both enhance the quality of sperm and improve the immune system. It is a good idea to include plenty of fruits in your diet.

Wholesome Grain Foods

Another food that you need to include for a healthy fertility diet are nutrient rich whole grains. These include brown rice, corn, whole wheat bread, millet, pasta, and oats. Whole grain foods are rich in vitamins E and B which are essential for the production of healthy eggs, hormone balance, and sperm.

Eat lots of Nuts!

Nuts contain natural plant proteins. Nuts and whole grains also contain vitamin B6 and folic acid which raise your fertility levels. Here are six of the healthiest nuts to eat.

1. Walnuts are a great source of healthy omega-3 essential fatty acids which have been found to protect the heart, promote better cognitive function, and provide anti-inflammatory benefits for asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, eczema and psoriasis.

2. Almonds contain almost 25 percent of your needed daily value for the important nutrient magnesium plus is rich in potassium, manganese, copper, the antioxidants vitamin E and selenium, and calcium.

3. Cashews are a lot lower in fat than most nuts, and 65 percent of this fat is unsaturated fatty acids. 90 percent is folic acids, which is a heart healthy fat found in olive oil.

4. Pecans are a great source of over 19 vitamins and minerals including vitamins E and A, copper, manganese, potassium, zinc, folic acid and calcium.

5. Brazil Nuts are very nutrient-rich and contain protein, copper, niacin, magnesium, fiber, vitamin E and Selenium. Selenium is a powerful antioxidant that works to neutralize dangerous free radicals. Studeis have shown that high amounts of selenium in Brazil nuts could help to prevent breast cancer.

6. Macadamia Nuts are high in protein, fiber, healthy monounsaturated fats, potassium and magnesium.

Fish in your diet

Omega 3 which is mostly found in fish oil helps fertility as it linked to healthy hormone function. Good sources of iron and selenium are seafood, meat and poultry.

A good well balanced fertility diet should include five servings of fruit and vegetables, two or three servings of protein and dairy products, and five to six servings of grains. This diet will ensure you have all the vitamins and minerals your body needs. Try to eat smaller meals because three full meals can cause constipation, bloating and pre-menstrual syndrome troubles. These are the Things to Eat Or Drink to Help Bring Fertility Back.

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Source by Summer Madison

Nutrisystem Vs Buying Lean Cuisine

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The other day, I received an email from someone who asked if buying frozen meals like lean cuisine or smart ones at the grocery store would yield the same weight loss results as the Nutrisystem diet. She perceived that the frozen meals were cheaper, even though she suspected that they weren’t going to yield as drastic results. Still, she hoped that she could get some at least some weight loss from the grocery store and asked my opinion on this. I’ll tell you what I told her in the following article.

The Basic Weight Loss Equation And Why Nutrisystem Takes This Further: Everyone knows this, but it bears repeating. You will lose weight if you repeatedly take in less calories than you are burning. This equation has been around since the beginning of time and it’s very simple. Yet, it’s simplicity doesn’t ensure that we’re any more successful with it. As a population, we are fatter today than ever – so perhaps this isn’t so simple after all.

Nutrisystem takes this a bit further by putting ketosis into the equation. Basically, carbs and proteins also come into play. In this way, this diet sort of takes what works from both low calorie and high protein diets. The foods are designed to be low in calories and carbohydrates, but low in protein. This sounds pretty basic too, but it actually does make your body burn fat much faster. The reason for this is that you are no longer giving it the carbs that it is used to burning. So instead, it must rely on your fat stores.

Any diet that we are comparing to Nutrisystem then should also be able to put your body in ketosis if you are going to have similar results. Therefore, I’m going to be looking at lean cuisine in terms of nutrition, calories, fiber, and carbohydrates. For the sake of comparing apples to apples, I’m going to compare two similar foods – nutrisystem’s and lean cuisine’s pizza – which are both popular items.

Lean Cuisine Pizza Nutrition Information: This product has 320 calories, and 80 of them are from fat. In total, it contains 9 grams of fat. There are 17 grams of protein and 2 grams of fiber. The most troublesome thing to me here is the carbohydrates contained. There are a whopping 42. I find it very doubtful that you will get in ketosis with even a few of these meals daily. And, if you limited yourself to one, you’d still need to be very careful throughout the remainder of the day, especially if you are preparing the foods yourself.

Nutrisystem Pizza Nutritional Information: This item has only 250 calories, with 70 of them coming from fat. There are 8 fat grams. There is 11 grams of protein. But, there are only 28 grams of carbs. This is 14 less and this can make a big difference over time. You are also saving 70 calories which can add up also.

Another thing to consider with Nutrisystem is that you won’t need to be careful or conscious of what you eat for the rest of the day. They balance the meals out for you so that you’re eating no more than about 1200 calories per day and taking in a low enough amount of carbs and a high enough amount of protein so that you will get in ketosis. They provide the foods for you (three meals, a snack, and a dessert.) The dinner options (like the pizza) are the highest in calories and carbs. But the lunch and breakfasts are light on both of these. The whole thing is designed to give you the nutrients that you need while making sure that you approach both equations correctly.

Testing A Diet’s Effectiveness: If you’re still not sure which way you want to go, you can get ketone strips at most drug stores. These will tell you if you are in are or approaching ketosis. You can do this after a week or so on the lean cuisine meals to see what happens. I suspect that those extra carbs and calories would add up after a week though, but see for yourself. I can tell you from experience that a week of this diet will very likely put you in this place so long as you follow the instructions.

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Source by Ava Alderman

Get Perfect DiGiorno Pizza Every Time – Cooking Tips

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As a food lover you want to enjoy good tasting foods at home. Ordering out for pizza is a very popular tradition in the United States, Canada and many other countries, but recently frozen has become very popular. Frozen foods have come a long way and many people can no longer tell the difference between the taste of delivery, and home-cooked pizzas. When cooking for your own pizza a lot can go wrong, so in this article we give you tips to get the perfect tasting home cooked pizza.

Official Cooking Directions for DiGiorno

There are a few different methods for cooking your pizza at home, but in this section we will give you the companies instructions, just like you would find on the packaging

Preparation – The first thing you must do is prepare your food. The pizza must be removed from the box, and also taken out of the plastic wrapping. Remember to remove the cardboard as well. It should be noted that the pizza should be cooked from frozen; it should not be thawed.

Cooking Heat – The oven should be heated to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. A tip that I use is to start preheating the oven right away, then get the pizza and prepare it. The oven temperature is the same for one pizza or two

Cooking Time – The pizza should be cooked for 12-18 minutes for one pizza, or 16-22 minutes for two pizzas. If you cook two pizzas remember to rotate the location in the oven at the half way mark.

Save Money on DiGiorno

A good way to save money is to buy the pizza when it is on sale. Another good way is to use DiGiorno pizza coupons. These are available online on occasion so keep your eyes open for coupons that you can print off and redeem.

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Source by Jeremy Rupke

Saving Money by Buying More

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To this day I can still remember my first big grocery bill after we were married. It was about $200 and I cried on the way home. I didn’t get anything fancy-just the basics. We were poor newlywed students and food expenses were a necessary evil that I could not get around.

Buying groceries was my responsibility in the marriage and I was determined to live within our meager budget. I dove right into the challenge and years later found myself teaching community classes on “couponing” (“yes”, I had to tell my sisters, “couponing is a word”).

I no longer spend hours finding, printing, cutting and organizing coupons but there are some invaluable shopping principles I learned from those studies that I will never change. My favorite one is buying more to save more.

The simple idea behind the strategy is to buy more of something when it is on sale so you do not have to pay full price for it later when you need it. Applying this principle will look different in everyone’s home. Take some time to consider the following questions to be able to maximize your savings.

*How much room do you have for food storage?

This may seem like an obvious question but this has landed me in jeopardy more than once when it comes to frozen foods. I have become much more organized (and creative!) with my freezer space out of necessity. Although this is obviously not the answer for everyone, we invested in a deep freezer as a result of one of the best sales I have ever seen on cheese and meat. I convinced my husband that after a few additional sales like that one we would pay for the freezer with the amount of money we saved.

*How much of this item will we use?

No matter how good of a sale it is, it’s never a good deal if the food goes to waste. Make sure you do not buy more than you can use. Consider the expiration date and your schedule and meal rotations. I always try to make meals where the bulk of my ingredients are things I already have stored so that nothing is wasted or forgotten, but that’s a whole other principle.

*How good is the sale?

This is something you will get better at knowing over time. The worst feeling is when you stock up on a favorite item because it’s on a great sale, only to find out the next week that the same item is being sold at a significantly better price at a neighboring store. You will become familiar with prices in your area and start to know what is a good price for different items. Also, don’t be afraid to ask people! I have talked to my butcher at my grocery store several times about prices. I don’t know of a grocery store where they pay their employees commissions on sales so they will honestly tell you whether you should wait for a better sale or when an upcoming discount can be expected. Be kind and friendly to employees- they have a wealth of knowledge!

*How often is it on sale?

This question is one of my favorites because it’s such a game changer. Sales go in rotation. Not only can you expect certain items to be discounted around certain times, you can plan your food storage around them! For example, my grocery store has meat sales on a two week rotation. This means that I only need to buy enough chicken to last my family two weeks before I know it will be on sale again. It also gives me a reason to never have to buy chicken at its full price in between those sale prices because I can simply pull it out of my freezer.

Another sale rotation that is extremely helpful to be aware of and watch for are seasonal sales. For example, barbeque sauce is usually marked at its lowest around the Fourth Of July and nutrition and health bars are normally at their lowest in January for everyone’s New Years’ resolutions. Oftentimes these items do not expire for over a year so if you have the space, buy enough to last your family that long.

Once your stock piles reach a successful rotation you will find that you are shopping completely differently. It’s not unusual for me to come home from the store with 25 boxes of cereal, 10 bags of cheese and then only a handful of other basics like bread, milk and bananas. I don’t need to buy every ingredient on my list for meals that week because I have already stocked up on them when they were on sale. As a result, I can make the same tasty meals at a much lower price for my family. Buying more to save money is all about timing your larger purchases with their sale prices and ironically you will soon find that buying more can indeed help you spend less.

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Source by Emily Perkes

RV Repair – Tips for Inexpensive RV Repairs (Part 1)

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Let me share this tip with you from a local RV dealer. He recommends that you put a single ice cube in a paper cup and leave it in your freezer and check it daily to be sure there had not been a power failure at the campground while you were away for the day, or that nothing else has happened to cause the frozen foods to partially thaw and re-freeze again.

If the freezer has been working well, the ice cube should retain it’s original shape. If it has melted and re-frozen the ice will be puddled in the bottom of the cup and chances are that the quality of your food in the freezer and refrigerator will be comprised.

RV Roof Inspection, Maintenance and Repair

Inspecting the roof sealant on an RV is something you should do twice a year. Why?

Because that is the likely place that a water leak will first develop. Water runs downhill, of course, and a tiny leak on the roof will turn into a major problem within the structure of the RV.

Think about this – one drip per minute (through a pinhole leak) adds up to 1440 drips per day or 10,080 drips in a week.

I don’t have time to figure out how many gallons of water there are in 10,080 drips, but I think you see my point.

Closely inspect the roof sealant condition on every protruding fixture on the roof. Any cracks or thin spots can be touched up with the appropriate material. If the roof sealant is peeling or flaking in any way, then the old coating must be physically removed.

On metal roofs I use a 1′ wide scraper with a firm blade, like the ones used by auto technicians for scraping off old gaskets. For rubber roofs I made a similar sized plastic scraper that won’t cut the rubber membrane.

If you heat the old coating with a hot air gun, it will come off fairly easily.

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Source by Les Doll

Introduction to Frozen Dough Technology

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After working many years in a frozen dough factory supplying frozen products to bakeries, cafes and restaurants, I had the chance and the pleasure to get quite a lot of experience in the production of good quality frozen dough. A good quality frozen dough product is a product which, after having been frozen for up to 6 months, still comes out of the oven as beautiful, appetising, attractive to the eyes and tasty as a fresh product. So it gives me a great pleasure to share with you some of the secrets about frozen dough production.

First do not get mixed up with “Retarded Dough System” and “Frozen Dough Technology”. Those are two different ways of processing the dough, the first one is very simple and the second one is very much more elaborate.

– The Retarded Dough System is just normal dough that we place in a normal freezer, to be used up at a later time, may be 1, 2, or 3 days later. This dough loses some of its performance capability during the freezing process and cannot be kept frozen for more than a few days only. This is just a convenient process that we can use in some short term situations.

– The Frozen Dough Technology on the other hand is a very detailed and specific way of processing the dough, that enable the user to get the optimum performance out of the dough which has been frozen for a longer period of time. This period of time could be from just a few weeks to a few months; 6 months being regarded as a maximum for a live dough containing yeast. This is exactly what this article is all about.

  • First, how many kinds of frozen dough processes can we differentiate?

1) Ready to Prove Frozen Dough, good for most yeast dough and puff pastry as well.

2) Ready to Bake Frozen Dough, recommended especially for croissant and Danish pastry items.

3) Part Bakes Frozen Dough, good for bread items, not recommended for croissant, Danish pastry items, and sweet bread and bun items.

4) Full Baked Frozen Dough, good for sweet bread/bun and soft roll, not recommended for bread, croissant, Danish pastry and puff pastry items.

5) Raw Frozen Dough Ready to Bake (Proving in the oven), not available yet, new technology still under intense research and development.

  • Critical points to succeed in frozen dough preparation

1) Make sure that the fermentation process does not start at any stage during the production.

To achieve that: one must control the temperature of the dough during all the different stages of the process, from the very beginning (mixing) to the very end (proving – baking).

Ideally dough temperature must not exceed 16°C (61°F) during the mixing, dividing and filling of the products.

After the blast freezing procedure the ideal storage temperature is from -18°C (64°F) TO -22°C (72°F).

2) To keep the dough temperature under 16°C (61°F), at all time during processing, is the most difficult part and to achieve this goal we need to:

a) Keep the room temperature at between 16°C (61°F) and 20°C (68°F).

b) Use cold flour. Before use, the flour should be stored in a chiller (+4°C) (39°F).

c) Use cold water from a chiller or a water cooler.

d) Replace 25% of the liquid used (water/milk) with ice flakes. Or if ice flakes are not available the use of icy cold water (+2°C) (35°F) is recommended.

e) Work the dough straight away from the mixer without or with as little rest as possible between the different stages.

f) Freeze the dough, after shaping and filling, as fast as possible and this is when we need a blast freezer to freeze the product very fast up to the core. Why do we need to freeze the dough as fast as possible? The answer is: To bring the temperature deep inside the products to around -8°C (17°F) to -15°C (5°F) very fast, around 10 to 30 minutes, depending of the size of the products. This way the ice crystals formed during the freezing process are very small and do not damage the dough structure. If the freezing process is too long (from 3 to 6 hours with a conventional freezer) the crystals formed inside the dough are very big and will damage the yeast and the gluten structure. Then in this case the product will be very long to prove and will not rise to its maximum desired size, this is typically a low quality frozen dough.

Now looking at each kind of frozen dough processes one by one, we can say that for bread items the part baked system is the best and gives very good results. For croissant and Danish pastry items (as well as bread items) the ready to bake system gives outstanding results, but demands strict supervision, good equipment and premise.

Regarding the ingredients used in the production of frozen dough, they are almost the same as for the normal type of dough except two slight differences.

• First, the yeast. Instant yeast and fresh yeast are both good to use but we always have better results with fresh yeast, products are faster to prove with more oven spring as well. Also when it comes to the quantity of yeast used, we have to increase it quite a lot (up to 2 to 3 times the normal quantity) to compensate the yeast dying during the freezing process.

• Second, the dough/bread improver used should be a special kind of improver for frozen dough only. There are many brands available on the market.

Hopefully this article has given you some useful things to think about before you start mixing the dough and I really hope you enjoyed this introduction to the process of frozen production.

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Source by Jac Paillard

Feeding Otocinclus Catfish – 3 Easy Tips on What to Feed an Oto

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Otocinclus catfish can be very handy fish to have in your aquarium. They will gladly graze on any soft brown or green algae that grows in your tank. However, what happens when your Oto eats all the algae and it doesn’t grow fast enough to sustain your catfish? Well, there are several other types of food that you can add to supplement your Oto’s diet.

1. Otos love to eat fresh vegetables. Veggies such as spinach, romaine lettuce, parsley, cucumber, zucchini, green beans, and peas are all great options. Cut them into small pieces and then blanch them, as these catfish need the veggies to be soft in order to eat them. If there are any vegetables left in the tank around 24 hours later, make sure to take them out before they dirty the water.

2. Another food that you can feed your Otocinclus that they love is frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp. These are a good source of protein that your catfish might not otherwise get, as they are mostly vegetarian. If you have other fish in your tank, be aware that your Oto might not get to the frozen food before any other fish do, as nearly all tropical fish go crazy for these frozen foods.

3. A third great option is algae pellets and flakes. These are convenient to feed and are fairly nutritious. Make sure that the ingredient list has spirulina (algae) near the top, as that is what attracts the catfish and may be the difference between your Oto ignoring the food and eating it.

As you can see, there are many different foods that you can feed your Otocinclus if your tank doesn’t have enough algae for the fish to eat.

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Source by Angela Marie