ankita, Author at One Girl and her Thermie

Liquid Soap

Ingredients:

120g soap bar, cubed
1200g of water

Recipe:

Blitz soap bar on speed 5, slowly working up to speed 8 until fine.
Melt at 80 degrees, speed 2 for 2 minutes or until melted. Some people find they need to increase the temp and speed slightly. If its not melting increase to 90 degrees, speed 3. Add a little of the water to help the process.
Continue to mix at 80 degrees, speed 2 whilst pouring water slowly in to the bowl through the hole in the lid.
Continue to mix for 2 mins or until nice and smooth.
It will look like milky water. Don’t panic like I did. I almost threw it out thinking I put too much water in.
Pour into a big bowl.
Now leave it for the day.
As time goes on it thickens. Just keep giving it a stir every hour or so. Its not essential to stir hourly, just regularly.
I bottled mine after approximately 12 hours. Keep any extra in a bottle in a cool dark spot until needed.
If you find it’s too thick just pop it back into the TM Bowl and blitz on speed 8 for 30-60 secs. That will smooth it out again.
Thin with a little water if needed

Disclaimer – Thermomix® is a cooking appliance intended to be only used for food preparation.

However, the recipes here are things I do with my own Thermomix. I also have multiple Thermomixes and TM bowls, so I can safely use separate bowls for making these without any cross-contamination. I also clean the bowls thoroughly with soap, then vinegar, and finally run it through the dishwasher to ensure that it is thoroughly clean before making a food recipe in my bowl. If in any doubt, don’t make them.

Homemade hand sanitiser

Ingredients:

833g isopropyl alcohol (99%)
38g hydrogen peroxide (3%)
14g glycerin
115g water
A few drops of essential oil (optional)

Instructions:

Add the isopropyl alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, and glycerin to the mixing bowl of your Thermomix. Mix the ingredients together for 20 seconds at speed 4.
Slowly add the water to the mixing bowl, mixing the ingredients together for another 20 seconds at speed 4.
If desired, add a few drops of essential oil to the mixture, and mix everything together for a final 10 seconds at speed 4.
Pour the hand sanitizer into clean bottles with pump dispensers or spray caps, and label them with the date and contents. Make sure the bottles are tightly sealed and store them in a cool, dry place.

That’s it! You can now use your homemade hand sanitizer as needed.

Disclaimer – Thermomix® is a cooking appliance intended to be only used for food preparation.

This recipe was converted from the article in the Independent online article, CORONAVIRUS: HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN HAND SANITISER, ACCORDING TO EXPERTS.

How to make Easter Eggs using natural food dyes

Leave a Comment / Basics, Dairy, Non-food, Poultry, Vegan & Vegetarian

The egg, an ancient symbol of new life, has been associated with pagan festivals celebrating spring. From a Christian perspective, Easter eggs are said to represent Jesus’ emergence from the tomb and resurrection. However, real eggs continue to be used in Central and Eastern European traditions. Although eggs, in general, were a traditional symbol of fertility and rebirth, in Christianity, for the celebration of Eastertide, Easter eggs symbolize the empty tomb of Jesus, from which Jesus resurrected.

The practice of coloring Easter eggs is very much alive in Poland today as well as enjoyed by Polish people all over the world. There are several techniques for making ‘pisanki including the use of wax flowing from a pipe or funnel, producing richly ornamented designs or the etching of designs onto a previously colored egg. The geometric and floral patterns or the animal and human images produced reveal a high level of craftsmanship and artistry.

The pisanki derive from an ancient tradition when eggs, the symbol of life, were endowed with magical properties and were thought to ensure both a plentiful harvest and good health. The name Pisanki comes from the Polish word “pisac”, which means to write.

This method to dye eggs using natural foods is definitely one for the bucket list this Easter and very easy to prepare using your Thermomix. Super fun times for the whole family. I love colouring Easter eggs and until recently I always used to buy these little food colouring tablets in my local supermarket. This year I decided to go a little more natural and try something different. I am so impressed with the results of Thermomix natural Easter egg dye and I can only recommend you try it for yourself. It is a great way to make use of leftover vegetables and scraps that you would have otherwise chucked away. There are so many colours you can make but I have listed my favourites and also included a method below for you. When you’re done with the big Easter egg hunt, simply use up the leftover boiled eggs to make my tasty Egg salad.

On the Saturday before Easter Sunday, Poles paint hard-boiled eggs (called pisanki) and then have them blessed. I’m not sure given the current status of lockdown if we can go to church but we’ll be sending our prayers around the world. Happy Easter.

Egg substitutes

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Whether you’re egg-free by choice or allergy, or just can’t get hold of eggs, I thought I’d help with a trusty guide for egg substitutes in baking and cooking.

Typically, eggs in baking us generally are used for two reasons; either that act as a binder which means that are used to hold the recipe together or they act as a leavening agent meaning that is used to help the recipe rise. The binding element helps combine the ingredients and hold them together giving the food it’s structure. The leavening helps trap pockets of air in the foods allowing them to expand during cooking. Think soufflés, angel cake, and meringues which all have a light airy texture. Sometimes they are used to help bind and rise.

Eggs also have moisture functions in which the liquid for the eggs is absorbed into the other ingredients which help keep the finished recipe moist. They can also improve the flavour and appearance of recipes.

Fortunately for us, there are plenty of alternatives to eggs.

Bananas. Mashed bananas are a popular egg replacement. About 65g of banana is the equivalent of 1 egg. The only downside to baking with bananas is that you might have a mild banana flavour, so substitution works best in cakes, muffins, brownies, and quick breads. You can also use mashed avocado or pureed applesauce and pumpkin in the same quantity.
Vinegar and Baking soda. Mixing 7g of baking soda and 15g of vinegar can replace one egg. Apple Cider vinegar or white distilled vinegar are my recommendations. when mixed together, the vinegar, and baking soda start a chemical reaction that produces carbon dioxide and water (I know I’m a chemist) which makes baked good light and airy. This alternative works best for cakes and cupcakes.
Yoghurt and Buttermilk. Both of these are good substitutes. It’s best to use a plain version as flavoured varieties include the flavour and are usually sweetened. You can use 60g of yoghurt or buttermilk for egg required and this can be used for cake and cupcakes. You can also make your own buttermilk by souring milk with a couple of drops of lemon juice or vinegar to curdle.
Aquafaba. Ever opened a can of chickpeas or beans? Aquafaba is the liquid leftover from cooking chickpeas and legumes. The liquid has a similar consistency or raw egg whites, making it an excellent substitution for many recipes where just egg whites are required. You can use 45g of aquafaba to replace one egg. You should also try using aquafaba to make meringues, they are amazing.
Nut butters such as peanut, cashew or almond butter. About 60g of nut-butter is enough to replace one egg and best used in recipes where they already have a nut as an ingredient such as brownies or cookies.
Carbonated water can add moisture to the recipe plus acting as a leavening agent. The carbonation traps air bubbles which help the recipe become light and fluffy. You can replace the egg with 60g of carbonated water.
Silken tofu. Tofu is condensed soy milk that has been processed and pressed into solid blocks. The texture of tofu varies, the more water that has been pressed out, the firmer it gets. Silken tofu is soft as it has high water content and therefore just 60g is needed to replace one egg. Silken tofu is an excellent alternative as it is also flavourless.
Ground flaxseeds or chia seeds. Most would suggest flaxseed or chia seeds higher in their list as both are highly nutritious. High in omega-3 fatty acids, fibre and plant compounds, just 5g flaxseeds or chia seeds with 45g water blended together is an alternative to one egg. However, I will add live in a household with kids, think they are gourmet food connoisseurs who can taste the hidden vegetables in tomato sauce or when I’ve swapped plain flour for semolina in pizza bases, so personally don’t get away with this one. But if you can, then it’s great.

Luckily, plenty of foods can replace eggs in baking, though not all of them act the same way. Some egg alternatives are better for heavy, dense products, while others are great for light and fluffy baked goods. You may need to experiment with various egg alternatives to get the texture and flavor you desire in your recipes.

Do let me know how you get on.

Thermomix: Your Best Friend in a Crisis

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Thermomix in a Crisis For all those Thermomix owners out there right now, I thought I would share this article here – Thermomix: Your Best Friend in a Crisis. I hold my hands up that I didn’t write this and don’t know who has (I did ask but haven’t had confirmation yet), but I thought it was important to share with you how Thermomix makes healthy home cooking, fast, easy and fun. It is the perfect solution for any household and invaluable as we plan to cope with the Coronavirus crisis and potentially long stretches of self-isolation.

(For my own views and rambling – see the other post)

Thermomix: Your Best Friend in a Crisis

Why?

Anyone can cook a nutritious meal from scratch.

Yes, anyone just needs to follow our guided cooking instructions on the screen. This means that even if the main cook becomes poorly the family can still eat well and stay well with healthy mealtimes

You can cater effortlessly for your special occasions at home.

With Thermomix you can celebrate with restaurant-quality food effortlessly. Starter, main courses, dessert. Thousands of possibilities plus cocktails too! Entertaining at home reduces your contacts with the outside world and with Thermomix self-isolation celebrations can be memorable!

What we choose to eat is now even more important! With Thermomix healthy food is easy and effortless.

What we eat does make a difference to our wellbeing and ability to fend off illness. Fresh vegetables and fruits are key to boosting our immune system and with our Cookidoo recipe platform, there is plenty of inspiration for how to include and create healthier meals and treats.

We can make our own kitchen basics.

With the possibility of food stores limiting some basics we can be reassured that with Thermomix we can make many basics ourselves. From yoghurts, bread, stock paste, sauces and so much more!

Store cupboard mealtimes with Thermomix.

Should food shopping not always be possible we can rely on Thermomix to help create delicious meals from store cupboard ingredients. The search function on Cookidoo enables you to type in the main ingredients to hand and then it lists the possibilities.

Enjoy your own takeaways or ‘fakeaways’ with Thermomix.

Perhaps you are unsure of the safety now about getting those takeaways in for the family? With Thermomix pizza nights, Indian feasts and Chinese are all easy and healthier!

A chance for the whole family to enjoy cooking.

With many of us spending more time at home there will be more time to enjoy cooking as a pastime. Inspire the children and encourage and teach healthier eating. With Thermomix cooking is fun with perfect results every time!

Thank goodness for Thermomix! The smartest kitchen appliance that will quickly become your best friend in the kitchen and especially in these uncertain times. Available with a bespoke, personal service to help you use your Thermomix to its full potential.

#Thermomixathome Cooking experiences tailored for you online by our expert advisors.

Covid_19: Stay home, stay safe, stay healthy

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I was debating whether to write this or not. I’m not actually sure how many of you read this blog part of my website…and when I decided not many, it’s more for me to put my thoughts down on how I’m feeling, I decided to go with it.

It’s a strange feeling. I’ve never felt like this before. I don’t think any of us have. It feels like the Covid_19 pandemic is following us everywhere. For me, it resonates more. I have been following it since it started. I have a good friend and TM-client who moved from the Isle of Dogs with her family a few years ago to Wuhan; the place where it all started. I have been following her and her husband’s social media posts on how they were and what the situation was like from the start of the lockdown in China, first hand. I watched Sky News as Flora walked off the first plane that evacuated British Citizens and taken to Arrow Park Hospital. The hospital where I grew up when I first moved to the UK as my parents were both doctors. We lived in hospital accommodation for the first few years until we moved to a house nearby. This wasn’t just a virus that was happening to someone else, it was happening to people I know and in places, I had visited, lived.

The UK was still oblivious to it all and so was I. We went on our usual half-term ski holiday with the kids. To Italy. It was only a couple of days after we came back that the outbreak in Italy was announced. The news talking about yellow, orange and red zones. Thankfully, we were in Sauze D’Oulx, outside the areas of concern at the time. The kids were already in school for two days, I had been back at work for just one. I was asked to stay at home until they worked out we had been in the safe zone. We carried on as normal.

The end of February came and went, March started. It’s was World Book Day and my husband’s birthday. We celebrated with restraint. It wasn’t a big birthday but equally, one shouldn’t have a celebration and not mark it. We both sat and had a drink contemplating how life was going to be different, very different in the next few months.

All too soon, it was. We started hearing the words social distancing and self-isolation, neither of which you can truly do if you have to jump on the tube to go to a central London day job. In my part-time, FE lecturing job, by mid-month, we moved to face-to-face lessons and adapting to remote teaching. Mircosoft Teams, a new challenge. Everyone around us started panic buying. There was a shortage of toilet rolls. And rice. Flour. Pasta. Tinned tomatoes. Schools closed. Restaurants closed. All non-essential shops closed. The number of cases in London was about the third of the entire country. We had to lock down, shut down.

And it started to hit home. By Year 6 daughter, came home from her last day of school last Friday. We don’t know if this is goodbye to the school that has been the only one she’s known for the last 8-years. To her, the cancellation of school is not a holiday. She has missed her school ski-trip which was supposed to depart tomorrow. A trip that her brother was due to go on for the first time. It was their only opportunity to do it together. It’s a time she doesn’t get to spend with their friends in the last few months before they finish school. She’s anxious, realising they may never be able to walk the halls for the last time or attend their leaving parties. She’s sad that the sports seasons, events and concerts that her & her cohort have practiced and prepared for, and looked forward to for so many years, may have come to an end before they’ve had the chance to take the field, court, or stage one last time. They don’t know if they will have their Outward Bound Adventure. Whilst for Yasmin and her friends hope this isn’t the end, there have been tears knowing that nothing feels right or the same anymore. And then homeschooling started. Work from home while homeschooling. That’s a whole other blog post.

Thermomix-wise they have allowed us to do virtual demonstrations since the second week of March. They quickly introduced this as more and more customers were cautious, understandably, of having Advisors come into their homes. With a large workforce, all self-employed, it has been unclear what the roles and responsibility Vorwerk UK have to their sales team. After all, we are not employed, we are self-employed Independent Advisors. They couldn’t tell us to do anything but only guide us and tell us to keep to government protocols. Advisors who were continuing to go out and offer Cooking Experiences were to follow WHO guidelines which include washing hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces with a disinfectant and asking any hosts to cancel or guests if they were sick to stay at home, if they were sick.

They introduced Virtual Cooking Experiences for those who would still love to see a Thermomix in action but prefer to do it online. Some Advisors out there are comfortable with this, some aren’t. I’m lucky that I’ve been in the business for over 10 years so one, know the demonstration, and any iteration of it, like the back of my hand. Having to present in my non-Thermomix life every day is easy for me. BUT doing it online is a new challenge; one that we have had to adapt to. So watch out on my socials both Facebook and Instagram for the odd video – maybe in front of the camera, but mostly photos turned into videos.

Whilst, I am still passionate that Thermomix can help us eat well and healthy during these days, I am conscious of not using this pandemic purely for personal gain. I don’t want to push my product or services onto others when I know that there are people getting sick, people are dying, there are food shortages because of those panic buyers. Restaurants and cafes closing down, businesses having to close and people have real financial woes. Those who are self-employed or business owners have little or no income coming in. Those employed, don’t know if their employers have the income to pay them long-term. When there are key workers and NHS frontline staff going out every day putting themselves in harm’s way, without the proper personal protective equipment.

What I will promise though is to stay open and stay active. Honest and transparent as always. Give engaging content as often as I can (remember I am still remote working and homeschooling).

For my entire readership, I will be sharing useful information. Where I am sourcing my staples such as milk, eggs, fruit, and vegetables from and what substitutions I will use when I can’t source ingredients. If my research can help you, then my job is done.

For those who have Thermomix, please stay in touch. I have a well-stocked household (after all I am a foodie, first and foremost) so I will be sharing what we as a family are cooking and eating while in lockdown. I hope some of the things that are are able to make will inspire you to make them too. Tomorrow, we plan to make play dough; something we haven’t done in years but given that we’re home, it’s the perfect opportunity to make it again. Customers have been sending me recipes for liquid hand soap and antiseptic hand sanitizers. I’m not sure how scientifically accurate they are yet, but I’m willing to give it a go. I have plenty of food and non-food recipes, to keep us occupied during this time.

For those who don’t have a Thermomix, but would like to consider buying one, then please stay in touch. Hopefully, the same photos and videos will show you what can be done in a Thermomix and during this time, give you the time to fully utilize it. I had one lady call me just last week, saying that, “If we’re going into lockdown, now is the time to have a toy”. She had been contemplating purchasing a Thermomix since 2017. I managed to complete her order and conduct in-person welcome visits before the school closed and we as a family went into lockdown. I’m glad I did; they were a super nice family with teenage kids and I’m sure will enjoy their purchase. I bet they are already wishing they would have had one sooner. Most of my clients say that. I am still happy to do virtual demonstrations and welcome visits, but during this time I might not be advertising or promoting Thermomix as much as I usually do. But I am here so please feel free to contact me.

I’m going to use the time to hug and kiss my kids a little bit more, snuggle up, play with them, talk to them, read together, cook together. Kiss them a little more. They are not babies anymore but I finally understand now when my Dad looks at me and sees a 6-year old with pigtails, even though I’m fortysomething now, I see my kids as babies. Babies who are helpless and need me to be their carer and provider. Hopefully, in reality, we not kill each (we are all living in a confined space for an indefinite amount of time) but appreciate each other a little more.

So, whether anyone really reads this blog or not, all I wanted to say to you all, is to stay home, stay safe and stay healthy.

From my family to yours, with lots and lots of love.

Keep cooking up a storm, Ankita

Store cupboard staples

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It appears that we must all prepare for the arrival of the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown in the UK. It hasn’t happened officially but with our European partners locking down one by one, it’s inevitable. Panic buying has already started, toilet paper seems to be the top purchase item on the public’s shopping list but as a foodie, I’m all about the food. I have a large pantry and a deep freezer, so I personally bulk buy anyway (yes, I’ve had Costco Membership for years), but given the current climate, I wanted to share some of my hints & tips for being able to stay home and still eating well. Here is my store cupboard staples list.

Kitchen and pantry essentials

Please find below a list of the most used, versatile, and budget-friendly pantry staples. Keep these pantry essentials on hand for quick and easy meals!

Tinned foods:

Tomatoes – Tinned tomatoes in the juice are a versatile ingredient. They can take centre stage as a simple sauce for pasta as well as being an ingredient in dishes like Bolognese or chilli.
Fruits – Tinned fruit keeps for ages and will count towards your five a day. During the winter it can be a good way of getting more exotic fruits in your diet like peaches, apricots, and pineapple. Just make sure the fruit is tinned in fruit juice rather than syrup.
Tinned fish – Tinned tuna is a useful ingredient to have to hand, whether you use it for a simple tuna sandwich filling, to top a salad or jacket potato or for more substantial meals like a tuna bake or in a tomato-based pasta sauce. Don’t just stick to tuna: oily fish like salmon, sardines, and pilchards are also a good choice. The important thing is to choose fish that have been tinned in water, tomato sauce or unsaturated fats like sunflower or olive oil rather than in brine to keep the salt down.

Dry foods:

Beans & Pulses are a good ingredient to bulk out meat dishes as well as being a vegetarian source of protein. Dried pulses keep well too but when they are tinned in the water they are ready to eat making them a quick and easy choice.
Nuts and seeds: Always a great stand-by to keep in your kitchen. Use as instant nutrition when you have no time to cook, but wonderful added to your food, both savoury and sweet, cooked or raw.
Herbs and spices: Adding flavour is important when it comes to cooking with less salt. Dried herbs and spices are an inexpensive way of doing that and have the advantage of keeping for a while if they are kept well sealed and out of direct sunlight.
Pasta: Higher in fibre than white pasta, whole wheat pasta is a filling choice and will keep for a long time in your cupboard ready for a quick evening meal. Use it as a starchy accompaniment for main meals as well as having it cold in pasta salads.
Flour: flour can be useful for making bread, pancakes, and scones, as well as to thicken a white sauce or casserole. I bake a lot, so I have everything from plain flour to self-raising, bread flour which contains a higher percentage of gluten and also specialty flours such as wholemeal and pizza flours, to rye flour for my sourdough baking. I also have ‘chappati atta’ for all my Indian bread.
Dried fruits such as sultanas, apricots, figs and dates are all useful for adding sweetness to breakfasts, stewed fruit and adding to stews and casseroles. While dried fruit won’t have the vitamin C that fresh fruit does, dried fruit still contributes to your five a day and can also be a source of nutrients like fibre and iron.

Fresh fruit and vegetables

Onions A basic ingredient that contributes towards your five a day, onions are a versatile ingredient whether you are making a cooked dish or a salad. They keep well stored in a cool, dark place without needing to be refrigerated. You can also buy fresh and freeze to increase the shelf life of onions.
Potatoes: Whether they are baking potatoes, sweet potatoes or new potatoes, these root vegetables keep well when stored in a cool, dark place. Eat them with their skins on to benefit from some extra fibre. Again, these again are frozen if making french fries/ chips, or wedges; grated for hash browns to increase the shelf-life. Obviously can also be bought as frozen versions

Fridge

Eggs, whether that be for breakfast, lunch and dinner eggs, are quick to cook source of protein and keep well. Use them when they are at their freshest for poaching and for a Spanish omelette, boiled or scrambled if they are nearing their use-by date.
UHT Milk, whether it’s for hot drinks, on cereal, or to make a white sauce, milk is in most of our fridges. Using low-fat milk like semi-skimmed, 1% or skimmed milk will help to reduce the amount of saturated fat in your diet. It might seem like a small change but because milk is such an everyday food the benefits can add up.

Freezer goods

Frozen vegetables can sometimes have more nutrients in them than fresh and will count towards your five a day. Having a bag of peas in the freezer means you will never be short of a vegetable to serve with your main meals and you can also use defrosted frozen peas as an addition to salads as well as to make a filling soup.
Ice-cream. Yes, you can hardly call ice-cream a staple food group but who hasn’t felt better grabbing a spoon and eating right out of ice-cream tub. There’s a reason why it is called a comfort food and in this climate, I think we all deserve a hug from a tub.

In the coming days, I will be uploading more recipes to this blog and also posting on my new social media ch

One Girl in the Mix

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Vorwerk UK and Vorwerk International have recently changed their social media policy, which means for socials such as Facebook and Instagram, I am no longer able to use the name Thermomix or any abbreviation of Thermomix, such as Thermie within my business name.

This has had a huge impact on the workforce on the ground, who like me have been running their Independent Thermomix. Some of my best friends in the business have been Thermomix Advisors for years with names like ThermieChef to LivingwithmyThermie or Thermbalina. All these will have to be changed in the next few months.

After much deliberation that I have finally worked up the name, “One Girl in the Mix” for both my Facebook and Instagram accounts. It was a resounding yes from all of you that I needed to keep the One Girl in my name, so it was either One Girl and her Journey (detailing my journey with Thermomix…and if you say it fast enough, it sounds like Thermie) or One Girl in the Mix, which is what my Instagram followers voted for. I never thought I’ve ever say that sentence. I have followers; I have a tribe. Yay!

I’ve managed to get a quick redesign of the logo, so you can now see a little icon that now bridges the two brand names. Yes, it is a picture of me in a Thermoix. Smiling back at you.

This domain will remain unchanged, as will my contact details and other accounts – does anyone even know that I have a YouTube channel? Probably a good thing. But given what’s happening in the world right now (read Coronavirus) I do have plans to revive my YouTube and go live (argh…) to get us through things.

Despite really liking my new social name, it is a huge blow to my business as the name ‘One Girl and her Thermie‘ has been around for longer than most of the staff who make these decisions have worked at Vorwerk UK. It will mean I have to build up the hashtags (#onegirlinthemix) and the audience to get the rankings for the business, which leads many of you to this page.

I’ve been demonstrating Thermomix for more than 10 years now, so in those times have seen the business change from a family run company and Thermomix as a distributor owned by John & Janie Turner to having 3 different Sales Directors under Vorwerk UK as a fully-owned subsidiary of Vorwerk International. With these transitions, we’ve also had countless Marketing hats. But I am a fan of change, given my marketing expertise (I am Chartered Institute of Marketing qualified), I welcome to see what the new marketing guy has up his sleeve. He certainly has the experience having worked for Tupperware before so hopefully has a grasp of dealing with distributors and business partners with a sales force of over 40,000. Let’s hope with having worked with a much larger remote workforce, he’ll have the energy and the patience to grow our Thermomix in the UK, raising consumer brand awareness through recruitment.

I go back to my marketing training. Bruce Tuckman, an educational psychologist, identified a five-stage development process that most teams follow to become high performing. He called the stages: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. Team progress through the stages is shown in the following diagram.

Let’s hope the storming stage which this hiccup in the social media strategy has had will be on the upward curve soon, so we can get back to the performing stage.

So whichever social you follow, please do leave a comment. Or when you are cooking and posting yourself, hashtag me so I can see what you’ve been making. All of this will help the algorithms do their thing.

Stay well and keep cooking up a storm, Ankita

How to make your Thermomix pay for itself

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So you’ve taken the plunge and bought a Thermomix. That’s fabulous. Our unique selling point of a Thermomix is the cost-saving from day one, so here’s a helpful guide of what you should be making in your Thermomix TM6. Here are my 5 top recipes that I encourage everyone who buys a Thermomix to make regularly to ensure you start to make your Thermomix pay for itself.

1. Stock paste

The vegetable stock paste is something that I always have in my fridge and one of the recipes I always suggest to my customers that they make first with their Thermomix. I put homemade vegetable stock into everything I do from curries, stews, risottos and of course soups. One heaped teaspoon of Thermomix stock paste is equivalent to one stock cube without any of the nasties. When you know what goes into your food, including something as simple as stock paste, you start to eat cleaner and healthier. Making your own vegetable stock paste is neither difficult or expensive. All you need are some vegetables, good quality salt, and an excellent blender. 400g of vegetables makes one mason jar full of stock paste which lasts for about four months in the fridge. The sea salt acts as a natural preservative so no other additives are needed.

Yes, you can follow the recipe to the fullest, but my favourite and craziest idea is to wing it. I either empty the vegetable tray in my fridge on a Sunday evening and cook all the leftover vegetables before they go bad. I’m always a bit excited to see what colour my stock paste is as I never follow the TM recipe and depending on what vegetables I use, it’s a different colour. I don’t why but red cabbage always features heavily in my stock paste – it’s one of the vegetable I buy and only use half of it.

Here’s the Vegetable Stock Paste Cookidoo Recipe, I roughly follow.

2. Nut, seed and rice milk

Have you ever looked at the ingredients in any of the supermarket nut milks? Take example almond milk. Chances are you find a whole lot of ‘extra’ crammed in there that really don’t need to be there. Do we really need locust bean gum, gellan gum, lecithins? I don’t even know what half of them are. And when you see the almond milk percentage, it’s low’ super low. As low as 2.3%. Making your own homemade nut milk will mean you keep your milk preservative and additive-free.

The process of nut milk is simple; soak some nuts, wait and blend. If you are adding it to make a bechamel you can strain it, but if you are drinking it as part of a smoothie or shake, I don’t mind the ‘bit’s and leave it as it is. Store-bought nut milk has a sweet taste, so if you like that, you can sweeten it with a little honey or a couple of dates.

The best part of it is that homemade nut milk is easy and so much cheaper than store-bought and you know exactly what’s in it. I’ve milked almonds, cashews, pecans, hazelnut, and cashews. The sky is the limit.

Check out my recipes here: Almond Milk, Soya Milk, and Rice Milk

3. Almond meal

Many people who lean towards a Thermomix are those who are gluten free and making a change in their diets due to health reasons. However, it’s not just for medical reasons, alternative flours and meals are becoming really popular for baking these days. One of the most popular flour substitutes is almond meal, which is simply ground up whole almonds. It often costs much more than an equal weight in almonds; currently £1.25/100g. A store-bought almond meal will become rancid very quickly once the oil in the nuts is oxidized during the processing. Milling nuts, seeds or grains (rice, quinoa, oats, etc) fresh whenever you need a meal or flour will not only save you money but also give you a much healthier product! Mill for 30 seconds, speed 10, or until flour is achieved (will vary for different nuts, seeds, and grains).

4. Icing sugar

In the UK, one of our regular demonstration recipes is a frozen fruit sorbet or berry foam. These recipes not only show the magical blending capability of the Thermomix but it’s the ability to make icing sugar.

Did you know that icing sugar and caster sugar are simply milled versions of granulated white sugar? Yet, they are always more expensive! Everyone has granulated sugar in their pantry or store cupboards and all you need to do is mill 2 seconds, speed 10 when needing caster sugar and 1-3 minutes, speed 10 when needing icing sugar and hey presto, you have all 3 versions. It’s not just the cost-saving that is great here but the space-saving too especially needed in London where we have tiny houses and flats with little or no storage space.

5. Yoghurt

Homemade yogurt tastes great and it is better for you too. The key to this is to use the most delicious milk you can find. You can eschew the powdered milk if you want, but you will need to leave the yogurt to ferment twice as long and sometimes the texture can be a little unusual. There are plenty of Cookidoo recipes for yoghurt especially now that the Thermomix TM6 has a ferment mode too. But my favourite yoghurt recipe is one that I’ve been doing successfully for years and still works out perfectly every single time.