Tag Archives: FOCC

Live Culture Kefir Quark

Live Kefir

I found this new live culture kefir quark in Waitrose yesterday.  Johanna Budwig promoted live fermented foods for the Budwig Diet.  Kefir is milk fermented with a special broad spectrum culture.  The bugs in this culture  are good bacteria which promote a healthier gut biome so are believed to benefit the digestion, immune system and the health of the whole body.

Live kefir quark cottage cheese
Live kefir quark cottage cheese

High protein, low fat

This has a lovely fresh flavour, a super texture, very low fat (virtually fat-free) and 12% protein which makes it ideal for the Budwig Diet. The downside is it is only in little tubs with a plastic spoon and is quite pricey but if you want a live cultured quark and don’t want to make it yourself this is a good option.  Hopefully in the future it will become available in larger tubs.

Live kefir quark cottage cheese
Live kefir quark cottage cheese

FOCC muesli

The Budwig diet is often called the Flax Oil Cottage Cheese FOCC diet because the cornerstone of the diet is thoroughly blended flax seed (linseed) oil and cottage cheese which is turned into a muesli with fruit, ground flax, nuts and honey added.

Budwig muesli a rich source of soluble prebiotic fibre
This delicious bowl of Budwig muesli was made with with live kefir quark, it’s  also  a rich source of soluble prebiotic fibre which makes it a very very digestion-friendly breakfast,

In her recipe for this muesli Johanna Budwig gave the recipe for  quark to be used. It is a simple European cottage cheese, made in the home; it is  much smoother and nicer for the Budwig muesli than British cottage cheese.  In many parts of Europe traditional home made quark used to have live cultures which makes it a healthier option.   This Kefir quark made a lovely Budwig Muesli blended with Flax Farm cold-pressed linseed (flaxseed) oil.  I made the Budwig muesli just the same way as normal.

Budwig Muesli Recipe

I blended  the tub of  kefir quark thoroughly  with 45 ml cold-pressed linseed (flax seed) oil, added a few drops vanilla extract, sweetened with stevia extract and added 2 heaped dessert spoons freshly ground linseed, a small tangerine , half a banana , a teaspoon of raw honey  and topped with strawberries and walnuts; yum! See more Budwig recipes 

 

 

Flax farm organic cold-pressed flax linseed oil

Flax farm organic cold-pressed flax (linseed) oil

Oleolux Recipe

Cold-pressed linseed oil and coconut oil

Oleolux flax oil and coconut oil
Oleolux on veg

Oleolux is a savoury butter or topping for food created by Dr Johanna Budwig. It is a rich golden-yellow blend of cold-pressed linseed (flax) oil and raw coconut oil delicately enhanced with onion and garlic.  Cholesterol-free, rich in Omega-3 and other beneficial fats, it makes a healthy alternative to butter, cream or olive oil in everyday meals for anyone looking for tasty food and a healthier lifestyle. The garlic and onion are healthy additions and probably help the absorption of  the omega-3.

 Ingredients for Oleolux:

  • Oleolux ingredients for Budwig diet
    Oleolux ingredients

    125g Cold-Pressed Linseed (Flax) Oil

  • 250g Cold-Pressed Coconut Oil
  • 1 Medium Onion
  • 10 cloves garlic mashed

 

Method:

Weigh the Linseed Oil into a suitable container, preferably glass that has a lid, or can be covered, it needs to be large enough to take the coconut oil as well.  Place it in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Melt coconut oil in a large pan from which it is going to be easy to pour the oil.
Slice the onion and cook at a very gentle heat so that it is lightly straw coloured after 15 minutes.
Add the crushed garlic cloves and cook for a further 3 minutes.
Remove from heat, allow to cool a little and strain through a sieve into the chilled linseed oil and put in the fridge to cool.  When it has set it is ready to use.

Store in the fridge.

Best used within a month.

How to Use Oleolux

  • Melt into cooked veg, potatoes and buckwheat.
  • Use instead of butter on bread.
  • Use to fry with; though if using oleolux for frying do not heat for more than 1-3 mins and then only at a gentle heat.
  • Stir into risotto, lentils and soup.

Buckwheat with Oleolux

Melt 50g oleolux in a warm pan. Add 150g raw whole buckwheat groats (grains) and stir gently over a gentle heat for  3 minutes, then add 250ml boiling water and simmer very gently for 15-30 mins or until soft.

This can be made into a risotto style dish by using low salt veggie stock instead of water, adding sliced veg. such as onions, celery. carrots, mushrooms, at the very start or for softer veg such as spinach 3-10 mins from the end of cooking and sprinkle with chopped herbs, black pepper, cayenne, yeast flakes, etc.

Budwig Diet Ice Cream Recipe

It might seem too good to be true but you can have ice cream on the Budwig diet.  When made with the fat-free quark, it is cholesterol-free and rich in the good fat omega-3.  You can use this recipe for an interesting way to have the linseed oil-quark cream instead of a muesli-style dessert.

This ice cream was created by Johanna Budwig.  It has got to be the all-time easiest home-made ice-cream recipe, the result is creamy,  smooth  and absolutely delicious – and is probably one of the healthiest ice creams ever.  It is a great treat, especially for anyone wanting to eat more healthily or with concerns about cholesterol, and it’s a good option for tempting a patient with a flagging appetite.

Vanilla Ice Cream

  • 100 g quark
  • 45 g linseed (flax) oil
  • 50g skimmed milk
  • 1 tablespoon raw natural honey
  • 1/4  teaspoon vanilla  extract or vanilla bean paste ( but not flavouring or “essence.”)

Simply blend and freeze.

Enjoy with fresh fruits, berries, nuts and a couple of heaped dessertspoons of ground linseed.

Variations:

  1.  Chocolate Ice Cream: add 1 tablespoon cocoa powder to the mix above and blend.  Particularly good with ripe pears and chopped Brazil nuts
  2. Blueberry Ice Cream: add 3 tablespoons blueberries and blend, then fold in a handful of chopped walnuts.  Good with sliced peaches and almonds.
  3. Raspberry Ice Cream: add 3 tablespoons of raspberries and blend.
  4. Banana Ice Cream: mash a ripe banana and blend, great with fresh strawberries and mixed nuts.

Try your own variations with different fruit purees and juices, seeds and berries. Who would have thought linseed oil ice cream would taste this good?

 

 

Chocolate Muesli and Desserts

Chocolate & Pear Linseed Muesli Dessert

Chocolate pear Budwig Muesli dessert
Chocolate & Pear Budwig Linseed Muesli dessert

Pears and chocolate always go well together; this is good enough to serve for dinner parties and is sublime. It is rather like a chocolate pear Eton mess.

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons ground linseed
  • portion linseed-quark cream
  • 1-2 dessertspoons cocoa or to taste
  • A little skimmed milk
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • A small diced pear
  • Chopped nuts
Mix the honey and some skimmed milk into the quark linseed cream, add cocoa powder, mix well, add ground linseed and spoon into a dessert bowl and sprinkle with chopped nuts.

Chocolate, Banana and Raspberry Muesli

This is more of a dessert but chocolate makes a great breakfast too.

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons ground linseed
  • 1 portion linseed-quark cream
  • 1-2 dessertspoons cocoa or to taste
  • A little skimmed milk
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • A small banana
  • A handful of raspberries
  • Unsweetened coconut chips or ribbons – grated fresh coconut or chopped Brazil nuts (optional)

Place ground linseed in a bowl and mash into it the banana.

Mix the honey and some skimmed milk into the quark linseed cream, add cocoa powder, mix well and pour over mashed banana and linseed.  Sprinkle with raspberries and coconut or Brazil nuts.

More FOCC Recipes

Budwig muesli with banana and raspberry
Budwig muesli with banana and raspberry

Here are some more suggestions for the Budwig Diet breakfast.  All are rich in omega-3, tummy-friendly fibre, minerals, vitamins and natural antioxidants. It is an essential element of the Budwig diet or a super-nutritious replacement for conventional breakfast cereals and mueslis for anyone trying to improve their health.  You can vary it endlessly with different fruits, nuts, berries and spices.

Budwig Muesli Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons Linseeds (brown/bronze or golden)
  • 1 portion of Quark-Linseed Oil Cream (made from 100 g quark and 45-50g cold-pressed linseed oil thoroughly blended and optionally sweetened with 1 teaspoon honey, )
  • A portion of raw seasonal fruit chopped
  • Spices to taste
  • Nuts, berries, freshly made juice, spices to taste

Method

Grind the linseeds to a fine powder in a dedicated electric coffee grinder and place in a bowl.  Add chopped fruit.  Mix the quark-linseed cream with any spices you fancy – cinnamon, fresh or dried ginger, vanilla extract are all good – add to bowl.  If you would like the cream to be softer simply stir in some skimmed milk or freshly-pressed juice and spoon over the fruit and ground linseed. Top with berries and nuts. JB particularly recommends Brazil nuts, which contain lots of selenium, and walnuts.  She also suggests pine nuts and unsweetened coconut which can be raw or shavings (but not sweetened).

Try making your muesli with these combinations added to your basic Budwig cream:

Autumn Fruits: Bronze linseed ground.  Chopped apple, and add

ground vanilla to the cream and ground cinnamon to the linseed, top with blackberries and hazelnuts.

Multicolour Fruits: Gold linseed ground. Chopped pineapple and mango. Add freshly grated ginger to taste, top with strawberries and blueberries, coconut shavings and Brazil nuts.

Citrus: Golden linseed ground, 1/2 a chopped grapefruit, 1/2 banana, satsuma sections, cinnamon, fresh ginger and raspberries Brazil nuts and sliced almonds.

Eton Mess Use strawberries, raspberries and sliced banana. Add vanilla extract to the FOCC, top with berries and chopped macadamia or walnuts nuts.

Trifle: Use chopped bananas and raspberries as the basic fruit, add a few drops of vanilla extract to the FOCC,  drizzle the ground linseed with a little Amontillado sherry sweetened with stevia to taste,  top with more raspberries, fresh red currants, if available, and chopped pistachios or very lightly toasted almonds nuts.

Chocolate but not really wicked: Fruit chopped banana , add two heaped dessertspoons of cocoa powder to the FOCC and a little stevia powder to taste, top with the raspberries and  lightly toasted almond flakes and chopped Brazils.

Tzatziki with quark/cottage cheese/Greek yoghurt, linseed oil, lemon cucumber and mint.

 

Budwig Quark-Linseed Oil “Muesli” Recipe

Budwig quark and linseed oil (FOCC) muesli with honey, ground linseed, fruit, berries and chopped nuts,
Budwig quark and linseed oil muesli with honey, ground linseed, fruit, berries and chopped nuts,

This is the cornerstone of the whole Budwig diet;it  is used for the breakfast and lunch. It is also called FO/CC, Flax Oil/Cottage Cheese and Budwig Flax Oil Cream. (Linseed is called flax in North America.)

The magic comes from the sulphur-rich milk proteins in the cheese making the omega-3 in the linseed oil more soluble.  Linseed Oil-Quark cream should be made with good-quality fresh ingredients and it will taste creamy, light and delicious. The basic FOCC “cream” is very versatile and can be used as a healthy alternative to cream, crème-fraiche or yoghurt for anyone who is health-conscious.

Budwig Muesli Recipe

Ingredients to make the FOCC Cream:

This makes a standard portion for a woman, men should have up to 25% more and children less

  • Quark and cold-pressed linseed (flax seed ) oil for Budwig diet muesli
    Quark and cold-pressed linseed (flax seed ) oil

    45-50g cold-pressed linseed oil (flax seed oil)

  •  100 g Quark (If you can’t find quark use low fat/fat-free cottage cheese or  unsweetened plain Greek yoghurt (this should be 10-12% protein.)
  •  2 tablespoons milk (optional to help mixing)
  • 1 teaspoon cold-extracted raw honey (optional)
Blending quark cottage cheese with flax oil on Budwig diet
Blend quark cottage cheese with flax oil very thoroughly

Place Linseed Oil and quark in a jug or tall container suitable for using a stick blender.   If you prefer a softer consistency add two or three tablespoons of skimmed milk.  Blend very thoroughly; is very important to continue blending until the oil completely disappears into the emulsion. If required sweeten by mixing in up to 1 tsp honey.

Muesli Ingredients

  • 25g ground linseed
  • 1 tsp Honey
  • Berries (forest fruits)
  • Nuts
  • Fruit chopped

Method

Assemble fruit and freshly ground linseed in a bowl.  Top with creamed linseed oil and cottage cheese, top with berries and chopped nuts. Eat immediately.

Variations

The Budwig diet calls for the Quark – Linseed Oil “cream” to be eaten with ground linseed and fruit as muesli for breakfast,  For lunch you can add it to the first course or pudding.    With imagination the possibilities are almost endless.

Budwig Muesli Smoothie

A modern variation is to incorporate the linseed oil/cottage cheese cream into a smoothie by adding it to blitzed fresh fruits and freshly pressed juice.

Budwig Muesli Smoothie Recipe

Banana, berries, FOCC (flax oil cottage cheese) smoothie  for Budwig diet
Banana, berries, FOCC (flax oil cottage cheese) smoothie for Budwig diet
  1. 100g Quark
  2. 50g Cold-pressed linseed oil
  3. A little milk
  4. 25g ground linseed
  5. 1 tsp Honey
  6. Fruit (any)
  7. Berries (any)
  8. Nuts

Method

Separately blend 1 and 2 thoroughly

Budwig FOCC smoothie
Budwig FOCC smoothie

Place all other ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth

Then add blended cottage cheese linseed (flaxseed) oil, pulse gently until incorporate with fruit etc.,  Don’t over-

blend,

 

Other ways for using Budwig creamed linseed oil and cottage cheese

Johanna Budwig’s own savoury recipes include  using the cream as mayonnaise, Indian-style Tzatziki, sauces, sandwich fillers or toast topping.  Use it just as you would any cream or soft cheese (within the rules of the diet). In savoury dishes try “cream” with good seedy mustard, curry powder or herbs.

For dessert you can use it like a mousse flavoured with chocolate or spices; it combines well with cinnamon, cocoa, vanilla, banana, orange and lemon or make the Budwig “cream” into easy ice creams.  There are recipes on the site for several delicious flavours of (Budwig-compatible) ice-cream.

N.B. Always blend the cold-pressed linseed oil and cottage cheese thoroughly before adding other ingredients.