I have something to confess

My name is Sammie and I have an addiction.

Don't worry, it isn't an addiction to an illegal substance. Quite the opposite.
I am addicted to Nakd bars.

If you haven't discovered these beauties, you are missing out. They are super healthy, vegan, gluten-free, wheat-free bars of happiness and are just amazing.
There is a down side though. These bad boys come with a price tag. Racking up at 57p a bar, my addiction is working its way through my student loan. Which we all know is supposed to be spent on other things. Like clothes and shoes.

Grace, who is also afflicted with the same addiction, came to breaking point when she found herself eating 3 a day.
Something had to be done.
Luckily, the solution was simple and came by the name of Stanley.

Nakd bars have a very clear ingredients list on them, giving the percentages of what is in them, so we thought we could just copy it. And we did!
Out favourite flavour is the cocoa-orange, which tastes like a Terry's Chocolate Orange and with that in mind we decided to make a chocolate and strawberry one.

500gm pitted dates
200gm cashew nuts
100gm raisins
100gm fresh strawberries
100g, good- quality dark chocolate (the darker the better as there will be less sugar in it)

1) Grate the chocolate for 8secs, sp 8
2) Add the rest of the ingredients and gradually increased the speed to sp 9 and mix for about 1 1/2 minutes. You may have to stop the machine and scrape the sides of the bowl down a few times.
3) Empty into a lined tray and put into the fridge overnight, before cutting into bars.




These bars taste just like the Nakd ones and here is the good bit: they are much cheaper.

We ended up making a kilo of mixture, which worked out to be £7.88. A kilo of Nakd bars would be £15.96.
So we basically made them for half the price.
Which means we can eat twice as much, right?

Feeling rich and frivolous in Sainsbury's because my loan had just come in (like Christmas to a student), I thought I'd splash out on some frozen yogurt. You know, the stuff that tastes like ice cream but is 'healthy' so you end up eating the whole tub in one sitting? Yea, that stuff.
The tub I bought was £3.49 and whilst totally delicious, I did think myself rather stupid when I realised I could make it much cheaper and probably nicer in Stanley. Which I did.

300gm frozen fruit (I used raspberries)
250-300gm yogurt (depends how thick you want it)
Pinch of sugar (optional)

1) Put everything in the bowl and mix at sp 9 until all smooth and lovely and then pop into a tupperware and into the freezer.

I used a pinch of sugar because my raspberries were very tart, you could use honey or agave syrup to make it healthier. In total, it cost me £1.63 to make.

And with that, I have to do work. Third year is tough!

I'm back!

I'm back, I'm back, I'm back!

Apologies for being blog-less for THIS long. The end of semester was chock-a-block with deadlines and exams and then the summer holidays happened and I was busier than I was before. Working and visiting people and my poor little blog got pushed further and further down my list of priorities.

But I'm back now. Promise.

In my absence, 2 of the best birthday cakes ever were made for my brother and I, as you can see.

Now before you ask, yes the Princess Castle cake was for my brother. I call him Princess. I would say it is a long story, but to be honest there isn't a story behind it; I just call him Princess.

These cakes were made in Vera (the Thermomix at home) and I'd say they are fairly impressive!

Secondly: have you got the new Chocolate book?

I <3 Chocolate, I <3 Thermomix is probably the best book in the history of books and has been my bedtime reading for the past month.

Some of the things I've made include the Chocolate and Coffee cake (which was amazing), the White Chocolate Carrot Cake (which was amazing) and the Chocolate Sorbet (which was amazing). 

Noticing a theme?

Also, I seem to have a lot more people 'just popping over for a cuppa' since getting it. Suspicious. 

Thirdly, I'm going back to University next week and in preparation I'm stocking up on essentials to take with me whilst taking advantage of my mother's well stocked spice cupboard.

These are the things I've made thus far:

1. Harissa Paste (from the newly re-vamped Demonstrator's Delights book, page 66). I cannot begin to describe how amazing this smelt. It took about 30 seconds to make in Vera and produced a lot- enough to fill a big mayonnaise jar. In total it cost £4.88 to make, so not that pricy compared to shop-bought paste. But this will last for ages, is incredibly versatile and unbelievably delicious.

2. Tikka Paste (from the Fast and Easy Indian Cooking book, page 17). I halved the quantities suggested in the book, but still managed to make 2 jars: one for Uni and one for home. This paste makes quick curries really easy and lasts well in the fridge. And it only cost £2.92 to make.

3. Lemon Curd (from Fast and Easy, page 227). I cannot tell you the number of times I have made this recipe over the summer. I've converted people who were anti-curd with this recipe and I could actually eat the whole jar in one go. It is soooo much nicer than the shop bought stuff and at £1.19, it isn't that badly priced either!

So, I'm all ready to go back to University! I'd better find Stanley's travel bag!

Edible Sun-Dance

I don't know about you, but I am pretty fed up with the weather. I know it is terribly English and boring to talk about the weather, but this is a serious issue now. I've got 1 week left of term and I have not yet been able to sit out in the garden that is costing me a fortune in rent.

So, in a vain attempt to invite the sun out, and to remind myself of what summer tastes like, I made a berry-cake thing, which I shall name 'A Sun-Dance Cake'.

Ingredients:

100 gms butter
100 gms caster suger (plus 2 Tbsp)
100 gms self raising flour
2 medium eggs
1 tsp almond extract (the original recipe called for vanilla, but I used almond to give it more of a Bakewell tart taste, but vanilla would be fine too)
600 gms frozen mixed berries

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 160º fan, and put fruit into an oven proof dish, about 20x20 cms (or whatever size dish you have!) and sprinkle over 2 Tbsp of caster sugar and a little drizzle of almond extract.
2) In the TM bowl, weigh in the butter, sugar, flour, eggs and almond extract and mix speed 5 until the mixture is smooth and well mixed.
3) Pour the cake mixture over the fruit and pop in the oven for 25/30 minutes until the cake is cooked all the way through.

4) Serve with ice-cream, sit back, relax and think of summer. Whilst snuggled up under a blanket, regretting the decision to eat ice cream in such a cold house.

Green Pepper or Red Tomato?

I sometimes feel my meal time is a lot like an episode of 'Ready, Steady, Cook'.
Opening my fridge and cupboards, especially at the end of the week, I am usually faced with half used tins of lentils, the odd carrot and a few leaves of spinach. I put on my imagination hat and try to think of something quickly before I decide to settle for a bowl of Weetabix.

I knew this would be the case one evening last week, so, in preparation, I steamed some quinoa before hunger set in, so I would have at least a base to my meal. If you have never steamed quinoa in the Thermomix before, I really recommend it. Really, really, really. Before I tried steaming it, I was never able to get the proportion of water to grains right and always had a soggy quinoa mush. Janie Turner suggested I steamed it when I told her my predicament and it was the best suggestion ever.
As a side note, if you ever do have a query about cooking something in the TM, don't hesitate to call your demonstrator or the very lovely people at TMHQ, they are so happy to help and I'm pretty sure Janie knows absolutely everything that can be cooked in the TM and how to do so!

Anyway, back to my dinner. Steaming quinoa: works much the same as rice: I think I used about 300g with enough water in to cover the blades but not touch the top of the steaming basket (I probably should have weighed it!). I also crumbled a stock cube in with the grains to give them some flavour. Set the TM for 20 minutes, 100º, speed 2. If it is not cooked after that, then put it on for a few more minutes, but check the water level as well.
I had some new potatoes that needed eating up, so I put them into roast.
Then, having to use up my half full tin of lentils, chopped an onion and cooked it for 10 minutes, speed 2, 100º with 1 tin of tomatoes and the left over lentils. Then I added the quinoa, the roast potatoes, a couple of Quorn sausages and mixed them all together!
A concoction a random things that needed eating up, but it actually worked. And I had enough to have for lunch the next day!

Last week, my housemates decided they were going to make their own pizzas, so I said I would make a gluten free dough for Grace. Now, I'm not very 'in the know' when it comes to gluten free things and I didn't have the time to buy all the different things some recipes suggested I needed. Instead, I just followed the pizza recipe in the Fast and Easy Cookbook and used gluten free flour instead. I had no idea how it was going to turn out.
Luckily, Grace wasn't hungry on Monday evening when she got home from babysitting. I say this because if you have ever tried to make dough rise in a student house, you'll know the predicament I was in. I managed to perch a bowl with the dough in on the radiator, and a few hours later, after separating the slightly bigger dough baking trays and perching them on the radiator too, I had two rectangular-ish pizza bases that were ready for the oven. They cooked fairly quickly, about 8-10 minutes, with no topping on, and when we topped and re-cooked them on Tuesday evening, they were surprisingly delicious!
Just goes to show that a little experimentation can get you far!

Sammie and Grace get baking :)

We've gone a bit baking mad in my house, which makes a change from the usual barking mad I suppose. It was all spurred on by watching the celebrity Great British Bake Off and being very upset that we didn't have cake to enjoy it with.
So, with a cup of tea in our hands and hungry housemates to feed, Grace and I had 2 evenings of baking.

On the first evening we made Gluten Free Brownies with Strawberry and Blueberry Sorbet. AND THEY WERE DELICIOUS!!!! I was a bit dubious about how they would turn out because I've always used shop-brought gluten free flour rather than making my own, however my worry was for nothing. The only thing I would note is to make sure you grind the rice for the whole minute, I didn't because I thought it was ground enough, however the brownies were slightly gritty. It turns out recipes are meant to be followed.

85g almonds
140g white rice
200g unsalted butter
250g dark chocolate
3 eggs
110g brown sugar
100g nuts of your choice, chopped (we used walnuts)

1. Line a pan with grease proof paper and preheat the oven to 180º
2. Place almonds into the bowl and grind 10 seconds, speed 7. Set aside
3. Place the rice into the bowl and grind for 1 minute and speed 9. Set aside with the almonds
4. Place butter and chocolate into TM bowl and chop for 5 seconds at speed 7. Melt for 4 minutes/50º/Speed 3.
5. Add the eggs and mix 30 seconds/ speed 5.
6. Add the sugar and almond and rice flours, mix 15 seconds at speed 6.
7. Add the nuts and mis in by hand (well, with a spatula)
8. Pour into pan and cook for about 25 minutes

Make sure you stay in the kitchen when they are cooking because they smell amazing!
To make the sorbet I simply followed the Italian Style Sorbet recipe in the Fast and Easy cookbook on page 198.
To make these brownies it cost £6.12, which although may seem very expensive, gluten free brownies for sale in Sainsbury's cost £2 for 4, and we made about 24 , so is much better value for money!

On the second night, Gracie decided to share a recipe of hers with me, which was very exciting. She makes them regularly for her boyfriend as he loves peanut butter and make a perfect snack. You could also add raisins or other dried fruit for more flavour.
These are called 'Grace's Peanut Butter Treats':

150g unsalted butter
200g digestive biscuits
200g brown sugar
300g peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
200g dark chocolate

1. Line a fairy deep baking tray with baking paper
2. Melt the butter for 3 minutes, 50º at speed 2. Pour into a bowl a set aside
3. Break the biscuits up roughly with you hands when adding them to the bowl and turbo pulse a few times to crumb them. Then add the sugar, peanut butter and butter and mix at speed 4 for 20 seconds, scrape down the side of the bowl and mix again at speed 4 for 10 seconds.
4. Spread evenly into the tray and pop into the fridge whilst you melt the chocolate.
5. Break the chocolate into the bowl and melt for 3 and a half minutes, 50º, at speed 2. The pour over the peanut butter base and spread it over evenly. (Also, make sure you lick the bowl out)
6. Leave to set in the fridge over night and then cut into pieces (or if you are really impatient like Grace and I, pop it in the freezer for 15 minutes)

Because these are cut into bite size pieces, we managed to make 48 of them! Considering it cost £4.37 to make, that is only 9p a treat. Delicious and it doesn't break the bank!!
Grace and I had a lovely time baking together, which was evident from the amount of chocolate we had round our faces when we had finished baking!

Over the weekend, I also made some Smarties cookies, totally delicious and I used Gluten free flour, so Grace friendly too! I used the recipe provided in the Fast and Easy Cookbook on page 217. Instead of using 180g of chocolate chips I added 4 tubes of Smarties, which made them yummy and colourful!!
These cost £2.07 to make and made about 15. You can buy Smarties cookies in the shops and they cost £1 for 5, so this is a big saving. And to be honest mine are probably much yummier!!!

After all this baking, I think I'm going to have to walk up Stanmore Lane about 3 times a day!!!

Papa Reid: an ego on the grow

One of the first things you learn when studying a science is the importance of accurate measurement. I have sat through hours of lecturers telling me how to measure properly and why it is so crucial.
So you would think this would stick with me. Apparently not.

Last week, finding myself back at uni land tasked with making budget dinners again, I thought I'd start off easy and make soup that costs pennies. So, in went an onion, carrot, lentils, spices, a stock cube and some water. And here is where the lesson lies: measure how much water goes into your soup. After 20 minutes of cooking, I ended up with a soup which was so thin, it was like water. Despite tasting wonderful, I wasn't sure whether to eat it with a spoon or drink it from a glass.
However, if you do want to try my yummy soup, it was very simple:

1 onion and 1 carrot (easy to measure), chopped up at speed 7 for a few seconds.
Lots of lentils (didn't measure those, either), a stock cube, curry powder (again, no measuring) and water (just don't put loads in), put it on for 20 minutes at 100º, speed 2.

I'm currently at home for the weekend and I've got my Dad excited about using the Thermomix! Hurrah!!
Getting in from the snow on Friday afternoon, I was politely demanded to supply my Dad with soup -he has a really good way of annoying me until I do what he says (it involves dancing) - so I thought I'd try the curried lentil and carrot soup again: but this time putting less water in!
This impressed my parents - especially dad, who today did something he has never done before. He made his own soup. Like, on his own. He didn't even have to ask me how to do it. Madness.

And now he thinks he is wonderful.

Working with Dad's new enthusiasm, he decided he wanted to cook dinner in the Thermomix too, so off we popped to Waitrose to get some inspiration and ingredients. I found a lovely looking spinach dahl, but we decided we could make one a lot yummier, cheaper and healthier! And low and behold, we did (and I remembered to measure this time!).
Here is the recipe for Sammie and Papa Reid's yummy potato and spinach dahl:

1 onion
1 clove of garlic
2cm (ish) of garlic
1 tsp of each spice: mustard seeds, turmeric, dried coriander, cumin
10g vegetable oil
150g red split pea lentils
250g potatoes, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 stock cube
700ml water
frozen peas (about 2 measuring cups worth)
a couple of handfuls of spinach

1. Put the onion, garlic clove and ginger into bowl and chop for a few seconds on speed 7.
2. Add the spices and oil and cook for 3 minutes, 90º, speed 2.
3. Add the lentils, potatoes, carrot, stock cube and water and cook for 20 minutes, 100º, speed 1, reverse blade.
4. The dahl is pretty much cooked after the 20 minutes, but it may be worth checking the consistency and adding more water if necessary. Add the peas now as well and cook for an additional 5 minutes, 100º, speed 1, reverse blade.
5. Once it has cooked, stir in the spinach with the spatula and serve with rice or pitta bread.

Be warned that this looks a bit like baby food, but it is incredibly delicious, which just feeds my dad's newly formed cooking ego even more.

6 sleeps til Christmas :)

Firstly, I'm terribly sorry for not writing sooner. The last month or so of term was completely mad: I had about 700 deadlines and 40 exams to do.
Ok, not really that much, but it felt like it.
I did however, have to spend 9am to 6pm in the library every day, apart from a few coffee/hot chocolate/tea breaks, which meant getting home about 6:30 every night. This is where Stanley came in really handy. It would mean I could come home, fill Stanley with a concoction of whatever food I had in, put my pyjamas on and have would have a lovely warm bowl of something waiting for me.

One night I made a sweet potato and butter bean risotto (I was running out of food by this point), which turned out surprisingly tasty.
By following the recipe for asparagus risotto on page 77 of F&E for a guide, my recipe is:

1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
20g vegetable oil
250g risotto rice
450g water and a stock cube
1 tin of butter beans
1 sweet potato, diced

1) Chop the onion and garlic a speed 7 for a few seconds, then add the oil and cook for 3 minutes/ 100°/ speed 3.
2) Add the rice, potato, butter beans, water and stock cube. Then cook on reverse for about 15/20 minutes at speed spoon on 100°.

It really shows that with a Thermomix, it doesn't take a long time or a lot of effort to have a healthy meal, whether you are a student or not.

Secondly, my term is now over. Hurrah!!! Stanley and I are now back home (he has been reunited with Vera- the TM at home) and I've spent the past few days working at Thermomix HQ, which has been lovely.
Before I left Winchester though, my housemates and I did a secret santa (which didn't stay secret for very long) and I had Grace. My inspiration for what to get her came when I walked into the kitchen one afternoon and found her crouched down in her cupboard with her face in a jar of Nutella. So I made some Chocolate and Hazelnut spread: one jar for her and the other jar as a present for another friend. But somehow the second jar accidentally got opened so I had to eat it. It was an accident though...

By the way, Nutella makes a brilliant filling for a cake! Simply make the Quick Sponge Cake recipe on  228 in F&E and out half the mixture into a loaf tin, spoon lots and lots of Nutella on it and then put the rest of the cake on top. Cook at the required temperature for a little longer than stated. The Nutella will sink to the bottom a bit and the cake underneath it won't cook completely, however, the cake is absolutely delicious, and so good fresh out of the oven.

And finally, as well as working back at TMHQ, I'm busy planning all the yummy baked goods I'm going to make for Christmas. So far I've planned to make a ginger bread house and a chocolate salami (care of Nigella), obviously converted for the Thermomix! I think Stanley and Vera are going to be very busy over the next few days.
Stanley is also going on a little holiday: he is coming with us up to my Aunt's for Christmas: we couldn't have a Christmas without a Thermomix!

That concludes my update! I will try to update more frequently, now I have a little less work to do.
Have a lovely, yummy, chocolate filled Christmas!