Cauliflower, sweet potato and chick pea soup

It is SO hot here I cannot be bothered to cook. So I whipped up this silky smooth soup - thanks Weight Watchers and Thermomix for the inspiration!

Place one onion and two cloves of garlic in Thermomix - chop at speed 7 for 3 minutes
Add 15 ml oil (I used rice bran oil) and cook 3 minutes 100 degrees speed 1

While that is happening roughly chop 2 small sweet potatoes, half a cauliflower and drain a can of chick peas. Add to Thermomix with 1000ml water, 2 tablespoons stock paste, 2 teaspoons powdered cumin and a shake of tabasco. Cook 25 minutes 100 degrees speed 1. Then blend at speed 9 for one minute. That's it!

Total WW ProPoints per serve? Based on 6 serves that is a handy dandy 2 PP per serve!

Creamy tomato and chicken with pasta

I wanted something creamy and filling but low in WW ProPoints so I made this up on the spot - based loosely on the Chicken Fricassee in the Travelling with Thermomix book

Take two chicken breasts and halve them lengthways and place in the veroma tray
Halve 250g button mushrooms and place in the bottom of the veroma
Pour 500ml water into the TM and cook for 25 minutes on Veroma speed 1

While this is cooking gather your other ingredients and put the pasta on to cook

Set steamed chicken and mushrooms aside. Pour cooking liquid into a bowl or jug.

Put 2 cloves garlic (peeled) and an onion (peeled and halved) into the TM for 3 secs speed 7
Add a large handful of basil leaves and whiz for another 3 seconds at speed 7

Pour in 20 ml oil (I used rice bran oil) and cook 3 minutes 100 deg reverse speed 1

Scrape down and add cooking liquid, 300 ml passata, 15 ml worcestershire sauce, a good shake of tabasco, 100 ml cream, a teaspoon of sea salt and a good grind of pepper. Cook 2 minutes 100 deg reverse speed soft
I decided to use the cream this way as we have had SO much cream in the house over Christmas and New Year

While this is cooking cut the chicken up into bite size pieces

Add 100g baby spinach, chicken and mushrooms to the TM
With the help of the spatula cook 3 minutes 100 deg reverse speed soft

Drain pasta and pile into serving dish. Pour chicken and sauce on top and enjoy!

I used 400g of small penne and this made 5 delicious serves at only 13 ProPoints each!

Sixty second salad

Actually I think it took less than that...

I wanted something not too boring to have with cos lettuce.

So I wizzed one clove garlic for 3 seconds at speed 7
(Non thermomixers could chop it finely)
Add:   

2 ripe tomatoes (halved)

good handful of fresh basil

2 tablespoons of tomato sauce (from the EDC)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

large pinch salt

wizz for 4 seconds at speed 7

At this point it is really not very pretty. Mum was  quite rude about it.
Tear your washed cos lettuce into large pieces and pour dressing over. Mine looks drowned because we only put enough out for three but I think a big bowl of baby cos would look lovely
Sprinkle with  about 40g feta cheese. We use danish feta because it is creamy and delicious.

Tonight we are having barbecued chops and sausages, marinated mushrooms, chat potatoes with harissa cream and sixty second salad.

check out the gorgeous BBQ plate one of my kids made in kindy!

NB - harissa cream is just light sour cream with a spoonful of harissa paste stirred through (I will post the harissa recipe another time)

Baileys Balls

Well I did the rum balls earlier in the week but I wanted something different - so how about Caramel Baileys Balls?

Ingredients:

1 packet milk arrowroot biscuits (250g)

40g cocoa powder

100g dessicated coconut

1 tin condensed milk

40 ml Baileys Irish Cream

Extra coconut or almond meal to roll them in 

Put biscuits in TM and grind 5 seconds speed 6

Add all other ingredients except almond meal or extra coconut

Mix 9 seconds at speed 5

Take teaspoonfuls and form into balls, roll them in the almond meal or extra coconut

That's it! Ta Da! And two Weight Watchers ProPoints each

Nut free Thermomix Rocky Road

Well I have had a hectic few weeks - I have taken lots of photos - I just need some time to go through them and plan to blog them! This week I made the annual gifts for the Kid's teachers.
Every year I have had a drama chasing around three separate supermarkets to get the ingredients for my Ultimate White Christmas so I decided this year to do Rocky Road, Shortbread Stars, Rum balls and Snickerdoodles. I send them in for the class teacher and all the incidental staff too - like the librarian and the music and sports teachers.

all wrapped and ready to deliver

The Rocky Road was inspired by someone kind I work with who sent a teeny sample of Rocky Road all the way from NSW for me during a project we were working on this year. So thanks - you know who you are.

The original recipe I based mine on called for clinkers. I have had a week trekking around Townsville and have not found them anywhere.  One shop had an empty hook labelled clinkers. Grrr. So the first batch was made with honeycomb instead.

My recipe is:

2 x 250g bags chocolate Cadbury melts

300g honeycomb (cut into 4 pieces) or 2 bags clinkers (cut in half)

180g raspberries (sweets not fruit)(cut in half)

100g baby marshmallows

Please use other brands of chocolate than Nestle - for information about the boycott click here I love that Cadbury now offers a choice of chips, buttons or bars of cooking chocolate in white, milk or dark. So I had two bags of milk melts.

Melt chocolate in TM bowl for 5 minutes temp 50 speed 1 (You can cut the sweets up while the chocolate melts)

Scrape down edges and melt for a further 1 1/2 minutes.

Change speed to reverse speed soft and add clinkers(or honeycomb) raspberries and marshmallows, in assorted handfuls. Let the machine do the mixing.

 Once combined turn into a lamington tray. I used a CT silicon mold so the turning out was a dream! If I was using a rigid tray I would definitely line it.

Spread it evenly and refrigerate to set

Turn out and cut into nice big slabs when set. I used gift bags and a bit of sparkle 

Don't forget to enlist the help of an assistant in the cleaning up!

I made a second batch today with fake clinkers (at last!) and the family is eagerly waiting to see how it comes out (the rest was earmarked for gifting and was not to be sampled on pain of death - or worse!)

It's that time of year again

Did you think I had fallen off the perch? Things have been a tad chaotic in the monkeyhouse and we have been eating lots of alfresco meals - steak and salads, many of which I have already posted.

This week I need to decide what I am making for the annual teacher gifts - here is a picture of last year's assembly line

How do other parents thank their child's teacher? I make for the class teacher, music teacher, LOTE teacher, sports teacher and the librarian

Are you a teacher? What is the nicest gift you have received?

Easy tomato salad

Sorry about the long break folks

We have had a really hectic month with one child completing Year 12, illness, performance rehearsals and general all round busy-ness

So although I have been cooking I have reverted to some old favourites, like macaroni cheese made with my special awesome cheese sauce and Jo Whitton's chicken soup

I have taken some photos but simply have not had time to blog

So tonight we have a quickie for everyone who has ever had a tomato glut.

Our tomato plant is currently so tall that yesterday I tied the top of the plant to the carabiner which connects the shade sail to the back of the house I kid you not! And our home is not a hobbit hole it is a regular height house.

Anyway the recipe. I used grape tomatoes tonight but this looks fantastic if you mix up some yellow, sriped or black tomatoes.

Halve the tomatoes, about 250g, chop a generous bunch of parsley and mix through then pour over 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar and a generous grind of fresh salt and pepper. That's it. Easy.

Tonight we are serving this with greek lamb fillet, baby potatoes and green beans (green beans and tomatoes are a match made in heaven if you have not eaten them together you must try some time.) And yoghurt mint sauce. Fresh mint and parsley from the garden, yum!