Pepper for colds 2020

Pertsovka is the name given to vodka infused with capsicum. Thanks to its immunomodulatory and vasodilating properties, the tincture helps eliminate many cold symptoms. What is the reason for the therapeutic effect of the drink?

Peppercorn contains at least 20 useful substances that increase the reactivity of the immune system. The main ones include:

phylloquinone and riboflavin;
manganese and selenium;
zinc and iron;
thiamine and retinol;
tocopherol and choline;
vitamin C and beta-carotenes;
pyridoxine and niacin equivalent;
pantothenic and folic acids.

Kaisa, are apricots also dried apricots?

No, these are separate types of dried fruits, although also made from apricots. Here's how they differ from each other:

dried apricots are dried halves of pitted apricots, ideal for making fillings for pies and pancakes, desserts and as an additive to porridges;
kaisa is a whole fruit from which the seed has been carefully removed and dried whole; it is good for preparing uzvar and for a raw food snack;
apricot is a dried whole apricot fruit from which the pit has not been removed; This dried apricot retains the most vitamins, which is why it is so valued by doctors and nutritionists.

That's the whole difference, small, but very significant in culinary art. If apricots can be nibbled as a snack, then you cannot add them to a pie due to the presence of a seed, but they are stored better, so they are indispensable on long hiking trips.

Contraindications

Like many folk remedies for colds, peppercorns have a number of contraindications. It is not advisable to use it internally if you have diseases such as:

Secrets of cooking dried apricots

1. Large specimens take a long time and do not dry well; you should choose small or medium-sized fruits.2. In the oven, apricots lose color, and their taste is worse than sun-dried.3. You need to turn the fruit regularly - in the oven, in the sun.4. It is necessary to cover the fruits with gauze, otherwise they will be attacked by insects.5.

It is better to soak store-bought dried apricots for 20 minutes in warm water before use to remove preservatives from the product. Homemade preparations are much safer than those purchased in stores. In winter, a sweet delicacy will become a treat for tea and an assistant in the fight against vitamin deficiency.

Recipe from an expert in the field of natural nutrition and founder of the Internet project “Seregina.ru” Lidia Seregina

Fruits and berries can also be processed into puree and used for marshmallows. Most often, it is made from mixtures of fruits rich in pectin (apples, apricots, pears), with the addition of purees from other ingredients - raspberries, strawberries, bananas, nectarines and even persimmons. If you make marshmallow only from berries, it will turn out sour, fragile and with a lot of seeds. In this case, you will have to add sugar to taste it, which will increase the calorie content of the marshmallow and make it less healthy.

Prepare thick fruit and berry puree, add sweetener, spices and seeds to taste. Using a spatula or spatula, spread the puree onto the prepared tray or silicone sheet. Ideally, in the middle of the tray the layer of puree should be thinner than at the edges. To prevent the marshmallow from sticking to the tray, lightly grease it with vegetable oil or use the ideal device - a silicone sheet for a dehydrator.

Remove the finished marshmallow while it is still warm. Then roll it into a tube, cool it and put it in an airtight container. You can store it at room temperature or in the refrigerator, in the latter case it will last longer.

Unless, of course, they quickly eat it. Which is very likely. Homemade marshmallows and dried fruits are very tasty!

How to make dried apricots so that they retain the maximum of nutrients and vitamins? There are only three options:

The fastest and most convenient: drying in a dehydrator is a special machine for removing moisture from fresh vegetables and fruits.
In the oven: an activity that requires time, regular observation and the oven always on, albeit on a low setting.
In the old “grandfather’s” way: in the sun, the way our grandmothers and other ancestors dried apricots. A method that does not require an electricity bill, but at the same time takes up a lot of space. If you don’t have a spacious loggia or the balcony is so blocked that you can’t get through, it’s better to give up trying, so as not to curse everyone and everything later.

When the seeds are separated from the fruit, you should not throw them away: the kernels from them are an excellent substitute for almonds when preparing nut pies and other delicacies. You just need to dry them in the fresh air and pour them into a glass jar.

Red pepper for colds

Red pepper is also used in folk medicine to treat colds. It is used externally to achieve a warming effect, or consumed internally.

Take a piece of red pepper (about 1 cm) and add it to 200 ml of heated milk. Bring the milk to a boil, then throw away the pepper, drink the hot milk, and immediately go to bed under a warm blanket.
Mix ground red pepper and honey 1:1. Take 1 tsp daily. mixture three times a day.
Shortly before bed, pour ground red pepper into cotton socks and put them on. On top, additionally put on another warm socks. They are removed only in the morning, and the feet are washed well with warm water.
For colds complicated by pneumonia or bronchitis, the following recipe is practiced: add a pinch of dry crushed ginger root, a pinch of red pepper and saffron to 200 ml of boiling milk. Mix, wrap in a scarf and leave for no more than five minutes. The infusion is consumed after dinner just before going to bed.

Read also: How to remove the smell after drinking
Red pepper is also useful to add to dishes - this way many people manage to prevent the development of a cold. However: if there are problems with the stomach or intestines, then in such cases red pepper is contraindicated.

How to dry apricots in a dehydrator?

To begin, prepare the apricots in the usual way: wash, peel and place the apricot halves on the drying rack, cut sides down. We set the mode to 60 degrees and wait just a couple of hours. The aromatic dried fruit is ready! If you prefer drier dried apricots for long-term storage, then it is better to dry them for at least three to four hours.

Some folk craftsmen recommend soaking halves of apricots for half an hour in lemon juice or a solution of citric acid (for 4 kg of apricots - 1 liter of water and 1 glass of lemon juice) before drying. Thus, making dried apricots at home just like in a supermarket is as easy as shelling pears, the taste will be indistinguishable.

How to perfectly dry fruits

The number one enemy of dried fruit is moisture. The higher the moisture content of dried fruits, the shorter the shelf life (unless you plan to keep them in the freezer).

Here are some useful tips from Lydia Seregina that will help you avoid problems when drying.

* To obtain high-quality dried fruits, choose only high-quality ripe fruits and berries with a high content of sugar and vitamins. Overripe fruits are best used for making marshmallows.

* Wash and dry fruits and berries well. Usually the fruit is cut with a knife (preferably a ceramic one to prevent oxidation) or a food processor into slices 5 mm thick - this ensures even drying. If desired, apples and many other fruits can be dried with the peel. Berries should be dried whole or in halves.

* Turn out the apricot halves and plums: this speeds up the drying process. Larger fruits should be cut into quarters or slices, 5 mm thick.

* To determine if the product is ready, hold it in your hands. Pay attention to whether it is sticky, wet, or too soft. Remember that it is softer while warm.

* If you are not sure whether the product is dry enough, it is better to dry it rather than throw away the moldy one.

The principle of operation of vodka with pepper

Some experts are skeptical about alternative treatments for colds. However, pepper, unlike many synthetic drugs, does not create additional stress on the filtration system, including the kidneys and liver. How does the drink affect the body?

helps strengthen the immune system, due to the high content of ascorbic acid;
dilates blood vessels and accelerates blood circulation, due to the presence of alcohol in the product;
destroys pathogenic viruses and bacteria in the mucous membranes of the respiratory system due to the alkaloid capsaicin.

It is worth noting that vodka in this case plays the role of an anesthetic. It dulls pain, therefore eliminating headaches and the feeling of weakness.

Sun drying

How to dry apricots for dried apricots if you don’t have a dehydrator? Of course, use the oven! The recipe for homemade dried apricots is simple: first, wash the fruits in hot water to remove possible germs, dry with a towel or paper napkins, cut into halves and remove seeds.

It is better to cover the baking sheets with parchment or cooking paper, on which to place the prepared apricots with the cuts facing up. It is important that the pieces of fruit do not touch; the heat of the oven should envelop the apricots on all sides, drying them evenly.

The heating temperature of the oven should be no more than 100 degrees, although some homemade experts recommend even less: no more than 60, citing the fact that this way the dried apricots dry more naturally, retain all the vitamins and are stored longer. In this mode, the apricots will dry for about four to five hours (if the temperature is 60 degrees, then all eight), they should wrinkle and darken a little.

Grandmother’s advice on how to make dried apricots from apricots still lives in the memory: prepared seedless fruits are boiled in water slightly acidified with citric acid for only five minutes, drained in a colander to drain all the liquid. You can lay it on a linen towel to absorb excess moisture.

How to make dried apricots at home that look like oriental ones? There is a little secret: when the liquid drains from the fruit, glue each half with the outer edges inward, giving the dried fruit an oval shape. Then place the prepared apricots on baking sheets or wooden trays and place them in direct sunlight.

Depending on the weather, the dried apricots will dry from a week to two; the presence of bright sun is of paramount importance: this way the apricots will dry quickly and not become moldy, which often happens in damp or rainy weather. To avoid damage to drying apricots by insects, cover the trays with them with gauze or mosquito nets.

How to dry apricots if there is no sun and it’s raining? There is no way out: only in the oven, otherwise the original product will begin to rot and all the work will be in vain.

Do I need to add other ingredients to dried fruits?

* Fruits with seeds doused with honey mixed with water (in a 2:1 ratio) will dry a little longer, but will retain their bright color and softness.

* Kiwi can be soaked in a mixture of water with sugar or Jerusalem artichoke syrup (proportion - 1:2). Then the pieces of this fruit will retain their color and become slightly glazed.

* Use original combinations of products and spices: apples and bananas - with cinnamon, white cherries - with vanilla, apricots and pineapples - with nutmeg.

Recipes with honey at home

By combining honey and vodka, we can get a good medicine to “slow down” a cold that has just begun.

Classical

There are no difficulties here. You will need vodka (50 ml) and any honey (50 g). It does not matter whether it is fresh, liquid or already crystallized.

Mix the ingredients, add a slice of lemon and a pinch of ginger for taste. Heat in a water bath, but so that there is no boiling. We drink and wrap ourselves in a warm blanket.

Honey and aloe

If a cold is accompanied by a cough, you can try drinking a folk medicine before starting to take the pills.

We take:

aloe (300 g);
vodka (3 tablespoons);
honey (4 tablespoons).

The leaves should be chopped. Then mix all the ingredients, hold for a while so that the medicine infuses.

You need to drink a tablespoon three times a day before meals. To achieve maximum effect, extend the course to 5 days.

Horseradish and honey

Prepare more tincture so that the whole family has an anti-cold remedy for the cold season.

Required:

vodka (2 l);
horseradish (100 g);
honey (several tablespoons).

You can also add ginger - half the volume of horseradish. Let it sit for about a week and strain. Then store it in the refrigerator.

Honey with lemon

Grind the lemon (along with the zest), pour in vodka. Add 100 g of honey and two cloves (finely chopped) garlic. Let it sit for 2-3 hours.

Black radish

You need to grate:

beets (half);
one small carrot;
small radish.

Squeeze everything out, mix the juice with thirty grams of honey. Pour 30-50 ml of vodka into the resulting mixture.

The drink should stand in the refrigerator for several hours. The product helps well at the first signs of a cold and cough.

How to properly store dried fruits?

So, you managed to overcome all the difficulties and prepare delicious and beautiful dried fruits. What to do with them after this, how to store them, where and for how long?

Remember that when exposed to air for a long time, dried fruits actively absorb moisture from the air and become soft, so always store dried foods in tightly closed containers. Glass jars with well-fitting lids are best: they are airtight and the product is visible. Doypack bags with foil on the inside would also be a good option.

The less air access to dried fruits, the better for their storage. Therefore, if you keep them in an opaque container, it is better to label which product is inside so as not to open it again. Store the containers themselves in a dry, dark place. Best in the refrigerator or a dry, cold basement. The kitchen cabinet is not the most favorable place. If you still haven’t dried the fruits, they will quickly spoil at room temperature.

You can also freeze dried fruits - this will protect them from any damage by moisture.

As for shelf life, dried products usually last until the next harvest - there is no point in preserving them longer. Therefore, it is optimal to dry as many berries and fruits as you can use before next summer.

After the dried apricots are ready, they should be transferred to glass jars or linen bags and stored in a dark place, well ventilated and inaccessible to insects. Can also be stored in a wooden container with a lid. Some housewives store dried apricots in plastic bags - this is not entirely correct, since in this case the dried fruit can become rotten and spoil. You can also store dried apricots in the refrigerator in the greens drawer.

Features of application

To eliminate pain in the throat and nasal congestion, you can take a small (precisely small) amount of tincture orally. But to obtain the desired therapeutic effect, it is worth considering the following nuances:

You should drink no more than 1 glass of drink per day;
It is advisable to drink vodka with pepper at night;
Do not use peppercorns at high temperatures.

To enhance the effect of using the drink, it is advisable not to eat food after the procedure for 30-40 minutes.