Experimentation

Today I experimented with a cooked tomato conserve and a kiwi fruit and cherry jam.

Using some of our cherry tomatoes from our garden and lovely fresh basil, Also from our garden I decided to take Dominic's suggestion and make pizza sauce. It made 6 jars of approximately 280mls. It looks quite runny but I am hoping it will turn out great and full of flavour on our pizza bases.

Kiwi fruit and cherry jam, Total experiment, Only made one lot of jam before and that went really well. This time I forgot the added 10minutes on the higher temperature so I'm not sure it's going to set as thick this time. The flavour is very different, But I sure it will be lovely in the mornings on toast :)

More stock

So it's only now I am having to make my second batch of stock. Cannot belive the first lot lasted so long!

Today I've made anzac bikkies and choc chip banana muffins but I'm not happy with the mix. It turned out very doughy and heavy. Still looking for the perfect muffin recipe I think.

Made shepherds pie for dinner, The mashed potato in the thermi is great! Definitely want to make that again.

Jam Slice

Look out kitchen, I've got my cooking mojo back :D

Today the kids and I made anzacs for afternoon tea, Yumm! Had a hankering for these for ages now

Dinner was sweet n sour meatballs from the EDC book serve with rice. Was yummo. Meatballs flavour was a little different, Alex thinks more salt? I'm not sure however

I then made a jam slice which I was unsure how it would go but hell yeah, I rock. It turned out awesome! Looking at how much is left has proved this lol. Kids and hubby aprove :)

Bolognaise

Just a quick and easy bolognaise for dinner tonight. Added some worchestershire sauce, Italian herbs and a little more wine than normal but it finally tasted like the bolognaise I would normally do on the stove, Yet much more convenient in the thermi :D

Home made Chinese

Dinner tonight was Chicken and Cashews out of the EDC book. Was really nice but I think next time I need to add more soy sauce to the sauce? Served with rice.

I also made shortbread which is lovely.

A first at dip

Tonight I made a garlic, shallot and lemon dip. The first one I've done on my own. It was very yummy, It was hard to put down the bowl lol

Dinner was the mushroom risotto out of the EDC book. Really nice though I think it needed a bit of salt? Or perhaps that was the difference it makes leaving out the butter? Not sure

Easy Prepping

I used thermi tonight to chop up and mix all the ingredients for our mellee quiche. So quick and easy!

Sooo convenient!!

Tonight I decided we'd have a cauliflour bake and pumpkin soup for dinner. I put all the ingredients into the thermi bowl and away the sauce cooked while I prepped the cauliflour and bacon. 7 minutes later it was all ready to chuck into a baking dish. While that baked I popped the pumpkin soup on and both the cauliflour bake and soup were ready at the same time :D Easy and yummy dinner!

Porridge for breakfast

Now it is colder it seemed nice to make porridge for breakfast. I used the EDC recipe and next time I don't think I'll blitz the mixture, It was slop in a bowl!

Wednesday 8th June

No action from thermi today, Was kindy and grocery day. Hubby's grandmother was in town so we had dinner on the run and went for a visit

Tomatoes, Blergh

Just dinner tonight, Creamy salami and bacon fettucine. I didn't like it much this time, Stupid hate for tomatoes right now.

Omelet love....

Omelet for breakfast today, That was all I used the thermi for.

Trial and error

Tried the omelet again this morning, This time I made the baking paper into a basket by folding the edges over each other. It worked wonderfully. I will try that again next time :)

Tonight for dinner I made the bangers and mash in onion gravy. Didn't mash the potatoes though, Just steamed them. Was nice. Will try and darken the gravy next time

Eggs Benedict

Yum! What a start to the day. Restuarant style breakfast at home, In my pj's even!
Eggs benedict was really nice. Definitely not an all the time thing but it will be requested when bub is born!

Pancake Breaky

Today master Dominic requested pancakes for breakfast so we used the piklets recipe out of the EDC book. He and Emelia had raspberry jam and I had sugar and freshly squeezed lemon juice from our lemon tree.

Lunch we cooked pea and ham soup and dinner was spaghetti bolognaise. Both from the EDC book

Friday 3rd June

No action today

Preggo brain strike 1

Sooo, The batter muffins I made last night and soaked, The batter turned out great.

However. It helps that you remember to put in baking powder and bi carb into your mix when prompted in the recipe and to not get side tracked.
The muffins resulted being very very firm. Tasted ok but very firm :/

Pull Aparts

Baking to freeze things so we can have some yummy snacks/lunches to pull out when in a hurry. Made the Swirly bacon/ham rolls off the forums this morning, I was doubtful it'd work as I stuffed a little bit but the end result turned out great :)

Going to try a different filling this time of spinach and feta. An egg and bacon one would be good too I reckon.

I've got the batter for the Dairy Free Batter Bowl Muffins soaking overnight ready to add blueberries to the mix in the morning and hopefully produce some lovely muffins (huge crossing fingers here)

"Normal" Bread

Was pointed in the direction of a bread recipe off the TMX forums "Very Normal" Bread. Turned out awesome!!
Very much making it again!!

Made up a batch of the chickpea choc chip cookies tonight so Dom had some to take in his kindy lunch, They taste soo yumm. Hopefully they are a winner with the kids!

Mmmm, Lemon butter

Today we had a playdate with family so we made up a banana batter cake and took that to share for morning tea.

Tonight after we picked some fresh bush lemons off our tree we made the lemon curd/butter from the EDC book. When it was hot it tasted very buttery so I'm not sure it's quite what I'm looking for as I remember lemon curd to be a kind of gel?

Sunday 29th

Today began with a steamed omelet in the varoma - Ham, Tomato and eggs. I forgot to add the cheese :/

I then made vanilla rice pudding for a lunch time dessert. I really need to invest in some vanilla beans I think as I found vanilla essence was just not enough.

Beef stroganoff for dinner from the EDC book. Was really nice. Ate so much more than I was supposed to :/ Lol

Saturday 28th

No action from thermi today

Risotto Love

Thermi makes brilliant risottos, Not making gluggy ones in the rice maker anymore.
For lunch we made the Bacon, Leek and Tomato Risotto. Was nice

Made some LTM's for kids snacks also

Home made milo?

I made the milo powder today, It was quite nice, A little gritty but next time I might blend it down a little more
Also made a loaf of bread and dinner was creamy salmon sauce on pasta. That I didn't like very much, I think however it was the salmon? It wasn't a brand I was used to

All in one meals

I experimented tonight and made the curried sausages off the forums, It was really really nice. A total winner with the kids too!

Lunch was minestrone soup. It made heaps!! Was nice though

Monday 23rd

Slow day today, Just an omelet for breakfast

Busy today....

Rushed morning out to see family so when we arrived back home, Cooking cap went on lol

Risotto for lunch - Risotto Mediterraneo from the forums
Basic bread was cooked
LTM's were made for the kids
Basic Cookie Cutter Biscuit Dough - Made 30 biscuits

Dinner was then the bolognaise sauce (ragu) from the EDC book with spaghetti pasta.

Steamed Omelets??

Yes please! Tried today and it was sooo good!!
Very filling and I wasn't hungry again until lunch time.

Dinner was creamy bacon and tomato fettucini off the TMX forums. Supposed to be salami but I only had bacon. Was good but won't reduce the liquid next time ( I did this time as I used tinned tomatoes not fresh and thought it would be too watery)

Mmm, Bread

Today I tested out the basic bread recipe from the EDC book. Turned out great!
Next loaf I will use a loaf tin instead of free form so we can cut it into proper slices.

Made the kids some playdough too, Lovely green. Feels so nice compared to the playdough I have made by hand before.

Dinner was Gormet Beef Casserole. Alex licked the bowl clean almost he enjoyed it that much lol!

Late night indulgence was the hot chocolate out of the EDC book, Very nice but very rich so won't have so much next time

She's arrived :D

Thermi has arrived :D

Today we made the vege concentrate and gorgonzola and ricotta cheese sauce to put over pasta. I first saute`d some shredded ham and an onion and set that aside while I blended the cheese sauce then folded the ham mix back through the sauce.