An abundance of mandarin skins resembling twisted petals of white-orange flowers is not suitable to be called and considered garbage. Indeed, theoretically, they can find a diverse and very useful application, which, in fact, will be discussed later.
Being citrus, tangerines are suitable for a variety of goodies. For example, candied fruit.
Candied fruit
Ingredients:
- 600 g of fresh crusts;
- 1 kg of sugar;
- 250 ml of water.
Cooking:
- Rinse the tangerine peels and cut into small pieces.
- Fold in dishes, fill with cool water and set aside for 3 days, changing water every 8-12 hours.
- Drain the water one last time, rinse the crusts and place them in a suitable container on the stove.
- Pour a glass of water, bring to a boil, boil for 10 minutes.
- Fold the skins into a colander, and return the liquid to the stove.
- Pour in sugar and simmer while stirring.
- Pour them crusts, set aside them soak in sweetness for 12 hours.
- Then put it on the stove again and simmer for 15-20 minutes at minimum heat.
- Fold the peel again in a colander, then, laying the baking paper, spread it in a thin layer on a baking sheet / table.
- After 24 hours, when the candied fruits are ready, you can still sprinkle them with powdered sugar.
For baking, desserts, as well as exotic main dishes and snacks, the zest is useful.
Dried zest
Ingredients:
- 500 g of tangerines.
Cooking:
- Wash fruits thoroughly, pat dry and clean.
- Cut off the white layer from the crusts with a knife, trying as best as possible to leave only the bright top layer of the peel, which, in fact, is considered to be the zest of citrus fruits.
- Cut the skins thus prepared into thin strips.
- You can leave the peel to dry for 24 hours at room temperature, you can - do it in a couple of hours in a slightly warmed oven with the door ajar.
- Place the dried peel of your choice in a blender bowl and grind it into tiny crumbs. It is important to note that it is not recommended to use a coffee grinder for this purpose - a characteristic, non-leaving aroma may remain in it.
And you can also make tea, especially appropriate in the cold, warming and strengthening the immune system. It is wonderful to serve it with shortbread cookies, for example, with ginger, with dried cranberries.
Tea
Ingredients:
- 3 tsp black tea leaf;
- 2 boxes of cardamom;
- dried peel from one mandarin;
- 750 ml of water.
Cooking:
- Put the fruit skin in a teapot, crushed (in a mortar) cardamom, pour the tea leaves.
- Fill everything with freshly boiled water.
- Count 8-12 minutes and pour the drink into cups.
Gentle cleansing and deep nutrition with a precious palette of vitamins (C, E, A) can be presented to the skin of the body by preparing a scrub, massaging, giving it silk softness.
Scrub
Ingredients:
- 40 g of dried tangerine peel, ground to powder;
- 5 tbsp. l sea salt;
- 20 ml unrefined olive oil;
- 3 drops of tangerine essential oil.
Application:
- Stir the zest with salt.
- Add olive oil to the dry mixture, then essential, mix everything well.
- Without delay, apply a scrub on the body, massaging the treated areas.
- After 10 minutes, rinse the scrub with very hot water.
For the face, you can prepare a refreshing mask, eliminating the oily sheen (due to fatty acids and vitamin B1 from mandarin), making the skin supple and smooth.
Mask
Ingredients:
- 1 tsp dried tangerine skins ground into powder;
- 1 tsp natural yogurt (sour cream, yogurt);
- 1 fresh egg yolk.
Application:
- Combine the zest with the yolk and the fermented milk product, mix thoroughly.
- Distribute the product on the skin of the face, previously cleansed (and preferably steamed), avoiding the area around the eyes.
- After 15 minutes, wash with warm water, then wipe your face with an ice cube.
For a healthy drink, pour fresh tangerine peels with water in proportions of 1:10 and, after boiling for 10 minutes, infuse the broth for 1 hour. Then it's time to strain it and drink 1-3 times a day, but not on an empty stomach and sharing with meals at intervals of not less than 1 hour.
According to traditional medicine, such a tool:
- improves the digestive tract;
- acts as a choleretic;
- removes toxins and toxins from the body.
Fresh skins are also used to prepare inhalations for colds and for improving the respiratory system (including suppressing unproductive coughs and facilitating sputum discharge). To do this, the peel should be placed in a vessel with a narrow "throat" and, pouring boiling water in proportions of 1: 5, immediately begin to breathe the rising steam.
Fresh tangerine skins, laid out on shelves where bags / jars / boxes of food are stored, effectively protect the kitchen / pantry from a number of pests, including moths and ants. The main thing is to change the peel in time - it helps, only while it releases essential oils.
A stylish trifle of the interior can be a sachet with mandarin. Their design is no less important than the content. Let, for example, be bags of multi-colored organza, tied with silk ribbons, embroidered with beads and sequins.
You can make a sachet, for example, in addition to dry tangerine peel, from dry:
- violet flowers;
- cinnamon sticks;
- lavender flowers;
- mint leaves;
- clove spices;
- sprigs of rosemary.
Plus, it is recommended to supplement some of the plants with their essential oils - so the sachet will be much more expressive.
Theoretically, skins of all citrus fruits - oranges, lemons, limes, tangerines, grapefruits, are equally useful to indoor and flower plants.
Thanks to this fertilizer, plantings grow faster, get sick less, pests are scared away, and also - the nitrogen content in the soil rises.
The most popular are two fertilizer recipes.
Fresh skins are good for fall / winter and the inhabitants of the windowsill / balcony. Any jar should be filled with peel for three quarters, then top up with water, insist for a day and strain the liquid. And before watering (1 time per month) - it is diluted with water in the proportions of 1: 3.
If the peel from tangerines accumulates all winter for spring and summer, the recipe will be slightly different. A suitable container is filled with skins for the same volume - three quarters, but - filled with boiling water and set aside exactly until it cools down. Filtered for irrigation (2 times a month), the liquid is diluted with water in the proportions of 1: 5.
