Author: nzthermomixmum

Apple tart

~ nzthermomixmum
Apple tart
Apple tart

I’ve never made pastry before and was keen to try it with this guided apple tart recipe from the Basic cookbook. Ran out of time to make it look pretty hence the fairly rustic look  and didn’t bother to core the apples either.  Seeds and a little peel are all good roughage. The pastry was made in a couple minutes and the hardest part about this recipe is peeling the apples. We absolutely loved the taste of the end result. Homemade apple pie, the short crust pastry is crisp and a slice with vanilla ice cream really really good. Made in a small 20cm tin so only needed half the apples. Was so quick decided to make another one and use the other half of the apples. Again reduced sugar topping on the apples to just a sprinkle instead of 30g. Here’s apple tart number 2 for lunchboxes !

Apple tart second time
Apple tart second time

Caribbean carrot cake

~ nzthermomixmum
Carrot cake with cream cheese icing
Carrot cake with cream cheese icing

This is a carribean carrot cake, made using the guided recipes, super quick because the thermomix grates the carrot and mixes all the other ingredients with carrots, I reduced sugar and used assorted activated nuts instead of walnuts. Great recipe and made up two loaf tins instead of one round cake, reduced cooking time slightly. Here is the pic of the very last slice before it was demolished.

Bread rolls

~ nzthermomixmum
Wholemeal bread
Wholemeal bread

We had a breakthrough with bread today.  Yippee ! This time used a whole sachet of yeast for the basic bread recipe which is the tip we picked up from the Catherine at the thermomix course. And instead of using wheat grains, just substituted wholemeal flour.   I think there’s about three teaspoons of yeast in one sachet and the recipe requires only 2 tsp so there was always a little leftover previously. This time with more yeast, proving was only 30 minutes as per recipe. And the second prove after the buns are shaped  was 20 minutes as per recipe. Miss 14 shaped the buns using tips from course. The kids loved making the hedgehog buns. Buns cooked in 15 minutes at 200c. Above pic is hot out of the oven. Nothing like having the smell of baking bread in the house.

Lunch was rice noodles with chicken and courgettes. Thermomix chicken stock used as a soup base and unfortunately  just used the last spoonful from the jar. It has lasted us almost three months. So will be making more tomorrow. Miss 8 says it’s her favourite soup in the world! What a compliment.

Muesli (fruit and nut)

~ nzthermomixmum
Delicious homemade museli
Delicious homemade museli
Makes two jars of muesli
Makes two jars of muesli

Delicious homemade gluten free muesli made in the thermomix, just 4 pulses  and we have delicious fruit and nut muesli. Recipe guided from the Basic cookbook p216. Ingredients are fresh apples, activated nuts, prunes, cranberries (substituted for apricots) figs and coconut. Sprinkled with homemade LSA and topped with yoghurt. Can’t wait for breakfast tomorrow.

Wholemeal bread rolls

~ nzthermomixmum
image
Wholemeal bread rolls

Thermomix held a course for new owners in Mt Wellington on Tuesday night. Brilliant … Miss 14 and I attended and we came away enthused to try so many more guided recipes from sampling the dishes and drinks there. Can’t wait to make homemade muesli, gluten free bread, lemon and parsley juice, brown rice salad and creamy tomato soup. The peach sorbet served up was ‘wow’ but we are a already  spoilt because we have sorbet/ slushies/ smoothies  use nearly every day with assorted fruits and berries. The inclusion of fresh herbs is definately on the list now that we have a newly planted herb garden and tasted the fab lemon and parsley juice.  One of the consultants demonstrated three methods of plaiting bread rolls using the guided basic bread recipe P218 in the Basic cookbook.  So had to give this one a go.  The rolls are wonderful, used half wholemeal half flour to make the dough. The proving took about an hour rather than the 30 minutes but the worth the wait. The texture was still great the next day for school lunches. And both miss 14 and miss 8 wanted to eat them just plain with butter and pesto.

Tahini paste

~ nzthermomixmum
Tahini paste
Tahini paste

Went to make hummus and normally we just used peanut butter instead of tahini but we had a dairy and nut allergy to cater for so we found a thermomix recipe for tahini paste.

http://yeahnayeah.com/how-to-make-home-made-tahini-from-scratch-in-the-thermomix/

Sesame seeds ground with vegetable oil and  blitzed in thermomix. We halved the recipe, 1/2 cup of sesame seeds makes about 5-6 tablespoons of tahini and only one is needed for one lot of hummus. The only problem was first time round the instructions were so simple we overlooked  the first step which was to grind the sesame seeds first. The blades just stirred the seeds with the vegetable oil no matter how long it was blended together.

Tahini - oops forgot to grind the sesame seeds
Tahini – oops forgot to grind the sesame seeds

But it all worked out in the end just kept the first batch for stir frys and made another this time correctly and it’s pictured first above. Tahini for hummus done! .

The Best Broccoli Salad

~ nzthermomixmum
Brocoli salad
Broccoli salad

http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/side-dishes-recipes/broccoli-salad/57829

https://www.recipecommunity.com.au/side-dishes-recipes/broccoli-salad/9t6u4xf8-0d7f3-861704-cfcd2-c2s2a6bg

Ok…so the broccoli salad from the thermomix guided recipe is great but this one from the recipe community (link above) tops that one. Nb Just ease up on salt, add 1/2 tsp salt instead of full tsp or salt to taste at end. Raw broccoli, cauliflower ( substituted for red capsicum which we didn’t have ), apple and pinenuts put into thermomix with the dressing. The dressing is apple cider vinegar ( substitute,  didn’t have any white balsamic vinegar ) dijon mustard, honey and olive oil. It’s so good that you can’t stop eating it, worth it’s 89 plus comments  on the recipe community. The whole family came out with a collective “mmmmmmmm” when we tried it. 5 seconds to create in the thermomix, still can’t get over how quick and easy. Fabulous salad! We will be using this recipe alot and I’ll be sure to try it with red capsicum as well.

Strawberry Bliss Balls

~ nzthermomixmum
Raw strawberry bliss balls
Raw strawberry bliss balls

These raw vegan sugar free bliss balls are made from medjool dates, banana, strawberries, activated nuts, chia seeds, and coconut.  Used thermomix to blitz the dates first, then added the other ingredients. Pulsed a few times. Shaped into balls and rolled in desiccated coconut and refrigerated for 20 minutes to firm up. Rolled a few in chocolate hail for kids. But they were happy to eat the sugar free ones. Delicious and a great alternative to biscuits and cake. Recipe from Pete Evans Paleo Family Food cookbook.    Strawberry bliss ball link http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/desserts-sweets-recipes/strawberry-bliss-balls/232564