Teach Your Kids to Cook! Why & How...

Making pasta - messy, but fun!

It is so important to teach your kids to cook, to teach them how to make good food choices, and to model good eating habits. Diet related diseases, such as heart disease, are much more likely to kill your children (and you) than anything else. More and more children in Australia are suffering from obesity and diabetes, because our culture has moved away from wholesome, fresh foods to refined, coloured, additive-filled junk! These problems are entirely preventable. According to the Australian government:

An estimated 1.5 million people under the age 18 are considered overweight or obese.

This means about 20-25% of Australian children are overweight or obese.

The proportion of overweight or obese children in Australian is increasing at an accelerating rate. This pattern, showing up since the 1980’s, is similar internationally.

If weight gain continues the path it is following, by the year 2020, 80% of all Australian adults and a third of all children will be overweight or obese.

These are scary statistics. What are you doing to teach your kids about healthy eating?

Jamie Oliver is a great advocate for teaching kids about real food, recently winning the TED award for his contributions in this area. He said,

"I wish for everyone to help create a strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again, and empower people everywhere to fight obesity."

- Jamie Oliver.

Please watch this video clip and share it with your friends and family. Refuse to 'go with the flow' when it comes to what you and your family eat! We can all make a difference, starting in our own homes.

If you need help knowing where to start to change bad eating habits, and how to teach your kids to make good food choices, read Cyndi O'Meara's book, "Changing Habits, Changing Lives". She will guide you one step at a time through the confusing maze of what to eat, what not to eat, and why. She also has a great recipe book that will inspire you with lots of delicious food that will help, not harm, your family.






Fun ways to help your kids learn to cook . . .

When I was little, my Mum always encouraged us to learn to cook, and we had a lot of fun learning how to make family favourites and inventing new recipes. We would even make our own 'dinner' sometimes in a little billy can over a metho stove in our bedroom - great fun! (Don't worry - my room had a cement floor!) When I was seven, I won second prize at the Cairns show for my chocolate fudge... when I was twelve I used to make a boiled chocolate cake for the teenagers at our church youth club, which they loved - until the day I decided to put a coin in it just for the fun of seeing someone's surprise when they found it... I don't think they liked it so much after that! :D

Kids making Marble Cake

I have many fond memories of cooking in our happy kitchen, and I want my kids to have those memories too. Sometimes it seems more trouble than it's worth, especially when they make such a mess! (And especially now I have such a little kitchen...) But it really is worth the trouble. If you're new to cooking with kids, here's some ideas to help you get started...

The girls making jam tarts

* Let them experiment! One of our kid's favourite pastimes is to invent new and interesting snacks - they call it 'making some gourmet', and they certainly turn out some very interesting concoctions, which they like to serve to us on a 'platter' as if we were in a restaurant! Miss C (6) likes macadamias dipped in molasses, and dates stuffed with almonds... Mr S (10) makes interesting juices, and fruit salads with nuts and honey or molasses, and carrot sticks with salt, pepper, tomato sauce and lemon juice (he's my main 'cook'!)... Mr I (8) likes anything that's covered in honey... And Miss I (12) is more into making biscuits and jam tarts and bread - she's a little more practical than the others! I don't mind them experimenting, because that's how they learn what tastes good with what. (As long as they eat it, of course!)

Mr I's 'Gourmet Crackers'

Miss C's very original Apple & Cherry Salad

* Kids love making pizza: Make the dough (older ones can help with this), roll it out on a silpat mat on the kitchen table, put it on the trays, then let the kids put on all the toppings. They can each do a small one of their own and make it just how they like it. Our kids like to make faces with the toppings just for fun. (Recipes: Pizza dough & toppings, Dairy free avocado topping, Lamb mince & salad pizza, Salmon & Salad Pizza)

* Fun Bread rolls: Make the dough, give the kids a mat/chopping board each at the kitchen table that they can work on. They can each get some dough and make it into faces, turtles, snakes, cats... whatever they like, then brush it with water, and add seeds or raisins for extra decoration. Place the trays in a cold oven and turn it on (moderately hot), and the rolls rise and bake at the same time. I like to make Poppy Rolls, and one day my dd (6) was making them with me and snipped them all around so they looked like this (see below) - she informed me they were 'Zinnia Rolls'! Cute. (Recipes: Spelt bread rolls, other bread dough you can use for rolls)

Miss C's 'Zinnia Rolls'

* Pasta: Make the dough, then roll out pieces of dough on floured mats (or straight onto the table) and let the kids take turns putting it through the pasta machine. This is probably our kid's all-time favourite - it's so much fun. (As long as you don't mind a bit of mess!) We like to do it with their friends when they come for the day - many kids have never made pasta before, and are fascinated that they can make their own spaghetti, and how yummy it is!

Making Spelt & Spinach Pasta

* Quick treat balls (or bliss balls): This is great for kids that are 'starving' and can't wait for bikkies to bake! Just throw all the ingredients into your Thermomix, grind them up, then give it to the kids to roll into balls. Instant snack! (Recipe: Raw cacao treat balls, Walnut & Raw Cacao Nib Bliss Balls)

* Eggs for any occasion: scrambled, fried, boiled, etc - it's very easy to teach kids to cook eggs, and there's so many ways they can make them. Our kids learnt to cook eggs at kid's cooking class (which we run with our homeschool group), so I bought them a non-stick frypan so they could do it easily on their own... Now if they're up before me at breakfast time, they can cook their own scrambled or fried eggs! (Obviously for kids who are old enough to use the stove.) I also taught them how to make egg sandwich fillings by mixing their choice of ingredients with mashed, boiled eggs - chopped celery, onion, pickles, tuna, mayonnaise, mustard, parsley... whatever takes their fancy... they love to make their own lunch this way.

This is a great breakfast for grumpy kids - or husbands! Never fails to cheer them up! :D

* Yummy fruit salad: Give them some washed fruit, some nuts/seeds, a chopping board and small knife, and see what they come up with! This is a great way to get kids to eat more fruit. Our kids love their 'slinky apple' machine, which makes chopping apples very easy and fun.  We also like to make raw fruit cereals for breakfast, which we usually do in the Thermomix.  (Recipe: Raw Fruit Cereal) Also vegie salads that they make themselves are more likely to be eaten! (Recipe: Easy Carrot & grape salad)

Mr S's Cherry, Nectarine, & Lychee fruit salad

These are just a few ideas for family cooking fun - add to those pikelets/pancakes, waffles, vegetable soup, muffins & cupcakes, fruit smoothies & juices, scones - I'm sure you can think of plenty more! The idea is not to be scared off by the mess - just think of the wonderful memories you'll be making together, and the good eating habits you'll be teaching them for the future.

(Note: most of these ideas are for small kids - the older ones can of course do more, like mixing dough, rolling it out, chopping with a sharp knife, etc. If you use a Thermomix, your child can start very early cooking for the family, as it's so safe and easy, and you don't have to worry about them cutting themselves or burning themselves.  By the time they're teenagers, they should be able to prepare at least one meal per week for the family, on their own.)

My friend Vanessa's daughter is just 11, and already cooks up a storm - here's a photo of her with a batch of ravioli she made all by herself - pasta dough, sauce & filling - and steamed in the Thermomix Varoma!

Kedgeree

Kedgeree - a sunshiney, lemony rice and fish dish.

Kedgeree is great for an Easter Brunch, or a light meal. Add some steamed veges or salad, and you've got a full meal. This is my easy Thermomix version - the rice, eggs, fish and veges can steam all at once, saving time, power and dishes!

You can make Kedgeree with either basmati rice or brown rice, and with either tinned fish or fresh/smoked fish. If using tinned tuna or salmon, or smoked salmon, you stir it in at the end. If using fresh fish, you can steam it in the Varoma at the same time as you're cooking the rice and eggs in the rice basket. If you're using tinned tuna or salmon, the ingredients are just things you usually have in the fridge and cupboard all the time... It's nice to have some simple, standby recipes like this for when you need a spur-of-the-moment meal! But for something a bit more special, like Easter, try fresh smoked salmon - it's so good.

1. Pour water into TMX bowl, add the rice basket, weigh rice into basket and carefully place eggs onto the rice. Cook at Varoma temperature for 18 minutes, (35 minutes for brown rice), speed 4.

- 900g water (1200g water for brown rice)

- 350g basmati rice (or 300g brown rice)

- 3 or 4 eggs (make sure shells are clean)

2. Remove eggs, rinse under cold water, and peel. Remove rice basket and empty into Thermoserver or serving bowl - cover to keep warm. Empty water out of TMX bowl, rinse and dry.

3. Chop peel & parsley in TMX for 10 seconds, speed 8 and set aside in a small bowl.

- peel of half a lemon (peel thin strips with peeler)

- handful of fresh parsley

4. Chop garlic in TMX for 5 seconds, speed 7, then add onion and chop for 3 seconds, speed 5. Add oil or butter and saute on 100 degrees, 2 minutes, speed 1.

- 1 onion, quartered

- 1 clove garlic

- 30g olive oil or butter

5. Add spices and lemon juice; cook at 100 degrees, 1 minute, speed 1.

- 1 tsp ground turmeric

- 1 tsp curry powder

- juice of half a lemon

6. Add boiled eggs and chop on speed 3 for 3 seconds.

7. Tip rice into a large serving bowl, add the tuna and all the rest of the ingredients, and fold in. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

- 425g can tuna in spring water, drained and flaked (or red salmon)

- sea salt & freshly ground pepper

[Optional extra: if you can eat cream, drizzle about 3 tablespoons of cream in before folding ingredients together. If you want a little more moisture and can't have dairy, you could use some coconut cream or cashew cream, or just a little nut milk.]

Lamb Mince & Salad Pizza

A bite of Lamb Mince & Salad Pizza with 'Poor Man's Parmesan'

I've been so busy this week that I haven't had time to post a menu plan, or much of anything... so I'm sitting down to quickly type up this recipe I made last week.  It's a new family favourite!  We all loved it.  We don't have pizza too often these days, as the boys and I can't have cheese, so I was excited to find a recipe for 'Poor Man's Parmesan' in my new pizza cookbook - it's dairy free!!!  (The recipe for this pizza is my version of one in 'Pizza Modo Mio', by John Lanzafame.)

I used the Spelt Artisan Bread dough to make the pizza base, but you could use any pizza dough recipe - just make sure you roll it nice and thin so it's crispy - if it's too thick the juices from the meat may make it soggy.  And if you have one, cook it on a pizza stone, or at least on a thick, preheated oven tray.

Recipe makes 1 pizza.

1.  Place pizza stone (or heavy oven tray) in oven and preheat to 250 degrees C for about 20 minutes.  While it's heating, pull off a grapefruit sized piece of Artisan Bread dough, flouring it with some spelt flour so it doesn't stick to your hands.  Pat it onto a greased pizza tray, spreading it out so it's about 5mm thick.  (You may need more if you are using a large rectangular tray.)  Brush dough with olive oil.

2.  When the 20 minutes is up, place the pizza tray in the oven for 5 minutes (on the pizza stone) to prebake.

3.  Place in Thermomix bowl and chop on speed 7 for 5 seconds:

- 1 large handful of fresh parsley

- *1 clove of garlic

- *1/2 an onion

- chilli to taste

4.  Add to bowl and mix on reverse, speed 3 until combined:

- 300g raw lamb mince (or beef mince)

- sea salt & freshly ground pepper

(or you can mince your own meat by placing cubed meat in Thermomix and pulsing on Turbo 3 or 4 times until the desired texture)

5.  Remove pizza base from oven and spread meat mixture over it, not quite to the edges.  Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until cooked through and nicely browned.  (Edges of crust should be browned and crispy.)  Drizzle lamb mince with a little lemon juice.  (Omit for beef mince.)

6.  Top hot pizza with mixed salad greens, vine-ripened tomatoes, sun-dried tomato strips, sliced olives (opt) and sprinkle with 'poor man's parmesan'.

*Note: I used garlic and onion confits instead of raw garlic and onion, as per the original recipe - they're lovely and mild when baked in olive oil.  For onion confit, bake 2 brown onions (chopped) in 150ml EVOO for 2 hours at 120 degrees C.  For garlic confit, bake 200g peeled garlic cloves , a few parsley leaves and 150ml EVOO for 2 hrs at 120 degrees C.  They can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 months.

Dairy Free 'Parmesan'

We love this dairy-free parmesan substitute. The original recipe is from a cookbook called 'Pizza Modo Mio,' by John Lanzafame, and is called 'Poor Man's Parmesan'.  He uses sourdough bread crumbs, I use leftover Artisan Bread crumbs.  Add anchovies to taste, depending how salty you want it.

Mix together in Thermomix on speed 7, until crumbs are formed:

- a big handful of pieces of torn up stale Gluten Free Artisan Bread or Spelt Artisan Bread
- 4 Tablespoons olive oil
- 4 anchovy fillets
- 1 large handful flat-leaf parsley

You can just use it like that, if it's going to be cooked on top of a pizza or casserole... If you want to sprinkle it over a salad or something that's not going to be baking in the oven, just brown it in the Thermomix first - 10 mins/100C/speed 1, or in a dry frypan on the stovetop.

GF Chocolate Banana Cake

Gluten Free Chocolate Banana Cake

This is a lovely, moist cake, which is sometimes hard to achieve with gluten free flour!  My friend Sarah made this recipe up when she was looking for a gluten free, dairy free, egg free cake. I've tweaked it a bit to make it healthier and Thermomix friendly. It's also very easy to make nut free as well - just use rice milk instead of rice-almond (or your preferred milk), and grapeseed or light light olive oil instead of the macadamia oil. For a nut free icing, just use coconut cream instead of the almond milk, mixed with the chocolate and dates.

You can make this cake with or without eggs - the eggs make a lighter cake, but without eggs the texture is lovely and moist and fudgey. (The photos are of the cake made without eggs.)  It's a very versatile recipe (see the variations at the end), and very quick and easy - just throw in ALL the ingredients and whiz it up. Perfect for birthday cakes and cupcakes!

1. Weigh into Thermomix bowl and mix on speed 5-6 for 20 seconds, using spatula to assist if needed:

- 300g plain gluten free flour (I use Orgran flour)

- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt

- 1 tsp baking powder (or 2 tspns if leaving out eggs)

- 2 tsp bicarb soda

- 30g raw cacao powder or organic cocoa

- 120g Rapadura

- 140g macadamia oil (or other light oil for nut free)

- 240g rice-almond milk or preferred milk for nut free (may need a little more if bananas are not very ripe)

- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

- 2 eggs (optional)

- 350g ripe bananas (approx. 3 large bananas - use 350-400g bananas if not using eggs)

2.  Pour into two round cake tins, or 1 large springform tin, well greased or lined with baking paper. Bake at 180C for about 30 mins (or longer if in one large pan), until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean.  Or you can bake in muffin tins for about 15 to 20 minutes.

The icing in the photos is made from raw dates, dairy free dark chocolate and almond milk. I don't really measure it - I just chop up a couple of big handfuls of dark chocolate and drop into Thermomix bowl, add about 6 pitted raw dates and about half a cup of raw almond milk (made in Thermomix). I whiz it up on speed 9, scraping down a couple of times, then melt at 50C for 3 minutes, speed 2, or until smooth. Add some vanilla bean paste too if you like. If it's too thick, add a little more almond milk. (Almond milk is just 100g blanched almonds ground up on speed 9, with 500g water and a dash of vanilla extract, blended for 1 minute speed 9.) If you need a nut free icing, you can use coconut cream instead of almond milk.

Variations:

- Butter cake: leave out bananas, add 1 tsp vanilla extract, use 2 tsp baking powder instead of baking powder and soda, add a little more milk, and use 150g butter instead of oil.  (This version needs the eggs.)

- Chocolate-coffee cake: leave out bananas, add 220g strong coffee and 1 tsp vanilla extract.

Menu Plan Monday - 15th March

The weather's been wet and cool here lately, so more soup on the menu - I love soup.  I have lots of avocados to use up, and bananas, thanks to our friend who has a fruit stall and gives us lots of the leftovers!  Today I used a few bananas in a couple of gluten-free chocolate banana cakes, a recipe my friend Sarah invented (she's coeliac, and a fellow-Thermomixer with lots of coeliac cooking savvy!)  That cake is so soft and moist, you'd swear it couldn't be gluten free!  I'll post that recipe soon.  I'm going to make some wholegrain spelt banana muffins too.  The rest of the bananas will be frozen for ice-cream!!

On Saturday I managed to get some cooking done for this week, so it should make a couple of meals a bit easier.  I made a double batch of bean-burger stew, about a litre and a half of chicken ragu, a jar of onion confit, and a jar of garlic confit (which is so yummy on hot bread out of the oven that I don't think it'll last long!). 

I'm dying to try out some pizza and calzone recipes using the Artisan bread dough - I bought a new pizza recipe book and pizza stone the other day, and am feeling inspired!  Of course, I can't have cheese, but there's plenty of dairy free ideas that I can try.  I'm planning to make is a foot long lamb mince pizza, also some chicken ragu calzone - the ragu is so yummy, and is in the freezer waiting...  I also found a recipe for 'poor man's parmesan' which has no dairy in it (anchovies provide the saltiness), so I'll try that.

Don't forget to check Menu Plan Monday for lot of ideas  for menu planning, recipes, and organizing your home.  If you want to know where to start with menu planning, I've posted my ideas on it here, too.  Have a great week!

(TMX = prepared in and/or cooked with my Thermomix)

Monday:

(lunch) Leftover bean & burger stew

(dinner) Chicken & rice soup (from freezer) with mashed potato (TMX) - (I like a big blob of mashed potato in soup sometimes - makes it much more filling!)

Tuesday:

(lunch) Avocado pasta salad

(dinner)  Chilli con carne (TMX) with guacamole (TMX)

Wednesday:

(lunch) Tuna salad sandwiches on spelt Artisan bread

(dinner) Foot long lamb pizza (TMX - Artisan bread base) with salad

Thursday:

(lunch) Chicken Ragu Calzone, made with Artisan bread dough (TMX) - double batch

(dinner) leftover calzone, reheated in oven, with salad

Friday:

(lunch) Salmon patties & vege sticks

(dinner) Vege pasta sauce (TMX) on spelt spaghetti

Saturday:

(lunch) Baked potatoes with toppings (df sour cream, sauteed mushrooms, df parmesan)

(dinner) Garlic pizza bread (with garlic confit and spelt Artisan bread crust), Italian sausages & salad.

Sunday:

(lunch) Thai chicken curry soup (crockpot)

(dinner) leftovers & spelt rolls

Blender-Batter Muffins

Blueberry Spelt Muffins

This is the base recipe I use for my muffins, adding in berries, or nuts, or choc chips, or spices, or crumble topping, or whatever I feel like.  It's a very versatile and healthy recipe - gluten free (or low gluten, depending which grains you use), dairy free and naturally sweetened. You start with the whole grains (spelt, brown rice, barley, kamut, or a mixture of these...), grind the grains in the Thermomix, mix with the liquids, leave to soak overnight (or at least a few hours), then add the remaining ingredients.  (Check out the variations below for ideas.)  I like to start it at night so we can have muffins for breakfast (...and morning tea - it makes a lot!!).

This recipe is inspired by Sue Gregg's Blender Batter Baking recipes in Sue Gregg's 'Breakfasts' cookbook. (I love Sue's cookbooks - this one has nearly 300 pages of healthy, delicious breakfast recipes!!)  I used to use my homemade rice-almond milk with a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to substitute for the buttermilk in her recipe, but I decided to cut out a step and make the milk at the same time as I made the muffins... so instead of buttermilk, I add a handful of raw almonds, a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, and water.  It all gets ground up and soaked with the grains, and works just fine! If you can't have nuts, sunflower seeds work just as well.

Soaking the grains in the liquids overnight improves digestibility and vitamin absorption.  You can either leave the batter to soak overnight in the Thermomix, or remove it to a glass bowl, which is what I prefer to do.

1.  Place half the grain in the Thermomix and grind on speed 9 for 1 minute, or until finely ground. Remove to a bowl and repeat with the remainder of the grain. (This is so you don't overload the blades.)
- 290g whole spelt grain (or kamut, hulled barley, brown rice, quinoa or a mixture of grains)


2.  Add the flour in the bowl back into the Thermomix jug, add in the following ingredients, and blend for 1 minute, speed 8:
- 40g raw almonds (or sunflower seeds)
- 160g water
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 20g macadamia oil (or light olive oil)
- 200g raw honey
(You may have to play around with the amounts of grain if not using spelt - if it seems way too thick and there is no 'vortex' while you're blending, add a little more water.)

3.  Leave batter to soak overnight, or for about 7 hours.

4.  When ready to cook, preheat oven to 175 degrees C (350 F), and grease muffin trays (or you can use ramekins for extra large muffins).

5.  Add eggs to batter and mix for 1 minutes at speed 8:
- 2 eggs

6.  Mix in briefly, for 3 seconds on speed 5:
- 2 tsps baking powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

7.  Fill greased muffin trays (or ramekins) almost full with batter.  Sprinkle the top of muffins with Rapadura and cinnamon (optional), and place in oven for about 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.  Cool for 5 minutes before removing from tins.

Variations:

- NUT FREE: instead of the almonds and water, use 200g rice milk.

- Berry muffins: add berries by sprinkling them on top of batter in tins and pressing in slightly - they will sink in a little while cooking.  You can also sprinkle with Rapadura & cinnamon if you wish.

- Chocolate chip muffins: replace cinnamon with 1 tsp vanilla extract; stir in 1 cup of Rapadura sweetened choc chips with baking powder.  (Berries AND choc chips is nice too!)

- Nut muffins: add chopped nuts with the baking powder, etc, but only mix in briefly.

- Apple muffins: increase the cinnamon to 1 1/2 tsp, add 1/4 tsp nutmeg; add 1 peeled and diced apple to batter with baking powder; sprinkle with cinnamon & Rapadura before baking.

- Banana muffins: add another 20g oil, 1 1/2 very ripe bananas, 1/2 tsp nutmeg and blend, then soak overnight.  Only needs 1 egg.  Optional: add a handful of chopped walnuts/pecans and/or dark choc chips with baking powder.

- Orange date muffins: replace cinnamon with 1 tsp vanilla extract; fold in 1 peeled, diced orange and a handful diced dates with baking powder.

- Orange nut muffins: peel orange skin into Thermomix, add a little Rapadura and cinnamon, grind speed 9 until finely grated.  Use 170g orange juice instead of almonds, water & vinegar in batter.  Add 1 tsp vanilla extract to batter.  Add a handful of chopped walnuts or pecans and a handful of sultanas with the baking powder.  Can also add a handful of grated carrot.  Before baking, sprinkle with the orange zest, Rapadura & cinnamon.

Wholemeal Spelt Artisan Bread

Spelt Artisan Loaf

Spelt Artisan Couronne

Well, the bread was delicious! I love Italian wood-fired oven bread, and this was very much like that, with a moist, slightly chewy texture, and a crunchy, chewy crust - yum! And I'm so happy I've found a recipe that incorporates soaking the grains/flour to make it more digestible. Of course, it's a bonus that's it's so easy! I used about one third ground spelt grain, two thirds unbleached plain spelt flour - next time I'm hoping to try half and half to see how that goes.

Grains (and flour) should be soaked overnight (or longer) at room temperature to increase digestibility - so I'm thinking when I make my next batch that I will soak the flours in the water overnight, then the next day mix in the yeast and salt (with the Thermomix), let it rise for two hours, then put it in the fridge.  It will work either way, and if you don't have time for the overnight soaking, you can just rise the dough for 2 hours (or up to 5 hours) instead.

(This recipe is an altered version of the original from 'Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day'.  There's lots of different way you can use this dough, so have a look at the website for ideas.)

1. Grind in Thermomix for 1 minute on speed 9:
- 250g spelt grain

2. Add and mix on speed 4-5 until all mixed in, using spatula if needed to help it along:
- 750g plain unbleached spelt flour
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons dry yeast
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons coarse salt
- 750g lukewarm water (needs to be lukewarm, or rising time will be longer)
You don't have to knead it, or mix it for very long, only until all the flour is mixed in.

3. Scrape the wet, sticky dough out of the Thermomix into a large plastic container or dough bucket with a lid that is fitted, but not completely airtight. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until it has risen to it's height and then collapsed, or has flattened on the top. Longer rising times, up to 5 hours, will not harm the result, and will help to increase digestibility.

4. You can use some of the dough now, or you can place it in the fridge for whenever you need it. It's a lot easier to work with if you refrigerate it first, as it's less sticky. So for your first loaf, it's probably easier to put it in the fridge for at least three hours first.

5. Baking Day: First, prepare a pizza peel (or a cutting board or pizza tray with baking paper on it) by sprinkling it with cornmeal or wholemeal spelt flour. Sprinkle the top of the dough in the container with some flour to make it less sticky when you pull some out. Pull out a grapefruit sized chunk of dough, hold it in your hand and add a little more flour to the outside of it, so it won't stick to your hands. Don't knead it or squeeze it - just gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom, turning as you go, and gather it under to form a smooth ball, then place it on the floured tray/peel.

6.  Rest the dough on the peel/tray to rise, uncovered.  It will take 40 minutes to rise altogether - you won't see a lot of rising during this time, but it will rise more in the oven.  After 20 minutes, turn oven on to 230 degrees C (450 degrees F) with a baking stone placed on middle rack.  (If you don't have a baking stone you can use a heavy based tray or flat cast-iron pan.  I used a cast-iron pan the first time and it worked really well.)  Place an empty grill tray in the bottom of the oven or on another rack.

7.  Once you've turned the oven on to preheat, dust the bread with wholemeal flour or cornmeal and slash a 1/4 inch deep pattern with a sharp knife - criss cross, diagonal, tic-tac-toe, or a 'sun ray' pattern as on the couronne loaf above.  Leave to rise for the remaining 20 minutes.

8.  After the 20 minute preheat, open the oven and quickly slide the loaf off the pizza peel or tray, onto the baking stone (or tray or cast-iron pan).  Quickly pour a cup or two of hot water into the empty grill tray and close oven door to trap the steam.

9.  Bake for 30 minutes, or until crust is nicely browned and firm - the dough inside won't dry out because it's so moist.  Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on a wire cooling rack.  Crust will soften a bit at first, but will firm up again after cooled.

10.  Store remaining dough in the fridge in lidded container and use it over the next 14 days.  Allowing the dough to mature over a couple of days will improve the flavour and texture.  Cut off and shape loaves as you need them - only bake what you can use in a day as it gets quite tough after a day or so.  You can have a couple of different doughs maturing in the fridge at different stages, some with herbs mixed in, some plain... check out the website or book for lots of ideas.  Have fun!

Note:  When you're ready to make a new batch of dough, there's no need to wash out the container from the last batch - just scrape the aged dough down and incorporate it into the new dough and it will give you a head start on the sourdough flavour!

Menu Plan Monday - 8th March

I really need to clean out the fridge and freezer, so I'm planning some meals around what I've already got, this week.  Also, I have some organic veges arriving tomorrow, so I need to make sure they're in the plan so they don't go to waste!  I've been busy and haven't felt like cooking too much, but one thing I am experimenting with today is a no-knead Artisan bread - a wholemeal, spelt version.  The dough is rising right now, then will go into the fridge, and the first loaf will go in the oven for breakfast - can't wait!  I don't actually have a pizza stone, which you're supposed to have, so we'll see how it goes.  I'll keep you posted.  I also made sunflower seed scones for breakfast this morning that were delicious - I'll post the recipe soon.

There are some really great recipes popping up on the Thermomix forum - if you have a Thermomix, make sure you have a look!  And if you go to Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com, you'll find links to lots of menu plans and recipes that will inspire you.  Also, if you've never checked out Top Mommy Blogs, click on the button in the side bar and have a look at some really wonderful blogs written by mums from all over... there's some amazing blogs there!

Hope you all have a great week :)

[TMX = prepared in and/or cooked in Thermomix]

Monday:
(lunch) Sausages & salad
(dinner) Leftover roast beef & gravy on mashed potatoes (TMX)

Tuesday:
(lunch) Raw pasta sauce on spelt noodles
(dinner) Leftovers from the TMX demo that's here in the afternoon - chicken & cashews with rice, cauliflower soup, beetroot salad, dip and crackers, and whatever else is floating around! (all made in TMX)

Wednesday:
(lunch) Baked potatoes & salad
(dinner) Salmon fishcakes (TMX) with quinoa salad (TMX)

Thursday:

(lunch) Fried rice (TMX)

(dinner) Chilli with gf macaroni (crockpot - out for afternoon)

Friday:

(lunch) Pasta Fagioli (TMX) with vege sticks

(dinner) Brown rice pilaf with honey baked pumpkin & broccoli

Saturday:

(lunch) Burger Bean Stew (TMX preparation, cooked in crockpot while out)

(dinner) leftovers & spelt artisan bread

Sunday:

(lunch) Roast lamb & veges

(dinner) leftovers & spelt rolls (TMX) (picture below)

Sweet n Sour Beef with Noodles

Here's one of our family favourites that I've been making for years, and just recently converted to the Thermomix.  If you're not too much into 'sweet' and 'beef' together, don't worry, it's not too sweet - it's very savoury, rich and flavoursome.  It takes a little longer to cook than most Thermomix meals, but you don't have to watch it - you can go do something else while your dinner cooks itself! 

I serve this on wholemeal spelt spaghetti or fettucine - if you have the time to make your own noodles, it tastes even better! Or if you're gluten free, you can serve it on gf spaghetti/fettucini. We also like it with raw vegetable 'noodles' made with a spiralizer.

Serves at least six.

1.  Puree in Thermomix for 20-30 seconds on speed 9:
- 650g tomatoes, halved
Remove to a bowl.

2.  Chop for 2 seconds on speed 5:
- 2 onions, halved

3.  Saute onions in oil for 3 minutes at 100 degrees, speed 1:
- 30g olive oil

4.  Add and cook for 10 minutes at 100 degrees, speed 1:
- 600g diced steak

5.  Add and cook for 40 minutes at 100 degrees, reverse, speed 1:
- reserved tomato puree
- 120g tomato paste
- 350g sliced carrots
- 1 Tablespoon shoyu (or tamari or soy sauce)
- 15g apple cider vinegar
- 20g Rapadura
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
- salt & pepper to taste

Menu Plan Monday - 2nd March

Time to plan the week's meals again - how's the menu planning going for you?  If you need some tips on how to menu plan, my ideas are here, and there's plenty more ideas at Menu Plan Monday!  Have a great week :)  (I'm keeping it short and sweet this time to make up for last week's menu planning post!!)

[TMX = prepared and/or cooked in my Thermomix]

Monday:
(lunch) Oven baked potato chips, chickpea flatbread (TMX), & nacho bean topping (TMX - times two, freezing half)
(dinner) Cyndi O'Meara's orange corned beef, cooked in Thermomix (didn't get it cooked yesterday), with steamed veges & mashed potato (TMX)

Tuesday:
(lunch) Lunch out with family
(dinner) Stir fry steak & veges (TMX) on rice (TMX)

Wednesday:
(lunch) Fish & steamed veges (TMX)
(dinner) Leftovers/vege pasta (TMX)

Thursday:
(lunch) Baked potatoes with mushroom sauce (TMX) & salad
(dinner) Nacho bean topping (from freezer) on corn chips with salad

Friday:
(lunch) Baked chicken, garlic & tomatoes with salad
(dinner) Leftovers & spelt rolls (TMX)

Saturday:
(lunch) Tuna pasta (TMX) & salad
(dinner) Dairy free spelt pizza (with avocado topping) (TMX)

Sunday:
(lunch) Roast & veges (whatever roast meat I can find on special!)
(dinner) leftovers with spelt bread