We have had a thermomix in residence in our kitchen for about the last two months. A very generous and kind friend loaned hers to us so that we could see if it would work for our family, and to help make a decision as to whether we could justify buying one. Long story short, we are hoping to buy one of our own in the next few weeks!
This was the first meal I made in the thermomix… all in one, rice meat and veg all at the same time. It took about 25 minutes and there was enough for two dinners for the four of us! I’ve heard people say that they’d be concerned it wouldn’t cook enough for their family, but most meals I make in it feed us for two nights.
Initially the idea was sparked when Reuben was being tested for coeliac’s disease. I knew that if we did have to cook gluten free, having a thermomix would make things a lot easier and cheaper (for instance, you can make your own rice flour using brown rice for less than a dollar a kilo!). Although (thank the Lord!) Reuben’s test came back negative, we have found out in the meantime that a thermomix suits us very well.
Reuben enjoying my sugar free berry sorbet. He calls the thermie ‘Yum Yum’, and is always excited when he hears the beep that means it’s finished cooking!
For starters it makes our sugar free lifestyle a lot easier. I think my favourite thing about it is how much time it saves! I can make a (sugar free, gluten free, dairy free) banana cake in 20 seconds.. the most time consuming part is putting in the ingredients.. and you pretty much only have to break the banana in half, no mashing it with a fork!
My twenty-second gluten free, dairy free, sugar free banana cake!
You can make custard, from scratch (again sugar free) in seven minutes! And no standing over a hot stove stirring stirring stirring.. and perfectly smooth lump-free custard every time! The white sauce in there is amazing. I love that I can put my ingredients in there, walk away, and in no time at all I have a delicious meal ready to eat. Instead of fighting over that one last mango, I can whiz up a sugar-free mango sorbet for all of us in less than two minutes!
Sugar free rice pudding with blueberries and a drizzle of pure organic maple syrup. My husband’s favourite dessert!
I also love knowing exactly what is in everything. I can make stuff from scratch, barely needing to open a packet or jar. I know that there are no additives or preservatives, no hidden sugars. I now make my own tomato sauce, sugar free nutella (Pete was well and truly sold after that, vegetable stock paste, and even grind my own cacao power! If I don’t have almond meal, I can pop in a handful of almonds and six seconds later: almond meal! Coconut butter (which has been one of my staples since quitting sugar) comes together in about 20 seconds in the thermomix, when it used to take me anywhere up to 15 minutes to make in my food processor. It’s just so fast and so easy, and being pregnant and with very little cooking mojo, that is a major selling point for me. I have literally used it every single day that it has been in our home, and most days more than once. Pete uses it to make porridge now… and he made the most incredible pretzels on the weekend! Mayana even made date & cacao balls in it today pretty much all by herself.
The book it comes with has plenty of great recipes to get you started. I’m getting brave with experimenting with it, and easily interchange my sugar substitutes where necessary. I’ve even begun to experiment with using more gluten-free options and I’m learning heaps. The more I use it and understand how it works, and which speeds and temperatures do what, the more I can adapt my old favourite recipes to it, and I’m getting much more confident at just making things up as I go.
Our favourite pikelet recipe from the Lady Flo Bjelke-Petersen cookbook
takes about 10 seconds to whiz up in the thermomix!
A new favourite website that I’ve been using A LOT is Quirky Cooking. Jo is into whole foods, and creates fabulous thermomix recipes that cater for most dietary needs.. so a lot of her recipes are sugar free, gluten free and dairy free, and sometimes egg free, or have options to make them such. Her Chicken & Chashews with Satay Sauce was the very first meal I made in the thermie, and her sugar free (practically healthy) nutella, delicious tomato sauce, and amazing coconut caramel custard have kind of become staples around here. Oh and everyone in our family is obsessed with the raw date and cacao balls, especially Reuben… they are pretty much always in our fridge! There are also a couple of really great thermomix community forums like this one and this one that have tonnes of fabulous recipes and ideas.
Tomato sauce, Nutella & raw cacao powder… all in a morning’s work.
The thermomix has replaced more than half of the appliances we own, and I’ve barely even used a saucepan since having it. It mixes, beats, grinds, purees, steams, cooks rice, sautes, stirs, cooks, weighs, whips… it’s like an entire kitchen in one appliance! It even washes itself up! And it is sooooooooooo easy to use. I have never been to a demonstration, my friend who owns one gave me a quick overview of what the buttons all do and that was literally it. I easily figured it out on my own just by reading the book, googling if I needed to, and just experimenting with it (from what I hear they’re pretty much impossible to break, so don’t be scared!!).
I will admit that they are not cheap (they sell for just under $2000), but Peter and I both agree that with the amount of time it will save us, and the health benefits (no preservatives or additives, no more buying things from jars and packets, much more control over what we’re actually eating), it is going to be so worth it for our family. It’s not an appliance where the motor is going to wear out or the blades are going to break, you’re not going to be looking at replacing it in the next five years… in fact I’ve heard people say that they’re an at least 30 year investment! I feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to have one loaned to me. As much as it was something I’ve always thought would be great, I don’t think I could have imagined just how great it would be for our family.
If you have a thermomix, I’d love to hear your tips and favourite recipes!! I have loved experimenting and learning about it, and I am excited about playing with it more, and learning even more about how it can help me to feed my family healthily, and without me having to spend half my life in the kitchen!
Gah! Yet another recommendation that makes me wonder about the Thermomix. I love that you got to try one out- I wish we had that option too. For the pricetag, I want to be really, really, really sure that we'd use it- and it's hard to get that idea when you only have it in your house for an hours' demonstration with someone who understands where every single button is by feel.
ReplyDeleteMy main hesitation is the pricetag- and also what I'd make in it. Being paleo (or trying to be paleo!) we cut a lot of grains out of our cooking, and one of the things people rave about the Thermomix is how easy it is to make breads/cakes/dough in. I really need to do some more research there.
But squee! Congratulations on reaching your savings goal and getting your Thermie :)