Thermomixing: Morning Tea Ideas

Since owning a Thermomix I have become much more adventurous in the kitchen.  This nifty machine makes every recipe so quick and easy that it is a crime not to try out new ones.

So after bookmarking a gazillion different recipes to try, I decided on a baking morning and chose 2 recipes perfect for morning tea or the school lunch box.   Each one of them was so easy to make and so delicious, I had to share them with you here.

Cinnamon Scrolls

These are SO AMAZING. They are divine eaten warm.  You can find the recipe on the recipe community here.

The key with these is to rearrange the order in which you make the components to save on the washing up.  Firstly whizz up the sugar for the icing, then, without cleaning the bowl, make the cinnamon filling.  Finally make the dough, there is no need to wash the bowl beforehand.

If you don’t own a Thermomix, don’t be put off giving these a go. It will just require a little elbow grease.

Short Notice Slice

I had never heard of this easy little slice before. The recipe is adapted for the Thermomix and found on the recipe community here.  For those of you without a Thermie, try this recipe.

I can’t say it is the best looking slice but is perfect for school lunch boxes because it is nut-free.  I gave my slice a little bit of crunch by throwing in some sunflower seeds.  You could of course add whatever takes your fancy – your favourite dried fruit, nuts or seeds…even choc chips.

I would love to be sitting down to have one of these treats with a coffee right now, but alas the family has devoured them all.  A very good reason to pull the Thermomix out again over the weekend to ‘re-test’ the recipes 😉

 

 

Birthday Idea: Photo Cufflinks

My husband is notoriously hard to buy for when it comes to birthdays and Christmas.  It doesn’t help when he says, “I don’t want anything.” And it is just plain frustrating when you push for ideas and the response is, “I really haven’t any suggestions.”

So it was just by chance that the boys and I stumbled upon this gift, standing in line at the photo centre, photo cufflinks. Sorry about the dodgy photos.  I took these last night in very low light.

It was decided then and there that it was the perfect gift for the boys to give hubby for his birthday.

For the last  couple of years, my husband has only worn French cuffs.  In the past I had nearly bought him these cufflinks, engraved with the boys’ names.

They are made by Koolaman Designs, the same company that made my engraved necklace, like the one below.

I love them. They are beautifully made, but are quite expensive at $200 a pair. Maybe one day he will own a set.  Without giving away the price of my photo cufflinks, they were much more economical.

It was so simple to complete.  I picked a photo of each of the boys, reduced their size and printed them on photo paper.  The cufflinks easily came apart and I used the example photo as a template to cut out my photos.  The whole thing popped back together and was ready for giving.

The boys gave Dad the cufflinks this morning and he proudly wore them to work.  He was very impressed, especially when he found out I  ‘made them’.

The boys also, with a little help from Mum, made the birthday cake, which we will cut tonight.  I am sure  he won’t mind (much) that his cake reminds him of his age and that it is displayed here for all to see.

Happy birthday John!

 

Not Just Your Ordinary Trip to the Park

Every now and again I like to make our regular trips to the park a bit different. I love that the kids are outdoors and exercising whilst having fun, but the teacher in me enjoys it when there is also an opportunity to learn something or practise a new skill.

So this week we headed to a park we hadn’t been to for a while, armed with some PVA glue and a scrapbook.  After a good energetic play on the equipment, we followed the walking track that snaked amongst the trees and collected things that took our interest.

The scouting and our finds lead to great conversations and learning experiences for the kids, for example….

The leaves – the boys noticed that some leaves were brown and dry while others were green and glossy.  We were able to discuss the seasons and evergreen and deciduous trees.

Tree bark – we noticed how different trees had different bark.  I compared the bark to our skin, protecting the living  inner parts of the tree.

Once we had collected as much as we thought we needed, we returned to the picnic tables to place our finds in the scrapbook.

What was great about this activity was that it was a memento of our trip to the park.  Often when Dad gets home in the evening my 4-year-old finds it hard to answer his, “What did you get up to today?”  The scrapbook was a great cue to answer this question and he was able to ‘teach’ Dad about the new things he learnt at the park.

The kids obviously enjoyed the activity because the next time we headed to the park, they ran and collected the scrapbook and glue.

In the future I will write about the other ways I ‘mix up’ our park visits.  Not only are they great fun for the kids, but they make the visit a little more interesting for us adults too.

Homemade Nutella Cake in a Mug

Yesterday I posted a recipe for homemade Nutella.  You can read that post here. Today I thought I would show you just one delicious dessert you can make with either your homemade or store-bought Nutella.  What I love is that the whole thing from start to finish takes 3 minutes, so there is virtually no wait to satisfy your chocolate cravings.

Nutella Cake in a Mug (adapted from Stay at Home Mum)

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons self raising flour
• 4 tablespoons sugar (I use 3 and it is still sweet)
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoons Nutella
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Method

• Combine all ingredients in a large mug.
• Whisk until smooth.
• Microwave on high for 1½– 3 minutes, depending on the wattage of your microwave.
• Serve with cream or ice-cream for an indulgent dessert.

 

The original recipe says it serves 1, but it is huge.  The mug in the picture above is massive.  Now I portion it into 2 kid’s mugs and 2 teacups for our family and reduce the cooking time.  Served with a small scoop of ice cream, it is more than enough of a dessert for everyone.

If you are anything like me, you might want to undercook your cake so is still a little gooey.  Serve it hot out of the microwave and it is fabulously fudgy.

I certainly urge you to give this one a go if you are short on time or your sweet tooth needs instant satisfaction. Yum!

 

Thermomixing: Homemade Nutella

It is school holidays here so I thought I would get the kids into the kitchen to make something a bit different.  I came across this recipes for Thermomix Nutella, so we gave it a go.  While it doesn’t taste exactly like the store-bought stuff, I think it has a secret recipe, it does taste oh so yummy.

Homemade Nutella (adapted from Thermomix Recipes)

Ingredients

90 g Roasted Hazelnuts
100 g Dark Chocolate
100 g Milk Chocolate
90 g Vegetable Oil
150 g Sugar (I used 100g and still found it sweet enough)
200 g Milk

Method

Place sugar and hazelnuts in the bowl and blitz for 2 minutes on turbo.

Add Chocolate and grind for 30 seconds on speed 5.

Add milk and oil and cook for 5 minutes at 50°C  on speed 4.

Mix for 1 minute on speed 10.

Store in a sterilised container in the refrigerator.

 

The whole family was impressed with the taste of the finished spread.  I love that it doesn’t have all of the preservatives of the store bought variety.

Stop by tomorrow to see the simplest and very yummy, Nutella chocolate cake recipe.  The whole thing takes 3 minutes to make – great as a last minute dessert idea.