:: an update, a recipe, and life lately ::

Thought it was about time I checked in to my poor neglected blog again, before it becomes a whole month! 

So I've had a busy few weeks. Cooking, eating, studying, packing, camping, washing, learning, driving, working, and cooking, and eating (yes, again), expressing and more working. I've actually gone and decided to become a Thermomix consultant! 

It's been really fun & exciting! I've had my Thermomix 2 years, and wasn't really planning on selling them. But seeing so many people buy them simply because I won't stop banging on about them, made me think. Just from seeing how the Thermomix has changed my eating habits, my ability to produce quality healthy meals fast, and the difference it's made to our weekly grocery spend, I really want to see these things become a reality for my friends and.... everyone! The options are limitless, and the savings start the moment it's in your kitchen.

So currently I'm on a 60 day rampage.... the goal is as-many-demonstrations-as-possible, and a few sales would perk me up as well. ;) It's been fun packing up my machine and popping along to cook other people dinner a few nights a week (we do 5 dishes in 90 mins), seeing their reactions and answering their questions. When you're personally passionate about something, it makes it all so easy, doesn't it?

Jason has been so wonderful, looking after Willem up to 3 nights a week while I'm out dominating kitchens in my black apron. I am so grateful that he's supporting me 100% in this and confident in my abilities, even when I'm not so sure. It's also been fantastic bonding time for him and Willem. Willem tends to 'go for' me when there is a choice between the two of us. So that's been beneficial in itself.

Here's a little creation I whipped up today in about 20mins (including freezer time) with my good friend Ayla. Raw "oreos"! Such a yummy little raw delight with no sugar, gluten, dairy, etc!

Recipe >> here <<.

So my apologies for the lack of posting. I'm putting up regular updates on my new Thermomix Facebook page though, so head over there if you want to see what's going on in my kitchen! It's called "Thermoments".

:: Mr Willem at 12 months::

Ahhh, my baby is one!

Fastest year ever. But one of the most fun, and least regrettable!

Willem

Age: Numero Uno!! 12 months! 1 year! 

Favourite food: Cubes of roasted eggplant, and zucchini! Loves 'em.

New tricks: Pointing at evvvvverything. And grunting.

Words: I reckon I can safely say "duck" is in there now. No other words but is a lot better at communicating in general (pointing to what he wants, making it very clear when he's had enough food, etc).

Mobility: Crawling & furniture walking still only.

Sleeping: He's slept through the last 2 nights! Fingers crossed this is his "thank-you-for-raising-me" present??!

Teeth: 3 on the bottom (funny lop-sided look it gives him!), 4-ish on the top.

That's it, a year. I feel like I've been kind of sitting on alert, waiting for this day. If I had to give an answer 'why', it's probably something to do with the thought that once you get past one, you're out of the scary "little delicate baby" zone. The whole first year is all about keeping them alive and making sure they don't suffocate/get dropped/choke/eat tomato too early/are warm enough/etc. It's like I've finally passed the test and can relax a bit. Not really of course, but you get my drift.

I'm probably also relieved because his allergies have settled down a lot, and I'm able to have a wheat cracker, spoonful of icecream or bite of cake here and there without any reaction on Willem's part. It just makes life that little bit easier, and I don't have to go without when a label has "wheat starch" as the last ingredient. I also managed to breastfeed for a year, which I was really hoping to be able to do! The type of formula he would have had to have (with his sensitivities) was just full of so many synthetic nasties.

Willem is so precious to us and has such a beautiful nature. It's exciting seeing him remember things that we've taught him and realizing the extreme influence (honour!) we have. Being a parent is something that you can never really prepare yourself for, but when you become one - you're ready. There is no greater responsibility than protecting & loving a mini human in readiness to make a difference in this world. Looking forward to meeting the other little people God has lined up to gift us with (in His timing).

(Note: This will be the last time I set up the grey blanket and do the whole "stay there" bizzo. It's now a near impossible task!)

{ below: love this one... look at his little feet }

So much love for you!!

:: raw mango cheesecake ::

Raw cheesecakes are so much fun. For one, they are dead easy to make. You just put the ingredients for each layer in your Thermomix or high-powdered blender and whizz, the pour! There's no gelatine to set, and there's no baking required. Just pop in the freezer.

I've made several in the past, but this was the first recipe I'd found with a very odd ingredient added. A whole, peeled zucchini! Apparently it gives an extra creaminess. 

Last night we made this, and it was deeeelish. I found the mango layer slightly icier than the cream layer (naturally) but all in all it was so yum. Even my brother-in-law raved about it, and he only eats junk food! And usually turns up his nose at anything that looks 'healthy' or doesn't have sugar in it. Needless to say, I didn't tell him about the zucchini, but I will! After he enjoys it a second time ;).

I used a different base to the one on the original recipe, plus tweaked it a bit. Below is exactly what I did.

Raw Mango Cheesecake 

{vegan, dairy-free, sugar-free, egg-free, gluten-free}

Base
1 1/2 cups almonds
1 cup medjool dates (soaked briefly in hot water if kept in the fridge)
1/2 cup shredded/dessicated coconut
1/2 teas vanilla
pinch of salt

Middle
2 cup raw cashews (soaked for 2+ hrs and drained)
1 cup zucchini, peeled and chopped
Juice of one lemon/lime
2 TBS coconut oil
1/3 cup rice malt syrup
1 heaped teaspoon of stevia
2 teas vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt

Top
1 heaping cup mango, chopped (use ripe mangoes)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Method:

Base
1. In a Thermomix/food processor/high-powered blender, combine all ingredients (drain the dates first) until sticky and a good texture to be able to press into the base of a lined spring-form pan. 

2. Press into pan and pop in freezer while you make the filling.

Middle
1. Blend all ingredients till smooth.
2. Pour slightly more than ½ of the mixture into the cake tin and let it set back in the freezer for another 45 min – 1 hr.

Top
1. Add mangoes and turmeric to the remaining mixture in your blender’s container. Blend till smooth. Don’t worry you won’t taste the turmeric (won’t that be weird!), it’s basically a natural yellow food colouring.
2. Pour the mango layer into the cake tin and let the cake set in the freezer for at least 5 hours, preferrably overnight.

Make sure you take out of the freezer 20-30 mins before you want to serve it so it can soften! xx

:: it's a good day for guiltless indulgence ::

Quirky Cooking's Chocolate Banana Cake
{ sugar free ~ gluten free ~ dairy free ~ optional vegan}

Coconut Cream Chocolate Frosting

by The Whole Pantry App

{ sugar free ~ gluten free ~ dairy free ~ vegan }

:: things that make humpday not so lumpy ::

The house is so quiet now that everyone has left.. my sister Sarah was the last to leave yesterday. It was a fantastic week full of road trips, gourmet pizzas, bulk food shopping, Melbourne flings, chocolate eating & sleeping bags on the loungeroom floor.

This Wednesday I'm just going to pepper my post with some of my favourite snaps from this week. You'll see a lot of my littlest brother and that's because I couldn't put him down, the darling...

1} The liner that brings my family to me

2} Jason and Marcus in their matching puffer coats!

3} Laura in her Jedi get-up 

4} Beautiful combo in Melbourne's South

5} Strawberry sorbet

6} Marcus in his 'nest' (pile of hedge clippings)

7} Couple of love birds

 8} Most of us at pizza (not the greatest photo ever! few grumpy faces lol)

9} James at the park

 10} The cutest ever, Marcus in his puffer & James loving the camera

11} Road trip!

12} My beautiful sister Laura

Lastly, all of us (minus my 21 year old brother, who sadly had to work)

Happy Wednesday!
(and happy Winter Solstice for tomorrow... the days are getting longer and brighter from here on!)

:: things that make humpday not so lumpy ::

Happy Wednesday!!

Particularly happy for me since I have the rest of the week off *victory dance*.

Our house has been full of little (and big) bodies and laugher and yes, mess. It's been fantastic to have everyone over at once and we managed to find beds for them all too.

There are loads of things to be thankful for this week, here's a couple of my favourites.

1} Roof insulation is in!

Jason & Dad got into some pretty attractive gear & laid insulation batts into our roof. The difference is really noticable.. now our heating isn't just flying out of the roof!

2} Little brothers

I love my little brothers! Here are the youngest four (out of 6 of them) cozy on the couch with Samuel reading to them. I just can't kiss their little cheeks enough.

 

3} Strawberry Sorbet

I tried making the sorbet myself for the first time, and it came out lovely. Here it's starting to get a bit soft. Everyone loved it! Poor little Marcus got brainfreeze, it's not the best winter food, but I had to give it a shot. I want to try a mango one next, maybe with some mint.

Lookout summer!

 

Hope your week is going marvelously... it's downhill from here!!

:: good gravy! i own a thermomix ::

I'm still a bit stunned... this kitchen magician wasn't really on my wish list. Oh well, it was on it as much as a black lambourgini is on everyone's wish list. When a kitchen-sink-sized item is pushing $2K on the money scale, it doesn't stand a chance.. or so I thought.

Last night I went to a demonstration, and Jason was with me (which proved to be very dangerous). I already knew they were "The It" and had heard all the raves, but nup, I was surviving. Plus it's just not afforable.

Turns out we were the only 2 at the demonstration, but the lady and her husband were the nicest folk. We tried to keep it casual and non-awkward. She said she'd narrow the demo down to 1hr instead of 2, so I settled back to be 'impressed' but not anything close to 'throwing-myself-at-it-in-complete-dedication'.

Here's the breakdown:

1} 7pm, first up is Mixed Berry Sorbet.

She starts with raw sugar (it weighs it as you pour), gives it a few pulses and it's icing sugar. Cool.

Leave that in there, reset the scales (so great how you don't need measuring cups) and add the frozen fruit.

Add ice and wizz. 2 minutes later.

The fluffiest,finest sorbet ever. And so much of it. Cool.

2} 7:10pm, we're up to Bread Dough.

First step, pour in your grains of wheat. Ok, now I'm listening. 2 noisy minutes later, we have flour. The rest of the ingredients are added. Kneading option is on. 3 mintues later. It's out and ready for rising then popping in the oven. Very cool. Jason is already saying how great this will be because he can make his own bread (he's been wanting a bread machine but I can't be bothered. They take forever).

3} 7.30pm, Herb & Garlic Dip.

She rinses the bowl for the 3rd time. Notice that there are no dishes so far?

A whole clove of garlic is dropped in and wizzed. I peek in the bowl and it's all completely smattered over the sides of the bowl. Wow, that's... great. I hate chopping up garlic and ruining my wooden chopping boards. Fresh herbs are added, and a block of cream cheese. Wizz again for no time at all, and Jason is hoeing into this slop like it's his last meal. He said afterwards it was the thing that sold him. I admit, it was pretty good for not even containing salt.

4} 7.40pm, Lemon Custard.

Started with raw sugar again, wizzed into icing sugar. Some lemon rind is added, couple of eggs and milk. A little blend and then it's set to 'cook' for 7 minutes. We chat, me mostly gaping over the cook book, seeing all the instant things you can make. Seriously, everything is quicker than take-away. 7 minutes is over, and this silky, piping hot lemon custard is served. No stiring over a stove involved. It's divine. It's ridiculous.

5} 7.50pm, Coleslaw.

Half a red onion, couple of chunks of cabbage, couple of carrots, bit of apple & some homemade mayo (obviously in the thermomix). Less than a minute, and I was eating one of the best I had ever tasted. Makes you want to cry, doesn't it? Thinking about all the time you usually spend grating those carrots....

So, less than an hour, we have made & eaten FIVE things (usually the demo involves trying the baked bread and also making a mushroom/chicken rissoto). It's a miracle. Jason wouldn't stop saying how it was just 'essential'. I sat there like a stunned fish.

Some of the other things that blew my mind were:

.

- It cooks jam in 35mins.

- It has a steamer on top that can cook a whole chicken in 30mins (no oil needed, wow!)

- You can do things like pumpkin soup, all in the one pot... saute your onion in the bottom first, add your veg & water, cook for 15mins then just turn it to blend! No ladleing into the blender!

- It makes a litre of yogurt for $1.

- The time saving element of it. Jason said he doesn't like it how we get home from work and then I slave away in the kitchen for an hour, to make something yummy, only to then spend another hour washing all these pots and pans. He's got a point.... he's actually buying more time with me out of this.

- It makes peanut butter and nutella.

- And sooooooooo much more.

The point is, it will pay for itself within a year. Takeaway on those 'rushed' nights doesn't have to be the only option. It encourages you to use those veggies in the fridge. Eating healthy becomes a cinch. Piles of dishes will be reduced to nearly nothing = saves water.

++ I promise I'm not being paid to advertise this thing. I can't believe I was so totally convinced! ++

As to the price, they have a variety of payment plans, so it doesn't have to come out of your pocket in a lump, and you'll still get it straight away. Every week that you have it, your food bill will be $40 less anyway, so that the $39 a week you have to pay for it with completely goes un-noticed.
We chose the 3-payment plan. Bigger amounts, but it gets it out of the way. The timing worked out well for us too, because we've just recieved our bond money back from our rental place, which was quite a bit. Yay!

So if you're still reading, well done. I'm sorry for the waffling.

How unbelieveable is it?

x