ankita, Author at One Girl and her Thermie

Homemade Baileys

Leave a Comment / Dairy, Dessert, Drinks

Homemade Baileys Irish Cream recipe is a deliciously creamy and chocolatey homemade alcoholic drink. Make it in less than 5 minutes in your Thermomix and with just 6 basic ingredients.

It’s perfect homemade gift for family and friends. In fact, it’s such a perfect recipe that for the last few years I have made bottles and gifted them to my children’s teachers with a love note: “My child is probably the reason you drink, so enjoy this homemade Baileys on us”. You need a teacher with a sense of humour to appreciate it.

The beauty of this recipe is how simple it is. In just a couple of minutes you’ll be sipping this super yummy drink and wonder why I only drink this at Christmas time; surely it should be all year round.

Gingerbread

Leave a Comment / Baking (Sweet), Breakfast & Brunch, Snacks

Run, run, fast as you can,
You can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man!

~ The Gingerbread Man, a fairy tale

Gingerbread is a popular Christmas treat all over the world, in many different forms. Gingerbread first appeared in central Europe in the Middle Ages, made from sugars and spices that had been brought back from the Middle East by soldiers returning from the Crusades. In England, gingerbread only meant “preserved ginger,” referring to the preservative effect of ginger on breads, cakes, and other pastries. It wasn’t until the 15th century that gingerbread referred specifically to the sweet cake made with treacle and ginger. And it wasn’t until the nineteenth century that the treat became associated primarily with Christmas.

This very well-behaved dough can put up with quite a bit of punishment and is therefore ideal for children to play around with.

Kids will love making, decorating and eating these gingerbread men biscuits – but let’s face it, more the eating! They can either be given as gifts or used to decorate the tree as I have done this year. Make things more fun with a variety of cutters.

You can buy proper cutters for making ‘men’ but in fact, you (or your children) can pick any shaped cutter you like.

Credit: I can’t take credit for converting this recipe. Why re-invent the wheel. This recipe copied from the website Thermobliss, aptly named the Best Thermomix Gingerbread recipe. I agree, it is.

Chesnut and Wild Mushroom Soup

Garlic Naan with Spinach, Cheese and Chilli

Citrus Body Scrub

Garam masala

Homemade yoghurt

Leave a Comment / Breakfast & Brunch, Dairy, Dessert, Snacks, Vegan & Vegetarian

There are a million different ways to make homemade yoghurt. You can order a starter or use a commercial yogurt as your starter. You can use a dehydrator, heating pad, crockpot, yoghurt maker, or oven to act as your incubator. However, this Thermomix recipe will knock your socks off every single time producing the most delicious yogurt.

There are a number of reasons why making your own yogurt is great, but I’ll give my top three reasons.

Homemade yogurt is about half the price of buying plain yogurt at the supermarket. You can do the math yourself. Milk is the main ingredient in yoghurt, so see how much it costs for a tub of yoghurt versus a pint or litre milk where you shop.
You have more control over homemade yoghurt. You can choose what type and brand of milk you start with, which yoghurt cultures or store-bought yoghurt to use as a starter, and you don’t need to put in any additives. No sugar. No nasties.
It’s good for the environment. There is no more need to buy so many little plastic cups of yoghurt.

Credit: This recipe has been slightly adapted from the Indian Cookbook which I sell in the online shop.

Apple and pumpkin soup

Leave a Comment / Gluten Free, Soups, Vegan & Vegetarian

Autumn is a feast of riches when it comes to fresh produce. With the last of summer fruits and plenty of root vegetables coming into season, it’s no wonder autumn is seen as bountiful season. A warming apple and pumpkin soup like this is a perfect to use the wonderful pumpkin and squash that is plentiful at this time of year.

Between Halloween and Thanksgiving, pumpkin is quite possibly the poster child for autumn seasonal produce. With it’s hard orange skin, perfect for carving, and sweet flesh, it is the most famous of the squashes. The British season runs from October to December, and not only are pumpkins great for carving, but they are ‘scarily’ good for you too, as an excellent source of fibre, vitamins and minerals.

This apple and pumpkin soup can use any leftovers from Halloween carvings or for the perfect bonfire night party. Perfect to carry in a thermos and produce just as everyone’s fingers and toes are starting to go numb.

SW Cauliflower Couscous

Leave a Comment / Salads, Snacks, Vegan & Vegetarian

Cauliflower couscous? That was my first thought when my colleague first introduced me to this recipe. Of course nothing beats wheat couscous, steamed and flavoured to perfection but when avoiding wheat or trying to eat more speed foods, this is an amazing addition to your side dish repertoire; mock cauliflower couscous.

Making cauliflower couscous in your Thermomix is super easy. You just grind up fresh cauliflower florets in your until they resemble couscous. Add some other vegetables such as red and yellow peppers for colour, onion and dates for flavour, a bit of white wine vinegar and olive oil and then serve.

Credit: This recipe has been slightly adapted from the Cookidoo Platform Collection Alternative Sides. Link to this recipe on Cookidoo for guided cooking is here.