Help me love my new purchase

[Chrissy]

OK so some of you might be aware I started a thread over on the new RC forums thinking about returning my TMX as it wasn't what I had expected. Just to recap I have had my TMX since the 2nd week in December. I had been lusting after one for over 2 years and finally had the cash. I and a friend couldn't organise a demo before Christmas, so I brought mine unseen but knowing my friends thought the world of theirs.

I had my delivery demo 2 days after I received it and my consultant gave me some useful tips and tricks I wouldn't have known about without the demo, but I felt like a bit of a nit and lost a lot of confidence. I have a Varoma demo booked for Feb.

So far I have made pancakes (pretty good and easy), bread rolls (DH very happy and yummy), butter (the EDC one and I watched a you tube vid and made my own, youtube one is heaps easier, less messy and yummier) egg custard (not too bad I made my own recipe and was quiet proud) muffins (these were bland and hard to get out from under the blades), Butter chicken (EDC bland and watery), tapioca porridge (yummy) and hollandaise sauce (divine but not the EDC version). Oh I also made yogurt out of the EDC book and it was watery, and the mayo from the same book split, I've never had a mayo split 

I don't think my issue is converting recipes, I feel I can do that. But I would love to find recipes that I love. We are family that is healthy conscious and our youngest is dairy free, we are on a tight budget and DH is a meat and 3 veg man, I am not, I love pastas and risotto's. So maybe I need to get him to love it and find recipes that show it off at its full potential.

Thoughts are greatly appreciated!!

And thanks for being so welcoming.

[quirkycooking]

Yay, Chrissy, glad to see you haven't given up!!!  Your perseverance will pay off, you'll see!  The Butter Chicken in the Indian cookbook is MUCH nicer than the EDC version, and definitely not bland!!  It's SOOOO good!!  If you start with the whole spices and make the paste first, then the curry, you'll be amazed at the flavour.  (We're dairy free too, so I use coconut cream instead of dairy cream in the butter chicken, and it's delicious.)

If you have non-tmx cake or muffin recipes you like, just use them instead of the one you tried, but use the method in the tmx book.  You can even steam them in the Varoma in silicon cupcake cups (for example, like in this mudcake recipe).

If your yoghurt's not thick enough, add more milk powder next time, and you can also make it thicker by pouring it into a cheesecloth over a bowl and letting it sit in the fridge for a while, so some of the liquid drips out - it will become like Greek yoghurt, nice and thick. (Or yoghurt cheese, if you leave it too long!  )  It also gets thicker as you make more batches from the your own culture - so persevere!

For your meat and 3 veg husband, try a basic meatloaf (based on the one in the EDC) with veges around it (put in the veges after about 20 mins, cut a bit chunky) and the red sauce - that's yummy!

Hope you get lots of great ideas here - there's some really good recipes from basic ingredients that I'm sure your family will love.
 

[faffa_70]

Hi Chrissy, there are heaps of tips on here but it will take ages for you to read through them all so keep asking questions. We love to answer them and help out here.

For stuff that is stuck under the blades, place the TMX bowl back in the cradle, place the lid and MC on and either turn it briefly to speed 8 or just use one pulse of the turbo button. This will fling everything that is under the blades out to the bowl and you can scrape it out easier 

For the yoghurt, there is a whole thread on it here that makes really interesting reading.I make between 4 and 6 kg a week using the method that is on there. Only difference is that I now use a starter from www.cheeselinks.com.au as my kids kept getting into it and eating it all before I had a chance to save off the starter for the next lot 

This is the thread here for the yoghurt (sorry MJ) I have lost my paper with my link instructions. Need to find the thread and reprint that!!

http://www.forumthermomix.com/index.php?topic=2302.0

There is also another thread on mayo here

http://www.forumthermomix.com/index.php?topic=347.0

and also these (we are busy people lol)

http://www.forumthermomix.com/index.php?topic=2596.0

http://www.forumthermomix.com/index.php?topic=4595.0

Gosh I feel a little bit like JD!!! 

[berringamababe]

Congratulations, you will love the new way you cook food

My DH was a bachelor until he was 40 and not just a meat and 3 veg tastes but snags and potato was about it.  HE LOVES TM.
I use the varoma everyday and steam veggies and sometime boil potatoes in the basket at the same time.
I just cook everything in TM now I decide on what we are having then work out a way to have it in the TM and I am so addicted to the forum.
This is his favourite at the moment fried rice http://quirkycooking.blogspot.com/2009/08/thermomix-fried-rice.html. (even steamed the bacon
and KFC with TM mashed potato.
My 161/2 year old DD and I love curries and food with spice so we indulge when DH is away butter chicken is a favourite.  Yummy.
I haven't cooked on my stove since I have had TM.
HAVE FUN

[cookie1]

Chrissy it's great to see that you have come to the forum to get some help. There have been lots of helpful suggestions above for you. When you spin the food off the blades with a turbo pulse don't forget to have the lid in the locked position.
Another recipe that is sort of meat and vegies is Baf's chicken.
http://www.forumthermomix.com/index.php?topic=1063.0
This is well worth making.

Kathryn you did well, as you said just like JD.

Another thought Chrissy go along to one or two back to basics courses.

[meganjane]

My DH is a meat and three veg man, too. We've only been having red meat once a week lately and he hasn't complained. He'll basically eat anything put in front of him, but really dislikes rice. 

If you make 'meaty' pasta and rice dishes - lots of bacon, chicken, pork etc, you may win him over with those.

I find my TMX is indispensable when preparing a lot of dishes. If I'm making a roast chook, I make the stuffing in the TMX, for example.

If you like Indian food, get a hold of the Thermomix Indian Cookery Book, there's some fabulous recipes in there. I often hold Curry Nights where everything is either prepared or cooked in the TMX.

I think I started using mine more when I decided not to buy a lot of things. Here's a [ur=http://bushgourmand.blogspot.com/2010/11/thermomix-savings.htmll]blog post[/url] I wrote about saving money with the Thermomix.

[judydawn]

Chrissy, the girls have posted some great suggestions so there is nothing more for me to add (well done Kathryn ) but if you need anymore suggestions, just tell us the type of meal you want to cook and we will see what we can come up with.  Have a really good browse of the main meals on here though and I'm sure you will come across some you will want to try. There are many variations of the all-in-one meal that Baf posted. So far, with what you have made you haven't done too badly, only a couple of things you weren't happy with but that is bound to turn around and you will find yourself loving everything you make. Do you like fish?  You probably don't have the My Way of Cooking, it is in there - Codfish fillets with citrus butter.  Once you have your varoma demo you will see how easy it is to use and you can pack so many goodies in at the same time for those all-in-one meals we all rave about.  I'm sure you have turned the corner in your disappointment with the TMX now that you have bought it out into the open and things can only get better from here.

[Merlin]

Congratulations on your perseverance. The bottom line is every cook will produce dud meals on occasion, either with conventional cooking or with the Thermomix. You have only just bought a Thermomix, so there is lots of good experimenting for you to look forward to. The way I look at my purchase is that I  am cooking  far more types of recipes than I would have attempted conventionally, and this is  coming from someone who owns a tonne of cookbooks and absolutely loved cooking anyway, before I bought my machine. It has taken me away from my routine recipes and allowed me to try different things every night that are certainly healthier but also tastier than ever before. I have to cook for 4 year old twins, my husband, myself (a Coeliac) and at times, my vegetarian 17 yo stepdaughter. Rather than cooking separate meals, like I was doing beforehand, I can now cook for everyone at the same time in my Thermomix, for a fraction of the time, much less money and certainly, the best of all, LESS WASHING UP!! Also, this forum is a wealth of information and once you have mastered the basics of the EDC, which most people would agree has some major faults in it, the forum is far more encyclopaedic, with fantastic recipes to draw on for inspiration.

[LeeJ]

Just thought I'd add to what everyone else has said, the Teriyaki Chicken stir fry is great, would definatley be the recipe I'd use to win someone over with the thermomix at this point

[Chrissy]

Another recipe that is sort of meat and vegies is Baf's chicken.
http://www.forumthermomix.com/index.php?topic=1063.0

I cooked this tonight, and was very impressed. As was DH and the two boys.

Will try the Teriyaki Chicken stirfry soon.

[judydawn]

Phew, so glad to hear that Chrissy 

[maddy]

Great news Chrissy.....we'll help you get there 

[Katya]

Sounds good Chrissy.   I'm pretty confident that you will get over your initial disappointment with the machine and start to see it as an indispensible part of your kitchen.

I think that part of the problem at the beginning is not being sure of what to cook andthat's where this forum is so good as there is a wealth of recipes all of which have really useful feedback (and even some photos) and, more importantly, so many lovely people who can offer advice and support.

Give it another month and I'll be you'll be a true convert.

[faffa_70]

YAY - oh where is that happy dancing man that someone has 

[Cornish Cream]

So glad you haven't given up Chrissy.