Thermomix Wontons For Chinese New Year

Thermomix Wontons

**If you don’t have a Thermomix, you can mix the ingredients in an ordinary bowl and knead the dough for about 10 minutes till it is pliable and smooth**

I can’t actually recall that I’ve ever eaten wontons before, but I liked the look of them when my children and I were doing craft activities for Chinese New Year, so thought I’d give them a try. I found a recipe in an old book, so had to convert it for the Thermomix, and have been really happy with the end result.

It is my understanding that wontons can be either steamed or fried. Obviouly steaming it in the Veroma is going to be healthier than deep frying, so we went for that option.Thermomix Wontons

For fillings – the options are as vast as your preferences. Our first attempt was with a minced beef (a few seconds, roughly, in the Thermie), tomato and coriander. The second attempt was with cooked ham, garlic and kale. Both were lovely.

If you’re planning on making a lot of wrappers but only using a few, I’d suggest laying them in a single layer on a baking tray, and freezing them like that. Once frozen, put them together in a container. If you don’t they’ll freeze as a solid lump!

These are really quick and oh-so-easy, although rolling the dough thinly enough might require some practice, or a pasta maker.

Thermomix Wontons For Chinese New YearI
Recipe Type: Main
Cuisine: Chinese
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 20 wontons
Here’s a great idea for Chinese New Year. It’s really easy, and depending on your skill with a rolling pin or pasta maker, quick too.
Ingredients
  • 250g / 2 cups flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 cup water
  • milk for brushing
Instructions
  1. Add the flour to the bowl, and pulse two or three times
  2. Add egg, salt and water
  3. Mix for 5 seconds/speed 5
  4. Knead for 90 seconds/dough speed
  5. Set aside for 30 – 60 minutes for the dough to rest.
  6. Follow manufacturer instructions for the pasta maker to make the dough as thin as you can. Otherwise roll it as thinly as possible, before cutting into squares.
  7. If you’re not going to cook immediately, use corn flour to separate the sheets (normal flour will be absorbed)
  8. Lightly brush the edges with milk or egg
  9. Scoop a spoon full of filling into the centre of your square, then take opposing corners and bring them together.
  10. Squeeze the corners together to seal, then twirl them around.
  11. Place them inside the Veroma
  12. Fill the Thermomix Bowl to the 1 litre mark, place Veroma on top and boil at Veroma speed/20 mins.
  13. Serve hot.

 

Peppermint Salt Scrub Recipe

peppermintI really love this Peppermint Salt Scrub for being both refreshing and having only a few ingredients, all of which you can find in your kitchen, and with names you can pronounce, like… salt… and oil. Now, if you have a sensitive skin you may want to test a patch of this Peppermint Salt Scrub first, as it can dry the skin out a little (although the oil should balance that out for normal skins). You should use it as a body scrub, but salt crystal are probably a bit harsh on the face.

A salt scrub is deliciously soothing, and will leave your skin titillating and radiant looking.

Sweet Almond oil has calming and anti-inflammatory has calming and anti-inflammatory properties, it moisturises, restores and softens skin.

Peppermint essential oil is used to relieve skin irritation and itchiness and also helps to reduce skin redness, where inflammation is present. It is used for dermatitis, acne, ringworm, scabies and also relieves itching, sunburn and inflammation of the skin, while at the same time having a cooling action. Peppermint oil should be used sparingly in pregnancy, when breastfeeding or on children under 7.

I was making this for Christmas, so wanted to make a candy cane effect you often see in DIY products on Pinterest, but I didn’t see the point in using organic salt, peppermint essential oil and an organic sweet almond oil, and then add a red food colouring… so I used dehydrated beetroot instead. This is non-essential. You can leave it white. Or you can make it all coloured, nice and pink for Valentine’s day would be good.

Peppermint Salt Scrub
Recipe Type: Beauty
Cuisine: Non-Food
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 1 cup
A quick and easy DIY beauty product, a very simple gift, and a lovely way to pamper without the chemicals or great expense
Ingredients
  • 1 cup organic rock salt (not fine salt and definitely not table salt)
  • 1 cup sweet almond oil
  • 6 drops peppermint essential oil
  • Optional dried beetroot powder to colour
Instructions
  1. Add all the ingredients to a bowl.
  2. Mix
  3. (If you are doing layers, halve the mix, add the beetroot and mix again. Dish tablespoonsfull into the container, alternating white and pink/red)
  4. Scoop into a clean glass container.
In the Thermomix:
  1. Put everything in the bowl
  2. Speed 2/Reverse/ 30 seconds
  3. (If you are doing layers, halve the mix, add the beetroot and mix again. Dish tablespoonsfull into the container, alternating white and pink/red)
  4. Scoop into a clean glass container.

 

Winter Spices Sugar Scrub Recipe

winter spice sugar scrubI made this and a peppermint scrub for my friends for Christmas, and while that season is now long gone, I’ve been meaning to share the recipe and I think leading up to Valentine’s Day a no-bake, no fuss, incredibly cost-effective but luxurious and creamy sugar spice recipe is just the ticket. A couple of the recipients of these gifts have come back to me saying that they loved them, so I’m more than happy to share the recipe with you.

As it’s no bake, no boil, no anything, it’s a great recipe for children to help out with, and if you add something or take away something else, it’s not going to cause you any harm.

While you can, of course, use the generic supermarket versions of these products, to really gain the benefits from it, you should use the organic versions.

While sugar isn’t great for anyone’s body, there are actually benefits to using a sugar scrub. (Brown sugar is softer than white, so can be used on the face. White sugar is okay for a body scrub. Always wear moisturiser if going out in the sun after a scrub, as it removes a layer of dead skin.)

Sugar is a natural source of alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) which penetrates the skin and breaks down the “glue” that bonds skin cells, encouraging cell turnover and generating fresher, younger-looking skin. It is a natural humectant, so it  draws moisture from the environment into the skin and make an excellent topical exfoliant, removing dead skin cells.

Winter Spices Sugar Scrub Recipe
Recipe Type: Beauty Products
Cuisine: Non-food
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 1 cup
This is a body scrub. It’s probably a bit rough for the face, although with a soft brown sugar, you should be able to use it on your face. Do not use on broken skin – it will burn! If you’re going out in a harsh sun after your body scrub, be sure to use sun block.
Ingredients
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground dry ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil (melted)
Instructions
  1. Add all the dry ingredients to a bowl.
  2. Add the coconut oil and mix well.
  3. This will probably set, unless you’re in very warm weather, so just soak in warm water to get it to liquid form again.
  4. Store in a glass container.
For the Thermomix:
  1. Add all the ingredients into the bowl.
  2. Mix on reverse/speed 2/30 seconds
  3. Store in a glass container.

 

Thermomix Lamington Recipe For Australia Day

Lamingtons

I totally intended to lay off the sugary and cake-y recipes for a while, but since it’s Australia Day this weekend, and we had a great Australia Day extravaganza for the kids today, we made Lamingtons. There are loads of recipes online, but I found this one intriguing since it used a lot less flour and wasn’t actually what I’d call a sponge cake. It was really, really tasty though. The original is from the Thermomix Forum but I made a few changes.Lamingtons

Upon reflection, I think this is a brilliant recipe if you are making it the same day you’ll be eating it. Normally Lamingtons are better with day old cake, but with this cake it doesn’t make a difference at all. It’s perfect for same day Lamingtons.Lamingtons

 

Lamingtons
Recipe Type: Desert
Cuisine: Australian
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 20
An easy Lamington recipe for the Thermomix.
Ingredients
  • 120 g brown sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 50 g melted butter
  • 120 g Self Raising Flour
  • Lamington Icing
  • 25 g unsalted butter
  • 160 g milk
  • 500 g icing sugar
  • 50 g organic cocoa
  • 2 cups Shredded coconut to coat
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 190C.
  2. Place sugar into mixing bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 10.
  3. Add eggs and insert Butterfly.
  4. Whip eggs for 7 min/50C/speed 3. It’ll form an almost meringue like texture, smooth and creamy (and delicious, just sayin’)
  5. Melt the butter in the warm oven and also butter a 20cm pan.
  6. Add the vanilla essence to the melted butter
  7. Add the butter mix to the Thermomix bowl, for 5 sec/speed 4.
  8. Remove Butterfly and add the flour.
  9. Mix the dough for 10 seconds on interval speed (dough setting).
  10. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 15 – 20 minutes.
  11. It should be springy to the touch.
  12. Cool for 5 minutes before turning out onto rack to cool completely, then freeze for 30 minutes before cutting.
To Ice
  1. Put butter and milk into mixing bowl and cook 2 min/80 C/speed 2..
  2. Add sugar and cocoa and blend for 20 – 25 sec/speed 4.
  3. Sprinkle coconut onto a tray, and pour icing into a bowl.
  4. Dip the cake pieces into the icing and make sure it’s totally coated. Put the cake onto the coconut, and toss it around so that it all is covered by coconut. If you hold it, it doesn’t receive an even coating.
  5. Place on a stone tray or in a glass bowl and leave to set.

 

 

 

Fruit Bottom Compote For Yoghurt

Fruit Compote

I’m a bit of a boycotter – of companies whose ethics are beyond reprehensible – and as a result I had to give up not one, but two of my favourite brands of yoghurt. I had to learn to make my own though, because once the nicest were no longer an option, it seemed all that was left was the very sugary, the 0% fat, or the artificially sweetened, none of which were ideal to share with my children. (With the exception of Yeo Valley, which I will still buy when I’m buying, because they’re more or less local, I’ve seen their cows with my own two eyes, and they’re actually yum and good for you at the same time. I didn’t know about them when I started making yoghurt, however.)

So the recipe I’m sharing with you now is just for the fruity component of my own fruit bottom yoghurt. For the yoghurt recipe, have a look at yesterday’s post.Fruit Compote

Fruit Bottom Yoghurt
Recipe Type: Breakfast, Snack
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 100ml
In this recipe I’m using a mix of summer fruits. You can use any berries, or any fruit. You can also use fresh fruit, but you may need to add a few teaspoons of water when you start cooking. There’s little wrong or right, really. This makes about 80 – 100 ml, which should go well with about 500ml yoghurt.
Ingredients
  • 100g frozen fruit
  • 1 teaspoon brown sugar or rapadura
  • 1 teaspoon honey
Instructions
In the Thermomix:
  1. Add all the ingredients to the Thermomix bowl.
  2. Cook at 70C/Speed Spoon/ 10 mins
  3. Check that fruit is soft and pour into sieve. Drain off the fluid and pick out some of the whole fruit, avoiding as many seeds as you can. Discard seeds and pulp (or save for fruit leather)
  4. Pour into container and top with yoghurt.
  5. Seal and keep in fridge for 2 – 3 days
On a stovetop:
  1. Add all the ingredients to the stove and bring to the boil, stirring continuously. You don’t want the sugar to burn.
  2. When fruit is soft, and some liquid has formed, remove from heat,
  3. Pour into sieve. Drain off the fluid and pick out some of the whole fruit, avoiding as many seeds as you can. Discard seeds and pulp (or save for fruit leather)
  4. Pour into container and top with yoghurt.
  5. Seal and keep in fridge for 2 – 3 days

I tend to remove the seeds as far as possible as they get stuck in the yoghurt pouches we use, or worse in my teeth. Quarter fill your yoghurt container with the compote, and top the rest with yoghurt.

Mix it all together before serving, topped with muesli or on it’s own. Yummy, no additive, no preservative, no colouring, no fake sugars. Just good for you, and only cost about 55p to make.

 

Thick Yoghurt Recipe

YoghurtThere’s a pretty varied number of ideas, recipes and versions of yoghurt (yogurt in the US) available on t’internet, which can sometimes be really both intimidating and off-putting. I’ve tried a number, and have finally found one I  return to again and again. You can find this on the Thermomix Forums too, but read on for more information and options. (See the bottom of this post for non-Thermomix recipes)

This is a thick Greek-style yoghurt. I like to whizz up some frozen fruit and mix it with the yoghurt to make the fruity flavoured breakfast favourite that I’d otherwise be spending a fortune on.

When I was in Australia, I found 60 minutes made a good yoghurt. Now I find it makes it a bit grainy and find 50 minutes is perfectly sufficient. I’m not sure if there’s a difference in the milk or if it’s moisture in the air, or what, but try different timings and see what you prefer.

**this post contains affiliate links. Clicking on them will cost you nothing, but I may earn a percentage of the cost of your purchase. You will not pay anything extra**

 I’ve recently changed my reusable pouches brand to this one. Check it out!

Thick Yoghurt Recipe
Recipe Type: Breakfast, Snack
Author: Thermomix Forum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1 litre
Ingredients
  • 1000g full cream milk – low fat milk will result in a runnier yoghurt
  • 50g Greek Yoghurt/from previous batch
Instructions
  1. Add the milk to a clean Thermomix bowl
  2. Cook the milk for 50 – 60 mins/90/speed 2.
  3. After 60 minutes, remove the lid and let the milk cool to 37C. This can take 30 – 60 minutes depending on the temperature in the room.
  4. When it’s 37C, add 50g natural yoghurt
  5. Mix 4 seconds/speed 4.
  6. Cook for 10 minutes / 37C/speed 2.
  7. How you now go about preparing your yoghurt depends on your equipment. I use an Easiyo, so fill the cylinder to the red mark with boiling water. (I normally do this before the final 10 minute cook above, leaving it to cool a little, then when the 10 minute cook is done, the water is a good temperature). Fill the pot with the milk and leave over night.
  8. Alternatively you could just use a decent Thermos-style insulated flask, leave the yoghurt overnight, and that should work the same way.
  9. The important thing is not to move the yoghurt while it’s doing it’s thing. Just pop it in a corner, and leave it for 12 – 24 hours.

I use this Easiyo Yoghurt Maker. I suppose I use it because I have it, but it’s easy enough to make yoghurt without it. That said, I like it. I’ve never had a failure using this, either with the Easiyo starter or just with my own yoghurt. The good thing is people buy these, try them out, then sell them. eBay is full of 99p offerings. I got mine free on Freecycle. It’s very simple to use.Easiyo

Once the yoghurt is made, I transfer it into Fill n Squeeze pouches, ready for my children to enjoy. The yoghurt freezes really well, so I can take a pouch out of the freezer every evening, ready at my daughter’s table for her to have in the morning. We also use it for daytrips and so on, so I get less requests for ice cream! The reuseable pouches save a fortune, and I’m just thrilled not to buy my girls sugar-and-sweetener-filled yoghurt ‘treats’.

We also use these ice lolly moulds for making frozen yoghurt ‘ice-cream’. Literally, frozen yoghurt, sometimes with fruit. My baby especially loves these and would have them for every meal. There are so many shapes, forms and moulds on the market, but these are a perfect child size – about two or three tablespoons full – so there’s little to no wastage.  Each ‘ice cream’ comes apart so you only have to take out one at a time. They’re pricey, except when they’re on sale, and the little connectors snap sometimes when frozen, but they are the best we’ve found for our purposes so far.

 Yoghurt Icecream

Here are some of our favourite toppings for plain yoghurt:

  • Nuts and honey
  • Muesli
  • Raisins and grated apple
  • Pureed apple and cinnamon
  • 1/2 a pureed banana and 1/2 banana slices
  • Pureed berries
  • Vanilla pods or essence (buy the proper stuff though, not artificial flavouring)
  • Crushed pineapple and coconut
  • Chopped and dried mixed fruit
  • Sliced or pureed banana
  • Chocolate buttons or chips with a squirt of chocolate ice cream sauce or melted chocolate (for a treat)
  • Lemon zest (lemon juice might curdle your yoghurt)
  • Nuts, raisins, honey and chopped mint

but  of course, there’s a world of other options to explore.Yoghurt Pouches

If we find ourselves with excess yoghurt, I love making cream cheese from it. While I’ve never had a problem with bought cream cheese, the home made stuff is amazing. Well worth making!cream-cheese

And if you’re making your own cream cheese, you’ll find you have plenty of whey left over. Don’t discard it! There’s a lot you can do with left over whey

Don’t have a Thermomix? Try these recipes instead:

 

 

 

Weeding out Wheat Giveaway And Sale

Are you preparing to change your health for the better in 2014? Let us help! One change you can make in your life that could result in significant health benefits is going wheat-free. The book Weeding out Wheat is now available and we are celebrating with a BIG GIVEAWAY and SALE!

Enter the giveaway below for a chance to win $600 worth of healthy living products!

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Facebook Party: January, 6 2014

Join us on Monday, January 6th for a Facebook party and more chances to win prizes! We’ll be talking about the health changes you may see from taking wheat out of your diet as well as the challenges this may present. Be sure to follow Whole New Mom on facebook and join us for conversation and prizes from 7:30pm – 9:00pm.

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Tabouleh Plus Recipe

Tabbouleh, Tabouleh

I love Tabouleh, Tabbouleh, Tabbouli or Tabouli. Whichever way you spell it, it’s a bulgar wheat warm salad, often made (incorrectly) with couscous. It’s still good though, so don’t be put off using couscous or even quinoa if that’s what you have on hand. I’ve made it with all three and love it still.

If you Google for a recipe you’ll be hard pressed to find two recipes exactly the same, and now I’m throwing another into the fray. But I stand by it. It’s really good.

The basics, the essentials, are the garlic, parsley, mint, lemon juice, onion and tomatoes, but saying that, in the picture you’ll notice no red flecks. I didn’t have tomatoes, so went without.

Anything else is optional though. My guests are big meat eaters, so I added bacon. We’re all halloumi lovers, so I added two blocks, rather than one.  It’s pretty flexible.

Tabouleh Plus
Recipe Type: Main, Side
Cuisine: Turkish
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
A lovely filling main course warm salad, or a side dish, this adds to a traditional tabouleh. There are a plethora of recipes for tabouleh, but this is how we make it.
Ingredients
  • 1 Red onion
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 3 large or six small tomatoes
  • Bunch parsley
  • Bunch mint
  • 30g (60ml) lemon juice
  • 30g olive oil
  • Optional:
  • Pack bacon
  • 2 avocado
  • 2 packs Halloumi
  • 450g Bulgar wheat
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
For the thermomix:
  1. Add the onion, garlic, tomatoes, parsley, mint, lemon juice and olive oil (and cooked bacon and halloumi, if using) to the bowl. 30 Seconds/Speed 4 – check to see that it’s fine enough for your liking.
  2. Add the avocado, mix 10 Seconds/ Speed 3.
  3. Set aside.
  4. Cook bulgar wheat to manufacturers instructions – around 17 minutes, Veroma speed.
  5. Stir together, and sprinkle parsley roughly chopped before serving.
Traditional cooking:
  1. Cook Bulgar wheat according to package instructions.
  2. Meanwhile, finely chop the onion, garlic, tomatoes, parsley and mint and add bacon, halloumi and avocado, if using. Mix in with lemon juice and oil.
  3. Mix in the warm bulgar wheat and serve, sprinkled with parsley.

A Very Thermie Christmas This recipe features in A Very Thermie Christmas, where you can find it and 50 other recipes perfect for a Thermomix assisted Christmas. Read more about it here.

Soft Cherry And White Chocolate Thermomix Fudge Recipe

White Chocolate and Glace Cherry Thermomix Fudge

Charlotte, who contributes here from time to time, shared a fudge recipe on her Facebook page recently that, as a lover of both fudge and Thermomixes,I had to try. My first attempt following the recipe was only mildly successful, but for the second attempt I went with raw sugar, golden syrup and glace cherries and it is fantastic. So good, in fact that it has made it into the Christmas gift hampers for this year.White Chocolate and Glace Cherry Thermomix Fudge

If you have a last minute gift or party to cater for, these are so simple and totally worth it.

I use a brownie pan to pour it into, then cut using the guides, and cut each of those in four too, to bring them down to a snackable size.

We use Farmlea condensed milk to avoid using Nestle.

Soft Cherry And White Chocolate Fudge
Recipe Type: Sweets, Desert, Gift Basket
Cuisine: English
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 54
Delicious soft fudge, cut into bite sized squares to counteract the supreme sweetness. Thoroughly delicious though, and makes a big enough batch for gift baskets, or a party.
Ingredients
  • 1 can Farm Lea condensed milk
  • 250g raw sugar
  • 25g golden syrup
  • 125g butter
  • 200g white chocolate
  • 100g glace cherries
Instructions
  1. Add condensed milk, sugar, syrup and butter to the Thermomix bowl.
  2. Cook without MC at 100C speed 3 for 8 mins.
  3. Scrape down sides if needed, then cook Veroma, 20 mins speed 3 still without MC
  4. Add chocolate and cherries and mix on speed 4, reverse blades for 20 seconds.
  5. Pour into brownie tray
  6. Refrigerate for 3 -4 hours, cut and store in airtight container.

 

Sweet and Salty Popcorn

PopcornWho doesn’t love popcorn!? We love popcorn in our house. It’s one of those healthy snacks that feels like such a treat. Either for a family night in snuggling & watching movies, or for a lunch box or afternoon snack. Popcorn is always a winner. Although I have to admit I was getting bored with the same old salted popcorn, so what did I do? I added sugar of course! This recipe makes such a big batch that the sugar isn’t too ‘naughty’, unless you eat the whole batch.. hehehe.

This recipe would also make a great gift in a hamper for Christmas time. You can swap the salt for a sprinkle of cinnamon for that warm festive touch.

Sweet & Salty Popcorn
Recipe Type: Snack
Author: Charlotte
Serves: 8-10
Who doesn’t love popcorn!? We love popcorn in our house. It’s one of those healthy snacks that feels like such a treat. Either for a family night in snuggling & watching movies, or for a lunch box or afternoon snack. Popcorn is always a winner. Although I have to admit I was getting bored with the same old salted popcorn, so what did I do? I added sugar of course! This recipe makes such a big batch that the sugar isn’t too ‘naughty’, unless you eat the whole batch.. hehehe This recipe would also make a great gift in a hamper for Christmas time. You can swap the salt for a sprinkle of cinnamon for that warm festive touch
Ingredients
  • 1/4 cup Vegetable oil, I use refined coconut oil
  • 1/4 cup Sugar, I use Rapadura sugar
  • 1/2 cup Organic popcorn kernels
  • Salt, I use pink Himalayan salt
Instructions
  1. Heat oil with 3 test kernels in large, deep, heavy pot with the lid on.
  2. Once the test kernels pop, your oil is hot enough. Add sugar, popcorn kernels & stir a bit, then cover.
  3. Shake pot every few seconds, it must be done so the sugar & popcorn won’t burn.
  4. Once popping has slowed, remove pot from heat and keep shaking until there’s no more popping.
  5. Tip into a BIG bowl. My biggest bowl isn’t big enough so I use a wok!
  6. Use a big spoon to mix it up and add a couple pinches of fine salt.
  7. Break up any clumps, and let cool just enough to dig in!
  8. TIP: Now Is a good time to put some into snack bags for lunch boxes..so it’s not all eaten at once!