Today's Free Food Friday spread to the wider community today as the three cakes were sent in to work, my Husband's work and off to my sister to help celebrate the beginning of our holidays.
It's been a busy term so I thought we would celebrate with 3 cakes that cater for all tastes. On today's menu is a low fat no bake passion fruit cheesecake, Quirky Jo's dairy free and nut free carrot cake and a sticky date cake. Which one would you choose?
Passion Fruit No Bake Cheesecake - Thermomix Recipe Community -
I used skinny condensed milk and extra light cream cheese for cooking to make this cheesecake lower in fat. I also substituted the butter in the biscuit base for coconut oil.
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/desserts-sweets-recipes/passionfruit-cheesecake-no-bake/59270
Quirky Cooking's Dairy Free and Nut Free Carrot Cake -
This make a super moist carrot cake and I added shredded coconut instead of walnuts to also make this cake nut free. The icing is made from coconut cream which after a few minutes in the fridge firms up to add as the topping. The best things about this cake was that it only used 1 bowl and made a very large quantity.
http://quirkycooking.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/one-bowl-thermomix-carrot-cake-gluten.html
Sticky Date Cake - Chef Laurent Caters for Families Cookbook -
This cookbook is available for purchase through your Thermie Consultant. Again, this made a very large cake that could easily be turned into cupcakes, or smaller cakes. The icing is super quick to make in the Thermie too!
Happy Holidays!
Jen X
The boys received their report cards today so I thought we would celebrate their wonderful achievements with an afternoon treat before soccer training.
The boys feasted on chocolate slice and a chocolate smoothie. These treats are super healthy and the kids were full of energy for training. I may have taste tested a piece of slice too.
Recipes:
Chocolate Slice - Wholefood Simply -
This recipe is great to make in the Thermie and with the powerful blades it made it super quick too. I added double the dates as stated in the recipe and it probably took a good 30 seconds to achieve a moist dough.
This is a diary free recipes as well and I used cacao powder and rice malt syrup.
http://www.wholefoodsimply.com/chocolate-slice/
Choc Banana Smoothie -
2 ripe bananas
1 tablespoon rice malt syrup
20 g cacao powder
1 cup of low fat vanilla yoghurt
1/2 cup almond milk
Blitz on speed 9 for 10 seconds. Delish.
Well done boys,
Jen X
We are almost on holidays so this afternoon the boys and I made a special treat to help us make it to Friday. We baked a yummy chocolate apple cake.
This is a great recipe and Medium Poppet chose all the decorations. He even iced the cake so it looks very professional.
Only minutes to make with simple ingredients and a green butter cream icing on top. The kids are quiet... let's see how long that lasts!
Chocolate Apple Cake
We used cacao powder and rapadura sugar to make it a bit more special.
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/baking-sweet-recipes/chocolate-apple-cake/149092
Happy Hump Day,
Jen X
Today was my only day off this week so I thought I would make good use of the 2 spare hours I had and try and make some lunches and dinners for myself and the family to get us through to the weekend.
On the menu today I cooked Quirky Cooking's Paprika Chicken, Chicken Stroganoff, Ham, Spinach and Zucchini Slice, Salmon and Rocket Loaf and a Vietnamese Winter Soup. Also, I whipped up a simple vanilla custard as I had so many egg yolks left over and this morning before the school run I made a batch of Sistermixin's Vanilla and Chia Seed Cupcakes to take to the park to share with our friends. Yum!
Check out the notes and recipes:
Real Traditional Vanilla Custard Made Easy! - Thermomix Recipe Community -
This was a great way to use up the leftover egg yolks and the Big Guy said that this was my best custard yet! This recipe is definitely going to get a workout.
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/desserts-sweets-recipes/real-traditional-vanilla-custard-made-easy/145693
Vanilla and Chia Cupcakes - Sistermixin -
This is a fantastic cupcake recipe. The cupcakes are light and moist and the kids don't question the chia seeds. I made the butter cream from the Everyday Cook Book and piped them before heading to the park. I may have added sprinkles too!
http://www.sistermixin.com/recipe-items/vanilla-chia-cupcakes-lemon-icing/
Chicken Stroganoff
Although this recipe says fettuccine, you need to make the fettuccine separately so I made the sauce and used the rice from the next dish and served it up. Super multitasking! The kids ate this for dinner tonight and Mighty Toddler ate all of it.
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/pasta-rice-dishes-recipes/fettuccine-chicken-stroganoff/149574
Quirky Cooking's Paprika Chicken
This is a really simple dish to make in the Thermie. An easy meal to make after work as it only takes 25 mins and you have rice, veges, beautiful steamed chicken and a delicious sauce. This won't last long in the fridge.
http://quirkycooking.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/paprika-chicken-with-creamy-paprika.html
The next three dishes are all low carb, high protein and low in fat. They are from the Vision Personal Training Menu Plans and I Thermiefied them to make them quick and easy to make.
Ham, Spinach and Zucchini Slice - Vision Personal Training Recipe -
5 egg whtes
100 zucchini
50 g baby spinach
75 g red onion
100g ham
mixed herbs (bunch)
salt and pepper
Place all the ingredients in the bowl and blitz on speed 7 for 5 seconds. Add the eggs whits through the top of the lid and mix on speed 4 until combined. Place in a lined tray and bake at 180 degrees for 30 minutes.
This serves 4 and each slice contains 2.5g carbs 10.9g protein and 1.1g fat
Salmon and Rocket Loaf- Vision Personal Training Recipe -
200g salmon
5 egg whites
100 g carrot
150 g zucchini
100g spinach, rocket and kale salad mix (or any combination)
Place the carrot, zucchini and salad mix in the bowl and blitz for 5 seconds on speed 7. Add the eggs whites and salmon and mix on speed 4 until combined. Place in a lined tray (I used a loaf tin as the other slice was in my tray) and bake at 180 degrees for 30 minutes. I baked the slices at the same time.
This makes 4 serves and each serve has 3.9 g carbs, 16.5g protein and 3.8 g fat
Vietnamese Winter Soup - Vision Personal Training Recipe - (serves 4)
400g chicken breast
100g brown onion
1 green chilli pod, chopped and seeds removed
1 red chilli pod, chopped and seeds removed
20g garlic
20g fresh coriander
40ml fish sauce
60ml soy sauce
Juice of 2 limes
400g bok choy
250g bean sprouts
40g grated ginger
20g spring onions
1 litre of water
3 tablespoons of vegetable stock
Place garlic and onion in bowl and blitz for 3 seconds on speed9. Scrape down the bowl and sauté garlic and onion for 2 mins on Varoma speed 2.
Add the chicken slices, water and vege stock for 10 mins on Varoma speed 3.
Add ginger, green and red chilli, fish sauce, soy sauce, and coriander on reverse Varoma speed 1 - 2 for 10 minutes or until bubbling
Add bean shoots and Bok Choy and mix speed 4 on reverse for 10 seconds.
Sprinkle spring onions over the top and drizzle with lime juice to serve!
Carbs: 11.1g Protein: 32.9g Fat: 4.2g
Happy cooking,
Jen X
With only 5 days to go until the holidays, I restocked the freezer to get us through an exceptionally busy week.
It's an exciting week for me and hopefully I will get to share my news with you later today, but the lunch boxes are stacked this week with No-Nasties Gingernuts (Thanks Robyn for the Coconut Sugar), Super Healthy Banana, Apricot and Date Oat Bars and Apple and Cinnamon Muffins.
I also made No Bake Chocolate Oat Bars for our after school treat as they contain nuts, but if you don't need to worry, make these too!
Here are the links and substitutions.
No-Nasties Gingernuts - Thermomix Recipe Community -
I used coconut sugar and rice malt syrup and these cookies are dangerous. They are almost a fudge consistency when you make them and they turn out very chewy if you leave them for a few minutes after baking in the tray. The recipe makes heaps so definitely one to share. Pop the kettle on Robyn as I will be delivering some to you this morning!
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/baking-sweet-recipes/no-nasties-gingernuts/132392
Apple and Cinnamon Muffins - Thermomix Recipe Community -
The boys always loved the packet variety of these muffins and this recipe makes beautifully light, moist muffins. I added a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar to the top when they were hot and I used apple puree instead of an apple and rice malt syrup. I made 6 muffins in the silicone molds ($2 - for 6 at K Mart) and 2 mini loaves. You could easily double this recipe in the Thermie.
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/baking-sweet-recipes/apple-cinnamon-muffins/161290
Super Healthy Banana, Apricot and Date Oat Bars - Taste.com.au -
I substituted the almonds for linseeds so the boys could take them to school and added the leftover apple puree (about 60 g) to the mixture. I placed all the ingredients in the Thermie and mixed it for 20 seconds on speed 7. Too simple. The recipe states you could have these as breakfast bars too. Not a bad idea if you need to get somewhere in a hurry. That's always me!!
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/31575/super+healthy+banana+apricot+and+date+oat+bars
No Bake Chocolate Oat Bars - Thermomix Recipe Community -
This slice takes under 10 minutes in the Thermie so it's a quick and easy treat to make. I used rice malt syrup as it was still on the bench and cranberries. You could blitz this recipe for a few seconds on speed 8 after you added all the ingredients if you needed to hide some of the items.
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/desserts-sweets-recipes/no-bake-chocolate-oat-bars/169197
Have a wonderful week,
Jen X
Things don't go to plan very often around here and today was one of those days. While out and about today before heading off to a social gathering, Medium Poppet decided to slam his fingers in the car door.Ouch!
So needless to say we didn't make our plans and everything else fell apart. So after a super fast shop to get dinner supplies, I arrived home at 5:20 pm. We usually eat around 6 pm so I needed to get moving.
We had Chicken Drumsticks (the kid's favourite meal) which were steamed in the Varoma dish. It fitted 1.4 kgs of drumsticks and I seasoned them with Sesame seed oil and Moroccan spices. They took 42 mins to steam.
As I hadn't thought past getting the drumsticks cooking, I made the 3 second Coleslaw and Chocolate Custard from the Everyday Cook Book to make up our meal and dessert. Total cooking time 52 minutes and the kids got to bed on time! Yay!
Hope you are relaxing,
Jen X
I had the pleasure of catering today for a very good friend's daughter's birthday party. The Thermie made the preparation time for these dishes so easy and the final results were delicious.
Fingers crossed the 40 guests enjoy the beautiful atmosphere, each other's company and the food too. If you need to do catering, investing in a Thermie is a very wise option.
On the menu today was Thai fish cakes, Popcorn chicken, Mini Quiches, Italian Meatballs, 2 dips and fresh baked Ciabatta bread.
Making savoury dishes was a lovely change from the extravagant desserts we created yesterday plus the house smells so good.
The kids have now requested Popcorn chicken and mashed potato for dinner so I better get onto that!
Here are the recipes.
Thai Fish Cakes
I made 1 1/2 times this recipe and made mini fish cakes. They are full of flavour and they cook very quickly.
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/main-dishes-fish-recipes/thai-fish-cakes/136389
Popcorn Chicken
I used 1kg of chicken breast and chopped them up into small pieces. The flour coating made enough for this amount of chicken. I will be making another batch of this as soon as this post is written!
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/search/tmrc_solr_recipe/popcorn%20chicken?filters=type%3Arecipes
Italian Meatballs
I doubled this recipe and didn't make the sauce but you could turn this into a yummy dinner. I oven baked the meatballs as I was using my banquet fry pan for the other dishes and they turned out well. They need a sauce so we used Sweet Chilli and BBQ.
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/main-dishes-meat-recipes/italian-meatballs-italian-tomato-sauce/108855
Mini Quiches
This recipe made over 50 mini quiches so this recipe is definitely worth using if you are entertaining. These little quiches are packed full of vegetables and herbs.
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/baking-savoury-recipes/mini-quiches/157757
Happy Saturday night,
Jen X
Free Food Friday at work was taken to a new level today. We held a charity night tonight to raise money for New Beginnings - International Aid Projects.
The aim of tonight was to raise funds to purchase books to create school libraries in schools in Ghana. And because books and my Thermie are my two favourite things after my family, my family and I donated the desserts for the staff to keep them awake and energised to entertain the students.
The dessert menu consisted of 8 delicious treats and since the staff chose their dessert on Wednesday, I was able to pre make a few desserts last night. The rest were made today.
Here are the links to these yummy after dinner delights which were all consumed by the staff.
Banoffee Pie - Thermomix Recipe Community -
We pre made the base and then then added the caramel, banana and cream prior to serving. The alfoil pie dishes were purchased from Stacks ($2 for 30). I even made a caramel pie using some leftover ingredients.
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/baking-sweet-recipes/best-banoffee-pie/142695
Sticky Date Pudding - Everyday Cook Book Recipe -
We baked the pudding this afternoon and then made the sauce just prior to serving.
Frozen Vegan Raspberry Cheesecakes -
Base:
1/2 cup of pre - soaked dates
1/2 cup of almonds
2 tsp of cacao powder
2 tsp of vanilla extract
Blitz on speed 9 for 10 seconds and place into muffin tin and freeze until filling is ready.
Filling:
400g of soaked cashew nuts (overnight is best)
juice of 2 lemons
50 g maple syrup
120 g coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
100ml of water
250g raspberries ( I used frozen)
Blitz all ingredients on speed 9 for 1 min. Spoon onto muffin tins and freeze. Take out of freezer 1 hour prior to serving. Super healthy treat!
Orange and Almond Cake -The Cake Mistress -
A delicious, moist, gluten free cake. We also made an orange syrup from the Everyday Cook Book .
http://thecakemistress.com/blog/freerecipes/cakes/orange-almond/
Steamed White Chocolate Cheesecake - Cooking with Tenina -
This was a winner!! We steamed the cheesecake in the Varoma for an hour (21cm spring form tin) and let it cool. The white chocolate was to die for. The three boys ate the last piece in the staffroom.. Will be making this a thousand times more. Yum!
http://tenina.com/recipes/raspberry-dream-cheesecake
Lemon Cheesecake with Blueberry Curd - Thermomix Recipe Community -
I made these last night and used pie dishes instead of bottles to save us washing up. A really simple lemon cheesecake with an amazing blueberry curd. The blueberry curd could be used for many more dishes or you could eat it by yourself like someone I know.
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/desserts-sweets-recipes/dessert-go-lemon-cheesecake-blueberry-curd-served-jars/66401
Chocolate Mousse - Everyday Cook Book Recipe -
We served the mousse with whipped cream and strawberries. Really simple by delicious.
Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding - Thermomix Recipe Community -
We didn't add the coffee as in the recipe and the individual little ramekin bowls made this easy to serve.
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/baking-sweet-recipes/chocolate-mocha-self-saucing-pudding/147103
We had a wonderful night supporting this terrific charity. For more information on New Beginnings - International Aid Projects, check out their facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Beginnings-International-Aid-Projects/162110430469070?ref=br_tf
My slippers are on, I have a massive mug of tea in front of me and I'm eating the last Banoffee Pie..
Good night,
Jen X
I discovered over 1.6 kg of mince in the freezer this afternoon as I was trying to work out what to cook for dinner (too many choices with the Thermie). I cooked up two meals, both healthy and super tasty and both budget friendly.
I often hear that the Thermie is not large enough for families, but these two recipes can be doubled to make larger batches for bigger families. We have so many leftover that I have frozen the meatloaf and my Mum and Husband are getting meatballs for lunch tomorrow. Lucky things.
Healthy Meatloaf and Meatballs in the Varoma - Yum!
Healthy Meatloaf - Thermomix Recipe Community -
I used 900g of mince and doubled everything else and added celery. I also used a large rectangle dish and cooked the meatloaf for 45 mins. You could also use almond meal instead of breadcrumbs. I blitzed frozen bread first to make the breadcrumbs before starting the recipe.
Because the bowl was full, you can use the spatula to assist with the mixing and the clever Thermie design means the spatula never touches the blades.
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/main-dishes-meat-recipes/healthy-meatloaf/59613
Meatballs in the Varoma (Steamer) - Thermomix Recipe Community -
I used about 750g of mince for this recipe so I just adjusted the quantities. I ground the rice first too before starting to cook. As I had more mince than the recipe, I made the meatballs in 2 batches while the meatloaf was cookingin the oven.
The first batch had the tomato sauce cooking in the bowl creating the steam to cook the meatballs and during the second batch, I boiled spaghetti. I ended up with heaps of meatballs, spaghetti and a tasty tomato sauce.
I steamed some cauliflower and beans during the second batch as well to go with the meatloaf. Multitasking at it's best!
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/main-dishes-meat-recipes/meatballs-beefchickenpork-veroma/112567
In under 1 hour, I made 2 large family dishes that were healthy, easily adaptable to suit your needs and family friendly.
Happy cooking,
Jen X
It's State of Origin night here tonight and the boys are planning on staying up (maybe till half time) to watch their team. To celebrate, we made a selection of nibbles, homemade pizzas and chocolate mousse is chilling in the fridge for dessert. There's still time to create these dishes at your place or pop over before kick off.
Our Football Menu-
Nibbles - Big Guy's Tzatziki, Sun dried and Cashew Nut dip, Pizza Shapes, Chicken and Vegetable Balls, Zucchini chips and Ciabatta.
Big Guy's Tzatziki Recipe -
150g Greek Yoghurt - we used Forme Greek Yoghurt
Splash of white vinegar and Olive Oil
1/3 cucumber
Garlic Clove
Blitz cucumber and garlic on speed 9 for a few seconds and then add the rest of the ingredients and combine.
Sundried and Cashew Nut dip - Thermomix Recipe Community -
We halved this recipe and it still made a large amount and we didn't add the chilli.
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/sauces-dips-spreads-recipes/sundried-tomato-chilli-cashew-capsicum-dip/49169
Pizza Shapes - Thermomix Recipe Community -
These were a hit and are super quick to make. Husband preferred the thinner ones.
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/baking-savoury-recipes/pizza-shapes/148895
Chicken and Vegetable MeatBalls - Thermomix Recipe Community -
Although mine are green (maybe too much zucchini!), they are just vegetables and a chicken breast. That's it! I have frozen some mixture to have over the weekend as a snack and these will make an appearance in the lunchboxes tomorrow. These were devoured by the kids.
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/starters-recipes/chicken-and-vegetable-meatballs/139289
Main - Homemade Pizza - 2 ways - Cheese and Bacon and Steamed Honey and Soy Chicken with Fetta and Sun dried Tomatoes - Thermomix Recipe Community
This recipe makes enough for two very large bases so I freeze one to use later. The chicken was steamed in the Varoma for 20 minutes with honey, soy sauce and a bit of garlic.
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/basics-recipes/perfect-pizza-dough/69364
Dessert - Chocolate Mousse - Thermofun -
This recipe took under 5 minutes to make. I haven't made it before but it was too easy and has made heaps of mousse. I used low fat cream, almond milk and rapadura sugar. I also used a combination of milk and dark chocolate. The boys are eagerly awaiting the start of the game so they can eat their share.
http://thermofun.com/thermofun-chocolate-mousse-thermomix-benelux-recipe/
Hope your team has a great game,
Jen X
It was a fresh start to the morning here this morning but I managed to get out of bed to get some training in before the kids woke up. For those of you who don't know me very well, I am training for a half marathon in 2 1/2 weeks' time. But today, my training proved to be the easiest part of my day.
When I returned, I made a quick Blueberry Protein Shake and then made a batch of Easy Ciabatta Bread. When the bread was proving, I made a delicious Paleo Caramel Slice for afternoon tea with a special friend.
While the bread was proving and the caramel slice was baking, Husband lost his work shoes, Mighty Toddler was determined to do toilet training, Medium Poppet was asking a thousand questions about life and the washing machine decided to overflow with bubbles. Husband then lost his keys before leaving and I had to get the boys to two different schools today at the same time. Yay!
The good news is, the caramel slice took 1 minute to make, the dough for the Ciabatta took 10 seconds to make and another 13 minutes to work it's magic in the Thermie and my breakfast was full of protein and super foods. I definitely couldn't have achieved all of that this morning without my Thermie.
Here are the links and recipes.
Blueberry Protein Smoothie
150 ml Almond Milk
20 g Frozen Blueberries
30 g Whey Protein Powder
Ice
Mix on speed 9 for 5 - 7 seconds
5.78g Carbs 24.62g Protein 3.44g fat
Easy Ciabatta Bread - Thermomix Recipe Community-
I let the bread prove for most of the day.
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/breads-rolls-recipes/easy-ciabatta-bread/129897
Paleo Caramel Slice
2 cups of Almonds
1 cup of Dates
1/2 cup of Macadamia Nuts
1/2 cup of Cashews
120g Coconut Oil
1/2 cup of sugar (I used Coconut Sugar)
Place nuts and dates in the Thermie on speed 9 for 10 seconds.
Take out and set aside.
Melt the coconut oil and coconut sugar on 50 degrees for 2 minutes speed 3 or until oil is melted.
Place the nut/date mix back into the bowl and mix until combined.
Line a square baking tray and press mixture in. I use the back of the MC to consolidate the mixture.
Bake for 20 - 25 mins at 180 degrees.
So when I finally returned home from the school run, Husband had already been home to eat his lunch and half of the caramel slice. I don't blame him. It is irresistible!
The kids have now passed out, I'm nearly finished writing this post which I have been trying to do all day and I'm ready to make a cuppa and to find a piece of slice.
Chat tomorrow,
Jen X
Well, it's Monday morning and time to pack the lunch boxes for another day. I made these treats last night while I should have been doing something else... perhaps training!! but I chose to bake instead. By bulk cooking, it saves so much time during the week and I have frozen the majority of the food which saves me from snacking on it too.
Here are the recipes and slight substitutions.
Weetbix Balls - Thermomix Recipe Community - I call them biscuit balls!
I used dates instead of sultanas and skinny condensed milk. This is a really wet mixture so you need to roll them in a coating. I have added cacao powder before and called them chocolate balls. You can be creative!
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/desserts-sweets-recipes/weetbix-balls/162388
Banana Muffins - Thermomix Recipe Community -
I substituted the sugar for raw sugar and used sultanas instead of choc chips. This recipe is ridiculously delicious.
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/baking-sweet-recipes/banana-choc-chip-muffins/77900
Bill Granger's Choc Oatmeal Cookies - via Absolute Amy and from Bill Cooks for Kids Cook Book
I ran out of choc chips today (I had very sad boys) but I found 85% Cocoa Lindt chocolate hiding in the cupboard so I added a few dark choc chips and I then grated the Lindt chocolate and added it too. These biscuits are very addictive and are a super treat.
http://absoluteamy.com/2013/06/25/bill-grangers-choc-oatmeal-cookies/
That should keep the boys and husband going for the week.
Happy Baking,
Jen X
