Full Little Tummies

Tenina's Awesome Dinner Spinner

2011-12-20T16:25:00.000+11:00

Well the year has really slipped away from me and I have barely had time to cook, let alone develop any new recipes. As much as I am absolutely loving being back at work, I must admit that I am looking forward to having time in the holidays to cook and blog. My kitchen hasn't been totally quiet (or boring) however as we have recently been sampling the delights from Tenina's first publication (since finishing with Thermomix Oz). If you haven't got your hands on Tenina's Dinner Spinner then I suggest you log onto this site and order one straight away (a little Chrissie present for yourself).

The Cooking with Tenina Dinner Spinner contains 21 thermomix dinner recipes that are all triple tested (yes they actually work) and the ones that I have tried all taste fantastic. They recipes are perhaps slightly more gourmet than my usual weekly repertoire, but nothing too ridiculous. There is a selection of vegetarian, chicken, pork, fish and beef dishes. The recipes include five spice sweet and sour meatballs, speck and salad pizza, pesto chicken pinwheels and mac and cheese. Yum! I have yet to read a negative recipe review from this delightful spinner on forumthermomix and I honestly doubt I will. Well done Tenina!

This week promises to be really busy for me with finishing up at school and preparing for Christmas so I will say a big "Merry Christmas" to you all now. We are once again heading to the family beach house to have a relaxing and very fun Aussie Christmas. Fingers crossed that this lovely weather will continue on here in Tassie. I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas day wherever you are celebrating!!! xox

Filling Tummies with Tasty Scrolls

2011-11-03T13:05:00.001+11:00

Well my first weeks of working extra days (now 3 days per week) have gone off quite well. I am really enjoying getting back into teaching in a greater capacity and the boys are loving their new family day carer. Our boys were very unhappy at the large child care centre and I am so happy that we have now changed to family day care (and found two amazing and enthusiastic carers). The pace of our lives has definitely picked up but we are all enjoying the changes so far. I was a little concerned how I would keep up with the lunch box cooking (you know how I like to cook everything from scratch :-)) but big cook-ups late on Sunday afternoon have certainly taken the pressure off. With my trusty thermomix and a wonderful Hubby who washes up after me, my big cook-up is a breeze.

Cookies, slices, muffins, fruit buns, rolls and scrolls are featuring heavily on the lunch box menu at our house. I wrap and freeze the muffins, scrolls, buttered fruit buns and rolls so they are ready to pop straight our lunch boxes. When combined with easy snacks such as crackers and sliced cheese, fresh popcorn, nuts, dried fruit, yoghurt and fresh fruit, filling our lunch boxes is very easy. I do of course have two non-working days during the week but they are largely filled with swimming lessons, appointments, house work, planning and preparation for school and generally just hanging out with my boys.

One of my boys favourite lunches is scrolls. Do your family like scrolls for lunch? Our favourites include:

Custard and Almond Scrolls

Find Cookies yummy recipe here.

Ham and Cheese Scrolls

I make these using a batch of EDC pizza dough. After leaving the dough to rise for 30 minutes I then roll it out into a large rectangle and spread it with homemade tomato sauce (recipe in the My Way of Cooking TM book). I sprinkle it with chopped ham and grated cheese (and sometimes pineapple)and roll it up. I then the log into approximately 12 slices and place them on a tray (cut side up) and cook them for approximately 15 minutes at 180 degrees fan forced.

Cheesymite Scrolls

Follow the directions above but spread with vegemite and sprinkle with grated cheese before rolling up and slicing. Yum!

Shout the Horn!!!

2011-10-11T20:10:00.000+11:00

No new recipes sorry folks! Life is just crazy here at the moment. I am preparing to start a new teaching position next week (a dream job I just couldn't refuse) and have just got back from yet another trip to the mainland. No holiday this time though as I was part of an intervention team assisting a family in crisis. A huge undertaking (and totally exhausting) but so worthwhile!

This weekend we are definitely slowing the pace and trying to catch up on some sleep (and washing, cooking, cleaning etc :)). We are also taking some time out to support the fantastic Oxfam project on Sunday evening by eating out at a local restaurant. If you are greatly moved by the plight of the people living in the Horn of Africa in such horrendous conditions why not consider doing the same? Check out Oxfam's Shout the Horn campaign and find a local restaurant who will be donating a percentage of this Sunday's profits to the East African appeal. It is a great excuse for eating out and a wonderful cause!!!

Precious Children - Ethiopia 2007

Hunter Gatherer - The Humble Cabbage

2011-09-20T10:17:00.001+10:00

After a wonderful week in Queensland we returned on Saturday night to a fridge and cupboard that were both completely empty of fruit and veg. I had deliberately used up everything before we left and planned a big shop on our return. On Sunday morning I headed off to our fruit and veg shop and using my list filled a trolley of fresh produce and some dairy. When I was putting it all on the counter the new shop assistant smiled and asked me if I worked in a restaurant. She was amazed when I explained that this was just the weekly fruit and veggie shop for my relatively small family.

Her comment reminded me of how much our thermomix had changed our lives. Before purchasing our thermie our vegie list was rather short but my list on Sunday included leeks, cabbage, turnips, onions, garlic, zucchini, broccoli, carrots, capsicums, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut pumpkin, potatoes and that was just the vegies. My thermie has of course been busy since our return and over half of the vegies have already been used up. I have made soup, stew, vegie stock and vegie slice (well thermie made them really :)).

There is one vegie that really stands out from my list though in terms of it's nutritional content and that is the humble old cabbage. Cabbages are packed with nutrients and really should be listed as a super food. I find it somewhat amusing that the youthful appearance of the Chinese population is so often attributed to eating rice when all nutritional evidence suggests that cabbage is the primary health-giving staple of their diet. I guess we all believe what we want to believe and most people would probably prefer to eat rice rather than cabbage when chasing the promise of a youthful appearance!

Chow Mein with Cabbage

I buy a cabbage every second week in my shop and challenge myself to use it all up. Even though it isn't one of our favourite vegies I know that it is really good for us. Cabbage is the home of many powerful anti-oxidants that are known to help protect against breast, colon and prostate cancer. It is also an excellent source of vitamin C, B1, B5, B6 which assist the body to develop resistance to infections and are essential for ongoing good health. Our bodies absorb these vitamins much more effectively from natural whole foods rather than rock derived supplements. Cabbage contains minerals such as potassium, manganese, iron and magnesium. Who needs Nutragrain when you have cabbage - seriously! For kids eating cabbage is a must as it is one of the major sources of vitamin-K which has now been proven to play a critical role in developing and maintaining healthy bones. Cabbage has such an amazing nutritional profile that it can really only be compared to brussel sprouts (I stick with cabbage though :)).

If you aren't eating cabbage in your diet regularly, I challenge you to take the cabbage challenge. Buy it regularly and use it up. Plans meals for your family using cabbage regularly. Some of our favourite thermomix cabbage recipes are my Chow Mein, the winter soup from My Way of Cooking and coleslaw from the Everyday cookbook. We often just have it as a simple side too (fried with a little butter, diced capsicum and bacon). Yum!

Winter Soup with Cabbage

A few more ramblings . .

2011-09-05T17:47:00.002+10:00

I hope everyone enjoyed Fathers Day yesterday. We spent most of the day in the garden. It was quite sunny in the afternoon and lovely to get outside in the fresh air. We cleared out the last of our winter veggie garden (except for our kale and garlic) and prepared the soil for some spring planting. Last year our main garden was plagued with awful Harlequin beetles and growing vegetables organically (other than onion crops) was an absolute nightmare. Even my poor rhubarb plants were decimated. This year I am hoping that we can control them a little better and we have already removed their summer home - an old banana passionfruit vine that was growing over our boundary fence. Fingers crossed we can keep them at bay.

Last night I decided to cook Hubby a Fathers Day treat and made my very yummy Creamy Garlic Prawn Risotto. I am rather proud of that conversion as it has already become a popular recipe on the fabulous forumthermomix. Hubby enjoyed his risotto enormously and I must admit I enjoyed my serve also (although it was a teeny serve). Yes I am back in weight loss mode again. You may remember my previous weight loss adventures (using my thermomix) that I blogged about at the start of the year.

Creamy Garlic Prawn Risotto

This time I am rather proud to report that I have less than 2kg to lose. When I lost over 7kg in January I promised myself that I wouldn't put that much weight on again. I am pretty chuffed that I have stuck to my resolution and at the end of last month when my jeans felt a little tight I decided that it was time to put a stop to those warming winter puddings (I secretly place the blame for my weight gain on Trudy's heavenly peaches and cream dessert). Of course it would be better if I hadn't put on the weight again in the first place but well . . . I do have a shocking sweet tooth!!!

I am losing the weight again by cutting back on baking (sigh!!!), serving myself small meals with garden salads and exercising. I have actually almost lost the weight again but am now hoping to lose a wee bit more. We are heading to QLD next week for some sunshine and I am a little concerned about getting into bathers in public. Yikes!!! I think the poor Queenslanders will be blinded by my Tassie tan! I wonder if there is such a thing as an organic spray tan. :-) We are so excited about getting to our resort in Queensland as our big boy has just learnt to swim. He is so very cute!

Our Little Swimming Champ

Like last time I lost weight I am also focusing on filling my life with happy little projects (other than my favourite past-time - baking). Last weekend we ventured across to the mainland (on the boat) to visit with family and attend my father-in-laws 70th birthday celebrations. It was very fun for the boys going on the boat (not so fun for their parents!) and they haven't stopped chatting about it and building lego boats since our return. It was great to take the car and although I didn't take the thermie with me, I did pack an esky full of homemade goodies. I packed biscuits, slices, fruit bread, seeded rolls and even some frozen containers of soup and chow-mein (which were still frozen rock solid and ready to thaw after a night on the boat). I didn't think the boys would behave well at the family gatherings if we made big changes in their diets (processed food) beforehand. It was nice to eat out a couple of times but also nice to have some ready made home-style meals at our unit. Next time I might try to squeeze thermie in though.

Tang Zhong Rolls

My main project for these holidays (aside from catching up with friends) will be creating a thermomix cookbook for a friend who is about to make the big purchase. I was so excited when my friend Ange told me she is planning to purchase a thermie-baby! Ange and I both share a love of all things wholesome and I can't wait to share this amazing journey with her. I am excited about selecting the recipes for her "Full Little Tummies and Forum Buddies Cookbook".

Anyway I must dash as the sun has come out and the boys are ready for some outside action. Enjoy the school holidays Tassie friends!!!

Filling Tummies with Homemade Goodies!

2011-08-23T17:29:00.000+10:00

Last week a friend and I went along to listen to Cyndi O'Meara speak in Devonport. Even though I had already heard Cyndi speak before it was really enlightening to go and listen to her again. As much as I love my thermomix it was nice to just listen to Cyndi speak without the accompanying thermomix demo. Listening to Cyndi I felt really proud of how far our family has come on our healthy and whole food journey and I felt inspired to continue further down the path. I felt so emotional when Cyndi revealed her tragic family circumstances which have impacted on her life and made her so passionate about helping others lead wholesome and chemical free lives. You can listen to her interview with Richard Fidler about her family here online here.

The evening reminded me once again why I need to make most of our food from scratch. I had honestly forgotten quite how frightening many of the prepared foods out there really are and how little protection our food authorities provide us here in Australia. I must admit that I am a little sheltered from it all now though. I do my very selective grocery shopping online through Biodistributors and Coles Online and my orders are delivered to our home each month. No need to tackle the stupidmarkets :). My only regular food shopping trips are to our organic farm shop and our local fruit and vegie store. Yesterday I got a rather rude little shock however when our Coles online order was delivered.

Nestled amongst the red lentils and canned tomatoes was a little Kellogg's LCM 4D choc bar. A free sample. As quick as a flash I whipped it out of the crate (before it was spotted by my boys) and put it away for later inspection. Later when the boys were busy playing I snuck it out to have a peak at the ingredients. While some people would no doubt be caught up reading the protein, fat and calories on the packet, I now just read the ingredients. Had I not been to see Cyndi last week I may have been shocked, but I knew what to expect. Check out the ingredients of the Kellogg's LCM in comparison to my homemade LCM's.

Kelloggs LCM's 4D Choc

Ingredients: Rice Bubbles (32%) (whole white rice, sugar, salt, barley malt extract, vitamins [vitamin C, niacin, riboflavin, thiamin, folate], minerals [iron, zinc oxide]), glucose syrup, fructose, dark chocolate chips (8%) (sugar, cocoa mass, milk solids, cocoa butter, emulsifiers (322, 492), flavours), milk chocolate compound (8%) (sugar, vegetable oil, milk solids, cocoa powder, emulsifiers (322, 492), flavours), invert sugar, hydrogenated soyabean oil (antioxidants (320, 306, 304), sugar, glucose solids, cocoa powder (1.5%), skim milk powder, humectant (glyercol), gelatin, (beef), flavours, emulsifiers (soy lethicin, 472e), salt.

My Homemade LCM's - Fruity Puff Bars

Puffed brown rice, butter, rapadura, organic honey, homemade vanilla extract,organic shredded coconut, dried sultanas and craisins.

You have to ask when this craziness is going to stop. Food should be made in a kitchen using real ingredients and not in a laboratory using rubbish!!!

Filling Tummies with Chow-Mein

2011-08-22T20:44:00.000+10:00

I loved my Mum's chow mein when I was growing up and I still love it today! Such an easy, cheap and nutritious meal. This winter I set about converting Mum's recipe for the thermomix and found that it wasn't quite as straight forward as I was expecting. It took me four attempts to convert Mum's chow mein recipe and get it to the stage where it was "just like Mum's". I found a suitable replacement for the packet of chicken noodle soup (we don't do packets :-)) and I eventually found a way to cook the cabbage so that it didn't mush up in the bowl. This is a complete meal and I serve this with just a buttered roll or bread on the side. This recipe utilises the bowl and varoma and makes enough to feed a large family.

Chow Mein

Note: I used red capsicum instead of celery in this batch.

Ingredients:

1 60g cake vermicelli noodles
1 stick celery, roughly chopped
1 large carrot, roughly chopped
1 onion, quartered
1 cup green beans
40g organic olive oil
500g mince
80g rice
1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
1-2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp vinegar
1 rounded tbsp homemade chicken stock paste (2 tbsp of commercial powder)
650g boiling water
2-3 cups shredded cabbage

Method:

Add noodles to bowl and chop on speed 7 for 10 seconds. Set aside.

Add celery, carrot, onion and beans to bowl and chop for 3 seconds on speed 5.

Add oil and saute for 3 minutes, 100 degrees, reverse speed 1.

Add mince and saute for 5 minutes, 100 degrees, reverse speed 1.

Add remaining ingredients to bowl. Add cabbage to varoma dish and fit on thermomix lid. Cook for 15 minutes, varoma, reverse speed 2-3 (keep it moving so that it doesn't catch on the bottom at the high temp).

To serve I spooned the cabbage into bowls, added the meat mixture and mixed them together a little with a fork. You could tip them both into a large bowl and mix it through that way though.

Enjoy!

Filling Tummies with Creamy Garlic Prawn Risotto

2011-08-20T19:24:00.001+10:00

Hubby and I decided early in the week that we would take the boys out for a nice meal tonight. As the week progressed however we struggled to think of a family friendly place that we could go and enjoy a nice meal together. As much as we love our bouncing bundles of joy, they aren't exactly the easiest little people to take out to a dining establishment that doesn't include an indoor playground! By Thursday night Hubby suggested that we instead buy some nice seafood and cook ourselves a special meal at home. Having a thermomix (and a dishwasher) really does make it easy to cook a nice, restaurant quality meal at home. So that's just what we did!

This morning Hubby set off with our eldest son in search of some nice seafood and returned with a bag of lovely prawns. Hubby suggested a garlic prawn risotto and I immediately set to work to find a recipe to convert. I certainly wasn't disappointed with our converted version of this recipe. It was absolutely heavenly and would make the perfect dinner party entree or main. I think this may be my best conversion yet!

Creamy Garlic Prawn Risotto

Ingredients:

1/2 cup parsley
50g Parmesan
3 spring onions quartered (green and white parts)
2 cloves garlic (decent size cloves)
40g butter
350g aborio rice
50g white wine
900g chicken stock (I used 900g water + 3 tsp homemade chicken stock paste from MWOC)
400g prawns (medium green prawns, shelled and cleaned)
60g sour cream (optional but yummy)
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper - generous

Method:

Add parsley and chop for 5 seconds on speed 6. Set aside.

Add Parmesan and grate for 5 seconds on speed 8. Set aside with parsley.

Add garlic and spring onions and chop for 5 seconds on speed 5.

Scrape down sides, add butter and saute for 2 minutes, 100 degrees, reverse speed 1.

Insert butterfly. Add rice and wine and saute for 2 minutes, 100 degrees, reverse speed 1.

Add stock and cook for 14 minutes, 100 degrees, reverse speed 1.

Add prawns and cook for 1 minute and 30 seconds, 100 degrees, reverse speed 1.

Add sour cream (in small blobs), lemon juice, Parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper and mix on reverse speed 2-3 for 5 seconds.

Place in thermoserve and let stand for approx 10 minutes.

Enjoy!!!

Notes:

Don't be tempted to add the prawns earlier. They continue to cook in the residual heat of the thermoserve and don't need any longer cooking in the actual thermomix. They are easily overcooked in the thermomix.

MYOC is the "My Way of Cooking" thermomix cookbook. The chicken stock paste from it is really lovely and very easy to make.

Filling Tummies with Cheesy Tuna Strudels

2011-08-17T19:12:00.000+10:00

Recently I was on a hunt for tuna recipes on forum thermomix (and more specifically tuna recipes that don't taste like tuna :-)) and I came across a recipe that I had converted and then completely forgotten about. Fancy forgetting one of my own recipes! It has recently received some great reviews on the forum so I decided to try it again. I made it tonight but with some rather big substitutions. I did have the carrot but replaced the capsicum, celery and shallots with onion and broccoli. The verdict tonight was unanimous. Yum! Even if you aren't a big fan of tuna I would recommend giving this one a go. It is tasty, easy and very economical.

Cheesy Tuna Strudels

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

3 sheets frozen butter puff pastry
1 egg
150g tasty cheese
handful fresh parsley
4 shallots roughly chopped
1 medium carrot roughly chopped
1 stick celery roughly chopped
1/2 red capsicum roughly chopped
425g can tuna in spring water, drained
150g cream cheese cubed (or in half tsp size blobs)
3/4 tsp curry powder
salt and pepper to taste (I use lots of cracked pepper)
1 tsp poppy seeds (optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 180o and line trays with baking paper (enough trays to fit 3 half sheets of pastry on them).

Lay pastry sheets out on bench to thaw.

Separate the egg, placing the egg white in one cup and the yolk in another cup (beat the yolk lightly).

Place the cheese in the TMX bowl and grate for 3 seconds on speed 8. Set aside.

Without rinsing the bowl add the parsley, shallots, carrot, celery and capsicum and chop for 3-5 seconds on speed 5 (until it is a finely grated texture).

Add half of the grated cheese into the TMX bowl with the vegies. Also add the curry powder, salt and pepper, cream cheese and tuna (flaking it slightly as you put it in). Mix until well combined on reverse speed 3 for 7 seconds.

Cut each pastry sheet in half, length ways. Spread the tuna mixture (in mounds) over 3 of the pastry pieces leaving a 2cm border around the edge. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the tuna mixture.

Brush the edges of pastry around the tuna filling with egg white.

Cut 7cm-diagonal slits (about 3 cm apart) down the remaining 3 pieces of pastry to form the strudel tops. Carefully place these on top of the tuna mixture (the bottoms) and seal by pressing the edges together.

Transfer the strudels to the prepared trays and brush the tops with egg yolk. Sprinkle with poppy seeds if desired.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until pastry is puffed and golden.

Cut into slices and serve.

Notes:

This recipe is based on a Better Homes and Gardens booklet recipe.

The mix is really yummy and some clever forum cookies have even been using it for a dip.

I forgot to do diagonal slits as you can see in the photos.

Filling Tummies With Chicken Stock

2011-08-16T13:50:00.000+10:00

As I posted previously June was a pretty horrid month in our house with the kids and I battling head colds, gastro and ear, throat and chest infections. Throughout the month my poor Hubby was a regular shopper at our local pharmacy stocking up on tonics and tablets. We tried all sorts of medicines and supplements to boost our immune system but nothing helped. One Saturday morning toward the end of the month (when I was at my wits end) I asked Hubby if he could go into town again for me. He no doubt expected to be heading back to the pharmacy so you can imagine the look on his face when I asked him to go to the butcher and buy a big bag of chicken necks and wings!!!

That morning I knew what we should have done weeks ago to boost our immunity. We needed to make chicken soup. Not the chicken soup that comes from a packet or a tin. Not even homemade soup made with chicken fillets, stock powder and noodles (although that is very yummy). We needed to make real chicken soup from real chicken stock. We needed the goodness of real stock that has been left to simmer all day and is filled with the rich minerals from the bone, cartilage and marrow. That night we ate our chicken soup made from real stock and the flavour was so incredibly intense and so incredibly divine. I could taste the goodness and could feel it doing me good. Nourishing Traditions quote the South American proverb which states that "good broth resurrects the dead". Whilst I wouldn't quite go that far, I know that our chicken soup healed our family far more than anything sold in the pharmacy had done.

Here is our recipe for chicken stock (adapted from Nourishing Traditions). You will note that it is a stove top recipe. Little thermie had a rest that day (until we used it to make the stock into this soup for tea).

Highly Nutritious Chicken Stock

Add the following to a large stock pot:

1kg bony chicken pieces (necks, wings etc)
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 large onion, chopped roughly
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped roughly
3 celery sticks, chopped roughly
1.5-2L water

Let this sit unheated for 30 minutes before bringing to the boil. Remove scum. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 6-8 hours. Add a bunch of parsley 10 minutes before finishing the stock. Strain the stock carefully and refrigerate. Remove the fat from the top as it congeals. Freeze in small portions if desired.

I would love to be able to say that I make this type of chicken stock all the time for my cooking, but sadly I don't have time. This is a special stock that we have when we need a boost and for my general cooking I make the chicken stock paste from My Way of Cooking (Thermomix cookbook). It is a flavoursome paste that keeps well and the recipe for it can be found in this thread of forum thermomix).

Filling Tummies with Wintry Soup

2011-08-14T14:03:00.001+10:00

As I child I wasn't overly fond of soup, despite my Mum making many delicious varieties. My taste buds changed entering adulthood however and I am now very partial to a warming bowl of soup on a cold winters day. Of course having my thermomix helps as preparing soups is now ridiculously easy. I make a jug of soup several times a week during winter and we often have it for lunch with fresh bread rolls or toasted sandwiches. It is a great way to use up vegies in the fridge and get the boys eating nutrient-packed vegies such as cabbage and broccoli. Some of our favourite soups this winter have included:

My Curried Pumpkin and Lentil Soup (I often make this with sweet potato)

Winter Soup (My Way of Cooking - Thermomix Cookbook)

Judy's Thick Broccoli and Cheese Soup

Sullygirl's Cauliflower and Bacon Soup (see tweaks in thread under recipe)

Filling Tummies with Sausage and Lentil Hotpot with Mash

2011-07-29T20:22:00.002+10:00

My apologies for being absent from my blog lately. My Hubby broke some bones in his foot at work last week and is out of action at the moment. I am flying solo on the home front and finding it hard to grab a moment for my blog. How on earth single mothers cope I have no idea.

Anyhow this recipe has been one of our family favourites this winter. I converted it from this recipe on taste.com.

Sausage and Lentil Hotpot with Mash

Ingredients

8 thin beef sausages (lean)
1 steamer basket full of diced potatoes (2cm dice)
20g butter
50g cream or milk
50g water
1/2 tsp chicken stock
1 large brown onion, peeled and quartered
2 garlic cloves, peeled
4 rashers bacon, rind removed, chopped into strips
1 can diced organic tomatoes
40g water
1 tsp chicken stock
2 dried bay leaves
1 can organic brown lentils, rinsed
1/2 cup Italian parsley chopped
salt and pepper

Method:

Place sausages in deep varoma dish. Place 4 sausages across the bottom and the other 4 on top of them but laying in the opposite direction.

Place 500g of water in the TMX bowl and insert the steamer basket (full of potatoes) into the bowl. Fit the varoma on to the lid. Steam for 22 minutes at varoma temp, speed 4.

After the cooking time check that the sausages are cooked and the potatoes are falling apart easily (cook for longer if necessary). Remove the varoma and basket. Empty the TMX bowl and insert the butterfly. Add the potatoes, butter, cream, water and stock and mash at speed 4 for 10-20 seconds. Scrape the mash into thermoserve and clean the bowl.

Add garlic and onion to bowl and chop for 3 seconds on speed 5. Add bacon and oil and saute for 3 minutes, 100 degrees, reverse speed 1.

Add the tomatoes, water, stock and bay leaves to bowl and cook for 10 minutes at 100 degrees, reverse speed 1.While this is cooking chop each sausage into 6-8 pieces.

Add the chopped sausages and drained lentils and cook for a further 5 minutes at 100 degrees, reverse speed 1. In the last minute of cooking add the parsley and season generously with salt and pepper.

Remove bay leaves and serve the sausage and lentil hotpot with the mash. Enjoy!

Filling Tummies with Sultana and Cornflake Cookies

2011-07-14T15:17:00.000+10:00

This is the second recipe in my lunchbox ideas week. Check out my first recipe here.

I converted this cookie recipe from Taste.com to use up some cornflakes that I had bought for birthday party cooking. There are other thermomix cornflake cookie recipes about but I decided to convert one for myself using rapadura, spelt flour and homemade baking powder. These are currently our family's favourite cookies and our visitors this week have been loving them too.

Sultana and Cornflake Cookies

Ingredients:
125g butter, chopped and at room temperature
150g rapadura
1 tsp homemade vanilla extract
180g spelt flour
1 rounded tsp aluminium free baking powder
20g non-homogenised milk
80g organic sultanas
40g cornflakes

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line two trays with baking paper.

Add butter, sugar and vanilla to TMX bowl and cream for 40 seconds on speed 3-4.

Add flour and baking powder and mix until just combined on speed 3 (about 10 seconds). Add milk and mix for a further 6 seconds on speed 3.

Add sultanas and mix on reverse speed 3 for 5 seconds.

Add cornflakes and mix for 10 seconds on reverse speed 2 (or you can stir them in with the spatula if you want them completely intact).

Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls and place on tray. Flatten slightly.

Bake for 12 minutes. Cool on tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Filling tummies with Fruity Puff Bars

2011-07-11T21:29:00.001+10:00

My weekly baking routine now includes a "lunch box element" and I thought I would dedicate this week to sharing some of our favourite lunch box snacks with you. This first recipe is my adaptation of the LTM's (little thermomix munchies) from the Thermomix Lunchbox Booklet. Whilst my kids love the original version from the booklet, there is no way I would ever send them to school with the amount of sugar and sweetener that is in them. I was stunned to read earlier today that Mum's were even adding marshmallows into that mix. Surely those bars were not destined for school. Surely! All I can say is be kind to us poor teachers and to the poor kids trying to learn while they are "buzzing".

A big bonus of this relatively healthy wholegrain recipe is that it makes oodles. Today I wrapped up 16 decent sized bars from 1 batch. Imagine the cost of buying 16 organic LCM bars from a store. Yikes! It is pretty easy to see how the thermomix can save families lots of money each year just in muesli bars. Anyway here is my version of this recipe:

Fruity Puff Bars

Ingredients:

110g butter
90g rapadura
70g organic honey
1 tsp homemade vanilla extract
90g puffed brown rice
40g organic shredded coconut
70g dried sultanas, craisins or chopped dried apricots

Method:

Place butter, rapadura and honey into TMX bowl and heat at 100 degrees, for 6 minutes on speed 3. Add the vanilla extract in the last minute.

Add the remaining ingredients and mix for 20 seconds on reverse speed 3.

Scrape mixture into a baking tin lined with baking paper. Spread out and press down very firmly with hands (don't squash the rice but be firm).

Refrigerate and slice into bars when firm.

The original recipe says that these bars freeze fine. I have some bars in the freezer now and will report back how they go later in the week.

Cooking Up A Storm With Thermie!

2011-07-05T20:28:00.000+10:00

I am so glad that last month is now behind us. June was a difficult time in our family with our little man sick for most of the month. The poor possum got really run down and suffered from gastro, two ear infections and a shocking head cold. That of course resulted in little sleep for Mum (you need your Mum when you are sick) and in the end I was so exhausted that I got sick myself. After my two bouts of gastro, a chest infection and a throat infection I was just praying for the month to end and for some better health in July!!!

As you can imagine I haven't been doing a great deal of inspirational recipe creating or converting lately and instead have been trying out the recipes of the talented members of forum thermomix. These are some of our favourites that we have sampled recently:

Megan's Tang Zhong Bread (The best bread I have ever made):

Cookie's Oat Rockies

Robyn's Date and Butterscotch Self Saucing Pudding

Judy's Honey Beef and Beans (sorry forgot to take a photo - too hungry :-))

Bargain Ceramic Knives

2011-06-29T22:14:00.002+10:00

I try to "shop local" wherever I can. I believe in supporting my local economy and local jobs. There are times however when I do dabble in a little frugal online shopping to help the family finances along. A good example of this is when I decided to stop paying $16 for budget drumsticks from our local music shop (our eldest son is a mad keen drummer) and instead began buying two sets of the exact same drumsticks for less than $4 from a Hong Kong Ebay seller - and that includes postage. Sometimes (sadly) it just makes sense to buy online!

Recently I made a wonderful online purchase that I wanted to share with you all. Occasionally I buy things from the online department store dealsdirect.com and I have always been thrilled with my purchases. So last month when I spotted these ceramic knife sets (and read the good customer reviews) I decided to buy myself a set. I have wanted a quality ceramic knife for a long time, but couldn't afford the hefty price tag in my local kitchen stores. I was a little dubious as the sets are very cheap, but I am really thrilled with my knives and even bought my Mum a set for her birthday recently! Although they look like plastic toy knives, they slice and dice fantastically well and are very easy to care for. I certainly won't be going back to steel blades!

I printed this page from ehow to include in my Mum's present so she knew about ceramic knives and how to care for them.

I really recommend these bargain knives! They make a great present or a handy addition to your own kitchen. :-)

Filling Tummies with Mandi's Brilliant Boston Bun

2011-06-19T17:47:00.000+10:00

Today was such a wet and windy day that I decided we needed something a little special to cheer us up for afternoon tea. With my parents coming for a visit it was the perfect opportunity to try out a new forum thermomix recipe. I am trying so hard not to put the weight back on that I lost recently and now rarely cook cakes or sweet treats unless we have visitors coming to help us eat them. Anyway I flicked through my file of recipes that I have printed off ready to try and thought that Mandi's Boston Bun Recipe looked rather tasty and VERY easy! I must admit that I was a little concerned about the mashed potato element but decided to be brave and give it a try (and I knew my Nan had cake recipes using mash so I figured it must be alright :-)).

Wow! I was so impressed. My family loved it too and we very nearly gobbled the whole thing up! The yeasted "Boston Buns" (basically iced fruit bread) that are sold in supermarkets and bakeries cannot be compared in any way to this divine Boston Bun. This bun is slightly moist and best served warm so make your icing quite thick so that it won't run off the warm bun. My only modification of Mandi's recipe was that it needed about an hour of cooking time to cook completely through. Thank you Mandi for posting this great recipe!

Once again I forgot to take a photo before we started eating. Here is my rather sad photo of the remains:

Chocolate Chestnut Cheesecake Review

2011-06-15T21:40:00.000+10:00

As I was looking through the 2011 Thermomix Calendar yesterday I spotted the beautiful Chocolate Chestnut Cheesecake recipe and remembered that I hadn't posted my review and photo here on my blog. As it is the single most nicest thing I have ever made in the thermomix I just had to rectify the situation. Here is my forum thermomix review and photo of this delicious cake that I made for my Mum on Mothers Day (and yes the cake is half eaten - I was a bit late taking the photo):

Chocolate Chestnut Cheesecake - 2011 Thermomix Calendar

My Review:

This was a big 10/10 for me! It was extremely rich (tiny servings needed), but just delicious. There were a few steps involved but nothing too complicated. I would really recommend this for a special occasion cake! Tenina has really outdone herself here.

My Tweaks:

I used macadamia's instead of chestnuts (both in the paste and toffee decorations) and they were wonderful.

I steamed the cheesecake for 20 minutes longer than stated in the recipe as the middle needed longer to set.

Next time I would tilt the varoma lid every 10-15 minutes to drain off some of the condensation (tipping it so the water drains down the outside of the cake tin and back into the bowl). The cake was constantly splashed with big drops in the later stages of cooking and may have cooked in the time specified if I had of done this.

Outer Calm Brings Inner Peace!!!

2011-06-08T13:16:00.000+10:00

As you may have read in my recent post I am a big fan of Peter Walsh's book "It's All Too Much". I have found the process of decluttering our home so cleansing and I am loving our new, uncluttered way of life! We certainly aren't hoarders and didn't have a lot of junk compared to many people, but I was amazed at how much stuff we had that we really didn't need or want. Having extra stuff around you really does affect the way that you feel and clutters your head space. As Peter says "it's not about the stuff"! It is about how that stuff makes you feel and you may not even know that it is affecting you.

Our home and sheds are now well and truly decluttered and the 3 ute loads to the rubbish tip, 2 loads to the charity shop and 1 load to my Uncle's house are a fantastic testament to that. My Hubby thinks I am ridiculous but I really do love going to the rubbish tip. Throwing our rubbish into the big pit is so freeing! I also love the space that clearing our junk has left. I have been able to organise the items remaining in a much more efficient way which I have enjoyed. I actually like opening my cake tin cupboard now as it only contains my neatly stacked everyday tins. My collection of special occasion tins are now stacked on the designated kitchen shelf in my now rather empty laundry cupboards.

Now that we are officially decluttered I am "on guard" and have the task of ensuring that our house and lives remain uncluttered. I do this by spending several minutes each night clearing my hot spot basket and I also do it by being on guard throughout each day. I just won't let clutter into our home. Here are some of the ways I guard against clutter (and protect my cleared head space :-)):

* I visit the outside recycling bin after collecting the mail each day. I only bring genuine, important mail into the house (minus extra paper, junk mail and envelopes). I deal with the mail straight away or place it in my hot spot basket (pictured below) to be dealt with in the evening when I have more time. I also keep school notes, my menu plan and my list of jobs to do in this basket.

* I do a load of washing each day and on the days when we are home in the mornings I clear the basket of hand washing too. Flylady says a load a day keeps the chaos away and she is certainly right. It is a great habit for me to get into as when I am working more next year my weekends won't be taken up with washing. My hubby built a brilliant undercover clothes line on the veranda of our little guest cottage (see below) and I hang the washing up there on rainy days. I really love the undercover line as I don't like using my dryer too much and also don't like having washing hanging around inside on airers. I fold the washing and put it away in the late afternoon while the thermomix cooks our tea.

* My car is emptied completely now every time I go anywhere. I have a little rubbish bag in it which I empty weekly. I give the car a quick 5 minute clean once a week (and it is only 5 minutes). I shake the mats, wipe the dash with a damp cloth and run around the car with the dust buster. I love having a clean, uncluttered car.

* When I bring shopping into the house I deal with it straight away. Yesterday we came home from a shopping trip with two birthday presents. I filed the receipts and wrapped the presents straight away. I placed them into my "temporary visa tub" ready to be taken to birthday parties over the weekend. I don't need to think about them again as they are ready to go. They are not sitting around on the bench for a couple of days cluttering my head space. My temporary visa tub is my place for storing things that don't need a permanent home like library books, items that need returning to people and birthday presents.

* When I am out clothes shopping I choose new items carefully. I remember the stack of bobbly acrylic jumpers that I recently threw away and don't want to buy any more "disposable clothes" that look terrible after only a couple of washes. I am now saving for a beautiful hand knitted wool jumper that I spotted at a handicraft market recently.

* I now menu plan each week (amazing for me I know) and make sure that I am using up all fresh produce before buying more. I am also making a conscious effort to use up older and specialty items in my pantry and freezer. Having a clean, uncluttered pantry and freezer sure does make life easier.

* I continue to use my thermomix for almost all of my cooking which keeps my kitchen very uncluttered. I rarely use any other benchtop appliances aside from the toaster and kettle. I am still amazed at my little machines ability to cook complete meals with so little washing up. Often I only have a knife and chopping board to place in the dishwasher alongside the thermomix. Below is a photo of my kitchen just before dinner time. As you can see it is utter chaos :-). The thermomix is cooking a meat dish in the bowl and steaming some vegetables in the varoma on top. Some steamed rice is keeping warm in the insulated thermoserve container.

I'm sure many of you will think I have seriously lost the plot with all of my decluttering but all I can say is try it! Even with just ten minutes decluttering each day you will be surprised with how much lighter you will start to feel. Your family will notice and feel blessed with the changes that you have made in your home also. xox

Filling Tummies with Scrummy Lemon Melt Cookies

2011-06-03T22:43:00.001+10:00

I am so thankful that this week is almost over. It is one I would certainly like to forget. I spent two sleepless nights comforting my sad little son who had infections in both ears (and suffered a scary allergic reaction to his anti-biotics) and also spent two late evenings at school dancing with my class in a performance. Not a good combination! You should never try to lead a group of young children dancing when you haven't slept at all for two nights (especially when there are 300+ people watching :-)). Anyhoot, enough about my hideous week and on to something that makes us all feel better (even extremely sleep deprived Mums) - Cookies!!!

I have a new favourite biscuit recipe Scrummy Lemon Melt Cookies - . They are so very moreish that it is extremely difficult to stop at one. You must try this recipe as they are a real treat!!! I followed the recipe quantities, but changed the method a little as suggested by Meagan in the thread comments. I made the caster sugar and set 20g aside in a bowl. I then blitzed the peel in with the flour and remaining sugar. I mixed all the ingredients on speed 5 and didn't bother with the interval setting. Yummy!

Getting Organised with Flylady and Peter Walsh

2011-05-25T22:13:00.000+10:00

Over the past couple of weeks our house has become organisation central. I have joined flylady, have read Peter Walsh's book "It's All Too Much" and have taken action!!! I have been busy establishing new morning and evening routines and have decluttered every nook and cranny of our house and sheds. I know my friends who are reading this will probably ask what on earth I have found to declutter (I am renowned for being an organiser and minimalist), but let me tell you I have found plenty of clutter. I am loving our new clutter-free lifestyle and am truly understanding why Peter Walsh says "A home is the beginning of every day. Changing it changes your life". It is so cleansing to free yourself of clutter and to be reminded of what you really value in your life.

I really like flylady.com as the daily emails keep me on track. If you join be sure to click daily digest as she sends lot's of emails through. I don't shine my sink (it was sending the perfectionist in me a little crazy) and I don't follow the zone cleaning as I do a full and thorough clean each week anyway. I do follow the flylady daily routines though and have found them extremely helpful at reducing the stress in our days. Some of the best routines I have implemented into our daily lives include:

* Laying out our clothes, accessories, shoes, school bags etc in the evening for the following day. Even if we are having a home day, this still gets us off on the right foot.

* Placing a load of washing into the machine every evening, ready to start first thing in the morning. That way I can get it out on the clothesline before we head out each morning.

* Decluttering a hot spot each evening for several minutes before bed (a hot spot is an area of your home where clutter gathers). My hotspot is a little pile of papers that sit on our kitchen bench (bills, school notes etc).

* Getting completely dressed (including hair and make-up) first thing in the morning after my shower. Flylady says you have to put your shoes on first thing too, but I just can't do shoes inside.

* Decluttering one area for 15 minutes per day. This has made a huge difference to our lives!!! Initially I started with really obvious places like the top of the fridge and inside the computer cupboard, but I then moved on to other less obvious areas. My make-up bag has been cleaned out and now only contains my favourites. My digital photos are saved into files, backed-up on my external hard drive and my camera card is now empty. My pantry is clean, organised and only contains food that is in date and that I will actually use. My email inbox is empty as important emails have been saved in labelled files and junk emails have been discarded. My sewing and knitting boxes have been cleaned and excess fabric and wool has been sent to charity shops. My wardrobe now only contains clothes that I really like, that fit me well and that are ironed ready to wear. My car is now spotless and is completely unloaded every time we go anywhere. You get the drift.

I also really loved reading "It's All Too Much" and am so envious of Peter Walsh. He is living my dream. I do love teaching but if I could do any job in the world I would definitely want to be a professional organiser. Peter Walsh goes beyond just organising though and says you just have to get rid of your excess stuff (not simply organise your rubbish in a nifty storage system). He really goes beyond the flylady when it comes to decluttering and provides excellent strategies for getting rid of clutter (even sentimental clutter which is so hard to part with). Here are some of my favourite strategies:

"When it comes to handbags, I'm going to give you a choice. If you don't use your handbags, you must pare down the collection to fit the space. And if you have room for a prized handbag collection, you must justify it by emptying your purse every night - the way men empty their back pockets - to keep your purse contents spare and easily transferable".

"There's no such thing as artist block in preschool or kindergarten, or even primary school for that matter. Say your child paints at least one masterpiece a day. At three hundred works in a year, your child is more prolific than Picasso.....The answer is to make it a ceremony, not a purge. File flat art in a portfolio. At the end of each term, tell your child it's time to pick the best of the best. Sort through the art and pick one piece to frame and three or four to keep for posterity. The rest can be photographed and discarded."

The one-month cardboard box test
"Not sure what you use and what you don't. Here is a tried and true way to find out. Empty the contexts of your kitchen utensil drawers into a cardboard box. For one month, only put a utensil back in the drawer if you take it out of the box to use it. At the end of the month seriously consider discarding everything that's still in the cardboard box."

My Hubby has been getting into the spirit too and has been decluttering his wardrobe and shed. On the weekend I decided to give him a helping hand and I laid his precious baseball caps out on the bed (a strategy Peter Walsh uses for shoes). I laid out 15 caps as I didn't find the other 3 in his golf bag until later. When he entered the bedroom (and recovered from the initial shock of seeing the caps all laid out) I asked him how many caps he thought he needed and how many he would really wear. By laying them all out he could clearly see how many he had in each colour and which caps were in the best condition. We got it down from 18 to 7! I have had similar results with the boys and their toys.

I really would recommend both the flylady and Peter Walsh's book "It's all too much". Perhaps do what I did though and instead of buying the book, just borrow it from the library. That way it won't clutter up your bookshelf!!! :-)

Filling Tummies with Glazed Chocolate Jam Cake

2011-05-20T13:09:00.000+10:00

Last week my Mum and I converted another one of her beautiful cake recipes to the thermomix. This deliciously moist cake is so easy to make and is a big favourite in our family. I love the fact that it doesn't need to be iced!!! The jam glaze is a delicious time saver. I used apricot jam to make mine, but berry jam is also yummy.

Glazed Chocolate Jam Cake

Ingredients
100g butter cubed
160g organic raw sugar
160g water
120g fruit jam of your choice

180g plain organic wheat flour (use a bit more for spelt)
1 rounded tsp baking powder
¼ tsp bicarb soda
20g cocoa
2 eggs

Additional tbsp of jam for glazing

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees (160 fan forced) and grease a 22cm round cake tin (I also like to line the base with greaseproof paper).

Weigh the butter, sugar, water and jam into the TMX bowl and melt for 3 minutes at 80 degrees on speed 1.

Add remaining ingredients and mix for 20 seconds on speed 4 or until well combined. You may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl after 10 seconds.

Scrape mixture into the prepared tin (it may be a little runny) and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Leave in the tin for 15 minutes before turning out onto a cake cooler.

Spread the cake with the additional tbsp of jam that has been warmed.

Enjoy as a deliciously moist cake or as a dessert served with whipped cream or custard.

Filling Tummies with Basic Side Dishes

2011-05-10T16:52:00.001+10:00

My Hubby was brought up on "meat and three veg" and although he never complains about my creative cooking I know he always appreciates it when I pop a couple of basic meat and veg meals onto the weekly menu. I often cook up some sausages, homemade rissoles or steaks and accompany them with some steamed veg and tasty mash or steamed veg and mushroom rice (all cooked in the thermomix of course). I really like feeding our boys these types of meals as they are good vegie-eating practise. Some of the thermomix recipes disguise the vegies which I don't really appreciate.

Both of these recipes are extremely basic but I thought I would share them here just in case you are still using your saucepans to steam veg (yes I'm talking about you SH :-)). These recipes make great sides for your cooked meat and can replace packet-mix sides that contain lots of nasties. The mash recipe is (in my opinion) far superior to the EDC recipe. I would honestly never make that again after making this one. The mash in the first recipe is based on this recipe and the mushroom rice is based on this recipe (you have to love forum thermomix!).

Steamed Vegies and Mash

Ingredients

750g peeled and cubed potatoes (2cm dice)
500g water
50g cream or milk (cream is divine)
50g chicken stock
20g butter
Assorted thinly sliced vegetables (often I just do peas and carrots)

Method:

Weigh the water into the bowl.

Place the potatoes in the basket and the vegetables into the varoma dish (leaving some of the vents clear).

Place the varoma on top of the lid and program 8 minutes, varoma temp, speed 2.

After the 8 minutes, take off the varoma and lid and fit the basket in place. Put the lid and varoma back in place and program a further 15 minutes, varoma temp, speed 2.

Check the potatoes after 13 minutes (mine often need another 3-4 minutes). The potatoes need to be falling apart easily when pricked with a fork.

When everything is cooked set the varoma and steaming basket aside and drain the water from the bowl.

Insert the butterfly and tip the potatoes into the bowl. Add the cream, stock and butter and whip for 4-8 seconds on speed 4.

Notes:

If I am serving the mash and steamed veg with steaks, I often make the mushroom sauce from the EDC to go with it. It is a brillant recipe. We prefer a slightly chunky mushroom sauce, so I add some sliced mushrooms in after chopping the majority of mushrooms in the TM and I cook the sauce on the reverse speed. Yum!

Steamed Vegies and Tasty Mushroom Rice

Photo to come

Ingredients:

Assorted thinly sliced vegetables

1 small onion
2 garlic cloves
40g butter
400g beef stock (don't be tempted to use vegie stock)
salt and pepper (be generous with the pepper)
500g water
100g brown rice
150g white rice
120g sliced mushrooms
small bunch of chopped parsley

Method:

Place the sliced vegetables into the varoma dish leaving some of the vents clear.

Place the onion, garlic and butter into the bowl (sometimes I add a mushroom in here also) and cook for 3 minutes at 100 degrees on speed 4.

Add the stock, water and salt and pepper to the bowl.

Sit the basket on the lid and weigh in the brown rice. Fit the basket into the bowl and cook the 20 minutes, varoma temp on speed 4.

After the 20 minutes add the white rice, mushrooms and parsley and stir with the spatula. Fit the varoma in place and cook for a further 20 minutes, varoma temp, speed 4.

After the cooking period has finished remove the varoma and basket. The liquid in the bowl can be thickened with a cornflour paste and cooked for a couple of minutes at 100 degrees to make a tasty sauce if you desire one. I normally make up the sauce while I am dishing up the meal.

Notes:
I haven't tried this using all white rice or all brown rice.

Filling Tummies with Spiced Chicken and Sweet Potato

2011-05-01T19:47:00.000+10:00

This Easter holiday week has been very laid back and relaxed at our house. Our boys have been busy turning the trailer into a pirate ship and have been outside working on it from dawn to dusk. This has been the biggest blessing EVER and has freed up some time for me to do some organising (I'm a new flylady convert) and to catch up on some reading.

Cooking and meals this week have been very basic and I have been making use of some very simple and easy recipes from the Everyday Cookbook and the lovely forum thermomix. Some of the things I have been whipping up include Beef Rendang and rice (EDC), carrot cake, sticky date pudding (EDC), family chowder and creamy tomato and salami pasta (EDC). As much as I complain about the Everyday Cookbook, I must admit it does have some very tasty and easy recipes in it.

Tonight I continued on with my simple and tasty theme and cooked one of my family's all time favourite forum thermomix recipes - ILB's Spiced Chicken and Sweet Potato. It is such a simple dish to make, but is so delicious! Using the varoma (particularly with meat) can be a little worrying for new thermomix users and I really think this would be an excellent recipe for first-time varoma users. I have included some modifications and photos below to make this recipe even easier (I hope :-)).

Spiced Chicken and Sweet Potato

I use this recipe with the following modifications:

* I use 500-600g chicken thighs and 1 medium sweet potato for this recipe.

* I mix up the spices in a little bowl with 2-3 tbsp of olive oil and mix it through the chicken thighs (defatted and chopped in half). I wouldn't recommend using chicken breasts as they dry out too quickly and don't have half the flavour. I leave the thighs marinading in the fridge for several hours and then layer them with chunky sweet potato rounds in the varoma dish (see the photo below). You can also add sliced green beans around the edge of the varoma dish to boost the vegie content. Remember to leave gaps for the steam to come through.

* I add extra water to the bowl in with the tomatoes as I find half a cup isn't quite enough. I normally add about 200g of water.

* I use chicken stock in with the tomatoes for extra flavour and usually add a little sprinkle of cumin, coriander and chilli flakes in with the tomatoes, stock etc.

* I program the TMX to cook for 30 minutes, varoma, speed 2. I normally find that the chicken is cooked perfectly in this time. It is easy to overcook the chicken so keep a close eye on it.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. It is an absolute gem! Thanks ILB!!!

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

2011-04-21T21:48:00.000+10:00

We are all ready for Easter now! Our boys are snuggled up in bed, no doubt dreaming about the chocolate egg that Easter Bunny will bring on Sunday. Our bags are packed ready for our trip to the beach house tomorrow and our hot cross buns are having their second rise in the fridge overnight. They will be delicious when baked in the morning. Gosh life is good!

I will say goodbye for a few days. My computer and TMX are staying at home. My cooking for our weekend away is done now and ready to be packed up tomorrow morning. The TMX probably could fit in the car but it is a distraction for me (I can't help wanting to feed everyone) and my family is my sole focus at Easter. In the highly unlikely event that we run out of food my Mum assures me that fish and chips from the beach shop will be just fine. :-)

I wish you a happy and safe Easter weekend with your family. I hope you find joy in being together and in celebrating the love that is the true Easter message.

Filling Tummies with Pistachio and Cranberry Stuffed Roast Chicken

2011-04-19T13:46:00.000+10:00

Yesterday was a big anniversary day in our house. My Hubby and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. I can't believe it has been eight years since that bright and sunny Good Friday morning. Time flies when you are having fun!

It has also been four years since we united with our beautiful eldest son in Ethiopia. Yes that momentous event happened on our wedding anniversary!! We are preferential adoptive parents (meaning adoption is our preferred option for creating our family) and we started the adoption process soon after getting married. You can imagine how unbelievably thrilled we were after over three years of waiting to unite with our beautiful son. The photo below is of our son and I in Ethiopia during our first week as a family. Our little man had never felt grass before and was so excited. Such a cutie!!!

To celebrate our anniversaries I cooked a special meal last night of roast chicken with pistachio and cranberry stuffing, mustard potatoes and honeyed peas and carrots. We finished the meal with a lovely lemon meringue pie (recipe from the EDC) and King Island cream. Yum!

Here is the recipe for the stuffing which I adapted from this recipe on Taste.com.

Pistachio and Cranberry Stuffing

Ingredients:

120g day-old bread
handful parsley
1 small brown onion, halved and peeled
40g craisins (dried cranberries)
30g unsalted pistachio kernels
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 tbsp olive oil
1 egg

Method:

Blitz the bread and parsley in the TMX on speed 8 for 6 seconds. Set aside.

Add the onion, craisins, pistachios and garlic into the TMX bowl. Chop for 5 seconds on speed 5.

Add the oil and saute for 5 minutes, 100 degrees, reverse speed 1.

Add the breadcrumbs and egg and mix for 20 seconds on reverse speed 3.

Wash the cavity of your fresh or thawed chicken. Pat dry with a paper towel (inside and out). Use a spoon to stuff this mixture into the cavities. Tie legs together with kitchen string. Season the bird with salt and pepper and place in an oven bag. Cook according to weight guidelines.

Filling Tummies with Honey Joys

2011-04-18T13:32:00.000+10:00

Recently we celebrated our little man's 3rd birthday with a party at our house. We were supposed to be celebrating at our local park, but unfortunately it rained and we had to move the party to our house. Not a major drama as we have plenty of room but it was a little sad for our son who was so excited about having a scooter party!

The party went really well and the kids all had great fun playing together. I had a bubble machine blowing out fun bubbles to catch and pop and a pass the parcel game. I didn't need to bother though as the kids really just wanted to play with the toys. I had pondered over the party food menu for a good week and really didn't need to bother with that either. Once again the kids just wanted to play. I had oodles of mini sausage rolls, chopped fruit, mini kiss biscuits, mini frogs in chocolate mud (custard) and mini honey joys left over. I always find it so tricky to plan the party food. My boys go to very mainstream parties with chips and lollies etc and have a firm idea of what they believe constitutes party food. I walk a very thin line when I try to bring a wholesome element to the food!!! I generally don't mind a few treats at parties, but after my youngest son vomited after a party last weekend (which actually was quite wholesome) I had to be extra careful with his own party. Next year I will stick to a sausage sizzle and birthday cake!

Anyhow I will post the recipe that I used for my honey joys. I found the ingredient quantities on the Kelloggs website and the method was based on this forum thermomix recipe.

Honey Joys

Ingredients:

90g butter
90g rapadura (or sugar)
1 Tbsp organic honey
120g cornflakes

Method:

Preheat oven 150 degrees and place patty pans on a tray.

Place honey, rapadura and butter in TMX bowl and cook for 7 minutes, 100 degrees on speed 3.

Add the cornflakes to bowl and mix for 40 seconds on reverse speed 1-2.

Spoon the mixture into the patty pans and bake in oven for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

My "Alternatives to Take-Aways" List

2011-04-11T14:23:00.001+10:00

I am having one of those days where I am just falling in love with my thermomix all over again. We are almost at our two year anniversary and I still use it all the time! Some people ask if I ever get sick of using it each day and I always reply that I could never tire of using something that makes my life so easy. It would be like tiring of using a washing machine and going back to using a wash board. Never going to happen!!!

Today my thermomix has been cooking up a storm whilst I have been cleaning the house, doing the ironing, mending a pair of trousers and reading the Wonky Donkey to my boys at least 5 times!!! So far today thermie and I have made our breakfast juice, a batch of Anzac's, a batch of tomato sauce, a batch of condensed tomato soup, a tray of cheese and bacon rolls for the freezer, a double batch of honey joys (for little mans birthday on Wednesday) and we are about to embark on a batch of apricot jam with some apricots that are thawing. After a little rest we will then embark on some bacon and corn chowder and a cheesy pizza bread for dinner. Yum! Whilst this is cooking I will most likely be putting my feet up (and reading the Wonky Donkey again :-)). I just love my thermomix!

Condensed Tomato Soup

At a recent social gathering I got chatting with a couple of friends who are also thermomix owners. We agreed that one of the best things about the thermomix is its ability to make quick and easy meals. My friend told me that many times after a busy day she considered buying some take-aways for dinner, but changed her mind and whipped up something in her thermie instead. There is great satisfaction in making a quick and healthy soup, risotto or casserole in the thermomix when you would have otherwise have bought unhealthy and expensive take-aways. Often making a meal from scratch in the thermomix is even easier than thawing and reheating a frozen meal from the freezer.

I keep a list on my recipe book stand of last minute meal ideas for when the day hasn't gone to plan, when I am rushing in the door from work or when I have forgotten to thaw meat. Sometimes when I am rushing and a bit flustered I can't think straight and really rely on my list to give me ideas for dinner. Here is my current list:

Alternatives to Take-Aways List:

Family Chowder - On the advice from a friend I now make this with fresh corn kernals cut from two cobs, rather than canned creamed corn. Yummy!

Fettuccine with Arrabiatta sauce (recipe from EDC)

Thermomix Fried Rice

Margarita Pizzas

Creamy Tomato and Salami Fettuccine (recipe from EDC)

Lentil Bolognaise with Pasta

Sugo Alla Papalina

Egg and Bacon Pie

Pumpkin and Pea Risotto (Based on EDC mushroom risotto recipe)

Tuna and Macaroni Bake

Curried Pumpkin and Lentil Soup

Pasta E Fagioli (recipe from EDC)

Filling Tummies with Easy GF Almond Pancakes

2011-04-08T20:19:00.000+10:00

When I first spotted this pancake recipe on Heather's Mommypotamus blog I really didn't hold much hope of our boys liking them. They are not overly keen on eggy things and my eldest will avoid nuts if given the opportunity. Yesterday with a fridge full of eggs and a fresh supply of almonds I decided however that I had nothing to loose and might as well give them a go for an after school snack. I am glad I did as the boys gobbled them up. They are a bit eggy and definitely need sweetening up with some honey or maple syrup, but on the whole I was pleasantly surprised with them. I also like the fact that they are gluten free as I am conscious that we eat too much gluten flour and grain in our family diet.

Here is my converted (and modified version):

Easy Gluten-Free Almond Pancakes

Makes: 6 smallish pancakes (recipe can be easily doubled or tripled)

Ingredients:

60g almonds
3 eggs
20g organic pure maple syrup (optional)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch Himalayan salt

Method:

Place almonds in TMX and grind for 20 seconds on speed 9.

Add remaining ingredients and mix for 30 seconds on speed 5.

Heat fry pan on a medium heat and grease with butter or oil.

Pour the batter into the pan (just small pancake size) and cook them turning over part way through.

Spread with honey, pure maple syrup or lemon juice and rapadura and enjoy!

Filling Tummies with Apple Streusel Teacake

2011-04-06T14:13:00.000+10:00

For many people the Autumn months are more than a little depressing as the weather starts to cool off and the days begin to shorten. For me however it is a time to rejoice. Autumn is by far my favourite season. I love it when the warm summer nights are behind us and our boys can snuggle down and start sleeping well again. I love it when the growth of weeds starts to slow in the garden and I have time to do other things outside besides weeding. I love it when our lawn returns to a beautiful shade of green, even though it means a little more mowing for a while. Most of all though I love it when our lovely Apple Man returns in early Autumn to our local market. I am always delighted to see his old blue truck parked back at the market and I know that our weekly fruit bill will be halved once again. Each week I buy 2kg of pears, 2kg of red delicious and 2kg of golden delicious (or Granny Smith later in the season) off him for a grand total of $7.50. The apples and pears aren't organic and do need a good scrub, but they are local.

You may wonder what on earth I do with 6kg of apples and pears each week and sometimes I also wonder where they all disappear too myself. Each morning though my Hubby uses an apple and pear to make our juice and we all tend to have an apple most days for our morning or afternoon tea. The cooking apples I stew with rhubarb or use in desserts such as Apple Berry Crumble or Saucy Apple Pudding. My favourite use for cooking apples though would have to be whipping up my Easy Apple Teacake. This recipe is probably the most popular recipe that I have posted on the forum thermomix and always gets rave reviews whenever I make it (including today :-)).

Today when I made the cake though I decided to try a different topping. Normally I spread the sliced apples into a fan shape and sprinkle the top with cinnamon sugar, but today I made a streusel topping. I know you really shouldn't say this about your own cooking but it was AWESOME!!! Even if you are not a big apple cake fan you really must try this cake. It is still ridiculously easy, but has a new dimension that is delicious!

Easy Apple Streusel Teacake

Ingredients:

Topping:
75g plain wheat flour
40g organic raw sugar
50g butter chopped
a few drops of vanilla extract

Cake:
60g butter
200g milk
1 free-range egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
190g plain wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder (homemade is free from nasties)
100g organic raw sugar
pinch salt

1 large apple peeled and thinly sliced (preferably a cooking apple)
cinnamon

Method:
Preheat oven to moderate and grease and flour your cake tin (I use a 20cm round tin).

Place topping ingredients in tmx bowl and combine for approximately 10-12 seconds on speed 5 until small crumbs form (watch carefully - see notes). Set crumbs aside and scrape bowl out well.

Melt butter in tmx bowl for 2 mins, 80 degrees, speed 2.

Add milk, vanilla and egg. Mix for 10 seconds on speed 4.

Add flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Mix for 10 seconds, speed 5.

Pour batter into tin and lay apple slices over the batter.

Sprinkle the apple lightly with cinnamon and then pour the crumbs evenly over the apples/batter.

Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Serve by itself, or with whipped cream and/or custard. Enjoy.

Notes:
If your crumbs are really tiny they will cook into the cake instead of holding their form and making a topping.

Filling Tummies With Nay's Fruit Bars

2011-04-02T20:55:00.000+11:00

Last week there was a request on forum thermomix for a fruit bar recipe (one like the commercial pillow type bar that Weight Watchers and Heinz make). When I read the request I thought gosh that is tricky and wondered if anybody would be able to help. I should never have doubted the clever recipe developers on the forum however. It didn't take long for member Nay-Nay to respond with a recipe idea and then to follow it up by personally trying the recipe out. After checking out Nay's fabulous photos and recipe I just had to give them a try.

Wow, wow, wow!!! I was so impressed with this recipe that I made two batches during the week. One batch was date and lime and the other was apple, cinnamon and sultana. Basically you stew the filling in the TMX and set it aside to cool. Then you whip up the pastry in the TMX, roll it out and assemble the fruit bars like sausage rolls.My eldest son was thrilled when he saw the bars cooling and he told me that his friends have the same bars for their morning tea at school. How exciting! Both kids (and Hubby) love them!

You can check out Nay's recipe and photos in this thread (scroll down as it is the second recipe in the thread). I made the following modifications to the recipe:

* I substituted the sugar for 50g rapadura.

* I substituted the wheat flour for 310g unbleached white spelt flour.

* I used 300g dates (in the date version) and the same amount of liquid stated in the recipe.

* I used lime juice instead of lemon in the date version.

* I stewed 5 peeled and chopped apples, some rapadura, a little water, cinnamon and sultanas. I stewed them for 5 minutes, 100 degrees, speed 2.

* I only baked my bars for 25 minutes and might reduce it by a little bit more next time.

* Each batch made about 15 bars and I have frozen most of them. I defrosted one to try and it was perfect.

Enjoy making these!!!

Filling Tummies with Honey-Baked Pumpkin Risotto

2011-03-25T21:19:00.001+11:00

I am not a big fan of risotto but every now and then I do like to whip one up in the TMX for a quick and easy dinner. I think my main issue with risotto is that many of the recipes out there are just so incredibly bland. I am generally over a risotto dish after the first mouthful. There are two risotto recipes on forum thermomix however that we really, really enjoy. They are Marmee's Chicken Cacciatore Risotto (read my comments in the thread) and Kathryn's Roasted Pumpkin and Feta Risotto. So tasty!

Kathryn's Roasted Pumpkin Risotto is always such a winner with my family and with dinner guests that when I saw the Honey-Baked Pumpkin Risotto recipe on taste.com I knew I had to convert it ASAP!. It was of course just as delicious as I thought it would be. Full of rich flavour and perfect as a entree, side or main. Yum!

Honey Baked Pumpkin Risotto

Ingredients (serves 4)

900g pumpkin, peeled, cut into 1cm cubes
2 tbsp organic olive oil
1 tbsp honey (for drizzling)
2cm piece ginger – peeled
1 onion, peeled and quartered
2 celery stalks, washed and quartered
40g organic olive oil
220g arborio rice
160g white wine
600g water
1 tbsp vegie stock concentrate
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus extra to garnish
2 tbsp mascarpone (or softened cream cheese) plus extra to serve
Salt and pepper
Honey (to serve)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C.

2. Place chopped pumpkin in an even layer on a large baking tray and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 15 minutes, then remove and drizzle with honey, tossing well to coat each piece. Roast for a further 15 minutes until cooked and golden. Start cooking the risotto with the directions below whilst the pumpkin is baking.

3. Add ginger to the TM bowl and grate for 10 seconds on speed 6. Add onion and celery and chop for 3 seconds on speed 5. Scrape down sides of bowl.

4. Add oil and sauté for 3 minutes on 100 degrees, reverse speed 1.

5. Add rice and wine and cook for a further minute.

6. Add stock concentrate and water and continue to cook for 16 minutes at 100 degrees, reverse speed 1.

7. Tip risotto into thermoserve and use spatula to stir through lemon juice, pumpkin, parsley, marscapone and salt and pepper. Leave to sit for 10 minutes.

8. Serve with a dollop of mascarpone, a drizzle of honey and extra parsley.

Enjoy!

Filling Tummies with Quirky Jo's Amazing Chicken Dish!!!

2011-03-24T20:53:00.000+11:00

If you haven't tried Quirky Jo's amazing Chicken and Cashews with Coconut Satay Sauce and Coconut Rice then I suggest you put it on the menu for this weekend. I made it last night for dinner and it was absolutely divine. We all declared it was one of the best meals ever. It is also an "all-in-one" meal which is even better. The sauce cooks in the bowl, the coconut rice cooks in the basket and the chicken and veg cook in the varoma - all at the same time. Too easy! I used 500g of chicken breast and for my veggies I used sliced wombok, capsicum, carrots and green beans. I used coconut milk so I thickened the sauce with a little cornflour and water paste at the end. This really is a must try!

Filling Tummies with Yummy Homemade Pasties

2011-03-14T15:13:00.000+11:00

When I am cooking on a budget I often dig out the cookbook that my Mum made for me when I was headed off to Uni and remind myself of all of the delicious home style recipes that I grew up eating. The book is filled with tasty and economical recipes such egg and bacon pie, porcupine meatballs, curried sausages, morney, tasty baked steak and beef stew. Yum!!! I am so lucky that my Mum taught me to cook healthy, tasty and economical meals as I see so many people struggling in this area and really not knowing any other way.

Pasties are one of my favourite meals from my special recipe book. Like my Mum, I adapt my pasties to whatever I have in the pantry and fridge. Sometimes I add cooked rice or mashed veggies to the mix. Sometimes I add relish for flavour and sometimes I use curry powder. Each batch is different. The only real rules that I follow with my pasties are that I always use quality butter puff pastry (often homemade to save $$) and I always add lots of vegies to avoid a compact mix. Here is the basic recipe:

Homemade Pasties

Ingredients:

4 sheets butter puff pastry or 1 batch homemade puff pastry
1 large onion - peeled and quartered
1 large carrot - peeled (if not organic) and quartered
2 medium potatoes - peeled and quartered
1 small parsnip or suede (optional) - peeled and quartered
large handful of frozen peas
500g mince
2 tbsp relish or tomato sauce
salt and pepper

Method:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees and place pastry on bench top to thaw (if using frozen). Cut each pastry sheet into four even squares.

Place onion, carrot, potatoes and parsnip/suede into TM bowl and grate for 3 seconds on speed 5. Scrape down sides and grate for a further 1-2 seconds or until finely grated.

Add mince, peas, relish and salt and pepper to the bowl and mix for 10 seconds on reverse speed 4.

Place a row of mix diagonally across each little square of pastry. Pull the two diagonally opposite sides together and pinch the pastry together encasing the filling. Repeat with each pastry square.

Bake the pasties for 10 minutes at 200 degrees before turning the oven down to 180 degrees and baking for a further 20 minutes.

Notes:

If I make my own pastry I often have some of the mix leftover. Usually I just press it into a greased loaf tin, spread it with homemade tomato sauce and bake it as a meat loaf. Meatloaf is great in sandwiches and freezes really well. Sometimes though if the mix is quite meaty I roll it into balls and fry them. Cooked meatballs are always handy in the freezer. :-)

Howdy Again!

2011-03-07T12:12:00.000+11:00

Hi All,

Just a little note post to thank you for the lovely emails and messages that have been coming in and to let you all know that we haven’t dropped off the planet :-). We have been super busy with the start of the school year, with our birthday season (4 family birthdays in less than 3 weeks) and with making some big lifestyle changes for our family. To update you all:

Our eldest son started school in late February and has absolutely loved it. We have been thrilled to watch him become increasingly confident and social with his lovely friends. He celebrated his 5th birthday on the weekend and invited 5 of his new school friends to a ten pin bowling party. It was just beautiful!

Our beautiful boy heading off to school!

I have started work again (teaching on Fridays) and am loving the school where I am teaching. It is much larger than the school where I last taught (before the boys came along) but is just as friendly. My class is terrific and the teacher who I am team teaching with is wonderful. I must admit that I was a little concerned about heading back to work, but I have really enjoyed the challenge that my professional work brings (a different challenge to home life).

We have started to make some plans for this new phase of our life (now we have a little more money) and have been working out our family priorities for the new few years. Over the coming months don’t be surprised if you start to notice some budget cooking tips and budget recipes appearing on my blog as we knuckle down to do some serious saving. With the installation of solar panels planned for our home and a family holiday to our beautiful second home of Ethiopia we will once again be in saving mode (big-time). I quite like the challenge that saving-mode brings. I also absolutely hate owing money with a passion. I am a super old fashioned girl and could never enjoy a holiday if I had to pay it off for the next 5 years. Already I have dug out a second bigger veggie patch which is planted out ready for winter and I am now tracking down some better laying hens (our current useless hens are heading to the pot). I have also been busy mending clothes and sorting through hand-me-downs in readiness for dressing the boys for winter (although I must admit I did sneak a wee little pumpkin patch order in yesterday too).

Anyway I hope everyone’s year has started as well as ours has. I will try very hard to be back on my blog much more in the coming weeks. I have lots of news and recipes to share from my kitchen.

Chelsea :-)

Filling Tummies with Orange, Honey and Ginger Chicken Wings

2011-02-14T17:08:00.000+11:00

Well today was a very interesting day in our household. It was my first day back at work after almost 4 years at home with our boys. I am teaching on Fridays this year, but needed to go in today for a staff meeting and to get a little organised. It was certainly a strange feeling kissing the boys goodbye (Hubby was taking them to childcare) and heading off to work. Our eldest son was a little unsure about Mummy heading off to work and wasn't sure if he really liked the idea of sharing me with work. I felt a little sad because it was the end of my time of just being a SAHM, but at the same time it was lovely to have some time-out from my little munchkins and get back into the workforce.

Anyway, enough about my day. Here is a recipe that we absolutely love and I am sure all of you busy folks will too. It is a modification of the Honey Soy Stir Fry Chicken Winglets that ILB posted on forumthermomix. We aren't huge fans of honey soy, but really love this marinade that I converted from taste.com. It is sweet, sticky and delish! I will pop the marinade recipe here and the link for ILB's recipe on the forum where you can find the cooking method.

Orange, Honey and Ginger Chicken Wings

Ingredients:

Marinade:
1 large juicy orange
80g organic honey
40g rapadura (or brown sugar)
1 level tsp ground ginger (or you can use fresh)

1.2kg chicken winglets or mini drum sticks
40g olive oil

Method:

To make marinade:

Cut orange into quarters and remove flesh using a knife. Place orange flesh in TM bowl and puree on speed 7 for 10 seconds. Discard skin and pith.

Add honey, rapadura and ginger and mix on speed 4-5 for 10 seconds.

Place chicken pieces in a bowl and stir marinade through. Refrigerate for approximately two hours, stirring and spooning the mix over the chicken after the first hour.

Cook as directed in this recipe. I added the left-over marinade in with the chicken and it made a lovely thick sauce to drizzle over the rice and steamed veggies that I served the chicken with.

Enjoy!

Filling Tummies with Honey Wafer Ice Cream Cones

2011-02-10T22:15:00.000+11:00

Ok - I am pretty excited!!! Earlier today I went to the supermarket to grab a few things that I needed for dinner (we had some friends coming over) and one of the things on my list was waffle ice cream cones. As I looked at the boxes in the supermarket I really wasn't happy with the ingredients though (soy lecithin and palm oil - yucko) and decided I needed to come up with a different dessert idea. I had a very casual menu planned for this evening - margarita pizzas, chicken cacciatore risotto, homemade ice cream etc so I was wanting something quite fun and informal.

Anyway when I came home and started looking through my stack of recipe magazines, I found a recipe for honey wafer cones. They sounded very yummy and easy! As my little men were happily snoozing/resting I quickly converted the recipe for the TM and whipped them up. They took a little experimenting with as I needed to use more flour than the original recipe called for, but eventually I got them sorted. Our guests were HUGELY IMPRESSED by the homemade ice cream and cones and I must admit I was pretty chuffed myself. Not only had I made something very very yummy, but I had also avoided some food nasties and saved money in the process. I made 10 cones today using mainly organic ingredients and the total ingredient cost was approx $2.70. Much cheaper than the non-organic waffle cones at our local supermarket which were $4.78.

Here is the recipe (converted from Recipe+ Mag):

Honey Wafer Ice Cream Cones

Ingredients:
75g butter chopped
70g rapadura (or slightly less brown sugar)
90g honey
80g plain flour (the original recipe called for 60g but I needed more to thicken the mix)
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Method:
Preheat oven to 180/160 fan forced. Line two baking trays with baking paper.

Place butter, rapadura and honey in TM bowl and heat for 5 minutes at 100 degrees, speed 2-3.

Add flour and cinnamon and stir for 20 seconds on speed 3 or until well combined (you may need to scrape down the sides and mix again).

Leave to cool.

When the mixture has cooled and thickened, shape level tablespoons of the mixture into balls and place on the baking trays (the mixture will still be quite soft). Space the balls well apart on the trays. I just put two on each tray and baked them in three batches (reusing the same baking paper).

Using oiled fingers, flatten the balls out into circles - mine were quite thin and about 7-10cm diameter.

Bake each batch for 7-8 minutes or until the wafers are browned around the edges (watch them carefully as they are very sweet and will burn easily).

Cool on trays for 1-2 minutes. When they are cool enough to touch, work quickly to shape them into cones. I did this free form today just using my hands, but next time I will make some cones using sturdy cardboard to wrap wafers around for a couple of seconds until they harden.

Place the cones seam side down on a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Enjoy!

Notes:

If you have a large oven and are planning to bake the cones in one batch you may need to find a helper to assist with shaping the cones. I managed to shape four cones quite easily each time, but any more would have been a challenge as the mixture hardens quite quickly.

Fantastic Forum Lunchbox Ideas!!!

2011-02-08T13:50:00.000+11:00

While I am busy playing around and converting a few more of my own recipes to the thermomix, I thought I would share a few of our lunchbox favourites from forumthermomix. If you hunting around for new lunchbox ideas you really must check out these little beauties:

Banana Bread/Loaf -
There is also a date option included with this recipe, which will be handy with our current Aussie banana shortage. I love this recipe as it is super easy, keeps well for a couple of days and tastes lovely. It is also good for people on egg-free, low fat or gall stone diets.

Blender Batter Wholegrain Muffins
This is my all-time favourite Quirky recipe.

Nay's Scones -
This is a brilliant no-fail scone recipe. For a savoury option some chives, chopped bacon, grated cheese and a little grated veg can be added.

Nutty Milo Slice -
If your school is ok with nuts, this is a lovely nutritious lunchbox option.

Nutty Milo Slice

Chickpea Choc Chip Cookies -
This is a great recipe for adding some extra goodness into a lunchbox treat.

Bacon and Cheese Rolls
These are a delicious treat.

Soaked Wholegrain Chocolate Cake
This is one of my recipes and it is a big family favourites.

Zucchini Brownies -
This is one of my recipes from forumthermomix. Sadly my kids aren't overly keen on these brownies, but lots of other families love them.

Swirly Bacon or Ham Rolls
Yum! Yum! Yum!

Cheese and Zucchini Mini Muffins
I am trying these later in the week in readiness for school. They have got rave reviews and the tips in the thread below the recipe are great.

LTM's - Little Thermomix Munchies
I make these using rapadura and puffed brown rice and I add in some sultanas and sweetened cranberries. I use 5 cups of puffed rice, instead of the rice bubbles (puffed rice is a lot lighter). Next time I am going to try chopping the puffed rice up a little in the TM, as the puffed rice doesn't hold together as well as rice bubbles.

Filling Lunchboxes with Vegie and Rice Slice

2011-02-06T13:38:00.000+11:00

Here is another of our favourite recipes that will be featuring in our lunchboxes this year. The inspiration for this recipe came from a super food ideas magazine. Our boys like this served with homemade tomato sauce and a buttered roll.

Veggie and Rice Slice

Ingredients:

120g brown rice - uncooked
120g tasty cheese
4 eggs
120g milk
1 lrg carrot - quartered
1 lrg zucchini - quartered
4 chives - quartered
1/2 cup corn kernels
110g spelt flour (or plain wheat flour)
1 tsp baking powder

Method:

Weigh rice into basket and rinse well. Weigh 1200g of water into bowl, insert basket and cook rice for 35 minutes, varoma temp, speed 4.

Remove rice when cooked and rinse in cold water. Rinse out bowl in cold water and dry.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees (160 fan forced) and line a 20x30cm lamington tray with baking paper (leave a little overhang above sides of tray). Use a peg on each side to hold the baking paper in place. Remove the pegs before baking though :-).

Grate cheese in TM for 3 seconds on speed 8. Set aside.

Add eggs and milk to bowl and whisk for 15 seconds on speed 4. Set aside (poured in with cheese is fine).

Add carrot, zucchini and chives to bowl and grate for 3-4 seconds on speed 5 or until chopped finely.

Add all ingredients on the list into bowl and mix for 20 seconds on reverse speed 3 or until well combined.

Pour into lined tray and spread evenly.

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown and firm to touch.

Notes:
Some lovely additions to the slice include:
*diced triple smoked ham and cracked pepper
*diced cooked chicken and sweet chilli sauce
*tuna would probably also work well if you like it.

Filling Lunchboxes with Muesli Slice

2011-02-02T22:00:00.000+11:00

Well the holidays are racing by and it will soon be time to send our eldest son off to school. As much as he is ready to go, I am dreading the moment. It just feels like yesterday that we united with him in Ethiopia and now he is almost a big school boy. Time just flies by too quickly. I am also off to work this year and although I am only back teaching one day a week, it is a big change for our family. Still, being a SAHM doesn't pay overly well :-) and we have our next big trip to Ethiopia to save for. The time definitely seems right for me to return to the paid workforce - albeit in a little way.

Anyway (suppressed sigh), with the knowledge that I will soon be packing lunchboxes I have been hunting out some healthy and tasty recipes to temp my little man at school. In the next few days I am planning to share a couple of my favourites with you. To start with here is a wholesome and rather yummy muesli slice recipe that I converted from a recipe in the Woman's Weekly Babies and Toddlers Cookbook. It is very adaptable to whatever dried fruit you have in the cupboard and can easily be sliced into bars.

Muesli Slice

Ingredients:

80g dried apricots
75g dried apples
110g butter
70g rapadura
50g organic honey
90g organic rolled oats
45g shredded coconut
85g white spelt flour or 75g plain wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
80g organic sultanas or sweetened cranberries

Method:
Preheat oven to moderate (180 or 160 fan forced) and line a 20x30cm lamington tray with baking paper.

Place dried apricots and apples into TMX bowl and chop for 10 seconds on speed 5 or until fine. Set aside.

Combine butter, rapadura and honey in TMX bowl and heat for 1 minute, 100 degrees, speed 3.

Add all remaining ingredients (including the chopped apricot and apple) and mix on reverse speed 3 for 15 seconds or until well combined.

Press mixture into prepared pan and smooth with the back of a spoon.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan, before lifting out and slicing into squares or bars.

Enjoy!

Notes:
If you can't lay your hands on rapadura, raw sugar will be fine.

Keep an eye out for healthier options when buying dried fruit. Look for sultanas that are free from harmful vegetable oil. They will look a slighty chalky instead of shiny. Clyne's Organic sultanas are very yummy and are sold at Coles. Also look for dried apricots that have been dried naturally without the use of sulphur dioxide (220) that preserves the colour. They are darker in colour (some are almost black) but the flavours are beautiful. I buy my organic dried apricots from my local health food store.

Still losing weight with my Thermomix!

2011-01-23T21:30:00.001+11:00

Sorry folks. No new recipes yet!!! The reason being that I am still focusing on losing weight and am taking a break from recipe converting and creating for another week or two. I can't wait to get back into it again a little though - especially my whole grain baking.

As much as I love baking though, I love losing weight even more. I am pushing myself hard and madly counting calories and am soon going to hit my first goal of losing 5kg. Already I have dropped a dress size and am much fitter and stronger. The tough part though is yet to come and keeping the weight off in the long term is my problem. I have started thinking ahead and planning for that. Exercise, small serves, filling whole grains and mostly healthy choices. Sounds good in theory. :-)

For those people who are wanting to loose some weight here are some tips that have really helped me out:

* Make one change each day (or even each week) and keep it going - drinking more water, going for a walk, eating smaller serves, cutting out a regular unhealthy snack etc.

* Focus on other enjoyable things besides food (even if you REALLY love cooking and eating) - soaking in a bubble bath, reading a good book, going to the movies, learning something new, catching up with an old friend etc.

* Add whole grains into your diet (if you aren't already eating them). Whole grains are so filling! I have cut right back on carbs, but those I do eat are as nutritious and filling as possible. I have been enjoying small servings of brown rice, wholegrain pasta and wholegrain bread.

Good luck and at the risk of sounding extremely corny I have to add "nothing tastes as good as slim feels". So corny I know, but also very true. :-)

Using the Thermomix to Lose Weight!

2011-01-13T16:24:00.001+11:00

Normally my thermomix is busy whirring away almost all day, but lately it has been having a much more restful time. I am losing some unwanted kilo's that have snuck up on me over the past year or so and have cut back on making many of the wonderful goodies that my thermomix can so easily produce. No lovely ice creams, biscuits, pastries, breads and desserts. Sigh! I have lost 3kgs though and am starting to notice that my clothes are fitting much better. It is hard work, but so worth it when you feel better about yourself. I'm not out to become a skinny-minny, but am not prepared to buy new clothes when I already have perfectly good clothes that are just a bit too tight.

I have been mainly just using my thermomix for juice, salads and our main meals (and a couple of loaves of bread and batches of rolls for the family). I also made the boys some anzac biscuits and LTM's (little thermomix munchies - rapadura and honey sweetened with puffed rice) as I don't really like those and am not tempted to nibble on them. :-) I have been using the varoma (the thermomix steam oven) for most of our meals. Steaming is just such a healthy way to cook. We have been loving Baf's Chicken Meal and ILB's Spiced Chicken and Sweet Potato dish. I just have a little sauce and make sure there are lots of steamed veggies to fill up on. Earlier in the week I combined the two recipes and had the spiced tomato sauce in the bowl, potatoes in the basket, marinaded chicken in the varoma dish and sliced veggies in the tray. It was delicious!

Tonight we are trying the Chicken Breasts in Tomato Sauce with Mushrooms for dinner. I am looking forward to trying a new recipe. As much as I am loving losing weight, I am really missing my extra time in the kitchen cooking and creating new recipes. Hopefully in another couple of weeks I will reach my goal weight and be able to gradually get back into my baking again. I have a couple of wholegrain baking recipes that I am hanging out to try.

One good thing about spending less time in the kitchen baking is that I have almost found my way to the bottom of my mending basket. When the kidlets have been resting I have been busy taking up trousers (I am a shortie), mending seams on shorts, reworking trousers into shorts and mending a lovely fabric handbag that was coming apart. My very crafty friend Mandy would be proud of me this week! It is amazing how much money you can save if you can sew a little. I am thankful that I have wonderfully practical parents who gave me a sewing machine for my 21st birthday. It has come in so handy over the years - especially since the arrival of our boys. :-)

Happy Genna Everyone!!!

2011-01-07T15:53:00.000+11:00

Tonight we are celebrating Genna (Ethiopian Christmas) by having a huge feast with two other Oziopian families. I have prepared ye'siga wat (spicy beef stew), ye'assa wat (spicy fish stew), injera (sour flat bread) and desserts (a fruit platter and chocolate eclairs :-)). When we arrive at our friends house we will all be helping prepare a massive Genna bread. It is lovely to be able to celebrate this day with friends.

Happy Genna Everyone!!! xox

This is a photo of a similar feast that we enjoyed in Addis on our last trip (it tastes SOOOOO much better than it looks):

Our Top 10 Favourite Recipes for 2010!!!

2011-01-06T13:49:00.001+11:00

These holidays have been so relaxing with Hubby home from work and the boys being a little older (not quite so busy). We have loved taking the boys swimming, having BBQ's with friends and just kicking back and enjoying the sunshine. The downside of all this is that I really haven't got anything domestic done at all this week. I have had very good intentions with regard to cooking, cleaning and washing, but honestly haven't got much further than that until today. This morning when Hubby headed back to work (sigh!), I rolled my sleeves up and did some serious housework and washing. The boys enjoyed a morning outside in their sandpit and riding their bikes. Thankfully we have a lovely big bay window where I can watch them while I get on with my jobs.

Now that some of the domestic duties are out of the way (and the kidlets are snuggled in for naps) it's time to catch up on some blogging - the cooking will have to come later. We have finally decided on our absolute favourite top 10 recipes for 2010!!! Some are our basic everyday favourites and others are special occasion recipes. Here they are in no particular order:

1) Carrot Cake with Nuts
This cake is so easy and is just divine with cream cheese frosting (use Maddy's icing quantities in the comments below the recipe)!

2) TrudyO's Honey Mustard Chicken
Yum! I chop a small carrot and capsicum in with the onion for extra veggie goodness.

3) My Wholegrain Crepes
I am so proud of this little recipe gem. The crepes are lovely and light when the mixture if left to soak overnight!

My Soaked Wholegrain Crepes

4) Maddy's Cheese and Bacon Rolls
These rolls are a super-duper treat in our wholegrain household :-).

5) Quirky Blender Batter Muffins
We often have one of these muffins for breakfast with our fruit smoothie.

6) My Italian Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe
This is always a favourite meal in our house - yummy.

My Italian Spaghetti and Meatballs

7) Isi's Fruit Crumble Cake
This is an easy recipe that I enjoy making with the kids. Our favourite fruit is a punnet of chopped strawberries with a handful of frozen blackberries sprinkled over. It is lovely served warm with whipped cream or custard.

8) My Chocolate Eclair Recipe
I have made at least a dozen batches of these chocolate eclairs and cream puffs since converting my Mum's recipe (with no flops). They are an inexpensive and tasty dessert and are always appreciated if we take them along to share at a BBQ.

My Chocolate Eclairs

9) Chookies Homemade KFC
This is delicious and authentic tasting chicken without the grease-factor.

Chookies Yummy KFC

10) My Soaked Wholegrain Chocolate Cake
This is so moist and yummy - very hard to believe it is made with wholegrains.

My Soaked Wholegrain Chocolate Cake

Filling Tummies with Veggies - Part 2

2010-12-29T22:33:00.000+11:00

One of my lovely forum buddies left a reply for me on my last post (where I was ranting about kids not eating veggies) and asked some great questions. After writing almost an essay in the reply section I then decided it would be best to post it here. I know many of us parents struggle with the same issues and I thought perhaps some of my other readers may like to leave a comment and/or advice in the section below. Here is the message from my buddy:

Chelsea, thanks for the reminder that it is worth the effort eventually! I am a vegie hider still (love one bowl meals so they can't dodge the vegies), but absolutely have to get past this stage. What are some of your favourite ways of serving vegies? And what are some strategies that have worked for your family? I have one that eats anything, and one that barely eats anything (not just vegies).

What are some of your favourite ways of serving veggies?

We love one pot meals too and they are often easier for the boys to eat. Generally our boys prefer pureed soups over chunky veggie soups. They will eat salad veggies in wraps and sandwiches but struggle with salad served on a plate (although we still serve them at least once a week for them to practice). I try to have basic meat and steamed veg meals a couple of times each week (Baf's chicken meal from the forum and my bangers and mash are two of our favourites). This prepares the boys for meals when we visit other peoples homes. They enjoy steamed veggies tossed in a little honey for a treat. They really love bubble and squeak and pizza with lots of veggie toppings. They like to be involved and are far more likely to eat the meal when they have helped to plan, grow or prepare it.

Sausage and Veggie Pizza

Bubble and Squeak

And what are some strategies that have worked for your family?

Those of you who know my family personally will no doubt agree with me when I say that our boys are two extremely different little chaps (both in personality and looks :-)). Our veggie feeding approach has reflected this difference and has been very different with each of our boys.

Our eldest son hated veggies with a passion from the moment we picked him up from Ethiopia at fourteen months! We really wanted to tread carefully and not force the veggie issue with him as bonding with him was much more important. When he was a little older though we devised a game using a divider bowl. In each section of the bowl we put a small amount of veggies (or main meal) and some little "treats" (crackers, dried fruit, cheese). Our rule was that he wasn't allowed to start eating from another section until he had eaten everything in the section in front of him. With lots of praise and encouragement this worked really well and the treats were gradually replaced with more veggies/main meal. He now eats veggies - albeit rather slowly!

Our second little man was a great veggie eater as a little bub but changed his mind about them when he hit the notorious toddler stage. Our approach with him was to be really firm. We used praise and encouragement but basically he wasn't allowed to get down from his chair until he had eaten a sufficient amount of dinner (and we were very reasonable with our dinners - no sprouts). If he refused to eat there was nothing else on offer - although we did introduce banana slices for supper at the time (totally unrelated to refusing dinner of course :-)). It was hard at times and I wouldn't recommend the approach for all children, but we do now have a little man at age almost 3 who eats really well. I know if we hadn't persisted with him he wouldn't be eating them at all now.

I think the most important thing is to devise a strategy and stick to it for at least a couple of weeks. Oh and never fall into the trap of offering an alternative at the table if they refuse to eat the reasonable meal that you have offered (no milkshakes, bowls of yoghurt etc). If you start doing that you may very well still be doing it when they are teenagers. Introduce supper if you need too just before bedtime, but there's no need to mention to them that it is a replacement for dinner. Decide your level of firmness and stick to it (allowing of course for illness, teething, tiredness etc).

I hope this helps a little. Good luck CB! :-)

Filling Little Tummies with Veggies

2010-12-28T14:17:00.000+11:00

My little rant for the day (one of the benefits of having a blog):

This morning I took the boys to our local playground and got chatting with another Mum who was down there giving her little children a play also. We were having a lovely chat when my eldest son came over and announced he had a growling tummy and we had better go home to eat the soup that we had made earlier in the morning. The other Mum looked absolutely stunned and said that I was such a lucky Mum to have children that would eat veggie soup. She told me that her children absolutely refused to eat any vegetables other than fried potatoes.

I smiled politely and loaded the boys into the car, but her words stayed with me. Was I really a lucky Mum??? While I know that children dislike vegetables to varying degrees, I don't think our boys present willingness to eat them has much to do with luck. When I consider the many hours that my husband and I have spent preparing veggies, feeding veggies, "wearing" veggies, working out strategies for eating veggies, encouraging, praising and explaining the benefits of eating veggies - no I honestly don't think I am a lucky Mum (in that regard). My boys certainly wouldn't be big veggie eaters if left to their own devices.

I really cannot understand why eating veggies is a choice in some households. Sure children have strong dislikes for certain vegetables which should be taken into account, but just letting them eat fried potato??? Where is the parent responsibility? I know a lady with grown up children and she told me that her one big failure as a mother was that she didn't persevere and make her son eat vegetables (other than mashed potato). She was told he would eat them in his own time, but he never did. Her son had a very weak immune system while he was growing up and was constantly sick. He is now an adult with chronic health problems and he really wishes his mother had made him eat veggies like other Mum's did. He does eat some veggies now but they are so foreign to his palate that he really struggles to get them down.

When it comes to eating veggies I wonder if it is actually our boys who are lucky. Lucky to have parents that are willing to perserve day after day to help them eat their veggies! If you are a fellow veggie pusher don't be afraid to give yourself a pat on the back. It isn't easy, but is so worth doing for your children (and it does get easier)!!!

Just hoping off my soapbox now! :-)

Belated Christmas Greetings

2010-12-27T22:06:00.000+11:00

My apologies everyone! I lost track of time on Christmas Eve and didn't get a chance to turn the computer on before we headed away to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I do hope you all had a wonderful Christmas though with lots of love, laughter and yummy goodies to fill your tummies.

We had an absolutely beautiful Christmas - very relaxing and fun. We headed up to my family's beach house at Greens Beach on Christmas Eve and enjoyed a fish and chip picnic (as requested by Hubby for his birthday tea) before heading to church with our family. The church service was lovely and simple with beautiful carols! I really love going to Church at Christmas time. It is too easy to get caught up with Santa and all the preparations and forget what the day is really all about.

Our Christmas Day started very early. Our eldest son attempted to get up at 2.30am and was promptly taken back to bed. We were quite relieved when he then slept through to 6am and then agreed to hop in with us for a little cuddle before waking his brother and Grandparents at 7am. Christmas morning was a delight and our traditional Christmas lunch was a real treat. Not only was the food simply amazing, we were actually able to enjoy it child free. Our two boys (and our dear little niece) were tucked up in bed napping over lunch. Heaven!!! In the early afternoon we had our family present time (Santa presents are in the morning) and we were so thrilled to see our boys so delighted with the presents they received. Late afternoon was spent at the beach, before heading back to the beach house to enjoy a light tea of prawns and salad. It really was wonderful to be able to spend the entire day in one place. It was so relaxing and the kids had a great time playing with their toys and paddling around at the beach.

Today I am back to reality though. Four loads of washing and a big afternoon cooking in the kitchen!!! Hubby is still on holidays so the cooking really wasn't a chore. It is a treat to have a few uninterrupted hours in the kitchen. In just over two hours I whipped up a loaf of soaked rye bread, some soaked khorasan banana muffins, a peach and custard crumble (this recipe with a base of stewed peaches), a batch of choc chip cookies and honey mustard chicken with steamed rice. It was one of those afternoons in the kitchen where everything went to plan and worked out well. Golly I love my thermomix - I wouldn't have got half of that cooking done without it.

Stay tuned over the next couple of days because I will be posting our family's top 10 favourite thermomix recipes for 2010! We are still debating the last couple on the list, but it will be ready soon!

I will leave you with a couple of photos of our boys that were taken by Photographer Angela Craze from inspiretas at our home just before Christmas. We used the lovely photos in calendars that we gave as gifts at Christmas time.

Filling Tummies with Porcupine Meatballs

2010-12-19T21:28:00.000+11:00

Gosh I love Christmas!!! Is is such a beautiful time of the year when you have little children. Today we took the boys to a store to have their photo taken with Santa for the first time. Our eldest son was absolutely bursting with excitement and afterward he told us that "today is the most lovely day ever". We hunted for Santa's sleigh around the store after the photo and the boys decided he must have come on the bus. So cute!

Our preparations for the big day are going well and the fridge is now jam packed with goodies. We are keeping things very low key in the meals department this week in readiness for all of the rich treats which will no doubt be filling our tummies on Saturday. One of the simple but nutritious meals that I will no doubt be whipping up this week is Porcupine Meatballs. This simple meal is easy with or without a thermomix and can be made more nutritious be using homemade condensed tomato soup, brown rice and serving them with steamed veggies. Yum!

Porcupine Meatballs

Ingredients:

120g brown rice
500g lean beef mince
1 small brown onion - peeled and quartered
salt and pepper
1 450g can of tomato soup (or make your own using this recipe)
230g water

Method:

Weigh the brown rice into the rice basket and rinse well. Cook the brown rice (with 1L water in the bowl) for 20 minutes at varoma temperature on speed 4. Discard water and rinse rice in cold water.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Add onion to the TMX bowl and chop for 5 seconds on speed 5.

Add the mince, rice and salt & pepper. Mix for 10 seconds on reverse speed 3.

Form the mixture into walnut size balls and place in a baking dish (I use a large glass pyrex dish).

Place the soup and water into the TMX bowl and mix for 20 seconds on speed 3. Pour over the meatballs and spoon a little of the soup mixture over each meatball if they are not completely covered.

Bake for 1 hour (increase cooking time if your meatballs are larger). Take the meatballs out and turn them over after 30 minutes.

Serve with steam veggies and mash potato or fresh bread rolls.

Enjoy!

Filling Tummies with Condensed Tomato Soup

2010-12-09T14:58:00.001+11:00

Each summer I buy a 15kg box of sauce tomatoes, chop them up and freeze them in 1kg bags. During the year I then thaw them out when needed to make tomato sauce, relish, passata, pizza and pasta sauces. This year however I am trying to reduce our use of plastic in the kitchen and am therefore going to preserve my fresh tomatoes in one hit (rather than freezing them in plastic).

I have started to get organised and have been busy rounding up suitable jars and bottles from local op shops. I have also started deciding upon my favourite recipes in readiness for my big preserving weekend. Some of my favourites so far include the Ketchup recipe from My Way of Cooking, MJ's Passata, Sally's Relish and my Pizza Sauce.

There is another recipe that I have also recently added to my favourites collection and that is my preserved condensed tomato soup. This recipe actually came about due to a major "oops-a-daisy" in the kitchen where I turned some still frozen tomatoes into sorbet in my thermie. I didn't have a hope of making the relish that I was planning on, but with some major adjustments I managed to turn it into some lovely thick condensed tomato soup. I have since adjusted the sweetness and reduced the vinegar and am now rather proud of this little recipe. I have used the condensed soup to make macaroni beef and echidna meatballs (which I will have to post the recipe for soon). It is so nice to be able to use condensed tomato soup in recipes again. I refuse to buy it due to the preservatives, but I do miss the sweet, rich flavour it brings to dishes!

Condensed Tomato Soup

Ingredients1 large brown onion - peeled and quartered
1 large green apple - cored and quartered
1kg quartered and frozen tomatoes (slightly thawed)
80g red wine vinegar
50g water
150g rapadura (or a little less sugar)
1 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp curry powder
pinch cayenne pepper

Method:
Place onion and apple in TMX bowl and chop for 5 seconds on speed 5. Set aside.

Place tomatoes in TMX bowl and chop on speed 9 using the spatula to assist. Continue stirring and chopping until the tomatoes reach a sorbet-like consistency.

Add remaining ingredients (including apple and onion) and mix for 10 seconds on speed 4.

Cook for 40 minutes at varoma temperature, speed 2.

Blend for 1 minute on speed 9 (turn dial slowly to speed 9 in case of splatters).

Pour into hot sterilised jars (I use two 500ml jars for each batch) and seal.

Use in casseroles, pasta bakes and any other recipe that calls for a can of tomato soup. :-)

Notes:I haven't tried making this with fresh tomatoes, it may very well work the same though.

Treading Lightly - Disposable Laundry Scoops!!!

2010-12-06T21:04:00.001+11:00

One of my absolute pet hates are the little plastic laundry scoops that come in boxes of laundry powder. I can't for the life of me see why we need them. Surely we are all capable of keeping a tablespoon or small cup in the laundry for measuring powder or liquid. We can all measure ingredients in our kitchens (we don't need disposable scoops in our flour bags) so surely we can transfer those skills into our laundries. I know they are tiny and probably don't contribute enormously to our country's landfill (although there must be millions going in every year), but they are just so ridiculously wasteful and unnecessary.

Earlier in the month though I had a very pleasant surprise. I decided to forgo our regular "ecostore" laundry powder and instead decided to trial the slightly cheaper "Aware" brand (endorsed by Planet Ark). The Aware product is similar to ecostore in many environmentally friendly ways and doesn't contain the nasty chemicals that assist in whitening (a good thing I know - sigh!). What pleased me so much about the Aware brand though was that it doesn't contain a scoop. Hooray!!! When I opened our first pack of Aware I hadn't read the box (of course) and I spent a little while digging around in the powder feeling for a scoop. I was so elated when I actually read on the box that it doesn't contain a scoop that I was actually tempted to ring Hubby at work to tell him. He has listened very patiently to my rather ridiculous laundry scoop rants over the past decade - bless him. So anyway this is what the box actually says:

PLEASE NOTE: A plastic scoop in every pack is wasteful. You can help the environment by dedicating a small measuring cup to the laundry.

I don't think it would happen often that a company would actually save money by making their product more environmentally friendly. Common sense prevails! Woohoo!!!

Filling Tummies with Gingerbread

2010-12-03T21:43:00.002+11:00

Well Christmas is now in full swing at our house. The tree is up, the carols are playing, the boys are excited and I am busy cooking. I'm not cooking for the big day yet though. Just getting organised for all of the parties and break-ups that fill the calendar at this time of year.

This Christmas I have simplified my end of year baking somewhat to save both time and money. I made a large batch of gingerbread dough and froze it in 3 large pieces. That way it only needs to be thawed, rolled, cut out and baked the night before we need to "take a party plate". I bought some tiny M&M's that can be baked (in the choc chip section of the supermarket) to decorate them with. They look quite cute and have been very popular with the little tots!

Here is a photo of our gingerbread stars that we took to a party earlier in the week:

Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:
190g treacle (or molasses if you like the flavour)
85g butter (room temperature)
1 large free-range egg
160g-170g brown sugar (or rapadura and a pinch of stevia)
450g plain flour (I used spelt - about 520g)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp ground cloves
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp allspice

Method:

Add treacle, butter and egg to TMX bowl and beat on speed 4 for 1 minute.

Add remaining ingredients and mix on speed 4 for 30 seconds or until mixture is well combined and stiff. Scrape the bottom of the bowl and remix if necessary. You may need to add a little extra flour and remix to achieve a stiff mixture.

Divide the dough into portions, wrap in plastic and freeze for later use.

Or

Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface and cut out your desired shapes (re-rolling the excess dough). Place the shapes on a greased or lined tray. Press on decorations (M&M's etc) if using. Bake cookies at 180 degrees for 8-10 minutes depending on thickness. Don't overcook - the cookies will become firm on standing.

Decorate with icing if desired. Enjoy!

Notes:
This is a large batch - it makes approximately 95 medium sized star shaped cookies.

Hunter Gatherer - The Cost of Organic Vegetables

2010-11-30T14:59:00.000+11:00

Have you ever wondered about the cost of organic vegetables? Do the additional costs involved in organic farming practices really justify the hefty price? Are organic vegies a rip-off? I don't think so!

We live in a farming area and are surrounded by vegetable crops - some of which are organic. We are fortunate where we live that we are able to observe the farming practices around us and take note of what is happening on a daily basis. Two farms in our area are currently growing spring onion crops. On the non organic farm the farmer has sprayed the crop regularly (every ten days it seems). It takes the farmer about an hour to spray the large paddock and we don't see him at the crop in between sprays.

On the organic farm a team of 12 farm workers were employed last week to work alongside the farmer weeding the organic spring onions (allowing them to grow unhindered). It took the twelve workers 16 hours of back-breaking work to weed the crop. The organic farmer visits the crop most days and walks through checking it all. The organic farmer must still maintain a heavy tractor to plough the soil and sow the seeds, it is only the spray attachment that he doesn't require.

Imagine the costs involved in employing 12 people for 16 hours. This weeding may even be repeated before the crop are harvested. Just amazing! Having coughed and choked my way through a mist of vegetable spray once before (I got caught outside at the clothes line on a windy day - grrrr), I know which farmer I will be supporting. This is just one example involving one crop! :-)

Hunter Gatherer - Waste Not, Want Not!!!

2010-11-26T22:48:00.000+11:00

When I did weight watchers years ago they had a slogan that went something like "Waste It. Don't Waist It". At the time I thought that it was quite a nifty little slogan and one that made a lot of sense. At the time though I hadn't travelled through Ethiopia and fallen in love with a country that has such a tragic history of famine and starvation. In light of what I have since seen I can honestly say that that slogan sickens me. When you see poor farming communities with failing crops that are hundreds of kilometres from the major centres, you know that the people will most likely perish before the season is over. And our country has an organisation that advocates wasting food. It is nothing short of disgraceful! Shouldn't the slogans be saying "Just don't buy it in the first place"???

Even in my day to day living I see huge examples of wastage. I have known a lady all of my life who will not eat left-overs. Beautiful salads are thrown in the bin straight after BBQ's. The remains of roasted chickens are thrown away after enough meat for two adults (just one meal) has been sliced off. It makes my blood boil!!!

Now don't get me wrong I am certainly not advocating us all eating every single thing in our fridge regardless of how long it has been there for. During our second trip to Ethiopia (despite being extremely careful) I contracted a rare middle eastern strain of salmonella that plagued my poor body with gastro-like symptoms for over 6 weeks. When I eventually recovered (thankfully with all major organs unharmed) I decided I would do everything in my power to avoid food poisoning again. So I am certainly not going to be feeding my family anything that is even remotely dodgy.

Despite these food hang-ups though I still manage to make use of almost all of our fresh produce and leftovers. Having a thermomix is an awesome way to use up fresh produce that has seen better days. In no time at all I can turn rather tired looking fruit and vegies into delicious soups, stocks, sauces, jams and fruit compotes. Very little goes to waste in our household now that we have our precious thermie! Of course having a few chooks and a compost bay in the yard helps with this also. :-)

Using up left-overs is a bigger challenge and often takes a little more "nutting out". Of course many things can simply be reheated and eaten in the same form, but some things can be reworked and turned into something completely different. Here are some examples of this:

* Leftover mashed potato can be turned into fish cakes.

* Leftover mashed potato and steamed veggies can be turned into Bubble and Squeak.

* Leftover cooked sausages, meatballs, rissoles, chicken and meatloaf can all be chopped and frozen in small bags or containers for pizza toppings (much healthier than processed and artificially preserved meats).

* Leftover roast chicken can be used in delicious curries and pasta bakes.

* Leftover Spaghetti Bolognaise can be spread on pizza bases and sprinkled with cheese for a very child pleasing meal.

* Leftover Meatloaf with Red Sauce (recipe from the EDC) can be turned into Italian Sausage Gratin (using the sauce, meat and extra boiled eggs) or the sauce and meatloaf can be spread on pizza bases and sprinkled with grated cheese for an easy meal.

There are so many great meals that can be made using left-overs - these really are just a few.

Using up all of the food that we buy and grow each week is quite a challenge for me as head chef of our family, but I honestly find it very satisfying to head off to the market or store knowing that my fridge and fruit bowl are completely empty from the week before. I encourage you (and challenge you :-)) to only buy and grow what you truly need and to use it all up (even if you freeze what you make to use another day or give it to somebody in need). It is a great way to save money, to teach your children about excess and to know in your heart that you are not being wasteful when there are people in our world who are starving. xox

Filling Tummies with Yummy Whole Grain Crepes

2010-11-21T21:41:00.000+11:00

Today was such a busy day at our house. Hubby and I decided to do a makeover of our little man's room in honor of him moving from his cot to a big bed (sniff, sniff). Our youngest son's room was one of two rooms in our renovated farm house that we hadn't got around to painting and sprucing up. We painted the walls and ceiling, washed and mended the curtains, packed up the cot, assembled the big boy bed and then put the room all back together. It all looks so lovely and fresh now and little man was admiring it all as he snuggled down in his bed tonight. He did look so little in that big bed though!

You may be thinking how on earth did we get the energy to get through all of that in one day. The answer my friends is a delicious breakfast of purple smoothies (see notes for purple variation) and wholegrain crepes with pure organic maple syrup. This was my first experimentation with whole grain crepes and they were sooooooooo good! Aside from the fact that they were ridiculously filling, there was no possible way of knowing they were made with whole grains. Just perfectly lovely crepes (light and delicate) with the goodness of milk, eggs and of course soaked whole grains. Yum!

Whole Grain Crepes

Ingredients:

390g non-homogenised milk
150g spelt, wheat or khorasan (kamut)
1 tbsp organic apple cider vinegar

30g organic oil (mild flavoured)
3 free range eggs
pinch Himalayan salt

Method:
Place milk, grain and vinegar in bowl and blend for 2 minutes on speed 9. Scrape mixture down half way through.

Scrape mixture into a bowl (or leave in TM), cover with a tea towel and leave to soak at cool room temperature for 24 hours (I really do recommend this amount of time).

After the soaking period add all of the ingredients into the TM bowl (including the soaked flour) and blend for 3 minutes at speed 9.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes before making the crepes.

I make six large (and extremely filling) crepes using my crepe pan. I season the pan with butter before making the first crepe and then do not add any more butter to the pan.

Serve as sweet or savoury crepes - with lemon and rapadura, pure maple syrup, fruit and cream, chicken curry etc.

My Dairy Dilemma!!!

2010-11-19T14:24:00.000+11:00

I feel terrible!!! My nose is running, my throat is itchy and my sinuses may explode at any minute. If I went to a Chemist I have no doubt that they would send me off with some anti-histamines for hayfever, but I know what the real problem is. Dairy!!!

We don't have a lot of dairy in our family diet. Our breakfasts are dairy-free and we drink and eat very little dairy other than what I use in my cooking. Sometimes however we will sneak in a round of milkshakes, a batch of homemade ice cream or perhaps even some custard or rice pudding. That is what we having been doing a bit this week and that is why I feel so terrible.

I have known for quite some time that I don't tolerate dairy well and it makes me snuffly. I have also known that overloading on dairy will bring on hay fever symptoms and make me miserable. Other than cutting right down on dairy though I haven't really done anything about it though. I certainly haven't been brave enough to cut it right out like my blogger buddy Quirky Jo. I think if it wasn't for the cheese factor (I love cheese!!!) and perhaps my terrible sweet tooth (I love chocolate!!!) I possibly could cut it out. I know it isn't necessary for a healthy diet and that there are a lot better foods to eat for the absorbtion of calcium and other important nutrients. Big sigh!

Something that I have been thinking about lately though is the whole A2 milk revolution. I have been researching all about it and have started to wonder if perhaps A2 milk and dairy products are the answer to my dilemma. There is so much info on A2 milk out there but I really don't think you can beat this succinct explanation from the fed up website:

"A2 is the name of a milk protein that was in all dairy herds until a natural mutation occurred in the European herd thousands of years ago.

Milk from Jersey cows, Guernsey cows, camels, sheep, buffalo, yaks, donkeys, goats, and Asian cows naturally contain mostly these A2 beta casein proteins, whereas milk from cows such as Holsteins usually contains mostly the protein variant called A1 beta casein. In the 1970s, Australian dairy herds switched from using Jersey cows to Holsteins and at that time some dairy farmers’ families noticed effects on their health, keeping a Jersey cow for their own use.

Milks containing mostly A2 proteins are often said to be better for ‘allergies’ (such as gut, skin rashes, hayfever, cough). There is also research to suggest that A1 beta casein may be associated with serious health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes type 1 and autism."

I have decided to trial A2 milk and A2 dairy products for the next fortnight whilst monitoring my snuffling, sneezing and itchy throat. I am going to try to cut out A1 milk and milk products completely for the fortnight. Our local organic farm shop sells Elgaar dairy products made from 100% Jersey milk so I will still be able to use cream, quark and mozzarella (only a little though because it is SO expensive). I will buy A2 milk from the supermarket though, as the Elgaar milk that is sold is now blended with 20% Holstein milk. The supermarket milk is homogenised, but it is the only other option for me here (that I know of) and may only be for a fortnight. I have heard that Lindt do a dairy-free chocolate so I will probably have to check that out at some stage during the fortnight also.

Fingers crossed that there is some huge improvement and I really don't need to give up dairy altogether. :-)

Filling Tummies without White Pasta and Rice!!!

2010-11-17T14:42:00.000+11:00

I love my thermomix dearly and really do believe that using a thermomix can lead to a greatly improved family diet. There is one area though that worries me a little and has done right from the start. I have noticed that many of the quick and easy family meals in the TMX cookbooks are white pasta and white rice based dishes. Whilst they are certainly easy and most are very yummy, these dishes really do need to be eaten in moderation. In her book "Wholefood for the Family" Jude Blereau says "I have nothing against pasta - I love it! - but it's not something to be eaten every night for dinner. Unfortunately that's what I see a lot of people doing. At the end of a busy day, pasta is a quick and appealing option."

I would hate to think that in the quest to eat a healthier preservative free diet people may actually move from basic meat and three veg meals to "healthy" TMX meals that are actually packed with harmful white carbs (pasta, risotto etc). Not good! In an effort to maintain balance in our diet I try and limit our main meals to one white pasta and one white rice dish per week. This gives us some special treat meals each week, but also keeps the meal focus on lean meat, legumes, and vegetables.

Here are some of our favourite TMX white rice/white pasta free meals
(although some do contain a small amount of bread crumbs and corn flour):

Curried Pumpkin and Lentil Soup

Bangers and Mash

Versatile Beef Stew

Meatball, Vege and Bean Soup

Lentil Bolognaise (served with jacket potatoes)

Baf's Award Winning Creamy Chicken and Veg

Spiced Chicken and Sweet Potato

Chicken Kiev

Filling Tummies with Curried Pumpkin and Lentil Soup

2010-11-14T22:27:00.000+11:00

I know it is nearly summer and most of you have probably moved on from soups, but it is still quite chilly down here in Tassie. Still perfect weather for soup!!!

I came across this curried pumpkin and lentil soup recipe on taste.com and when I read all of the wonderful reviews I just had to try it. I must say it is one of the best pumpkin soups I have ever tasted and so ridiculously easy. Seriously thick and yummy!!! I have converted it for the thermomix below, but if you don't have a thermomix check out the original recipe here (it still looks quite easy).

Curried Pumpkin and Lentil Soup

Ingredients:
1/2 onion, peeled and halved
1 clove garlic, peeled
40g organic olive oil
1 teaspoon curry powder (or to taste)
700g butternut pumpkin, peeled, seeds removed, and roughly chopped
100g dried red lentils
620g vegetable stock (600g water and 1 tbsp stock concentrate)
natural yoghurt, to serve

Method:
Add onion and garlic to TMX bowl and chop for 3 seconds on speed 5.

Add oil and sauté for 3 minutes at 100 degrees, reverse speed 1, adding the curry powder in the last minute.

Add the pumpkin and chop for 5 seconds on speed 5.

Add the lentils and stock and cook for 20 minutes at 100 degrees on reverse soft speed.

Blend for 20 seconds gradually moving the dial up to speed 9.

Serve with a dollop of natural yoghurt.

Filling Tummies with Sally's Yummy Tomato Sauce

2010-11-12T15:32:00.002+11:00

Whoops I just realised that I had promised to post this wonderfully easy and yummy sauce recipe a couple of days ago. Sorry folks! Thanks again to Sally for giving me permission to post her relish and sauce recipes here on my blog. :-)

Tomato Sauce

1 kg tomatoes
200g apples
200g onions
150g sugar
150g vinegar
2 tbs salt
tsp each of cayenne pepper, allspice & cloves (can add more or less depending on personal taste)

Cut tomatoes in half and place in TM bowl. Chop on speed 7-8 for 2-3 seconds, just enough to reduce the size to fit the rest of the ingredients in.

Quarter apples & onions & place in tm bowl. Chop for 4-5 seconds on speed 7-8.

Add the remainder of the ingredients.

Cook for 30 mins, temp. 100, speed 1.

If it gets too hot and bubbles over reduce the temp to 90. I place folded paper towel into the mc hole (wrapped around the MC) about 20 mins into the cooking to help thicken the sauce.

At the end of cooking puree the sauce to desired consistency & place into hot sterilized bottles.

Scarves for Ethiopian Children

2010-11-12T15:06:00.001+11:00

Many of you would have read my recent post regarding my challenge to make 90+ polar fleece scarves as presents for Ethiopian children this Christmas/Genna. I would like to thank all of you who have pledged to help me (especially as the number of scarves needed has climbed to over 130). I will email my postal address to those who have offered to help or send you a PM on forum thermomix if I don't have your address. I am hoping to send off the scaves at the end of November. If you would like to assist and haven't contacted me please leave a message below.

Our scarves are well underway here. I found some lovely bright polar fleece on special at Spotlight for $7.50 a metre. I asked the lady to cut it into lengths of 1.2m (each 1.2m length is enough fabric to make 10 scarves). They are very easy using a metre ruler (or something large with a straight edge) and good fabric scissors.

Here is a photo of my eldest son modelling one of the scarves:

I recently was asked a very good question about the scarves by one of my good friends and I thought I should probably include it (and my answer) here on my blog. My friend asked why I have chosen to make scarves and not blankets or clothing if the children are so destitute. Such a good question CG!

My answer was simply that the scarves are a gift and not aid. Aid is desperately needed of course (and we help as much as we can) but I truly believe that there is also a place for the giving of gifts that will bring a little joy to those who lead such terribly difficult lives. I haven't always thought this way though. During our first trip to Ethiopia we spent time at a HIV/AIDS orphanage in the capital. We played soccer and tag with the older children, carried the babies outside for some sunshine and cuddles and we gave the very poor centre specialised formula, powdered milk and birr (Ethiopian $$). It was honestly one of the hardest times of my life and I had to find a lot of courage deep within myself to be able to hold some of the little orphans who were completely covered in open lesions but so desperate for my affection. I can tell you that I have never felt more wonderfully alive in my life though and I can't wait to get back and do more!

During that time we were amazed to see the children (who were basically wearing rags and fighting AIDS related illnesses without any medication) wearing sparkling hair clips, bright plastic sunglasses and beads. When I spoke to one of the workers she told me that an American couple had come and given them to the children (with a small amount of birr). I was enraged. I thought surely those stupid people could at least bring some food and powdered milk for the children. As the time progressed though I began to notice how much the children treasured their "bling" and how happy they were wearing their sparkly trinkets. My husband also noticed and we decided that next time we visited, we too would take a big bag of bling for the children! Even though they were extremely sick children who had suffered enormous losses, they were still just children at heart.

Scarves are used in Ethiopia as shawls, neck scarves, head pieces and tied around waists in traditional dancing which is why I thought a colourful scarf would be culturally appropriate and greatly appreciated. The cooler climate in that part of Ethiopia (even getting frosts) is why I decided on the polar fleece fabric.

Hope this helps to explain the project a little more!

Chelsea xox

Filling Tummies with Sally's Yummy Relish

2010-11-08T21:18:00.002+11:00

Nothing beats a fresh pot of tasty relish served with homemade sausage rolls. Yum! With tomatoes starting to naturally ripen in the northern states of Australia, it is time for many to start getting stuck into some preserving.

My friend Sal has given me permission to post her very yummy and very easy relish and sauce TMX recipes on my blog. Here is the relish recipe and the sauce recipe will follow in the next couple of days. My apologies for no photo. We have been struck down by gastro at our house and I am sticking to no-frills blogging until things settle down!

Sally's Yummy Relish

Ingredients:

1kg tomatoes

1 large onion - peeled and quartered

1-2 apples - quartered

150g sugar

1-2 tsp mustard

1-2 tsp curry powder

pinch of cayenne pepper

1-2 tbsp salt

150g vinegar

Method:

Place tomatoes into TM bowl and chop for 2 seconds on speed 4-5.

Place onion and apples and place in TM bowl. Chop for 2 seconds on speed 4-5. Do not over chop.

Add remainder of ingredients and mix for 10 seconds on reverse speed 3.

Cook for 30 mins, temp 100, reverse speed 1.

I place a paper towel around the mc in the hole to thicken the relish. You may need to cook longer if it is not thick enough.

Pour into hot sterilised jars.

Enjoy!

Putting My Feet Up!!!

2010-11-05T14:12:00.000+11:00

Hi All,

Just thought I should let you know I haven't fallen off the earth. My in-laws visited from the mainland and kept us all very busy for the week. The boys really loved having their Grandparents over for a visit (more people to boss around).

In the next couple of days I should have a new recipe for you to try and a few reviews from the TMX Budget Busters Cookbook. Stay tuned. Until then I am putting my feet up - I am exhausted!

Chelsea xox

Filling Tummies with Seeded Bread

2010-10-31T14:27:00.000+11:00

Last week I was going into battle at my local supermarket (doing the monthly groceries) when I heard an announcement over the PA "loaves of cheese and bacon bread still warm from the oven - half price". I couldn't resist and put one in my trolley as I walked past. My husband nearly had a coronary when he pulled it out of the grocery bag on my return home as I have only bought one other loaf of bread this year. We couldn't help ourselves and buttered some slices of the bread for a quick and easy lunch. It tasted quite nice and we were rather amused when one of our boys asked if it was cake or bread. Less than an hour later though we were all starving hungry again and also didn't feel that great in our tummies!!!

Of course I learnt my lesson and reverted back to homemade bread in a hurry. My quest to find an easy, healthy and tasty bread recipe has continued on for almost a year, but finally I have found a loaf that I am happy with (for now anyway). I have been making this seeded loaf as our daily bread for several weeks now and we really enjoy it. It isn't a light and fluffy loaf, but is just how I think bread should be. Wholesome!!! The bread has the goodness of soaked wholegrain (read about soaking here), but isn't 100% wholegrain. I have given up on that dream for now as I am not happy using the bread enhancing product necessary to make decent 100% wholegrain bread. It is still hugely better for us than most storebought varieties that normally use significantly less wholegrain and sometimes even use dyes to colour the bread. Yuk!!!

Seeded Loaf

(Adapted from the Five Seed Loaf - Revised Everyday Cookbook)

Ingredients:
200g khorasan or spelt grain
200g lukewarm water
1 tbsp organic apple cider vinegar

300g bakers flour or 360g spelt flour
2 rounded tsp dry yeast
1 tsp Himalayan salt
1 tsp dulse flakes
200g seed mix (see notes below)
30g organic honey
30g organic extra virgin olive oil
300g lukewarm water

Method:

Mill flour for 1 minute and 30 seconds on speed 9. Add water and vinegar and stir for 10 seconds on speed 3. Set aside to soak at cool room temperature for 12-24 hours covered with a clean tea towel.

After soaking period place all ingredients into the TMX bowl (including the soaked flour) and knead for 4 minutes on interval speed.

Scrape into a greased 20cm square dish (I just use my rectangle bread tin) and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size. This takes about an hour for me on a warm window sill.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Bake in oven for approx 45 minutes. The original instructions say to cool in tin before moulding, but I find it sweats too much. I like to tip it out and cool on a rack. :-)

Notes:

I make up a seed mix (enough for 5 loaves) and keep it in a large container in the fridge. It saves so much time, rather than getting out all of the seeds and oats and weighing them individually. Here is the list for the mix:

Seeded loaf Mix:

250g rolled or steel cut oats
150g linseeds
150g sunflower seeds
150g pumpkin seeds
150g poppy seeds (I usually use chia seeds instead)
150g sesame seeds

Weigh into clean and dry TMX bowl and mix on reverse speed 3 for 10 seconds. Pour into a large container and store in fridge.

Individual Loaf Seed Amounts:

50g rolled oats, 30g poppy seeds, 30g sesame seeds, 30g pumpkin seeds, 30g sunflower seeds and 30g linseeds.

Filling Tummies with Choc Chip Cookies

2010-10-22T20:33:00.000+11:00

When you cook everything from scratch you need to be quite organised and try to prepare for the unexpected. One of the ways that I prepare for unexpected guests is to keep rolls of uncooked biscuit dough in the freezer (wrapped in greaseproof paper). That way when I see visitors coming down the lane and our biscuit tin is empty (or rather uninspiring) I can quickly slice off some biscuits and bake them while the kettle boils.

Yesterday morning however when I got the call to say some visitors were on their way our biscuit tin was empty and there were no biscuit rolls in the freezer. I decided to make a batch of my Mum's very quick and easy choc chip cookies. Yum! Using the TMX I can have a batch in the oven in less than 10 minutes, which is handy. They are so yummy and can be made quite easily without the TMX also. I just love rustic homemade cookies!

Choc Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

125g butter, cubed
1 free-range egg
100g organic raw sugar (or 150g rapadura and no brown sugar)
70g brown sugar
300g plain flour (or 340g spelt flour)
2 level tsp baking powder
120g choc chips (or 1 x 100g block of organic chocolate chopped)

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees and grease or line biscuit trays.

Add butter, egg and sugars to TMX bowl and beat for 40 seconds on speed 3.

Add flour and baking powder and mix for 20 seconds on speed 4.

Add choc chips and mix on reverse speed 3 for 10 seconds.

Roll mixture into balls (heaped tablespoon amount), place on tray and press down with a fork.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Yum!

Filling Tummies With Our Top 10 Favourite Recipes

2010-10-19T13:15:00.000+11:00

We have tried lots of new thermomix recipes from forumthermomix and thermomix blogs lately and have some new favourites to share with you. Here are our current top 10 favourite recipes in no particular order:

1) Achookwoman's KFC Coating - this is an amazing chicken coating that really does taste like KFC. I love to serve it with mash and a garden salad or in hamburger buns with lettuce and mayo. Photo below.

2) Robyn's Macaroni Beef - This is an easy family meal that is very tasty. Scroll down the thread and read my review to make it even easier.

3) Cheese and Basil Knots - Such easy and tasty rolls (although my boys think they look a teeny bit like little dog poos).

4) Quick Curried Snags - So good when I am short on time and energy. Photo below.

5) Brownie Milk - A delicious chocolate topping that is great in milkshakes or in ice cream sundaes (with homemade ice cream of course :-)).

6) Parmesan Potatoes - Judy really has outdone herself with these very tasty tatters!

7) Beef Stroganoff - So yummy and easy!!! Photo below.

8) Tenina's Fudge - This fudge is heavenly and makes a great gift.

9) Chocolate Eclairs - Thanks Mum for this little gem!! Photo below.

10) White chocolate and cranberry cookies - Yum!

Check out our previous favourite 10 recipes here.

An Absolute Must This Christmas . . .

2010-10-18T14:30:00.000+11:00

I have a huge collection of kids books. I started collecting them when I was at Uni studying teaching and I am still collecting them today. We have bookshelves groaning with kids books of all shapes, sizes and genres. They have come from a variety of places (garage sales, online sellers, markets, our overseas travels etc). I really loved taking my books to school to share with my students and now I love sharing them with our boys at home. Some of the collection has become a wee bit worn from our boys rather enthusiastic reading sessions and I must admit this bothered me a bit when I first became a Mum. After a little soul searching I decided though that it was better to have a well worn book collection and children with a love of books than perfectly preserved books and children with no interest in reading at all.

Several years ago I had the pleasure of going to listen to Children's Author Mem Fox speak when she came to Tasmania. Mem spoke passionately about children's reading and was adamant that the most important factor in teaching children to read was parents reading to their children on a daily basis. She spoke about choosing a variety of books to read together and to really find out what is enjoyable and engaging for each child. To finish the evening she read her wonderful book The Magic Hat. I have never seen anyone read quite like Mem. She made funny jokes, bounced around, thumped the book, shouted out, giggled and laughed and had such a very fun and lively time reading. I was captivated and have never forgotten her enthusiasm. When I read to the boys in the daytime I try to put a little of Mem's enthusiasm and fun into our reading time (although our bed time stories are certainly different).

Each year we buy the boys a book to put with their Christmas things. Last year I choose the old favourites "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "We're Going an a Bear Hunt", and we have read them SOOOOO many times in the past year. This year however I decided to choose some very cheeky and quite humorous books. So we picked out "The Wonky Donkey" for our eldest and "Mr McGee and The Biting Flee" for our little man. There will certainly be plenty of giggles at our house on Christmas morning. If you are also looking for funny books this year "The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew it Was None of His Business" is another crack-up book. If you would like to buy them remember to check out booko.com.au. Just type the titles in to compare prices from all around the world. The UK and US book depository prices are amazing!

Out of the three books The Wonky Donkey is certainly my favourite (it is just so funny) and really is a must for kids stocking this year.

Filling Tummies with Chocolate Eclairs

2010-10-17T21:40:00.000+11:00

This is my new favourite recipe. Yum! It has taken a while but I have finally converted my Mum's awesome choux pastry recipe for the TMX and I have whipped up 3 batches in the past week (not all for us mind you). Our chooks have been laying really well which makes these a very inexpensive, but still totally yummy treat!

Of course you can use this versatile recipe to make a variety of different choux pastry delights including cream puffs, a croquembouche, profiteroles or the very decadent Gateau St Honore. Just vary the shape of the pastry to suit. I make rustic eclair shapes using a tablespoon and knife (a little more rustic than my Mum who uses the same technique :-)) but you can pipe them using a piping bag or ziplock with the corner snipped off.

Happy Cooking!!!

Chocolate Eclairs

Ingredients:

230g water
60g butter
120g plain flour (I use wheat)
1 tsp baking powder
4 eggs (each weighing about 70-75g in shell)
whipped cream (600g bottle for this amount of eclairs :-))
chocolate icing

Method:

Preheat oven to 210 degrees (see notes).

Grease and flour 2 medium oven trays (or one very large). I use butter to grease them lightly and then place 1 tsp of flour in the corner of each tray. I then tilt and tap the tray until each is lightly covered in flour.

Add water and butter to TMX bowl and heat for 6 minutes at 100 degrees, speed 2.

Add flour and baking powder and mix for 10 seconds on speed 4. Scrape down sides of bowl and mix for another 10 seconds on speed 4.

Take lid off bowl and set aside for 5 minutes until cooled slightly.

Set blades spinning at speed 4 and add eggs one at a time (about ten seconds apart). It should only take 40 seconds in total.

Place the mixture onto the trays. For chocolate eclairs I use a heaped oval tablespoon full of mixture and use a knife to take it off the spoon and stretch it into a small thin sausage shape spaced well apart on the tray. You can of course pipe them. For cream puffs just place rounded spoonfuls of mixture onto the tray. I make 15-16 chocolate eclairs using this recipe.

Bake the eclairs for 15 minutes at 210 degrees and then turn your oven back to 180 degrees for a further 20-30 minutes. Do not open the oven door in the first 30 minutes of cooking. Watch them carefully from 15 minutes at 180 degrees and leave them as long as you can without letting them burn (although they don't have sugar in them so they don't burn easily). Every oven is different but mine are perfectly cooked after 15 minutes at 210 and 25 minutes at 180.

Fill with cream and spread with chocolate icing. Yum!

Notes:

The two main variables in this recipe are egg size and oven temperature:

Egg Size - If your mixture is too thick (eggs too small) the eclairs will most likely be quite uncooked in the centre. A little softness in the centre is fine (and better than totally dry and crunchy), but not filled with uncooked dough. Add an extra half of an egg (beaten) if you are feel your mixture is too thick.

Oven temperature - If your oven is slightly hot or cold you may need to adjust the temperatures. The choux should be puffed and already browning after 15 minutes at 210.

Scarves for Ethiopian Children

2010-10-14T14:18:00.002+11:00

Dear Blogger-Friends (from near and a far),

This Christmas I am working on a special project to hopefully brighten the lives of some extremely impoverished children in Ethiopia. I am attempting to make a polar fleece scarf for each of the 90+ children at the Bonga Feeding Centre/Kindergarten in Western Ethiopia. The Centre is funded by World Families Australia and started as a feeding centre to ensure that young children at risk in the area receive one meal a day and has developed into a kindergarten.

If you (or any of your family and friends) are able to assist me with this project by donating a couple of scarves I know it would be greatly appreciated as January mornings and evenings can be very chilly in Bonga. Something bright and colourful would also be treasured by the children who have so few possessions. I have found a willing courier (a wonderful lady from Adelaide) who will personally hand deliver the scarves to the children in time for Genna (Ethiopian Christmas) in early January.

Polar fleece scarves are readily available to buy, but are also very easy to make (no sewing required). I have copied a simple pattern below. Polar fleece is available at most fabric stores and polar fleece blankets (that can be cut up) are often available at discount stores.

With love from
Chelsea

P.S - Please note that our involvement in Ethiopian charities is not linked in any way to our adoption of Terefe and is neither expected or required by the Ethiopian people or Ethiopian Authorities.

Kids Polar Fleece Scarf Pattern:

Use a marking pen and a ruler to measure out a rectangle that measures 15cm (6 inches) by 120cm (48 inches), then cut it out using a rotary cutter (or fabric scissors). Cut the fringe of the scarf by making cuts 1-2 centimetres (about half an inch) apart and about 10cm (4 inches) long). If you leave the scarf folded, you can cut both ends at once. Tip: You can mark the height of the fringe lines with low tack masking tape. Cut up to the tape for each strand of the fringe. The tape is easily removed after cutting.

Wrap It Up - Spicy Beef and Bean Burritos

2010-10-08T20:45:00.000+11:00

Well, this is the final recipe for my Wrap It Up challenge. According to my Hubby I have saved the best for last - he loves this meal. I think I would have to agree. This meal is so easy and tasty I really love it too. I am glad it is such an easy and uncomplicated recipe as I am really hanging out for my bed tonight. I love daylight savings, but it does muck me around for a couple of weeks. I just couldn't bring myself to go to bed without finishing this challenge though. :-)

Spicy Beef and Bean Burritos

Ingredients:

8 wraps (use this recipe but use 375g spelt flour, 150g water and 70g oil)
120g tasty cheese cubed
1 batch of chilli con carne from the EDC (see notes)
sour cream and garden salad for serving

Method:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees and lightly oil a large rectangle baking dish.

Make wraps and set aside.

Grate cheese for 4 seconds on speed 8 and set aside.

Make the chilli con carne according to the EDC instructions.

Spread the mix onto the centre of the wraps and roll up carefully. Place folded side down into the baking dish. You should be able to fit all eight in (nice and snug). There will be some mixture left-over.

Sprinkle with cheese and bake for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted and golden.

Serve with sour cream and a garden salad. Enjoy!

Notes:

When making chilli con carne I add 2 heaped tsp of smoked sweet paprika (add with the chilli) and half a cup of chopped coriander leaves (add at the end) for extra flavour. Yum!

The left-over mixture is lovely as a base for nachos or served on hot jacket potatoes. Mmmmmm!

Wrap it Up - Greek Meatball Wraps with Minted Yoghurt

2010-10-07T21:16:00.000+11:00

The Wrap It Up Challenge (5 wrap recipes in 5 days) continues!!! Today's recipe (recipe # 4) is lovely for a lunch or light evening meal. I especially love the Taste.com inspired meatballs. They are very tasty and are oven baked which makes them really easy.

Greek Meatball Wraps with Minted Yoghurt

Ingredients:

6 wraps - see this recipe
1 garlic clove - peeled
fresh mint leaves - small handful (for meatballs)
1 egg
80g feta cheese - crumbled
60g fresh breadcrumbs - can make beforehand in TMX
400g lamb mince
dried oregano - sprinkle
extra virgin olive oil spray
1/2 cup Greek yoghurt
fresh mint leaves - small handful (for yoghurt)
2 tsp lemon juice
iceberg lettuce shredded
cherry tomatoes - quartered

Method:

Make wraps according to recipe and set aside.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees and line a large tray with baking paper.

Drop garlic and mint leaves on blades spinning at speed 8.

Scrape down sides and add egg and feta. Mix and chop the egg and feta on speed 4 for 10 seconds or until feta is chopped quite finely.

Add the breadcrumbs, mince and oregano and mix on reverse speed 3 for 10 seconds or until well combined. Push the mixture onto the blades with the spatula if necessary.

Shape the mixture into balls (a little smaller than a golf ball) and place onto prepared tray. Spray lightly with olive oil spray and then bake for 15 minutes or until cooked through.

While the meatballs are cooking prepare the minted yoghurt. I hand chopped the small amount of mint leaves and stirred it and the lemon juice through the yoghurt. You could use the TMX to do this of course.

Lay the wraps out on a flat surface and spread each with a small amount of the yoghurt. Place the lettuce, tomatoes and meatballs (when cooked) down the centre of the wraps and drizzle with yoghurt. Wrap up and enjoy!

Wrap It Up - Apple and Cinnamon Toasties

2010-10-06T21:10:00.000+11:00

Tonights contribution to my "Wrap It Up" challenge is possibly my favourite wrap recipe of all time (I am such a terrible sweet tooth)! These apple and cinnamon toasties were inspired by a recipe from taste.com and are very simple and very tasty. They are a lovely snack or light meal at any time of the day.

Apple and Cinnamon Toasties

Makes 6 Toasties

Ingredients:

6 wraps - check out this recipe
3 tbsp cream cheese - room temperature
3 green skinned apples - peeled, cored and thinly sliced
50g water
1 tsp rapadura or organic raw sugar
2 tbsp sultanas
pinch ground cinnamon

Method:

Make wraps and spread them out on a flat surface to cool.

Place the apples, water and rapadura into TMX bowl and cook for 7 minutes, 100 degrees at reverse speed 1 (adding sultanas and cinnamon in the last minute of cooking).

Preheat sandwich press, George Foreman grill or a fry pan.

Spread the wraps with the cream cheese (half a tbsp roughly on each) and with the slightly cooled apple mixture. Don't spread all the way to the edge.

Fold opposite sides in (the sides and then the top and bottom) to completely enclose the filling in a little parcel.

Cook for several minutes (until golden brown) in a press or grill with the folded side underneath. Turn after 2 minutes if using a fry pan.

Enjoy!

Wrap It Up - Chicken Chimichangas with Avocado Salsa

2010-10-05T21:28:00.000+11:00

This is the second recipe in my Wrap it Up challenge (5 wrap recipes in 5 days) - click here to check out the first recipe (Aussie Flatbread Pizza).

I found a recipe for Pork Chimichangas in a copy of Recipe+ (another nice recipe from that mag - amazing I know) and as I'm not overly keen on pork I substituted some chicken breast in. You could of course use pork mince like the original recipe. My hubby and boys loved this Mexican platter meal. I must admit I was pretty impressed too. I love the combination of cumin and smoked paprika - yum. :-)

Chicken Chimichangas

Ingredients:

8 large wraps (see notes below)
120g tasty cheese - cubed
1 medium red onion - peeled and quartered
2 cloves garlic - peeled
35g organic olive oil
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked sweet paprika
1/2 small red capsicum
350g chicken breast or thighs diced (2x2cm)
1 tbsp of sweet chilli sauce
large handful of baby spinach leaves
oil for shallow frying (I like Grape seed oil)
1 medium avocado, peeled and chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice
sour cream to serve

Method:

Make wraps and set aside (see note below).

Grate cheese in TMX for 4 seconds on speed 8. Set aside

Chop onion and garlic in TMX for 2 seconds on speed 5. Scrape down sides, add oil and saute for 3 minutes, 100 degrees on reverse speed 1. Add the spices and cook for a further minute at the same temperature.

Add capsicum and chop for 2-3 seconds on speed 5. Add chicken and chilli sauce and cook for 5 minutes, 100 degrees, reverse soft speed. After the cooking has finished add the spinach leaves and stir through with spatula.

While this is cooking chop the avocado and tomato (by hand). Combine with lemon juice and set aside.

Assemble the Chimichangas by laying each wrap out separately and placing a row of grated cheese down the centre (not all the way to each end though as they have to be tucked up). Spread the meat mix on top of each row of cheese being careful not to spoon on the liquid that may have cooked out from the chicken and capsicum. Fold in opposite sides to cover filling and then roll up completely to enclose filling.

Heat oil to a moderate heat in a fry pan and shallow fry the parcels in 2 batches turning once. Placing the parcels folded side down first will help to keep them together. Drain on paper towels.

Serve on a platter or individually with the avocado salsa and sour cream.

Notes:

I followed this wonderful recipe but increased the ingredients to make a larger amount. I used 375g spelt flour, 150g water and 70g organic extra virgin olive oil. This amount made 8 large wraps.

When I make my wraps I always give the TMX bowl a quick wipe with a blob of the dough before proceeding to roll out the wraps. This really helps when it comes to cleaning the bowl.

This is a very mild Mexican dish, but could easily be spiced up by adding a chilli or some chilli flakes in with the onion and garlic.

The chicken may break up a little bit during cooking which is fine and won't be noticeable in the chimichangas.

Wrap It Up - Aussie Flatbread Pizza

2010-10-04T21:47:00.002+11:00

Well folks this is the first recipe in my "Wrap it Up" challenge (5 wrap recipes in 5 days). It is inspired by a recipe that I spotted in a Recipe+ mag. It is one of my hubby's favourite lunches and is loved by my kids too.

Aussie Flat Bread Pizza

Ingredients:

4 x 18cm wraps (use this recipe and make them extra large)

100g tasty cheese cubed

1 small onion - peeled and quartered
2 cloves garlic
30g organic olive oil
400g can diced organic tomatoes
1 tbsp organic tomato paste
sprinkle dried oregano and basil

225g can pineapple pieces well drained
large handful of baby spinach leaves
4 eggs at room temperature
cracked pepper to taste

Method:

Make the wraps and place them on two oiled oven trays.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Grate the cheese in the TMX for 3 seconds on speed 8. Set aside.

Make the tomato pizza sauce by placing the onion and garlic in the TMX bowl and chopping for 3 seconds on speed 5. Scrape down the sides, add oil and cook for 3 minutes at 100 degrees, reverse soft speed. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste and dried herbs and cook for 7 minutes at 100 degrees, speed 2. Remove from bowl and cool.

Spread the cooled pizza sauce over the wraps (freeze any excess). Arrange the pineapple and spinach over the pizzas and sprinkle with cheese. Carefully break an egg on to the middle of each pizza.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the egg is just set. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Filling Tummies During "Wrap It Up Week"

2010-10-04T21:11:00.000+11:00

I am very excited to be starting on another challenge for my blog as they really motivate me with my cooking. I have been thinking about the theme for my next challenge for a while and when I was recently given a great chapatti wrap recipe I knew I just had to do a "Wrap It Up" challenge. So here it is:

Wrap It Up Challenge - 5 Versatile Recipes in 5 Days

Here's hoping this week will be a little more sane than last week and I will get a chance to post a recipe each night. Stay tuned for recipe #1. :-)

Filling Tummies with Yummy Wraps

2010-09-30T14:30:00.001+10:00

I wrote recently in a blog post about going along to listen to Sue Dengate speak when she came to Tassie. As the weeks have gone by I have been processing all that Sue talked about and I have found one thing has really stuck very firmly in my mind. Sue told us that fruit and vegetables are in no way equal in their vitamin and mineral content and that our bodies really do need considerably more vegetables than fruit. While fruit certainly does contain goodness, it is vegetables (particularly those like cabbage and brussel sprouts) that we should apparently be chowing down on. The old "five serves of vegetables and two serves of fruit each day" slogan really seems to hit the nail on the head.

This was really interesting to me as I can remember taking our eldest son to a clinic nurse when he was eighteen months old to discuss my concerns that he really disliked vegetables and just wanted to eat fruit. The clinic sister told me not too worry as the goodness of fruit and vegetables was much of a muchness and it was just great he was eating healthy food. I can remember at the time that didn't sit well with me because I was worried eating too much fruit would upset his tummy and would lead to an overly sweet palate. I am so glad that we pushed on so much with the veggies now, especially in light of what Sue discussed. It also helped greatly when little number two came along and had a good role model for veggie eating. :-)

So packing more veggies into our day (and also reducing our fruit), has been a focus of mine this week. We still have a big fruit smoothie for breakfast each day with a small wholegrain crumpet or muffin and sometimes a banana for a snack throughout the day, but that is basically it for our fruit. I am trying to bump up our lunches with more veggies and we are enjoying soups, veggie wraps, flat bread pizzas, creamed corn on toast, salads and jacket potatoes. I am also trying to incorporate cabbage and brussel sprouts into our diet while they are still available and reasonably fresh. The boys aren't really keen on either, but I will keep trying different ways of cooking them and hopefully find a couple of recipes they like - or tolerate. Coleslaw is definitely out (sigh)!

I mentioned earlier that we have been enjoying salad wraps. My friend gave me a great recipe for chapati-style wraps that I have been using quite a bit lately (thanks SB!!). They stay fresh and pliable for a couple of days and will be wonderful for lunch boxes next year. My friend told me that the oil content can be reduced a little and some wholegrain flour can be substituted in if the wraps are going to be eaten that day. The recipe uses spelt flour, but I'm sure could be made successfully with plain wheat flour. Perhaps try using 20% more water though as the liquid ratios are a bit different with wheat.

Spelt Chapati Wraps

Ingredients:

250g unbleached spelt flour
100g water
50g organic extra virgin olive oil
pinch Himalayan salt

Method:

Place all ingredients in TMX bowl and knead for 1 minute on interval speed.

Tip out on bread mat or lightly floured surface and knead into a ball. Cut into 6-8 pieces (depending on the size wrap you require) and roll into little balls in your hands.

Heat a fry pan on the stove (I use medium heat). Roll each ball out as thinly as possible into a circle shape and then place in the dry fry pan. Keep a close eye on the wrap as they can burn easily and turn when the spots turn brown.

Tips:

They will puff up a little, but just press the air out gently with a spatula.

Take care not to overcook. It is better to remove them a little early from the pan than overcook them.

Filling Tummies with Golden Syrup Dumplings

2010-09-29T21:43:00.001+10:00

I had to laugh when I just read through my last blog post. I can't believe I actually wrote that gardening was getting easier now that the boys are a little older. I really did jinx myself!!! After that lunch time post we headed out into the garden for the afternoon and my little man had such a bad crash-bang that we ended up going to hospital in an ambulance. His deep forehead cut was thankfully glued up quickly and he was of course back to his normal mischievous self before we had left the hospital. Oh the joy of raising adventurous little boys! :-)

Anyway, with all of the excitement and drama at our house lately there hasn't been a great deal of time spent in the kitchen beyond meals and basic baking. I did manage to get a tray of golden syrup dumplings in the oven earlier in the week though and I can tell you they were greatly appreciated. Pure comfort food! I used golden syrup, but they can be made using a combination of maple syrup and rapadura sweetened apricot jam to avoid the sugar. Here is my Mum's recipe (converted for the TMX, but still easy to do without):

Golden Syrup Dumplings

Ingredients:

300g unbleached spelt flour (try 250g plain wheat flour?)
2 tsp baking powder
100g cream
120g non-homogenised milk
pinch Himalayan salt
golden syrup (copious amounts :-))
270g boiling water
2 tbsp desiccated coconut

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees and boil kettle.

Place the first five ingredients in TMX bowl and mix for 2 seconds on speed 5. Then knead for 20 seconds on interval speed or until the dough just comes together.

Tip the dough out onto a bread mat or lightly floured surface. Gently pat out into a rectangle (approx 20x30cm).

Spread the dough with a generous layer of golden syrup and roll into a log. Cut the log into 9 slices (they should look like scrolls when turned on their side).

Pour the boiling water into a square 18x18cm glass dish (or similar size dish) and mix two tablespoons of golden syrup into the water.

Stand the dumplings in the dish of water in 3 rows. Sprinkle with coconut and bake for 25-30 minutes. Serve straight away with cream or ice cream.

Tips:

Don't let the dumplings stand for too long before serving as they will absorb all of the yummy sauce. I learnt this the hard way as my photo shows.

Hunter Gatherer - Happy Days in the Garden!!!

2010-09-22T13:41:00.001+10:00

Sorry folks, not too much cooking going on around here at the moment. With all of this beautiful spring sunshine we have been outside in the garden at every opportunity. We have an established garden with lot's of shrubs and trees, so I have been busy getting some pruning and planting done before the spring growth sends everything crazy. Last spring we employed a gardener for a couple of hours each week, but this year we are trying to do it all ourselves. Gardening was a bit of a nightmare last year with our youngest son (a lovable but busy toddler), but this year it is much more easy and actually quite enjoyable to be outside working in the garden together.

(photo from last spring - I'm too busy this year for photos)

Today I am looking forward to planting out a small herb garden near our kitchen door. I planted herbs in the veggie patch last year but it was too far away from the house to be convenient for each meal time. Later in the week I am hoping to sow some seeds in the veggie garden which is quite bare aside from some spinach and a few spring onions. A couple of weeks ago I fed the veggie patch with compost from our compost bay (which worked brilliantly by the way through winter) so it is ready to go. There are so many sowing and planting guides out there, but I like this simple cold climate one from Peter Cundall.

Happy Gardening! :-)

Filling Tummies with Injera and Doro Wat (TMX style)

2010-09-18T21:37:00.001+10:00

Recently we celebrated Ethiopian New Year with the celebration dish Doro Wat (spicy chicken stew). I accompanied the dish with injera (sour pancakes). Yum, yum, yum! I was so happy with the authentic taste of the dish and will be making it often for our family. I was really thrilled that our eldest son (Ethiopian-born) enjoyed the dish as he is normally not overly keen on Ethiopian food (oh the irony :-)).

It was the first time that I had ever cooked chicken drumsticks in the TMX bowl and I was really thrilled with the results. They were all intact and cooked to perfection. Such a clever little machine (sigh)! The injera was my best effort so far - even my Hubby (a huge injera fan) was a teeny bit impressed. Injera is tricky to make without teff flour and without the lengthy fermentation process, but this was definitely on the right track. The photo below showed my first experimental injera batch with all unbleached flour. My second batch with milled buckwheat were much more authentic in colour. The surface of the injera is full of holes - like a crumpet.

Ethiopian Doro Wat and Injera

Injera

The injera batter can be made and set aside until the stew is cooking.

Ingredients:

75g buckwheat (preferred) or spelt/wheat grain
225g plain flour
3/4 tsp bicarb soda
1 tbsp organic apple cider vinegar
500g soda water

Method:

Mill buckwheat for 1 minute on speed 9. Add plain flour and bicarb and mix for 10 seconds on speed 3.

Add vinegar and soda water and mix for 20 seconds on speed 3-4. Add more soda water if necessary to make a thin batter.

Pour the batter into a crepe pan that has been heated on a medium heat and lightly oiled. When pouring in the batter take the pan off the heat and swirl around ensuring that the entire pan is evenly covered. I used 1/3 cup of batter in my 20cm crepe pan. Wait until the injera has completely cooked on top (don't flip it) and then slide onto a plate. Repeat until mixture is finished.

Doro Wat

Ingredients:

4-6 eggs
3 large red onions - peeled and quartered
50g butter
1/2 tsp berbere or to taste (see notes)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
8 chicken drumsticks (skin and ankles removed)
100g tomato paste
100g red wine
430g water
1-2 tbsp cornflour (optional)

Method:

Place eggs (whole) in varoma dish. Set aside.

Place onions and butter in TMX and chop for 3-4 seconds on speed 5. Cook for 30 minutes on 90 degrees, reverse speed 1.

Add berbere and ginger and cook for 5 minutes, varoma temp, reverse speed 1.

Assemble chicken drumsticks around blades (mine were standing up around edge of bowl) and saute for 5 minutes, 100 degrees, reverse soft speed.

Add water, wine and tomato paste and cook for 7 minutes, 100 degrees, reverse soft speed.

Set varoma in place and continue to cook for 20 minutes, varoma temp, reverse soft speed.

We like our stews nice and thick so at this stage I removed the varoma and added 2 tbsp of cornflour and cooked it off for 2 minutes at varoma temp, reverse soft speed.

Place the eggs in a bowl of cold water to cool and then peel them.

To serve the meal place an injera on each plate and top with doro wat and an egg for each person. Place an extra rolled injera on the plate also. The meal can also be placed on a big platter and shared (which we will do next time) - very fun!

The injera is used for scooping up the doro wat (no cutlery allowed folks) and remember to only use your right hand. I won't go into what the left hand is used for. :-)

Notes:

I buy Ethiopian-made berbere from our adoption support group's online store here. Check out the shop because there are some lovely items for sale and the profits go to wonderful charities and organisations in Ethiopia.

If you would like to make your own spice blend there are some recipes online. They are not the same as the genuine Ethiopian blends, but still very acceptable.

If you do buy some berbere just check the "heat" before you add the blend to your onions. I generally put a tiny pinch on my tongue and immediately know how much to add :-). With some blends I need to add 1 tbsp, but with this blend 1/2 a tsp was more than enough.

Happy Enkutatash Everyone!!!

2010-09-14T14:14:00.002+10:00

This is a rather belated post as Enkutatash (Ethiopian New Year) was actually on the weekend! We all had shocking head colds however and couldn't join fellow Oziopian families with the planned festivities, so we are celebrating today. I am converting our favourite Ethiopian recipe for dinner (Doro Wat - Spicy Chicken Stew) and if it works out well in the TMX I will post the recipe soon. Yummy!

I thought a nice way to share our special day with you all is to post some photos that we took on our first trip to Ethiopia (before we adopted our son). The countryside was so lush and green in Northern Ethiopia at that time, it was just stunning. Ethiopia is often portrayed as being a dusty desert-like country (and those parts certainly do exist), but there is so much more to the country. It is a place of great untouched beauty. It truly is breathtaking!

Filling Tummies with Choc Berry Self Saucing Pudding

2010-09-08T13:42:00.002+10:00

This is a yummy recipe that I found online and converted for the TMX. I included whole grains in the recipe and also added a soaking step for the extra health benefits. It is both easy and delicious and providing you mill the grain with sharp blades you would never know that there were whole grains in this recipe!!!

You will probably notice one ingredient in my list that I haven't used in quite a while - organic raw sugar. We have started a refined sugar reintroduction program for our son who has a mild intolerance to it and I now need to use a little refined sugar in my baking occasionally. Such a revolting food to be reintroducing to him I know, but one we felt he would want to consume occasionally throughout his life. We had to sit back as his parents and weigh it all up and at the end of the day we decided it really is enough for him to be black and living in a predominantly white community. He doesn't need anything else to set him apart from his peers and certainly doesn't need to take his own special food to birthday parties and school events down the track. So refined sugar it is - occasionally and in small doses though. Surprisingly the program is working and his system is gradually coping with refined sugar better.

Anyhoot, enough about us. Here is the recipe:

Choc Berry Self Saucing Pudding

Ingredients

220g spelt, wheat or khorasan grain
250g non-homogenised milk (or your milk of choice)
1 tbsp organic apple cider vinegar

80g butter
50g rapadura
25g organic cocoa
2 tsp homemade baking powder
150g blackberries (fresh or thawed)

25g organic cocoa
80g organic raw sugar
460g boiling water

Method:

Mill grain for 1 minute and 30 seconds on speed 9. Pour into a bowl or jug and sit it on top of the scales. Weigh in milk and measure in vinegar. Mix well and leave to soak for 12-24 hours.

After the soaking period preheat oven to 180 degrees and grease a medium sized pudding basin (6 cup capacity).

Add butter and rapadura to TMX and cream for 1 minute on speed 3. Add 25g cocoa, vanilla and soaked flour and mix for 20 seconds on speed 3.

Add baking powder and blackberries and mix on reverse speed 3 for 10 seconds. Scrape batter into greased pudding basin (scrape bowl out well and there is no need to wash before next step).

Place 25g cocoa, raw sugar and boiling water into TMX bowl and mix for 20 seconds on speed 2. Pour carefully over pudding batter (pour over the back of a spoon) and bake for 45-50 minutes.

Stand for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Notes:

Feel free to use all rapadura or all raw sugar in the recipe. Both will work well.

As with all self-saucing puddings take care not to overcook or you will loose all of the lovely sauce.

Filling Tummies with Megan's Yummy Salad Dressing

2010-09-06T14:30:00.001+10:00

I hope all of the Dad's out there had a wonderful Fathers Day yesterday!

We had a rather leisurely day which we really appreciated as we have been busy working in our gardens lately. In the afternoon I cooked up a couple of things to take along to a family dinner last night. I did a lasagne from the Thermomix Everyday Cookbook, an apple berry crumble and a garden salad with yummy homemade salad dressing. I was searching on forumthermomix for a salad dressing and noticed Megan's recipe which she described briefly in a thread. With a little interpretation to fill in the gaps we enjoyed a very yummy dressing. Thanks MJ!

Here is my interpretation of Megan's yummy salad dressing recipe:

Ingredients:

Equal quantities of balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil (I used about 1/2 a MC or 50g of each)
1 rounded tsp seeded mustard
1 tbsp organic raw honey
1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

Place all of the ingredients into a bottle and shake vigorously for several minutes until well combined. You could put them into the TMX and whizz them up, but of course that's no fun for the kids! :-)

Store in fridge.

An evening with Sue Dengate

2010-09-01T22:20:00.001+10:00

On Monday night I headed over to Burnie with a friend to listen to Sue Dengate speak. Sue is the author of Fed Up and the Failsafe Cookbook. For those of you who haven't heard of Sue and her approach before, she basically believes that learning difficulties, behavioural problems and minor chronic illness in children and adults can all be the result of intolerance to food chemicals.

I went along expecting to hear all about the nasty synthetic additives in food that are causing children all sorts of difficulties and to a certain degree I was right. I did get a bit of a shock though with what else she discussed during the evening. I had no idea that certain "healthy" foods can be just as bad as foods containing man-made additives with regard to children's behaviour and that salicylates (a group of natural chemicals which occur naturally in many fruits) can cause many of the same behavioural problems that synthetic additives cause. We consume a lot of fruit in our household so this was a real shock for me. I will definitely be giving this area some more thought and even though I don't think we will be doing the full elimination diet, I will definitely be reducing our consumption of salicylates.

I have to be honest and say that a lot of Sue's Fed Up approach didn't sit well with me. I talked it through today with my friend who is a Dietitian and we discussed how the approach needs to be considered as a behavioural approach rather than the general health and well-being approach that it is sometimes thought to be (and advertised to be). For those parents who have children in desperate need of learning or behavioural intervention then this is one approach that certainly has proven results. For my own children though I could never accept or fully implement an approach that promoted the consumption of refined white sugar, particularly when as a nation we are battling sugar addition, obesity and tooth decay. Why give a recipe for homemade cordial (a very sweetened and refined cordial recipe) when you know full well that children should only be drinking water or milk? I realise that they have a target audience, but really!!! I guess it is the same with all of these types of things - you have to take out the elements that apply to your family and that match your belief-system and let go of the rest. :-)

Filling Tummies with Easy Curried Sausages

2010-08-29T21:44:00.002+10:00

Curried Sausages and rice is one meal that our whole family loves. JD posted this very yummy and rather gourmet version on forumthermomix, which we really enjoy. When I am in a hurry or just feeling a bit lazy though, I often resort back to my very quick and easy version. It isn't flash, but it feeds my crew with a minimum of fuss without resorting to take-aways.

Curried Sausages and Rice

Ingredients:

200-300g rice (see notes for using brown rice)
900g water
8 lean beef sausages
trimmed green beans or broccoli florets (optional)
1 large brown onion - peeled and quartered
30g organic olive oil
2 carrots - washed and sliced into rounds (or half rounds if big carrots)
250g water
2 tsp chicken stock (see notes)
1 tsp curry powder (or to taste)
salt and pepper to taste
2 level tbsp white spelt flour
2-3 tbsp water

Method:

Weigh rice into basket and rinse well. Add 900g water to bowl and insert rice basket.

Place sausages into varoma dish - 4 across bottom and 4 on top (laying in opposite direction to those below). Place green veg in varoma tray.

Fit varoma to TMX lid and cook for 16-18 minutes at varoma temp, speed 4. Remove varoma and set sausages aside to cool a little. Place rice in thermoserve and top with green veg. Rinse bowl and dry.

Place onion into bowl and chop for 3 seconds on speed 5. Scrape down sides, add oil and saute for 3 minutes at 100 degrees on reverse speed 1.

Add carrot, 250g water, chicken stock, curry powder and salt and pepper. Cook for 15 minutes, 100 degrees, reverse speed 1. While this is cooking slice each sausage into 4-6 pieces.

When the TMX has finished cooking add the sausages and cook for a further 3 minutes at 100 degrees, reverse speed 1.

Mix the flour and water together in the MC to form a paste and add to the TMX bowl. Cook for a further 3 minutes, 100 degrees at reverse speed 1 (give the paste a quick stir through at reverse speed 3 for a couple of seconds to begin with).

Plate with the steamed rice and greens. Enjoy!

Notes:

Chicken stock paste can be made easily in the TMX. There is a good recipe in the My Way of Cooking book and the recipe can also be found in this thread of forumthermomix.

If you wish to use brown rice then you need to add 1200g of water to the TMX and cook the rice for 17 minutes before adding the varoma and cooking for a further 16-18 minutes.

Happy Adoption Day!!!

2010-08-27T14:57:00.002+10:00

Today is a very special day for our family. It is the anniversary of the day when our Ethiopian-born son's adoption was finalised. It is our "Happy Adoption Day".

It's hard to believe that our special day has come around already. The last twelve months have certainly flown by. Looking back it has been a challenging twelve months in some ways with our son understanding more of what it means to be adopted and to not have grown in Mum's tummy. We had some very difficult months as the full impact of our little man's situation hit home and his secure and comfortable world seemed to fall apart. Slowly but surely however we have begun to pick up the pieces and have started the healing process. We are blessed to have a child who wears his heart on his sleeve and also blessed to be surrounded by such supportive family and friends as we work through it all together. Today is really a special day to celebrate our union as a family and the special journey that we are taking together.

To celebrate our day we have made and decorated a chocolate cake and are having a meal out tonight as a family. In previous years we have bought small presents for the boys, but this year we decided to do something a little different. We have donated money through World Families Australia (an amazing charity) to build a home for a homeless Ethiopian family. It certainly won't be a palace, but will have a tin roof, timber walls and basic furniture. I am very proud to report that our boys donated 40 cents each toward the project from their hard earned chore money. The boys have checked out the general area where the house will be built on google earth and are hopeful that Bob (Bob the Builder) will be working on the project. Now we just need to save up and get over there to meet the family and give them a housewarming gift (perhaps some chickens would be nice:-)). It is such a wonderful project (and a wonderful and dedicated organisation) that has made us feel close once again to our beautiful second home.

Happy Adoption Day!

"Oh, who would have guessed? Who could have seen?

Who could have possibly known?

All these roads we have travelled, the places we've been

Would finally have taken us home?

So it's here's to you and three cheers to you!
Let's shout it Hip, Hip, Hip, Hooray!"
For out of a world so tattered and torn,
You came to our house on that wonderful morn . . . .

And all of a sudden this family was born.
Oh, Happy Adoption Day!"

Filling Tummies with Yummy Soaked Crumpets

2010-08-26T21:01:00.000+10:00

Check out some of the cute star shaped crumpets that my hubby made on Tuesday night. They are such a healthy breakfast (being made with soaked whole grains) and go down a treat with the kids. We love them toasted and spread with raw honey! The recipe makes oodles of crumpets and they freeze really well. :-)

Filling Tummies with Homemade Vanilla Extract

2010-08-24T14:46:00.002+10:00

Vanilla extract is something that I use often in my baking, but find quite expensive to buy in the supermarket. Rather than use vanilla essence (which has some interesting ingredients), I followed a thread on forumthermomix and now make my own vanilla extract. It is quite expensive to buy the ingredients initially, but works out economical in the long run as one batch lasts me for almost a year. My 750ml batch costs approximately $35-40 and the same amount would cost approximately $65-70 from the supermarket. Aside from the cost the flavour and fragrance of homemade vanilla extract is divine and far superior to anything you can buy!

Homemade Vanilla Extract

Ingredients:

12 x vanilla beans (see notes)
1 x 750ml bottle of brandy (see notes)

Method:

Cut the vanilla beans in half if they are long (they need to be able to fit in your jars) and then slit them length ways. Open them up a little so that the vanilla seeds are exposed. Divide the beans amongst 3 clean jars with secure lids.

Fill the jars evenly with the brandy and secure the lids. Place in a cool dark place and give them a shake-up once a week. The vanilla extract will be well infused in around 6 weeks (although can be used earlier).

Notes:

I buy my vanilla beans from ebay and they are fantastic. I pay $12 for 12 beans and that price includes postage. I have bought from several different sellers and they have always been lovely and fat beans. Not at all like the skinny, dried up beans that the supermarkets sell for $3-4 each.

Brandy often comes on special at the major liquor outlets. Just ensure you don't get an infused or flavoured variety.

I funnel the extract into a little bottle and refill it when necessary. I don't bother straining it as I don't mind if the tiny seeds end up in my cooking. When I get down to my last bottle I know that it is time to buy some more brandy and beans and make another batch up.

You can make the vanilla extract in the actual brandy bottle by tipping some of the brandy out and adding the slit beans directly into the bottle. I disliked this method due to the wastage, but it is an option.

Filling Tummies with Apple Berry Crumble

2010-08-21T14:27:00.002+10:00

Two of my most favourite unofficial thermomix recipe developers would have to be Quirky Jo from North Queensland and Bron from Spain. When I try their recipes I have absolute confidence that I am making something very yummy. Recently I was doing some cooking with our boys (something they enjoy and I suffer through :-)) and they decided they would like to make an apple crumble for pudding. I was quite happy with their decision, but faced with a dilemma. Bron's Yummy Apple Crumble or Quirky Jo's Divine Apple-Berry Custard Crumble??? A lovely dilemma to be faced with really!

In the end I decided to combine our favourite elements of both dishes in one heavenly crumble. This crumble combines Jo's sweetened fruit base and delicious custard layer with Bron's crispy and caramelly hazelnut topping. Yum!

Bron and Jo's Apple Berry Crumble

(with my own little tweaks)

Ingredients:

Topping:
50g hazelnuts
100g spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 thin strips of lemon and/or orange zest (thinly peeled, no white)
100g cold butter - in small pieces
80g rapadura

Custard:
60g rapadura
2 eggs
500g non-homogenised milk
40g cornflour
(check out Jo's dairy-free custard recipe here)

Fruit Base
4 apples peeled and sliced
1-2 cups frozen berries (we used blackberries)
2 tbsp rapadura
1 tsp cinnamon

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Make the topping first be placing the hazelnuts into TMX bowl and chopping them for 7 seconds on speed 5. Set aside.

Place flour and lemon zest strips into bowl and blitz for 15 seconds on speed 9 (check zest and blitz for longer if necessary to become very fine).

Add butter,rapadura and nuts and mix for 5 seconds on reverse speed 5. Set aside.

To make custard place rapadura into the bowl and blitz for 10 seconds on speed 9. Add other custard ingredients and program 7 minutes, 90 degrees on speed 4.

While the custard is cooking peel and slice the apples and place them in a pudding dish with the berries. Sprinkle over the rapadura and cinnamon and stir well.

When the custard has finished cooking pour it over the fruit. Sprinkle over the topping and pat it down so that it will form a crust.

Bake for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Thanks Jo and Bron for your great recipes!

Filling Tummies with Nutty Milo Slice

2010-08-20T14:22:00.002+10:00

If you like muesli slice with a bit of texture then this Nutty Milo Slice might be just the one for you. I converted the recipe from one I found in a New Idea Mag. It is easy to make, rather tasty and quite healthy (especially if you make it with Cathy's yummy homemade milo).

Nutty Milo Slice

Ingredients:

65g raw almonds
65g unsalted macadamia nuts
65g unsalted cashews
120g organic honey
100g rapadura or organic raw sugar
120g unsalted butter (perhaps try coconut oil if you are D/F)
100g organic desiccated coconut
110g organic rolled or steel cut oats
70g sunflower seeds
80g pumpkin seeds
50g sesame seeds (I used chia seeds instead)
100g milo
100g dried fruit (I used organic sultanas and craisins)

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line a large 26 x 32cm slice tray with baking paper (ensure paper extends 2cm above edge of tray).

Add nuts to TMX and chop for 5 seconds on speed 5. Set aside.

Add honey, rapadura and butter to TMX and heat for 4 minutes at 90 degrees on speed 2.

Add all other ingredients (including nuts) and mix on reverse speed 3-4 for 20 seconds or until well combined.

Empty into prepared tray and use knuckles to press the mixture out evenly.

Bake in oven for approximately 20 minutes or until browned. Cool completely in tray. Lift from tray and cut into squares.

Enjoy!

Notes:

Consider chopping up the seeds with the nuts for a smoother texture.

Filling Tummies with Dutch Baby Pancakes

2010-08-16T21:01:00.000+10:00

When I went to listen to Cyndi O'Meara speak last year I was a little shocked by her very strong stance on breakfast cereals. I have always known that cocoa pops, fruit loops and the like were basically rubbish, but I really wasn't aware that good ol' weetbix wasn't a good nutritional option. It took me a little while to remove weetbix from our family diet as although we weren't overly fond of it, finding a quick and healthy replacement wasn't easy. Now there is certainly no going back to breakfast from a box though and we love our enormous glass of thick fruit juice and our whole grain, naturally sweetened crumpet or muffin.

Occasionally though we really like a treat for breakfast and along the way Sunday mornings have somehow become our regular pancake morning. There are currently three pancake recipes that we really like and rotate between. These are:

1) Brown rice and almond pancakes

These are so easy and yummy. I still can't believe they are made with brown rice.

2) Crepes

I use the Everyday Cookbook recipe and substitute white spelt flour instead of the wheat (adding about 20g extra flour). These are a real treat as I don't often use white flour solely in cooking anymore. We serve them with chopped fresh fruit (usually banana and strawberry) and homemade caramel sauce. I bought a little crepe pan recently and they are so easy to make now.

3) Dutch Baby Cakes

I found this amazingly easy recipe on Lindsay's Passionate Homemaking Blog. I really love it because it has the goodness of soaked grains, butter and eggs, but most of all I love it because it is oven baked. No standing at the stove pouring and flipping pancakes - hooray!!!

The texture is a little different to normal pancakes and it has had some mixed reviews, but we are definite fans (although my eldest son still loudly protests that these aren't his most favourite pancakes). I will jot the recipe down here in TMX format in case you would like to give it a try. I have reduced the amounts slightly to fit the pancake into my standard sized pyrex lasagne dish, but I am on the lookout for another square 8x8 glass pyrex dish a two smaller dishes would probably work better.

Dutch Baby Pancakes

Ingredients:

130g spelt, wheat or khorasan grain
210g milk of your choice (I use non-homogenised dairy)
1 tbsp of organic apple cider vinegar
75g butter (small cubes)
3 large eggs (or 4 medium)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Mill grain on speed 9 for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Pour into a jug or bowl and sit on TMX lid. Weigh in milk and measure in vinegar. mix well and leave to soak for 12-24 hours.

After the soaking period preheat your oven to 250 degrees.

Place your glass dish on top of your TMX lid and weigh in the butter. Throw in several pieces at a time so the weight will register properly. Scatter the pieces over the bottom of the dish and then place the dish in the heating oven for 2-3 minutes or until melted.

Add the eggs to the TMX bowl and whisk for 30 seconds on speed 5.

Add the soaked mixture and vanilla extract and beat for 1 minute on speed 3.

Carefully and slowly pour the batter over the butter in the pan. Cover the entire base of the dish. It doesn't matter if a little butter ends up on top.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until light brown and fluffy. Slice and serve with your choice of toppings. I like lemon juice and rapadura and my boys all like homemade jam. :-)

Filling Tummies with Yeast-Free Spelt Bread

2010-08-15T21:46:00.000+10:00

For all of you spelt bread bakers out there who like to try something new, I suggest you check out this rather interesting recipe. It certainly has a lot of great feedback in the review section.

I made a loaf today (a half batch of the recipe) and was impressed by how easy and quick it was to make. I was surprised by how much it rose and how lovely the crust was (I covered it with another tin as suggested in the recipe). My bread tin was too big for the loaf but it still worked quite well.

The texture was very much like a light banana bread (a bit dense, but not too cakey). Although it was ok fresh, it was really yummy toasted and spread with homemade apricot jam. I'm sure it would lend itself very well to additions - fruit, different seeds etc. It was super easy and I didn't have to bother about leaving it to rise so I will probably make it again. I don't think it will become a big family favourite, but it is definitely worth a try (especially if you are limited to low-gluten flours).

My modifications today to the recipe were:

I used 2 cups ground spelt grain (300g) and 2 cups white spelt flour (250g) for the half batch.
I used honey instead of molasses.
I used sunflower seeds (80g) instead of sesame seeds.
I used 1 tsp of baking soda and 1 tsp of baking powder.
After I ground the grain (in two batches) I threw everything in the TMX and mixed it for 30 seconds on reverse speed 4. I scraped it into my oiled bread tin and baked it for the recommended time.

Filling Tummies with "Bubble and Squeak"

2010-08-13T14:00:00.003+10:00

One of the great things about being a stay at home parent is being able to cook healthy and sustaining "vegie-packed" family lunches. I am really dreading the fast-approaching time when our lunches are limited by what can be safely packed into a lunch box. At the moment I am whipping up lot's of soups, lentil patties, vegie burgers, ploughman platters, salads and of course our absolute favourite - bubble and squeak. Bubble and squeak is a quick, easy and relatively healthy meal that uses up left-over vegies from dinner the night before. Although it makes a great lunch we have been known to throw it on the BBQ with some bacon for a yummy breakfast fry-up.

Here is my easy recipe that I adapted from the Kraft Australia website:

Bubble and Squeak

Bubble and Squeak with Homemade BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:

2 spring onions - trimmed and quartered
50g parmesan - cubed
50g tasty cheese - cubed
2-3 cups of cooked veg - cooled (see notes below)
2 eggs
70g spelt flour (white or wholegrain)
1 tsp baking powder
cracked pepper to taste
oil for frying

Method:

Place spring onions, parmesan and tasty cheese into TMX bowl and grate for 4-5 seconds on speed 8.

Add remaining ingredients and mix on reverse speed 3 for 20 seconds.

Heat oil in fry pan on moderate heat. Add tablespoons of mixture and cook for several minutes before carefully turning over. Don't overload your fry pan as they can be difficult to turn.

Notes:

You need to have some mashed potato in your vegetable mix as it acts as the "glue" in these fritters. I like to use left-over potato/sweet potato mash for about half of the vegetable mix. The other half is usually a mix of steamed carrot, beans, peas, pumpkin, celery, corn etc.

If you don't have any left-over cooked vegetables, you can easily cook some up in the TMX before starting this recipe. Simply place 500g of water in the TMX bowl, 500g of peeled cubed potatoes and sweet potatoes in the rice basket and an assortment of chopped vegetables in the varoma dish (you can chop these in the TMX of course). Program 25 minutes at varoma temperature speed 2. When the time is up tip out the water and insert the butterfly into the bowl. Tip the potatoes into the bowl, add a little butter and milk and mix for 10 seconds on speed 3. Remove the butterfly, tip in the other steamed vegies and mix on reverse speed 3 for a further 10 seconds. Set aside to cool before starting the above recipe.

Filling Tummies With My Monthly Menu Plan

2010-08-11T13:44:00.000+10:00

There has been some menu-planning conversation on the wonderful forumthermomix lately so I thought I would join in and share what I am doing at the moment. :-)

Although I am an organisation-junkie in most areas of my life I really don't like menu planning. When it comes to our main meals I really love to be flexible and to have the freedom to decide each day what we would like to eat. Realistically though I know that my preferred "impulsive" style of cooking generally results in an unbalanced family diet, weight gain for me, increased trips to the shops and higher monthly grocery bills. So instead I menu plan (sigh!).

I do my menu plans monthly at the moment and generally tie it in with my monthly grocery shop (I just buy fruit, veg and dairy each week). I don't do a totally new plan each month, but just change a few meals over to keep it all interesting and so I can try out new recipes. I don't bother planning for breakfasts, lunches or snacks anymore as we are in a good routine for these.

I'm not a meat and three veg type of cook , but our mains still have a big vegetable focus and even our spaghetti bolognaise and pizza sauce are jam-packed with vegetables. I try to balance out each week by not overloading on rice, pasta or dairy and by including at least one vegetarian meal and one fish meal. I generally plan a few easy and quick meals in the week as well as some that are a little more labour intensive (although all meals are relatively easy in the TMX). I only plan for 6 nights a week which allows for an easy "scrambled eggs on toast" type meal, an evening out or a night for me to create a new recipe. I don't follow my menu plan religiously and don't allocate any meals to any nights, but I do enjoy the piece of mind of knowing that I have everything on hand to cook the dishes for that week.

Here is this months menu plan:

Week 1

Spiced Chicken with Sweet Potato and Steamed Rice

Bolognaise Pinwheels with Steamed Vegetables and Dinner Rolls

Bangers and Mash with Steamed Vegetables and Onion Gravy

Parmesan and Herb Crusted “Fish Fingers” with Homemade Sweet Potato Fries and Mayonnaise

Beef Stroganoff with Fettuccine

Italian Shepherds Pie (Everyday Cookbook)

Week 2

Roast Chicken and Steamed Vegetables in Creamy Honey and Mustard Sauce

Lentil Bolognaise with Jacket Potatoes and Sour Cream

Swiss Beef with Steamed Vegetables

Pizza with Roasted Pumpkin, Local Smoked Cheddar Salami and Caramelised Onions

Meatloaf with Red Sauce and Steamed Butternut Pumpkin Rounds (Everyday Cookbook)

Dirty Rice, Steamed Vegetables and Meatballs

Week 3

Chicken and Pear Risotto

Italian Meatballs and Spaghetti

Vegetable Lasagne and Salad

Curried Sausages, Mash and Steamed Vegetables

Salmon Cakes with Jacket Potatoes, Salad and Homemade Mayonnaise

Beef and Guinness Stew with Cheesy Dumplings

Week 4

Homemade Chicken Kiev’s with Steamed Vegetables and Mash

One-Pot Spaghetti Bolognaise

Spaghetti Bolognaise Pizza

Tuna and Vegetable Strudel with Jacket Potatoes

Beef Burritos with Homemade Spelt Tortillas, Fresh Salsa, Salad Veg etc

Egg and Bacon Pie with Steamed Vegetables

Filling Tummies with Our Top 10 Favourite Recipes!!!

2010-08-08T17:19:00.000+10:00

There are some absolutely fabulous recipes out there Thermie-land. Here are our current top 10 favourites (in no particular order):

1) Quirky Jo's Homemade Mayonnaise (just divine)

2) Baf's Creamy Chicken and Veg in the Varoma (this dish is ridiculously easy and tasty - consider adding 1 tsp of mustard powder and 1 tsp of raw honey to the sauce for an extra boost)

3) Thermoconverts Sweet Chilli Sauce (yummy but I must remember to leave out the chilli seeds)

4) My Italian Meatballs and Spaghetti (our favourite main at the moment)

5) Creamy Vanilla Ice cream (from the Everyday Cookbook)- I have started making it with powdered rapadura and beating it up twice instead of once. Served with Quirky Jo's chocolate spread it is a perfect dessert!

6) Quirky Jo's Blender Batter Muffins (the apple and cinnamon ones are our current favourites)

7) Isi's Easy Portuguese Rolls (the best rolls ever and so easy - I have been substituting 150g of milled rye grain instead of 150g of the bakers flour)

8) My Soaked Wholegrain Chocolate Cake

9) Cathy's Homemade Milo

10) Achookwoman's Caramel Apple Pudding and my version of the pudding here which is almost (but not quite :-)) as good.

Filling Tummies with Soaked Whole Grain Pizza Crust

2010-08-07T13:36:00.000+10:00

Soaked whole grain baking is seriously addictive and I am 100% hooked. Before I have even finished creating or modifying one soaked recipe, I have already started planning for the next. I just love the challenge that baking with whole grains presents and now really dislike even opening the cupboard that houses our pre-milled flour (how ridiculous is that)!

A big part of the soaked whole grain baking challenge is pushing the boundaries to see what you can actually get away with without compromising taste or texture. Yesterday I was in the mood for a whole grain challenge and decided to tackle my pizza crust recipe (yes I know I only finished this recipe recently). I am delighted to report that tonight we enjoyed soaked grain pizza crusts where the flour content was made up entirely of soaked whole grain flour. Not such a huge discovery on a global perspective as people have been making soaked whole grain pizzas for years (and it hardly compares to man walking on the moon :-)), but for this wee lass who doesn't have the benefits of a specialised grain mill I think it is pretty impressive. :-)

So here is my new pizza crust recipe:

Soaked Whole Grain Pizza Crust

Sausage, Roasted Pumpkin and Feta Pizza

Ingredients:

450g khorasan, spelt or wheat grain
250g warm water
1 tbsp organic apple cider vinegar

70g khorasan, spelt or wheat grain

30g lukewarm water
3 tsp yeast
1 tsp organic honey

1/2 tsp Himalayan salt
1 tsp dulse flakes
1 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil

Method:

Place blades in freezer for 10-15 minutes to reshape.

Mill grain in TMX in two batches (225g x 2) for 1 minute and 30 seconds on speed 9. Pour into a jug or bowl and sit on TMX lid. Weigh in 250g water and measure in cider vinegar. Mix well and leave covered to soak at cool room temperature for 24 hours.

After soaking period mill remaining grain for 1 minute and 30 seconds on speed 9. Set aside for later use (to be added to dough if too sticky or to dust surface for rolling the dough).

Add 30g lukewarm water, yeast and honey into TMX bowl and mix for 20 seconds on speed 2. Leave for 10 minutes to activate the yeast.

Add the soaked flour, salt, oil and dulse flakes into the TMX and mix for 7 seconds on speed 6. Knead for 2 minutes on interval setting. Check the dough after 20 seconds (by carefully feeling the dough through the hole) and add more water or flour (milled grain) if necessary.

Place the dough into an oiled bowl and set aside in a warm place to double in size (that took about 1 hour and 20 minutes for my batch today). This rising step isn't necessary for thin pizza crusts. Divide into portions and roll out to fit your pizza trays. Spread with paste or pizza sauce and leave dough to rise for a further 20-30 minutes if desired.

If you don't have a pizza stone consider pre-baking the pizza bases for 7 minutes at 200 degrees before adding the toppings and continuing to bake for a further 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Notes:

It is hard work mixing the liquid into the flour as it is a very dry soaking mix (it will still "soak" though). You could easily mix it in the TMX if you prefer (I just don't like cleaning and drying it after as I am usually about to mill more grain).

It is hard to give an exact flour and liquid measure when working with 100% whole grains as each batch of grain is different and spelt, khorasan and wheat are all different also. Just feel the dough often during the kneading process and add a little water or milled flour as you need it to make a dough that is relatively easy to pluck out of the TMX (not too sticky, but not too dry).

Freeze any uncooked dough in zip lock bags. Thaw in fridge before bringing to room temperature and continuing on with rolling out, adding toppings etc.

Filling Tummies with Sticky Date Self Saucing Pudding

2010-08-05T21:18:00.001+10:00

I have been working on this recipe for a little while and almost had it perfect tonight (almost). I knew when I milled the grain yesterday that the blades really needed to go in the freezer for 10 minutes for a quick reshape, but of course I was in a rush and didn't take the time to do it. As a result our pudding tonight had a slight "crunch". Grrr! Note to self - reshape blades before milling!!!

So here is my latest soaked whole grain recipe. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Sticky Date Self Saucing Pudding

Ingredients:

Pudding:
170g spelt, khorasan or wheat grain (I use khorasan)
120g non-homogenised milk
2 tsp organic apple cider vinegar
200g dates
1 free-range egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
40g organic cold pressed macadamia oil (or pure olive oil)
60g rapadura
2 1/2 tsp aluminium free baking powder
handful walnuts or pecans

Sauce:
1 MC (TMX measuring cup) of rapadura
Approx 30g butter chopped into small pieces
500g boiling water

Method:

Mill grain in TMX for 1 minute on speed 9. Consider leaving to cool for 5 minutes before milling for another minute at speed 9. Pour into a jug or bowl and sit on TMX lid. Weigh in milk and measure in cider vinegar. Mix well and leave covered to soak at cool room temperature for 24 hours.

After soaking period preheat oven to 180 degrees and grease a 1.5 litre pudding dish (I have to use a larger dish than usual so it might pay to measure).

Chop the dates on speed 7 for 8 seconds or until finely chopped. Set aside (don't worry about washing the TMX, just scrape out as best you can).

Place the soaked mixture into the TMX with the egg, vanilla and oil. Mix for 1 minute at speed 9 adding a tbsp (or 2) of milk if necessary to assist the mixing/milling.

Add the rapadura, dates, baking powder and walnuts and mix/chop for 10 seconds on speed 5.

Scrape the mixture into the greased dish. Sprinkle the mixture with the MC of rapadura and then dot the butter around on top. Gently pour the boiling water onto the pudding over the back of a spoon.

Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes or until it springs back in the middle when touched. Try not to overcook it as the sauce will disappear. Stand for at least 10 minutes before serving to allow the sauce to thicken.

Enjoy!

Filling Tummies with Good Ol' Egg and Bacon Pie

2010-08-02T14:53:00.000+10:00

I love to use butter puff pastry when making savoury pies and quiches. The health benefits that come from consuming animal fats in moderation are now well documented and the flavour from the butter is just divine.

When I have a little time up my sleeve I really enjoy making my own rough puff pastry using the Everyday Thermomix Cookbook recipe (which uses a combination of lard and butter), but when I am in a hurry I use pre-made butter varieties. Pre-made butter puff pastry is usually double the price of most margarine-based varieties, but the butter variety is so delicious that I think it is well worth paying the extra. Check out the ingredients of two popular puff pastry varieties below. They are certainly very interesting.

Borg's Butter Puff Pastry
wheat flour, unsalted butter, water, salt.

Home brand Puff Pastry (Margarine)
wheat flour, water, margarine [vegetable fats, vegetable oils, water, salt, emulsifier (471), soy lecithin, food acid (330), flavour, antioxidant (306), colour (160a)], salt.

Now time to hop off the soapbox and jot down this easy family pie recipe. This Egg and Bacon Pie is really so simple that I am not even sure that it qualifies as a recipe, but as it is an occasional Sunday night favourite at our house I thought I should probably blog it.

Egg and Bacon Pie

Ingredients:

2 butter puff pastry sheets or 1/2 batch of rough puff pastry
1/2 brown onion peeled
60g tasty cheese
2 rashers bacon - rind removed and chopped
4 free-range eggs
190g non-homogenised milk
salt and pepper to taste
chopped fresh parsley to garnish

Method:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Place pastry sheets on bench to thaw for 5 minutes or roll homemade pastry thinly.

Grease a pie plate/dish (I use a 30cm quiche dish) and line with pastry. Cut and join the pastry together where necessary (pressing the seams together at the joins).

Place the onion into the TMX bowl and chop for 4 seconds on speed 5. Sprinkle over pastry.

Place the cheese into the TMX bowl and chop for 4 seconds on speed 8. Sprinkle over onion.

Sprinkle the bacon over the onion and cheese.

Place the eggs, milk, salt and pepper into the TMX bowl and mix for 20 seconds on speed 4-5. Pour the mixture into the pie dish.

Garnish with chopped parsley and cook for 10 minutes at 200 degrees, before turning the oven down to 180 degrees and cooking for a further 20-25 minutes until set. Enjoy!

Notes:

I usually serve the pie with steamed veg or crusty bread for a simple meal.

You can chop the bacon in the TMX, but I prefer to have chunky even-sized pieces.

Creamed matchsticks are a very yummy way to make use of any leftover pastry. Simply cut the leftover pieces into strips, fold them in half length ways and bake on a tray for 20 minutes while the pie is baking. When cool, split them in half length ways and spread with jam and whipped cream. Place tops back on and sprinkle with icing sugar or powdered rapadura. Yum!