Thermomix Homemade Lemonade

I absolutely love that when I entertain guests, it is so quick, easy and simple to provide them with all elements of a meal/afternoon tea that are homemade.

Even just for ourselves, if we want something not quite as healthy as a freshly made juice, but a "treat"that still uses whole fresh ingredients!

Make Icing Sugar, Grind Ice, add whole lemons
with ends chopped off and cut in quarters

 Homemade lemonade.  It is awesome.  If you have a tray of ice cubes, 1 litre of water (or sparkling water, which I like because it makes it more like a real "soft drink"!!!), 100grams of raw sugar and 2 lemons, then in a couple of mins, you have freshly homemade lemonade and have also cleaned up!

Add half the water, Press turbo button a few times

First, you make icing sugar from raw sugar - you see this at the home demonstration.  The great thing about being about to do this is: 

1. You only buy 1 type of sugar instead of caster, icing sugar and normal sugar - if you run out, you just make some!

2.  Lots of icing sugars actually have anti-caking agents in them - e.g. a problem for people with things like Coeliac

3.  You actually get at least a tiny bit of nutritional value from raw sugar as it has some molasses still in it and it has been less processed than white sugar.  (If you want to go better again, I use Rapadura in a lot of things which hasn't been high heat treated or refined at all - I wouldn't use it for lemonade though the molasses flavour is a little overpowering.)

4.  You can use an Organic Raw Sugar and not pay the price for Organic Caster Sugars or Icing Sugars!

Add remaining water and strain through your rice basket!!!

I love that you actually use fresh lemons and don't even peel them!  Once strained through the rice basket, just discard the peels in the bottom and rinse bowl.  It's as quick and easy as that!

Freshly served Homemade Lemonade!

The end result is sooooo refreshing and yummy!

Tips!!!
1.  Unless you are serving straight away, remove the pips - I just poke them out with a knife.  This will stop the lemonade from turning very tart within a couple of hours.  I sometimes make some for dinner and if it isn't all used, I can save it for the next day and it's fine.  If the pips are left in, even though it is strained, they still seem to release the bitterness into it.
2.  Make a lemon/lime-ade by adding a lime as well!
3.  Make the most fresh Lemon Lime and Bitters your guests have ever had by adding your bitters into each glass!!

PS.  Sorry for iPhone pics!!

Quick hello and Anzac Biscuits

Alright a quick post today to say I'm still here!

We have been in Sydney, and moving house so all has been a bit crazy between demos and sending my parents off overseas and a whole lot of other "stuff"!!

When getting back into a "routine", we revert back to our quick and easy favourites.  Homemade pizzas (I will do a post on these one day!), curries, Chicken and Cashew Satay with rice and veggies (courtesy of www.quirkycooking.blogspot.com - seriously delicious and all in one meal with steaming while cooking rice), I tried a new prawn curry in Travelling with Thermomix which was yummy, our regular Chili Con Carne, with lots of breakfasts, desserts, snacks and drinks made in between in the Thermomix!

We have converted my husband's yummy easy chicken pie too, so I will post the recipe of that shortly.

But as for today, in view of Anzac Day, have you tried the Anzac biscuits in the Everyday cookbook?  They are delicious and very simple, and I even cut down on the sweetness quite a bit too and they are still yummy.  For those who are dairy free, try the Vegan Anzac Biscuits - Quirky Cooking version - I have tried them too and they are also lovely.

Happy baking!

Hot Cross Buns

As we pull fresh HOT Hot Cross Buns out of the oven on Good Friday, I am so grateful again that I can provide such lovely food so easily, preservative free and with the ingredients I choose to add.  They taste soooooo good and cost a fraction of the cost of buying them, especially preservative free (even using organic sultanas).  The recipe is found in the Everyday Cookbook.

I have made a few batches now - this batch was made using dairy free and spelt flour and rapadura sugar as the sweetener.  The dough had just been kneaded and ready to rise - it looks a little different to Bakers Flour version.

Today's batch I just used rice milk instead of milk and rapadura as the sugar component.  They rose to be quite a bit bigger than these pictured and were super light and fluffy.  Been a busy morning between packing to move, and making, all in the Thermomix: Eggs for Breakfast, Loaf of bread for lunch sandwiches, Fresh butter spread from cream, Rice Milk, a birthday cake for my son's birthday tomorrow, and a batch of Hot Cross Buns!  And no I haven't been in the kitchen all morning!So easy and so fresh!  Enjoy your Easter long weekend!!!

Corn Fritters

A quick and easy lunch idea.  Corn fritters with smoked salmon and salad.

These are great for kids also, and because you weigh in your ingredients, no making extra mess!

This is a basic recipe that I put together, so feel free to make it tastier by adding other grated veggies etc - these ones on their own are quite "boring" but I love them with smoked salmon and salad.

Although I have pictured them with not much salmon and just tomato and lettuce, usually I would serve them with more salmon and an avocado, red onion and tomato salad and maybe a little dressing if desired.  I am allergic to avocado but it's healthy and great for the kids!  Maybe leave out the red onion for them though!

And make them dairy free by using an alternative milk.  I made mine with spelt flour, so you may have to adjust the ratio of milk to flour slightly depending on how large your egg is and which flour you use.  You don't want them so runny that they don't hold together, but you don't want them too thick either!!!

To the bowl add:
1 egg - beat for 6 seconds on Speed 4

Add:
90g Spelt Flour
80g Milk
pinch salt
1/2 tsp Bicarb Soda

Mix for 4 seconds on Speed 4

Add:
230g corn kernels

Mix for 8 seconds (or until combined) on Reverse + Speed 2.

Then just fry in the frying pan until golden on each side.

A Healthy Chocolate Alternative

This is a super easy recipe based on the Chocolate Alternative recipe in the Taste of Vegetarian Cookbook.  It is fantastic because it allows you to have a treat that has nothing bad in it.  And as usual, because you make it yourself, you can choose high quality ingredients - organic, preservative free etc.  And it's yummy!

I use almonds but you can use any combination of nuts.

200g almonds
250g pitted dried dates

65g desiccated coconut (mine is sulphur free - no preservatives)

20g Cacao powder or organic cocoa.

1/4 tsp Celtic sea salt or quality salt

20g raw honey (find in Health food shops or buy through co-op)

70g coconut oil (cold pressed, unrefined, again Health food shops or co-op)

Grind nuts for 8 seconds on speed 7. Set aside

Chop dates, coconut, cacao, salt and honey for 30 seconds Speed 7.

Add nuts, add coconut oil and mix for 20 seconds on speed 5, or until completely mixed. 

Press mixture into slice tin and set in refrigerator.  

Chop into squares for your chocolate fix!

This is also a dairy free chocolate option (as long as your cocoa doesn't have milk solids - check label).

Breakfast - Spelt Pancakes and juice!

For easy breakfasts with the Thermomix, we do lots of porridge, lots of steamed eggs (either sunny side up in the Varoma on baking paper, or in little cups/ moulds in Varoma) or eggs in the rice basket (instructions in Everyday Cookbook), or we do green chocolate smoothies with ground sesame seeds and linseeds, banana, baby spinach, cacao powder and ice.  Another easy option is a quick pancake mix.  And I LOVE the fact that the Thermomix has scales built in.  Really.  It makes so much difference to your food prep time, and your washing up!!!  Cooking takes a lot less effort somehow!

I have found a basic spelt, dairy free pancake recipe that I use, but I would still like to tweak it a little before posting the recipe.  But I served these with a fresh breakfast juice of orange, pineapple and carrot which was blended with ice for 2 minutes.  This breaks down the fruit and makes it more readily absorbable (is that a real word??!!!!) and all the fibre is incorporated.  Yummy, fresh and full of nutrients and vitamins for you.  Juicing in the Thermomix is all about experimenting and finding what you like.  There is some information in the Everyday Cookbook on how to go about some different options.  For our orange and spinach juice (or just orange juice) I just peel a few oranges, throw in some baby spinach, add some water, some ice and blend for about 10 seconds, leaving some "bits" in it as usually I don't like a thick blended juice as much.  Or if you would like more of a boost juice style juice, or need some sweetener in it, then follow the first part of the sorbet recipe (but lessen the sugar), but don't add the eggwhite or the second batch of ice, just add a little extra water.  You can throw in the citrus fruits peeled and whole (or a large orange I would break in half before adding it in), but if you would like to avoid the "tart" or bitter taste later after juicing, then try removing all the pips and make sure all the pith is removed.

Extreme Brownies

Ok.  I admit.  This is not the real healthy me coming out.  But in the interests of still using the best of ingredients, I have done these using Rapadura, Cacao and Spelt flour (this makes them quite expensive to make!).  But you can use normal sugar/brown sugar, normal cocoa, and normal plain flour if you like.  But there is still dark chocolate and a decent serving of butter, so yeah, not really ticking any healthy boxes around here.  I am just trying to cover all bases for people searching for recipes ;)  Recipe found here.

So if you need to "bring a plate" or give a little thank you gift, you absolutely cannot go past these!!!  They are absolutely divine, and bring the words "these can NOT be good for me" with every bite that you take.  But you will take more.  I guarantee it.

It's a no fail recipe.  I don't do step 3 (chopping the chocolate in the bowl), too many "setting asides" for my liking!  So while you do step 4, which is melting the butter for 2-3 minutes, I just break the chocolate into squares.  Then continue on your merry way.  Quickest, easiest, yummiest brownies ever.  I don't know whether it's just my oven (ever so unreliable), but these have the best crisp top and dense moist filling.  Yum!

Yes, I had cut it while it was still warm so it broke apart (best time to eat).
Yes, I only put 4 little odd pieces on the plate.
Yes, the rest may have been eaten.

But do only make these to give away.  Or maybe as a once a year VERY special treat.  Because you can't stop at one piece....  But you will get compliments from your recipients!