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egg alternatives

Egg substitutes

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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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 in a Crisis

Thermomix: Your Best Friend in a Crisis

Thermomix in a CrisisFor 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

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

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

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: formingstormingnormingperforming, 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

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.

 

6 Reasons why you should plan your meals

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While meal planning can be considered a chore to add to your “to-do list”, this is one chore that should be at the top of that list!

Here are 6 reasons why you should start planning your meals a week in advance and how Thermomix’s Recipe Platform Cookidoo can help you do just that:

1. Improve your nutrition

By planning in advance, you can aim to have nutritionally well-balanced meals throughout the week.

For example, you can make sure each of your dinners have the requisite vegetables, protein, and grains. Planning your meals ultimately allows you to take control of your own personal nutrition needs.

Whether you have to stick to a lower sodium diet or want only to eat whole grains and vegetables, you can plan for it!

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Thermomix (TM) tip: Each Thermomix recipe includes Nutritional information per portion to include energy (kj/kcal), protein (g), carbohydrate (g) and fat (g) content.

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2. Make healthier choices

If you have to come up with something to eat last minute, you’ll find yourself probably going out for dinner instead. As a result, you are most likely to end up exceeding your daily calorie and sodium intake!

Even just stopping at the supermarket to pick up a last minute dinner may lead to poor choices. When you shop hungry, you are more likely to throw junk food into your cart.

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Thermomix (TM) tip: By using Cookidoo’s weekly planning tool, you don’t have to have last minute hunger pangs or supermarket visit. The weekly planner creates a shopping list according to your menu and this can either be emailed for a quick shop around the supermarket, or in my opinion the better way, transcribed to an online supermarket shop for a convenient home delivery.

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3. Eat high-quality foods

Homemade meals are almost always more nutrient-dense and filled with less calories, salt, and fat than takeout or quick readymade options at your supermarket.

Choosing your own recipes and ingredients for the week allows you to make important food choices, such as buying local meats or organic produce.

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Thermomix (TM) tip: The better the quality of ingredients, the better the quality of your meal. Butchers offer better selection & quality. Buying vegetables from a greengrocers that only sells organic ensures you are buying food that is chemical pesticide-free.

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4. Save money

Having a meal plan prevents you from throwing out ingredients you forgot you had in the fridge. You can create meal plans that specifically allow you to use up whatever you have in your cupboards.

You can also start fresh by creating grocery lists based off your meal plans. This way you’ll go to the grocery store with purpose rather than on the whim and you won’t come out with a dozen of random unhealthy food items, most of which you won’t eat.

In addition, your meal plan will save you money by preventing you from ordering costly last minute takeouts.

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Thermomix (TM) tip: Menu planning with Cookidoo creates a shopping list which I have already discussed but what I enjoy more is the menu planning to use leftovers from the day before to create a new meal.

If I have had a chicken or lamb roast for Sunday lunch, I plan to use the ‘waste’ bones to make a bone broth and the next day a soup.
My husband is a little fussy with leftover meat so I will then plan a pie or a curry to use the leftovers the next day.
Vegetable peelings are saved in a plastic bag in a freezer and when the bag is full, I combine them to make homemade stock.
The list can go on.

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5. Save time

Your shopping list will prevent you from wandering around the supermarket aimlessly and your meal plans will save you from having to think about what to eat every day.

If you find yourself quite busy during the work week, planning meals that made from start to finish in under 30-minutes is achievable. Taking time out to plan your meals that can help save time.

Take some time out of the weekend ensure you have the right ingredients and plan quick meals for breakfast or take-to-work lunches. Oats and frozen berries with yogurt in mason jars serve as great breakfasts for on-the-go. Prepared quinoa or pasta salads with mixed veggies and beans can serve as a work lunch for multiple days.

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Thermomix (TM) tip: With good planning, Thermomix should save you time. For evening meals, I tend to find that 90% of the meals are cooked in under 30 minutes, 15-20 of which I don’t have to be physically in the kitchen. I can use this time to sit down with my kids and do their homework, catch up with some work emails or simply sit down and read a book.

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6. Decrease Stress

The daily “what’s for dinner” thought that plague our minds throughout the day is a constant stress to have, but it’s easily prevented by having a plan. You can always reuse meal plans and shopping lists to help cut down on planning and prep time.

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Thermomix (TM) tip: The beauty of my Cookidoo menu planner is that I know I have all the ingredients in the house to make any item on my weekly plan, therefore whether I cook or someone else in my household from my husband, nanny or 10-year daughter, everything is in stock and we’re creative enough with variety, seasonal ingredients and nutritionally balanced, that’s its a win, win situation all around.

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If you have any questions on meal planning with Thermomix, Cookidoo Recipe Platform or would like to see a Cooking Experience, please contact me:

Ankita Stopa, One Girl and her Thermie
ankita@onegirlandherThermie.co.uk
Mobile: 07977 563537

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Vorwerk Incentive Program

There are many advantages of being an Advisor, sharing our love and passion for healthy eating and cooking with the Thermomix. Of course, we don’t just do this for the goodness of our hearts, we are paid commissions for closed sales. However, Vorwerk also rewards us with other perks throughout the year and the latest Advisor Incentive was the Vorwerk Incentive Program.           

It’s the second year where the Vorwerk Incentive Program has been offered here in the UK but it was warmly welcomed. There’s something for everyone with VIP whether it’s something for yourself, your kids or a treat for the entire family, we have something to satisfy every need.

Last year I went for small items. I had worked so hard throughout the year, I wanted to reward my family with my prizes so I let everyone choose a gift. My daughter chose the Fujifilm Instax Mini 9 and my son chose a day out at British Superbike Weekend Tickets For Two. My husband was treated to Seven-Dish Shared Omakase Menu For Two which we went to on our wedding anniversary. Everyone in my team and the country seemed to win the Apple AirPods or the Swarovski Small Creativity Circle Pierced Earrings which were super easy to achieve. It was like Christmas came early and throughout the year, as we used and experienced the VIP from February to November making the enjoyment last.

This year, they added new and exciting prizes like Jo Malone Fragrance Sets, Swarovski jewelry and more of our very own Thermomix and Kobold products.

To unlock these rewards, there are always sales criteria to keep us active throughout the incentive period; all we needed to do is at least 3 Thermomix sales/6 Kobold Unit sales and be active 3 out of 4 months. Considering the period was September to December; the run-up to Christmas, it’s pretty much a safe bet that everyone will get something.

Well, the incentive period ended in December and since we get recruitment points too if our newcomers qualified, then the finally tally officially ended at the end of January.

When writing this blog and wanted to share my success with you, I looked at some inspirational quotes. I wanted to portray, success just doesn’t come to anyone, you have to work for it but also you need to have a purpose and a goal.


What is success? I think it is a mixture of having a flair for the thing that you are doing; knowing that it is not enough, that you have got to have hard work and a certain sense of purpose.

Margaret Thatcher


Well, my goal was for a new Thermomix TM6. Yes, I know I have already earned one earlier this year but to be honest, considering I have to demonstrate on the latest model, having to pack my home Thermomix every time I do a demonstration at a potential customer’s home is an inconvenience. So winning, by earning, another Thermomix was high on my priority wish list.

I also wanted a new iPad, considering the two I’ve previously won in my Thermomix Advisor Journey have been swiped by family members (ThermieHubby took the iPad and ThermieDaughter has been gifted the iPad Mini). I think I deserved one this time.

Hard work and determination, a little luck and the winter season were kind to me. Incentives are like a drug (said metaphorically, rather than from experience…) Once you have achieved your first goal and then second, you are addicted to keeping trying to get the next. I kept my third and fourth options realistic, small and achievable. Anf then something happened, all my efforts that had gone into the pipeline for wish list one and two resulted in excess sales. This business is a pipeline business and a considered purchase, so demonstrations in September resulted in October sales, conversations I had in October resulted in cooking experiences in half-term and then purchases in November and so on. Potential recruits that I had been talking to finally trained in November and qualified in December.  They just happened to train on a double points training session. Both of them. Bonus points, thank you, newcomers, and thank you, Vorwerk.

Today is the day I’ve waited for, the day I can claim my spent my points.

So my final loot looks like this. It’s a testament that your efforts are not wasted and you have to have belief.  

  • Thermomix TM6 – 2500 points
  • Apple iPad with 128GB – 1679 points
  • Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir Candle & Cologne Set – 404 points
  • Jo Malone Red Roses Fragrance & Bath Set – 288 points
  • Meater – 320 points
  • Le Creuset 24 inch crepe pan – 321 points
  • Heston Blumenthal at Home Cookbook – 195 points
  • New TM6 spatula – 48 points (96 points, as I ordered 2)
  • New TM6 measuring cup – 32 points (64 points, as I ordered 2)
  • I had only 3 remaining points unused

I’m absolutely delighted with my prizes. Yes, I received commissions with these sales too but it’s human nature to want more and its wonderful for a company like Vorwerk to understand this and offer it. Yes, it comes with terms & conditions, but so do most things in life. But for those who enjoy hard work and rewards, this is definitely the role that fits that need. I’m definitely satisfied that I continue to demonstrate after all these years.

Reasons why the Thermomix is useful for the Indian Household

Yes, I admit it, the UK demonstration for the Thermomix is doesn’t resonate immediately to the Indian palate. But what it does do it shows you all the functions of the Thermomix and with a little bit of imagination, one can quickly see how these functions and recipes can be easily adapted to the Indian home.

I’m from India, which is one of the oldest and richest food cultures in the world. Indian cuisine is well known for being one of the world’s spiciest, most influential, diverse and unique. As Indians differ from one another by religion, region, state, language and caste, our cuisine varies so much that we have positioned ourselves as one of the world’s most diverse. The beauty of being an Indian living abroad is having both a great appreciation for different Indian cuisines and a palate that enjoys all gastronomies.

Now, I am not typically Indian. Having been born in India, I lived abroad most of my life and am now settled in London, married with kids to my Polish husband (we could be spies in another life). But I am pukka Indian. My household, despite my location and marriage, is run like my mother’s. We eat Indian cuisines at least 3-4 times and I cook enough to feed any visiting friend, neighbour or distant ‘aunty’ coming to visit the capital and always have enough food on hand for afternoon tea. My 7-year old daughter’s favourite food is butter chicken, rice and gobi aloo while my 4-year old sons is masala dosas with coconut chutney. We laugh that he will need to marry an Indian girl or take our housekeeper, Anitha, with him when he eventually gets married as he eats more chapattis and paratha’s in a week than an adult.

We use the Thermomix for traditional Indian meals but still create those intensified flavours, with speedy preparation, and consistently excellent results, while the cooking and stirring is done for you, meaning less washing up and more time for other things, like relaxing after helping with homework or reading a book! What’s even better, with the cost savings on a daily and weekly basis, we are able to save the extra pennies & pounds for that trip back to India.

So here are my top 20 reasons why a Thermomix is useful in an Indian household.

Staples

  1. Chapatti Dough – save 15 to 20 minutes of mixing and kneading time – many Indians make these every day – weighed, mixed and kneaded for you in 2 minutes
  2. Rice – plain basmati, jeera rice steamed with cumin and ghee (clarified butter) – perfect steamed rice every time
  3. Garlic & Ginger paste – peel and mince garlic in seconds
  4. Garam Masala/grinding spices – fast, excellent results, can grind even the hardest of spices perfectly
  5. Tamarind – can be prepared in just a few minutes instead of having to plan ahead and soak for several hours, perfect result every time
  6. Coriander & Chilli Paste – stunning blending, basic technique, versatile ingredient, means you don’t have to have fresh coriander and fresh green chillies available all the time and can therefore spontaneously decide to cook Indian food
  7. Balti Paste/Tikka Paste – roasting & grinding spices (wet and dry grinding/ blending), cooking and stirring done for you, easy to make and have on hand
  8. Fresh Coconut Chutney – mincing coconut with all other ingredients for an excellent fresh chutney in seconds
  9. Lime Chutney – an hour’s worth of chopping in less than a minute, all the cooking is done in one TM bowl with no mess, excellent flavour
  10. Yoghurt – easy to make at home with TM, fresh, delicious, can easily do Greek style, save money on every batch Main course

Main course

  1. Dahl – no sticking on the bottom of the pan, all the stirring is done for you
  2. Khadi – the importance of yoghurt in Indian cooking (especially for vegetarians), no splitting, fast and easy preparation, cooked all in one TM bowl with the stirring done for you
  3. Paneer – perfect and very easy, temperature control for heating the milk, save money
  4. Dokra/ Dokla – savoury cake mixed in seconds, steamed perfectly in the Varoma
  5. Dosa/ Idli batter – weigh, soak, grind all the ingredients in one bowl and allow to rise, pour out of the same bowl after fermenting. You can even steam the idli in the Varoma while making Sambhar.
  6. Samosas – mincing ingredients (vegetables and/or meat), easy samosa pastry dough
  7. Lamb Kebabs – mincing lamb for better flavour, crumbing, kneading
  8. Curries – grind and roast spices, add meat or vegetables and walk away. Let the Thermomix stir and cook the dish for you.

Desserts

  1. Sorbet and Kulfi – both are fast and easy with Thermomix
  2. Carrot Halva – chop carrots, save time – cooking and reducing with all the stirring done for you!
  3. Gulab Jamuns – mix and knead the dough, cook syrup, save money, reduce the effort
  4. Cardamom Cake – seeds out of pods on the reverse blade, grinding cardamom with sugar, mixing cake in a few seconds, wonderful flavour

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I have more specific Indian recipes on this blog and if you would like to purchase the most authentic Thermomix book for Indian cookery, get in touch.

Please contact me using the online form on my website or email on Ankita@onegirlandherthermie.co.uk or call/text/ WhatsApp me at 07977 563537.