Thermomix Menu Plans - 30th January

Hi everyone! We’re enjoying our little holiday at the beach, relaxing and getting in some quality family time. Although it’s awfully hot and sticky down here on the coast, and we can’t swim in the ocean because the stingers are really bad at the moment – even the nets aren’t keeping them out. Thank goodness for air conditioning! And for the kind people at the resort down the road who let us use their pool free of charge. J  

Due to the hot weather and my determination to take it easy, I haven’t been doing much cooking, just basic stuff, but I still wouldn’t be without my Thermomix! It’s great to be able to still enjoy our risotto and smoothies and homemade bread and pasta and salads all made the quick, easy and healthy way. (I admit, we have had a couple of lunches where we’ve been out and have given in and bought take-away, but it’s not something we do very often, and you’ve got to be a bit flex when you’re on holiday!)

My favourite treat while on holiday has been 'Cookie Dough Dip' - a guilt-free (well, almost!) snack that I make out of raw nut butter, rapadura, vanilla, quinoa flakes, coconut milk, a little salt and baking soda, and some dark choc chips! (The original recipe by Chocolate Covered Katie is made on tinned chickpeas, and it's really good too - so if you can't have nuts, try that one. Katie has some amazingly decadent, healthy, vegan recipes!!) I love this either as a 'dip' with slices of fruit, or just sneaked out of the fridge by the spoonful when no one's looking...

Nut Butter Cookie Dough Dip

Well, our holiday is nearly over, and when we get home it’ll be straight back into the craziness of school, Thermomix demos, cooking days at home with customers, a cooking class, and hubby shift working… so I’d better get my menu planned! I’d love to see your menu plans too, so please share by linking up with your menu plan! Instructions on how to link up are here: Thermomix Menu Plans. Or if you’re new to menu planning and need some help, see this article: How to Menu Plan.

My Menu Plan for this week...

Monday:

(lunch) Fried Rice – Thermomix style

(dinner) Sausages in tomato sauce (sauce cooks in Thermomix bowl while sausages steam on top in Varoma - like in this recipe; sprinkle with herbs and bake in oven til sausages are crispy on top) with a leafy green salad

Tuesday:

(lunch) Leftovers, bits and pieces (heading home from the beach…)

(dinner) Spicy lamb chops with braised lentils and a green salad

Wednesday:

(lunch) Eggplant ‘lasagne’ – double batch, got lots of eggplants! (‘Pasta’ is slices of eggplant steamed in varoma while sauce cooks in bowl; drizzled with dairy free ‘cheesey’ sauce; baked in oven); green salad

(dinner) Beef koftas in lettuce wraps, with raw vege sticks

Thursday:

(lunch) Eggplant lasagne (spare from yesterday, re-heated in oven) with salad

(dinner) Leftovers from demo at my place in the afternoon!

Friday:

(lunch) Gluten free, dairy free pizzas (using this pizza base recipe (see photos below with the lamb mince & salad topping) and the avocado & salad topping, as well as the salmon salad topping)

(dinner) Steamed buns with spicy mince filling, beetroot & orange salad

Saturday:

(lunch) Vietnamese fish curry with sticky rice, green salad

(dinner) Leftovers

Sunday:

(lunch) Marinated Thai beef salad

(dinner) Pecan bread, fruit, raw veges

Gluten free pizza base with lamb mince cooked on top...
salad and dairy free sour cream added after it's cooked.
I actually changed the gf pizza base recipe a little this time,
and it was amazing! I used glutinous rice flour instead of the
tapioca/arrowroot starch; drizzled with lots of olive oil and par baked;
topped with mince and baked until crispy and golden; added salad.
The crust turned out very crunchy on the edges, and underneath,
 but soft and kind of chewy inside - we loved it!!

So what's on your menu this week?

Raw Zucchini Pasta with Walnut & Mushroom Sauce {Vegan}

The other day I was thinking about a recipe I used to love to make called "Mushroom & Cheese Paté". It was from Molly Katzen's wonderful cookbook, "The Enchanted Broccoli Forest" - a vegetarian cookbook with so many creative ideas and lovely pen and ink drawings that it's still a favourite after all these years. It's the kind of book that makes me think of that poem, "Oh for a book and a cosy nook, and oh for a quiet hour..." because I could happily sit and read it for ages.

Well, there's not too many quiet hours around here, but I've managed to finally shoo the kids off to bed and I thought I'd share with you the recipe that came out of my memories of Mushroom Pate...

The original recipe had neufchatel or cream cheese and ricotta cheese in it, which is why I haven't made it in a long time. I had some leftover dairy free sour cream in the fridge, and I thought that it might be a good substitute for the cheeses. Then I remembered seeing a few versions of 'raw walnut and mushroom pate' on the internet (like this one), and I decided to kind of combine the two recipes. Or three.

I planned to make the raw paté for lunch and eat it with raw vege sticks, but my friend Brook was here and we got talking about raw recipes, and I just had to show her my Benriner, which makes the coolest raw vege pasta ever! So the mushroom and walnut pate turned into a creamy, raw, vegan mushroom and walnut pasta sauce, which we ate stirred into raw zucchini pasta. It was delicious!

The only problem I have with raw vege type dishes is that they usually leave me still feeling a bit hungry. So I was pleasantly surprised that this one stayed with me longer than usual - maybe because of the protein in the walnuts. I only needed one small piece of cacao nib almond cake to keep me going til dinner time - amazing! ;)

So here's the very simple recipe - takes hardly any time at all. Oh, and if you don't own a Benriner or vegetable spiralizer of some sort, you can just peel the zucchini with a potato peeler into thin strips. Takes a bit longer, but it's worth it.

Raw Zucchini Pasta with Walnut & Mushroom Sauce
- Serves 2-4 (depending on whether it's a main or a side dish)

1. Soak 1 cup (100g) raw walnuts in water for a few hours, or overnight. (If you forget to do this step, or you're in a hurry, it will work with unsoaked walnuts - just add a couple of tablespoons of water to the recipe.)

2. Grind up in Thermomix on speed 7 for 3 seconds:
- 1 or 2 cloves of garlic

3. Drain the water off the walnuts and place in the Thermomix bowl with the garlic:
- 100g mushrooms
- a small piece of Spanish onion (about a Tablespoon size)
- 3 teaspoons Nama Shoyu or Tamari sauce (or 2 tsp regular soy sauce)
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme (or a sprinkle of dried thyme)
- a small handful of fresh parsley
- a splash of extra virgin olive oil
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste

4. Chop on speed 5 for a few seconds, until finely chopped, but not completely pulverised.

5. Make your raw zucchini pasta (either with a vege spiralizer, or with a potato peeler) and place in a large serving bowl.
- 2 to 3 raw zucchinis

6. Spoon the sauce over the 'pasta', top with a good sized blob of raw, dairy free sour cream (optional), stir through gently and serve.

Thermomix Menu Plans - 23rd January

Today is the first day back at school for us, and since I'm a homeschooling mum, I'm surrounded by school books, papers, pencils, children, a noisy bird and a sleepy cat, trying to answer everyone at once... "Mum, I think I've forgotten how to do this!" "Mum, I'm hungry" "Mum, can I read to you?" "Mum, can you score this?" "Mum, I'm starving - when's lunch?" "Mum, I know how to fly airplanes now - I just learnt it in Science!" "Mum, how do you say 'drive' in Spanish?" "Mum, I think I'm going to faint if we don't have lunch soon!!!"... and so on. (Do you see a pattern here?)

Miss C & Shadow working hard... Lol!

Thankfully, I have some good incentives to encourage them to get stuck into their work: "When you're done you can have a piece of this Cacao Nib Almond Cake" and "Get that whole page of sums right and I'll let you play a short game on my iPhone!" (downloading Angry Birds as we speak...) So it's going pretty well here. However, I am a bit slow with the menu plan for the week - my apologies to those of you who have been waiting to link up. Three are finished school for the day, the other one is nearly done, and I'm having a 'blogging break'.

I really wanted to have a blog post done before today with healthy lunch box and snack ideas, but as you can see, I haven't had time yet. Maybe later this week when we're down at the beach for a short holiday... yay!! Yes, I know, strange time to take a holiday when school's just started, but we haven't had a chance to go away since last year and hubby has a few days off, so we're disappearing for a few days. (That's one of the things I love about homeschooling - it's so flexible.) I'll be taking Thermie with me (of course!) so we can keep eating healthy, delicious, low cost meals and snacks. I don't mind cooking when we're on holidays, as long as I have the Thermomix - it's so quick and easy it really isn't a bother. Although we usually have one or two meals out just for fun :)

So here's my plan for this week - feel free to post a link to your menu plan below. (Here's how.) And if you have any healthy lunch box ideas, I'd love to hear about them - leave a comment below, or come and have a chat on my Facebook page. Have a great week!

Gluten free pizza base

Monday:
(lunch) Baked potatoes, dairy free sour cream (tmx) & raw vege sticks
(dinner) Lamb & salad pizza with gluten free pizza base (tmx - base with lamb mince is cooked in oven then topped with salad and dairy free sour cream)

Tuesday:
(lunch) Raw vegan mushroom pate (tmx) with raw vege sticks & Cyndi O'Meara's gluten free bread (tmx)
(dinner) Steak, carrot & grape salad (tmx), and spinach & orange salad (from Rainbow Recipes)

Wednesday:
(lunch) Leftover salads & mushroom pate, boiled eggs (tmx), green smoothie (tmx)
(dinner) Chicken curry with sticky rice (all in one tmx meal), green salad, raw vege sticks

Thursday:
(lunch) Vege pasta (tmx - double batch for 2 meals), green salad
(dinner) Dinner out

Friday:
(lunch) Vege pasta (leftovers), raw vege sticks, green smoothie (tmx)
(dinner) Dinner out

Saturday:
(lunch) Steamed buns filled with spicy mince (made in tmx, steamed in Varoma) with salad
(dinner) Baked potato wedges, lightly steamed broccoli, peas & corn, (tmx) and raw vege sticks & green juice (tmx)

Sunday:
(lunch) Roast chicken & veges (gravy in tmx) with a big green salad
(dinner) Leftovers with spelt bread rolls, green smoothie (tmx)

Green Juice

Okay, all the schoolwork is done and I'd better dash off to the shop and do my grocery shopping for the week. You can share your menu by linking up below... and don't forget to leave a comment - I'd love to hear from you. :)

Thermomix Menu Plans - 16th January

Hi everyone! What's been cooking at your place lately? We've been enjoying all the fresh fruit and veges and the hot weather (well, most of the time) and having lots of delicious salads, sorbets, and smoothies. It's so much easier to eat more raw in this weather! Now to keep it up when the weather gets cooler...

I'm working on having at least half raw food (mostly salads, fruit, green smoothies, and fresh juices) in our families' diet - it's something that takes planning ahead and persistance. The menu plan helps, as well as the fresh, local veges from our vege box co-op. Sometimes the kids don't like the salad, (or something IN the salad which they want to pick out), but our new rule is 'half your plate must be raw', and if they come back for seconds of the cooked food, they also have to take the same amount of raw. So we're working on it. I'm a firm believer that if kids are hungry enough, they'll eat what they're given. And if they're not, they can wait til the next meal. :) One thing I love about eating this way is there's less cooking to do - a lot of the main meals can be stretched to two meals because the raw stuff bulks it out. Great tip for big families - eat more salads!  I haven't put a lot of detail in my menu plan about what's in all the salads, as it depends what I get in my box. Here's one I came up with last week to use up the raw corn, capsicums, avocadoes, coriander, limes and tomatoes in my vege box: Tex-Mex Raw Corn Salad.

Mangosteen

It's easy to eat lots of fresh fruit here in Far North Queensland - there's such a great variety of delicious and interesting fruits, you could never get bored! This is a mangosteen - if you haven't tried them, you need to!! Amazingly delicious - it's just a pity they're so small. I could eat them all day. They're a bit like a lychee, but more tart, with little segments you break off, some with seeds and some without. We've been getting these in our vege box lately and loving them.

This Saturday (9am to 12pm) I will be helping out with an Open Day for the Atherton Wellbeing Clinic. If any of you locals would like to come along and have a look, there will be talks about detoxing, healthy aging, women's health, good posture and its' importance, dealing with stress, plus a live blood analysis demo and a question & answer session. I'll be demonstrating how to make some gluten free, dairy free, naturally sweetened, additive free foods using the Thermomix. Oh, and there'll be free goody bags! Let me know if you're interested in coming. This is the naturopathy clinic where I received the help I needed when I was sick and exhausted a few years ago - I highly recommend them!

So what's on the menu at your place this week? We enjoyed the cauliflower rice (Mock Rice) last week, with a Thai chicken satay kind of sauce - all except one child who thought he was going to die... Ah well, there's always one. He'll get used to it. ;)  I didn't get everything on the menu cooked as we had unexpected things come up, so some of last week's recipes are on this week's menu again.

Here's our menu plan for the week - please come and join in the menu planning and post a link to your blog, site or public Facebook page so we can all get some new ideas! To link up, see Thermomix Menu Plans for instructions, and don't forget to leave a comment so I know you've linked. If you just want some ideas for starting menu planning, see How to Menu Plan. Have a great week!

Monday:

(lunch) Salad sandwiches with spelt bread (tmx)

(dinner) Beef Rendang (EDC) with steamed sticky rice (cooking together in Thermomix - curry in the bowl, sticky rice steaming on top)

Tuesday:

(lunch) Tuna pasta (one bowl - tmx) and raw vege sticks

(dinner) Fish (steamed in tmx), smashed potatoes (boiled, 'smashed', then drizzled with olive oil and baked), dairy free sour cream, leafy green salad with 'cheesey' sesame dressing (dressing made in tmx - recipe coming)

Wednesday:

(lunch) Thermomix risotto, beetroot salad, sorbet, dip, etc - (training a new consultant!)

(dinner) Lentil bolognese (tmx) on brown rice (tmx) with beetroot salad and leafy green salad

Lentil Bolognese

Thursday:

(lunch) out

(dinner) Quinoa chicken salad (tmx) haven't actually figured out a recipe for this one, but I'm sure I'll come up with something!

Friday:

(lunch) out

(dinner) Spaghetti (spelt) and meatballs (all in one meal using varoma to cook meatballs while pasta & sauce cook in bowl) with mixed salads

Saturday:

(lunch) Cooking at the Atherton Wellbeing Clinic's open day - come along and have a look!

(dinner) Leftovers and green smoothies

Sunday:

(lunch) Thai beef salad

(dinner) Bread, salad, fruit - Sunday afternoon I usually make bread... how about a Fish Bread just for fun? I made this for my friend's little boy who was turning 1...

Come on and add your menu to the list!

Tex-Mex Raw Corn Salad

Last night I was in the mood for a big, fresh salad. I'm enjoying having more raw these days. I'm trying to serve up at least 50% raw fruit and veges at mealtimes, plus fruit and veges at snack times either on their own, or in smoothies, juices and sorbets. I had lots of pesticide free, local, fresh fruit and veges in my CSA vege box, so I decided to experiment with what I had, and this is what I came up with. I loved it, but one of my kids wasn't too keen on the fresh coriander... he picked every little bit out! My sister's the same - she hates the stuff. So if you are one of those strange people who can't stand coriander, swap it for cilantro or Italian parsley. Or maybe a little fresh oregano or basil.

I decided to make this a Tex-Mex style salad, but I didn't add jalapenos because although the hubby loves them, the kids don't like things too hot. If you like a bit more of a 'bite' to your salad, add a few chopped up jalapenos or maybe a few splashes of jalapeno Tabasco sauce.

I did add some Natural Mesquite Liquid Smoke, which is a real Texan thing and you may not have heard of it... I got mine from Texas, but apparently you can now buy it from USA Foods here in Australia. It is an 'all-natural liquid smoke with no additives or preservatives'.  I love the flavour of mesquite smoke, so now and then I'll use a little. You don't need much. It's great on barbequed meats too!

Tex-Mex Raw Corn Salad

1. Cut corn kernels off the cobs and tip into a large salad bowl:

- 5 fresh cobs of corn

2. Mince garlic in Thermomix on speed 7 for 3 seconds:

- 1 or 2 cloves raw garlic

3. Add dressing ingredients to the Thermomix bowl and mix on speed 6 for 5 seconds:

- 4 Tablespoons fresh lime juice

- 2 big Tablespoons of raw honey

- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

- 1/2 teaspoon Mexican chilli powder (or more to taste)

- 50g extra virgin olive oil

- pinch sea salt or herb salt

- freshly ground pepper

- a few dashes of Natural Mesquite Liquid Smoke (optional)

4. Add and mix on speed 4 for 5 seconds:

- half a red capsicum, deseeded

- half a green capsicum, deseeded

- quarter of a red onion (or more if you like)

- a handful of fresh coriander or cilantro or parsley

   Tip the chopped veges and dressing into the salad bowl with the corn.

5. Add to salad bowl and mix through gently:

- some halved cherry tomatoes or cubed tomatoes

- a handful of roughly sliced snow peas or sugar snap peas

- an avocado, cubed

- a sliced shallot

- 1 tin of black beans or kidney beans or mixed beans

Optional: add some sliced jalapenos, or some jalapeno Tabasco sauce for extra kick!

This is delicious served with barbequed steak or grilled chicken, or as a side dish with Fajitas.

Thermomix Menu Plan - 9th January

So sorry everyone - I'm LATE!!! So much going on today - people coming and going, a demo at my place... only just sitting down to plan the menu now. I have been thinking about it though. I'm working on getting more raw foods into our diet. My goal is 50% raw (fruit & veges). Lots of you have shared some great links to raw food websites on my facebook page - thank you for that! So here's my ideas for this week - very basic as I'm in a rush, but I'm sure there'll be lots more ideas shared around here.

Thanks for stopping by, and make sure you check out the other links to Thermomix Menu Plans at the bottom of the page. And feel free to join in and post your menu plan too! Have a great week :)

Delicious avocado topping for a dairy free, mostly raw pizza!

Monday:

(lunch) Raw pasta sauce on raw zucchini 'noodles'; leftover roast lamb in wraps with salad (wraps  made with my spelt tortillas)

(dinner) Varoma demo here

Tuesday:

(lunch) Leftover salad, soup, gluten free pizza bread and spinach & avocado salad

(dinner) Hamburgers (without the buns), salad, raw vege sticks, chocolate green smoothie for dessert

Wednesday:

(lunch) Baked potatoes, green smoothie-juice, raw vege spirals

(dinner) Fish, mock rice (lightly steamed cauliflower 'rice') and thai-ish sauce and a green salad

Thursday:

(lunch) Spelt pizza bread with raw toppings (dairy free) - avocado, veges, etc

(dinner) Lamb pasta (with leftover roast lamb, gf pasta), raw vege sticks, green smoothie-juice

Friday:

(lunch) Out

(dinner) Potato & egg salad (steamed in Varoma) with homemade garlic & herb mayo, and lots of raw veges mixed in after it's cooked, green smoothie-juice

Saturday:

(lunch) Beef curry (double batch) with raw mock rice (cauliflower) and raw vege sticks

(dinner) Pumpkin 'lasagne' (thin slices of steamed pumpkin instead of noodles, dairyfree), big green salad

Sunday:

(lunch) Leftover beef curry on rice with salads

(dinner) Spelt bread, raw vege sticks, chocolate green smoothie

Post your menu plan below!

Homemade Ferrero Rocher Chocolates (Dairy free & Gluten free!)

I've been meaning to post this recipe since before Christmas, as this was one of my Christmas treat ideas - homemade Ferrero Rochers that are gluten free and dairy free! But in the holiday rush, they never actually got made. Well... I got a few made, but I ate them as quick as I made them, so there never were enough to put in the kid's Christmas stockings, or to take to the parties I intended to take them to! *grins sheepishly*

I think I should warn you that these are very dangerous, and should only be made when you are really full and don't feel like eating any chocolate. Unless you have super-human self control - then just go ahead and make them anytime. ;)

At least they're pretty healthy. That's my excuse anyway.

My recipe is simply a homemade nutella type chocolate mixture (based on my hazelnut chocolate spread recipe), molded around a roasted hazelnut and coated in crushed, roasted hazelnuts. I didn't bother with the biscuit layer - too tricky, and besides, I wanted them to be gluten free. And I never got around to coating them with chocolate - maybe next time. I thought they were chocolatey enough without the extra chocolate coating, and besides, I wanted to hurry up and eat them so I didn't want to take the time for an extra step! But if you're feeling industrious, and you have the self-control to not eat them all before you actually get the chocolate ready to dip them in, here's my recipe for homemade chocolate, which I think would work best because it's quite thin before it's set, so it would be easy to coat the balls with.

Homemade Ferrero Rocher Chocolates

(Dairy Free & Gluten Free!)

First you need to roast the hazelnuts (if they're not already roasted):

- Spread about 3 cups of raw hazelnuts on a baking tray (in a single layer) and roast at 180 degrees C for about 10-15 minutes, stirring once or twice, until slightly browned. (I buy my nuts bulk from Trumps through a co-op, so it's not so expensive.)

Then once they're cool, rub the skins off as best you can, either with your hands, or in a tea towel. Discard skins.

Take a third of the nuts and set them aside. Roughly chop the other two thirds in the Thermomix by pulsing a few times with Turbo speed. Check in between pulses so you don't overdo it.

Now make the hazelnut chocolate for the centre:

1. Grind in Thermomix on speed 9 for 10 seconds:

- 90g Rapadura

2. Add and grind on speed 9 for 10 seconds:

- 60g roasted hazelnuts

3. Then add and grind again for 10 seconds:
- 50g good quality, dairy free dark chocolate broken into pieces
(70-85% cocoa dairy free chocolate - I use Lindt)

4. Add and heat for 6 minutes, 60 degrees, speed 3:

- 20g cacao powder (or good quality cocoa)

- 50g rice/almond milk or other milk

- 70g coconut oil (I use a flavourless variety for this recipe)

5. Scrape the chocolate mixture into a bowl and refrigerate for a few hours until very firm. (Or pop it in the freezer if you're in a hurry!)

Once your chocolate has set, you can make the balls. You need to work quick, as the chocolate gets too soft to work with after a while.

Take a thin scoop of the chocolate mixture with a teaspoon, and put a roasted hazelnut on top. Mold the chocolate around the hazelnut to form a rough ball.

Roll the balls in the crushed hazelnuts, squishing them into shape as you go. Place the balls on a plate or in a container, and keep them in the fridge as you make them. They do melt pretty quickly as I found out when trying to take photos of them... I got distracted with a phone call and came back to soggy chocolate balls. So I had to eat them. ;)

Once they're firm, you could dip them in melted, tempered chocolate, then re-chill. I wrapped them in little squares of foil, but it's not really necessary - the nuts keep them from sticking together.

You can keep these in the fridge or freezer - they keep well for ages. That is, if they're well hidden!

Thermomix Menu Plans - 2nd January and a GIVEAWAY!!

Happy New Year!

Well, we're starting the New Year off with a bang! And no, I don't mean fireworks, (they're kind of rare in this neck of the woods), I mean we're straight back into life going 'full steam ahead'! I shouldn't complain, I've had a quiet month (workwise), and a much needed rest (partly enforced by the flu)... now it's time to get stuck back into it. This week there's lots of social stuff going on, as well as a couple of demos (lots more of those planned this month), and I really need to do a spring clean and catch up on paperwork and school preparation and do some work on my cookbook... phew! Getting tired just thinking about it all. But hey, I'd rather jump into the New Year with both feet than be sitting around bored. I always tell my kids, 'Only boring people get bored!' Don't you agree? :)

So with all that's going on this week, I'm going to need to keep my energy up with healthy, wholesome meals, green smoothies and Crio Brü! Have you heard of Crio Brü? It's made of ground up, roasted cocoa beans which you brew like ground coffee - no additives or junk - full of healthy, energy-boosting minerals and antioxidants, and it tastes great! Because the beans are roasted and brewed, it has 'the consistency, roasted flavor and complexity of a fine coffee, yet because it is made with cocoa beans, its primary flavors are chocolatey.' You can drink it just like you would brewed coffee, with milk and sugar if you like (or in my case, rapadura and coconut cream), but my favourite way to drink it is actually just black, as the flavour is more intense. Without milk and sugar, it smells like chocolate but the flavour is very similar to coffee. With milk and sugar it's more like drinking cocoa. 

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to cut down on sugar (of any kind, even rapadura - help!), and black tea, and the occasional coffee. So I'm really pleased I've found Crio Brü as it's a delicious and healthy alternative to tea and coffee. I started drinking Crio Brü when I was sick, (I drank it black and unsweetened), and I was amazed that it seemed to help settle my tummy. With brewed coffee, I find it bothers my tummy if I have very much, as the caffeine and chlorogenic acid in coffee affect the stomach lining, and cause an increase in gastric juices. I don't get an upset stomach with Crio Brü, or the shakiness which I get if I have a cup of strong coffee, so I'm loving it!

I'm really wanting to share the love with you all, because you've all been so wonderful this past year, supporting my blog and passing it on to friends, coming to have a chat both here and on my Facebook page - you guys are great! And as you may have noticed, last week was my blog's third birthday... So as a big THANK YOU for all your support, and because the Crio Brü team have been so kind in donating it, I have a special gift to give away this week! YIPPEE!! Who doesn't like presents - especially one as cool as this one?! Check it out... I love my Bodum travel mug. It's all stainless steel inside, no plastic lining.

Win this super cool, stainless steel
Bodum travel mug

and a 340g bag of Crio Brü Cavalla!

(As shown in the picture below, valued at  $70, postage included)

It's really easy to enter - all you have to do is:

1. ‘Like’ the Crio Brü facebook page

2. Then, post on their wall ‘Quirky Jo sent me!’

Too easy, huh! So go on, do it now... you've only got three days!! The prize will be randomly drawn on Thursday, so don't miss out. Pass it on to your friends, share it on Facebook, and if you don't win, make sure you order some Crio Brü to try for yourself - I'm sure you'll love it too. :)

(By the way, the chocolate covered cocoa beans are AWESOME - and there's no nasty additives in the chocolate - just a little sugar, cocoa butter and vanilla beans. No dairy, soy, gluten, nuts, etc, either.)

Okay, so on to my menu plan for this week... I'm continuing with the Varoma recipes theme, as there's so, so many good ones to choose from, and I really want to encourage you all to use your Thermomix to it's full potential. So if you haven't used your Varoma for a while, dust it off and try one of these. Don't forget to check out the other menus linked to this page - you're sure to find lots of inspiration. And feel free to link yours up too - for instructions on what to do, see this post about Thermomix Menu Plans. If you just want to know where to start in planning your own menu, see How to Menu Plan. And please don't forget to leave a comment if you link up, so I know you're there and can pop over and have a look at your page. :) Have a great week, and all the best for the New Year!

Sunny Scalloped Eggs & Silverbeet or Broccoli

Monday:
(lunch) With friends - taking Breudher and Thermie (to make whatever they want to make - her Thermomix is on it's way!) The Breudher is prepared and frozen, but uncooked - I'll thaw it out and cook it this morning. It's always nicest hot from the oven.
(dinner) Sunny Scalloped Eggs & Silverbeet - silverbeet (or broccoli) steams in the Varoma while eggs 'boil' (steam) in the basket in the bowl, then it's layered with a white or mushroom sauce and veges, and topped with buttered crumbs and baked.

Tuesday:
(lunch) Varoma demo here - if you've never been to a Varoma demo, the menu is: Fruity dream; pizza bianca; sun-dried tomato & red capsicum dip; dressing made from some of the dip; creamy chickpea and vegetable soup which cooks in the bowl while pumpkin, chicken & couscous (or quinoa) steam on top in the Varoma; warm chicken, pumpkin & couscous (or quinoa) salad, either Italian style or Moroccan style; and steamed lemon & coconut puddings with citrus syrup... deeeelicious!!
(dinner) Leftovers (plus more salad if needed) and steak.

Wednesday:
(lunch) Baked potatoes & salad
(dinner) Spaghetti & meatballs - pasta sauce cooks in bowl with meatballs steaming in Varoma; raw pasta is added to sauce towards end of cooking time to cook in bowl while meatballs finish cooking. I add lots of veges to the sauce, and just a little meat.

Thursday:
(lunch) Fish with tomato and potatoes (based on Salt Cod with Tomato and Potatoes on pg. 82 of Full Steam Ahead - the Thermomix Varoma cookbook) - the red sauce cooks in the bowl while the fish steams in the Varoma, you cook potato & capsicum slices in the bowl next (or in a pan at the same time if in a hurry!), then layer the sauce, veges and fish in a baking dish and top with homemade aoli and grill for 5 minutes to brown. Really yummy!
(dinner) Out

Steamed potato salad

Friday:
(lunch) Chicken & potato salad with sun-dried tomato mayonnaise - an old favourite!
(dinner) Risotto with whatever's in the fridge

Saturday:
(lunch) Vege pasta - tomato-vege pasta sauce cooking in bowl with spiralized vege 'pasta' steaming in Varoma - a grain free pasta - cutting down on grains is another one of my New Year's Resolutions! (Check out the Benriner if you haven't seen them - make your own 'pasta' from fresh vegetables)
(dinner) Beef Rendang with sticky rice - curry cooking in bowl, sticky rice steaming in Varoma. (See method here)

Sunday:
(lunch) Roast lamb & veges with steamed bread rolls (Varoma) - To steam your bread rolls, just make the dough as usual, rise once, then form into small rolls and place on pieces of baking paper in the Varoma, leaving spaces for the steam to get through. Sprinkle them with sesame seeds if you like. Let them rise for 10 minutes or so, then steam at Varoma temp for 20 minutes, speed 1. You can have a soup or sauce cooking underneath at the same time if you like, or just cover the blades with water. (May take 25 minutes, depending on size.)
(dinner) Leftovers

Oh, and here's another steamed bread option that we love - I'm going to fit this into the menu somewhere this week too: Chocolate Filled Steamed Buns with Cherry Sauce (my version of the one in the Thermomix Full Steam Ahead cookbook).

So what's on your menu this week? Link up with Mr Linky below, and don't forget to leave a comment! Or if you don't have a site to link to, just add your menu in the comments below. Thanks, and have a great week.

Vietnamese Fish Curry with Sticky Rice

Don't you just LOVE sticky rice? We do! I actually only tasted it for the first time a few months ago at a Vietnamese cooking course run by Geraldine of Rainforest Bounty, and came home and made it for my family, who were instantly addicted! First let me tell you a little about the Rainforest Bounty Cooking School...

Geraldine of Rainforest Bounty Cooking School -

environmental scientist and talented cook!

The Rainforest Bounty Cooking School is in the edge of the rainforest, close to the base of Bartle Frere, on the Atherton Tablelands (about 15 minutes drive from where I live). You can choose from Vietnamese, Malaysian, Indonesian, Laos/Thai, Middle Eastern or Mediterranean classes. It's a 'paddock to plate' class, beginning with morning tea and a chat about the wonderful bounty found in our north Queensland rainforest, and what it can be used for (including sampling Geraldine's gourmet Rainforest Bounty condiments). Then it's on with the gumboots and off to the garden and native fruit orchards to learn more about the local 'bush tucker', gathering what's needed for the class as we go...

 Ingredients for the class are from the rainforest orchard and kitchen garden, together with Rainforest Bounty gourmet condiments, as well as heirloom varieties of fruit and vegetables sourced from local organic farmers, fishermen, gardeners and artisanal producers.

Then it's back to the kitchen where the fun begins...

Making rice noodles and preparing banana flowers for the

banana flower with rainforest lemon salad.

(By the way, you don't eat the purple bits, they're for decoration.

Or the blossoms. Just part of the white, inner leaves.)

I highly recommend the Rainforest Bounty classes - they're a lot of fun and you'll learn heaps! Geraldine has lived, worked and travelled extensively in South East Asia, and is a great teacher. To see more photos, check out my Facebook page.

Anyway, back to the sticky rice... as you can see in the photo above, sticky rice is steamed, not boiled. This is the traditional way of cooking it - in a bamboo mat/funnel kind of thing over a pot of boiling water, with a cloth draped over it to keep the steam in. It must be soaked first for at least six hours. My friend Bel and I were watching the rice being cooked, and thinking there must be a way to do it in the Varoma (steamer) of the Thermomix. And there is! The great thing about it is that you can also cook your curry at the same time as the rice steams!!

I love all-in-one Thermomix meals that make the most of the Varoma, so I was very pleased to find a recipe in the Travelling with Thermomix cookbook that uses this method of cooking sticky rice. (If you're lucky enough to have a copy of this hard-to-get cookbook, the recipe is 'Stewed Beef with Tamarind and Sticky Rice' in the Thai section.) This is a great way to cook rice if you want to cook a lot - you can fit much more rice in the Varoma than you can in the rice basket. Of course, regular rice needs to be cooked in the basket where the water can whoosh through it, but sticky rice cooks perfectly in the Varoma as it only needs steam to cook. Don't forget you need to soak it for at least six hours first though, so plan ahead.

Here's my version of Geraldine's Vietnamese Fish Curry - I've changed a few of the ingredients to make it more to my taste, and converted it to the Thermomix... so it may not be quite so authentic now, but it's still very yummy! Hope you like it :)

Vietnamese Fish Curry with Sticky Rice

1. First, get the rice soaking. I soak mine in the Thermoserver all day, then cook this for dinner at night. You at least need 6 hours of soaking time.
- Glutinous rice (the amount is up to you - you can just use 300g if cooking for a small family, right up to the whole packet for a large family!)
- water to cover

2. An hour before dinner time, start preparing the curry. First you need to make the paste. Mix together in the Thermomix on speed 9 for 15 seconds:
- 2 medium tomatoes, halved
- 1 tsp Rainforest Fruits Jeowbong (this is a prize-winning Rainforest Bounty chilli paste which you can order online; or you could substitute it with a rich, fruity, thick chilli paste of your choice)
- 1 medium red chilli, deseeded (I leave this out as my kids don't like it too hot)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 inches fresh turmeric (or 2 tsps dried turmeric powder)
- 1 inch fresh ginger
- 1 inch fresh galangal (if you can find it!)
- 2 tsp palm sugar
- 2 tsp chicken stock paste (great for flavour, but could use fish or vege stock paste)
- 2 shallots (white part only, save green parts for later)
- 1/2 tsp good quality fish sauce
- 1 tsp tamarind paste
- 1 tsp lemon aspen juice (or a squeeze of lemon juice)
- 2 Tblspns gf soy sauce or tamari

3. Pour half the paste into a bowl, and set aside the remaining paste in another bowl. Cube the fish, and leave it to marinate while you prepare the curry sauce:
- 600g fresh, firm-fleshed white fish (cut in 2cm cubes)

4. Heat the oil in the Thermomix on 100 degrees for 2 mins, speed 1:
- 1 Tblspn coconut oil

5. Add the remaining paste and cook for 4 minutes at 100 degrees, speed 2. Meanwhile, strain the water off the rice and tip it into the Varoma dish, poking a hole in the middle for the steam to get through.

6. Add pumpkin, coconut milk and lemon grass to bowl, place Varoma on top, and cook at Varoma temperature for 25 minutes, reverse speed soft:
- 500g pumpkin, cut in 2cm cubes
- 500ml coconut milk (you can make your own!)
- 2 stalks of lemon grass (white part only), bruised (not chopped - just crush with flat side of large knife)... OR, if you can't get lemon grass, chop up the green parts of the shallots and throw them in instead, saving some for the garnish.

7. Remove Varoma and check if the rice is cooked. It will be all stuck together, so don't stir it too much, just push the sides in a bit with a fork if they need more cooking, and re-poke the hole in the middle.

8. Add the fish and paste to the Thermomix bowl, replace Varoma, and cook for 5 minutes at Varoma temp, reverse, speed soft. If you're worried the fish may break up, you can insert the butterfly.

9. Serve it up... If you want to keep the rice 'sticky', serve it next to the curry, as it 'unsticks' once it gets wet. (The kids love to make balls of rice with their fingers and pop them in their mouths - that's half the fun!) Garnish individual serves with sliced shallots.

I hope you enjoy it as much as my kids do!!

Thermomix Menu Plan - 26th December and Happy Birthday Quirky Cooking!

Hi everyone, I hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas weekend with plenty of delicious food! From the comments on my facebook page, I'm pretty sure there was some amazing Thermomix cooking going on out there. Our kids have been enjoying their homemade treats in their Christmas stockings. In fact, they were sent some lollies from the USA for Christmas, and much preferred the homemade ones - yay!! (One of the boys had a few licks of his lollipop then said, 'Mum, do I have to eat this??' Music to my ears!)

Christmas with family & friends

I know a few of you received the extra-special present of a THERMOMIX for Christmas - congratulations!!! I hope these menu plans will be helpful to you in knowing where to start, and inspire you to use your Thermomix to it's full potential. (At the bottom of the page are links to other sites with Thermomix menu plans, so check them out too!) If you'd like some more ideas for starting off with Thermomix cooking, and how to convert your own recipes for the Thermomix, check out this post: Converting Recipes for the Thermomix. And please join us on my Quirky Cooking Facebook Page for tips, links to recipes, and lots of Thermomix chatting. :)

Guess what? Today is the third birthday of Quirky Cooking!! Thank you all for following and commenting and helping to make this blog (and my facebook page) a great place to get some Thermomix inspiration... I've enjoyed chatting with many of you, and hope to 'meet' many more. Hopefully the new year will see Quirky Cooking becoming not only a blog, but a Thermomix cookbook too! Exciting times ahead... I'll be letting you all know of a couple of birthday giveaways very soon - just as soon as I can get them posted! So stay tuned for the chance to win.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

I've found a lot of Thermomix owners don't use the Varoma as much as they could, and don't seem to know where to start with it. I use mine pretty much every day - it's very easy to use, and it's not just for steaming veges. If you haven't had a Varoma demo yet, you really should book one in - for one thing, the food is delicious, and for another, you'll be inspired to use your Varoma a lot more! To help you with some simple Varoma meal ideas, I've planned all Varoma meals this week. There are so many more that we make on a regular basis, like Chicken & Cashews with Coconut Rice and Coconut Satay Sauce, Sausage Casserole with Dumplings, steamed fish with rice and veges, potato salad, spaghetti and meatballs, steamed cakes... the list goes on. I'd love to hear from you what your favourite Varoma dishes are - leave a comment below and share your ideas. And if you have a Thermomix menu plan of your own on a blog, website, or public facebook page, please feel free to link up and share it with everyone! Have a great week.

One of our favourite Varoma recipes: Chicken & Cashews

with Coconut Rice & Coconut Satay Sauce

Monday:
     Steak with mashed potatoes & veges: Steak cooked in pan (with a couple of ground beef patties made with some of the steak, minced in the tmx - my daughter won't eat steak); potatoes cooked in tmx bowl while veges steam above in Varoma. (Use 200g milk, 200g water, 1kg cubed potatoes & seasonings in bowl; thinly sliced veges in Varoma tray; cook for 25 mins at Varoma temp speed 1. Remove Varoma, insert butterfly in bowl and mash potatoes on speed 4 for 20 seconds.) Takes 25 minutes. 6-8 serves.

Tuesday:
     Tomato pasta with vegetables (pg 72 in the Thermomix Vegetarian Cookbook): Vegetarian pasta sauce cooks in the tmx bowl while lots of sliced veges & herbs steam on top in the Varoma, with fetta if you like. You could crumble some macadamia cheese on top instead of fetta for a dairy free option, or just leave it out. (I cook it for 20 minutes at Varoma temp, then add 250g gluten free pasta to the sauce (uncooked pasta) and continue to cook for another 8 minutes. Mix pasta sauce & veges all together in a big serving bowl.) Takes about 30 minutes. 8 or so serves, depending on how much veges you use.

Wednesday:
     Vietnamese fish curry & sticky rice: Curry sauce cooks in tmx bowl while sticky rice (presoaked) cooks on top in Varoma. Cubed fish is added to the curry in the last few minutes of cooking time. Takes 30 minutes, makes about 8 serves. (Recipe coming!)

Thursday:
     Meatloaf & veges with red sauce (pg 100 in the Thermomix Everyday Cookbook): Meatloaf is made by mincing up cubed beef, bread, parmesan (opt), veges, herbs & egg in tmx and making into loaf which is placed in Varoma. The sauce cooks in the bowl while the meatloaf and veges steam in the Varoma. Makes a large amount of the tasty sauce, which is great as the base of a pasta sauce or soup for another meal. Takes 40 minutes. Serves 6 (plus leftover sauce).

Friday:
     Chinese white chicken with steamed veges, rice & an Asian sauce: A whole chicken steams in the Varoma; towards end of cooking time, water is topped up to a litre and rice basket with basmati rice is added; broccoli, carrot & bok choy added to Varoma tray, around chicken and cooked until all done. Sauce is made from remaining stock in bowl with soy sauce, garlic, ginger, shallots. Chicken is very white, tender and juicy! Takes about 1 hour. Serves 6-8.

Saturday:
     Pork & Chicken Terrine (pg 18 Thermomix Festive Flavour cookbook - out of print at the moment sadly): This is a delicious recipe where pork and chicken are minced in the tmx; mixed with herbs, garlic and onion (chopped, and sauteed in wine in the tmx), pistachios, craisins (or prunes) & baby spinach; made into a roll and wrapped in bacon, and steamed. It's lovely hot or cold. We'll be having it cold at a New Year's Eve party. The recipe says to cook it over water, but if you want a bigger meal, you can have a soup cooking in the bowl while the terrine steams on top. Takes about 50 minutes. Serves 6-8.
     Also making some Fried Rice in the Varoma - quick and easy!! (Takes 25 minutes, serves about 8-10) and Breudher - Dutch New Year's Cake to share with friends.

Breudher - Dutch New Year's Cake

A delicious yeast cake recipe which makes 3 or 4 cakes/loaves

from the one recipe, perfect for sharing with family and friends

as a New Year's gift.

Sunday - New Year's Day:
     Baked Ham, Roast Lamb, veges & gravy (tmx)... New Year's lunch with family.
     Leftovers, warmed up in the Varoma (for evening meal): I don't have a microwave (I prefer not to), I use the Varoma to heat up leftovers. Just pour 1 litre of boiling water in the tmx bowl (or boil in there if you like), place leftovers in the Varoma (two layers if you need them) and cook at Varoma temp for 15 minutes, speed 1. You can put a piece of baking paper in each layer if your leftovers are things that will drip through, or to keep the flavours separate. You can also have a soup or pasta sauce in the bowl cooking instead of water, while the leftovers warm up on top - that way if you only have a few leftovers this helps to bulk out the meal. (With pasta sauce, cook for 10-15 minutes then add 250-300g raw pasta and cook another 8-10 minutes.)

And here's a quick and easy dessert using your Varoma - Steamed Chocolate Mudcakes with Orange Sabayon...