Havne't done this in a while as I'm still sick and very unmotivated...

tonight I am trying to invent a yummy risotto for our TMX Risotto / Rice Pudding challenge ;)
Nem Nuong & TMX Stir Fried Veg
Tacos
Pasta Fagiole (TMX)
Spinach & Potato Soup with Cyndi's GF bread
Pizza

Another of mum's old recipes...

1/2 packet Morning Coffee Biscuits
1 tin condensed milk
1/2 lb coconut
pink / red food colouring
4oz copha
3oz red glace cherries
4oz cooking chocolate

place biscuits to line a lamington type tin
melt 3oz of copha and add to this chopped cherries, condensed milk, coconut & colouring. spread over biscuits
melt other 1oz copha with chocolate, pour and spread
freezes well, in summertime keep in fridge or freezer

Rora and I were much happier with this version, though the sauce is still quite thick. i didn't taste it myself. here's the original

200-300g cheese, cut into chunks (this time I used feta and tasty)
25g butter, cut into cubes
1 tab GF plain flour
350g low fat milk
410g water
1 packet (250g) San Remo GF pasta

put cheeses in TM bowl and chop for 5-10 seconds until in smaller pieces, place in another bowl.

place all other ingredients in TM bowl. cook for 12 minutes on 90' reverse speed 1

scrape sides down and mix with spatula. add cheese and cook for a further 5 minutes on 90' reverse speed 1 - you might need to mix the cheese through on speed 4 for a few seconds before it starts cooking.

leave to sit for up to 5 minutes and serve.

this one really is tooo delicious to be breakie!! it's F&V shopping day today so i've run out of my usual ingredients!

cashews, more than usual (maybe 100-150g)
2 frozen bananas
3-4 dates
1 dessertspoonful of cocoa
rice milk to desired amount

add everything but milk to thermomix, crush on speed 8 for 40 seconds. add milk and crush another 20-30 seconds. serve (serves 2)

edited after eating to say that this is good enough for dessert. i think you could even try freezing it in icecubes, then re-crushing and serving as icecream, or even making really thick and serving as a creamy dessert. mmmmmmmmmmmm

just a slight change from the recipe I posted previously ...

enough for 4

150g gluten free plain flour (I make my own)
150g buckwheat flour
2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
good sprinkle vegetable salt (I make my own)
15g maple syrup
2 large eggs
640g rice milk (i make my own)
20g rice bran or grapeseed oil

1 sliced banana, optional
grilled bacon, optional
maple syrup, optional

1. Place all ingredients except banana / bacon / extra maple syrup in the thermomix. Mix on speed 6 for 10 seconds. scrape down sides and mix on speed 6 for another 10-20 seconds. Leave to rest for 20 minutes.

2. Heat your pan on a medium heat and grease as needed (i just use cooking spray to regrease between pancakes). pour in around 1/4 - 1/3 cup of batter. If you are having banana drop some on top - i usually like to push them down a bit so they sit 'in' the pancake rather than on top of it.

3. when the pancake has bubbled and looks slightly set it's time to flip it over gently. it will only take minutes to brown on the bottom.

4. serve with a drizzle of maple syrup and bacon. these would probably be nice with the thermomix strawberry sauce too :)

note: these pancakes seem to be less "strong" than the regular GF version, so take care when turning

one of the recipes from the SMH's good living (a jill dupleix recipe). i would like to convert to thermomix...

2 thick slices white bread, crusts removed (obviously i would need to convert to GF too ;))
100ml milk
500g lean minced lamb
1 small onion, grated
2 tspn chopped parsley leaves
2 tspns chopped coriander leaves
2 tspn ground cumin
2 tspn ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt

chickpeas:
2 tspn olive oil
1 onion, halved & finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 x 400g tinned tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup water
400g tinned chickpeas, drained
2 tspn finely chopped parsley
2 tspn finely chopped coriander
1 tspn ground cumin
1 tspn paprika
1 tspn ground ginger
1/2 tspn salt

heat oven to 200'c. soak bread in milk for 5 mins then squeeze out excess milk. mix bread with meat in a bowl. add onion, parsley, coriander, cumin, cinnamon and salt and knead with hands until well mixed.
roll meat into golf ball sized balls, placed on oiled baking tray and bake for 15 mins until lightly browned
to make the sauce, heat oil in frypan and cook onion for 5 mins. add farlic, tomoatoes and their juices, tomato paste, water and bring to the boil. add chickpeas, parsley, coriander, cumin, coriander, cumin, paprika, ginger, and salt, stirring and simmer for 15 mins. add meatballs and simmer for 10 mins until sauce thickens.

makes 16-18 meatballs, serves 4

We love the Pasta Fagiole from the Thermomix Everyday Cookbook (EDC) - it's healthy, quick, easy and yummy!

I've tweaked it a little to make it even yummier and healthier...

to the basic ingredients in the EDC I add the following:

• 2-3 cloves of garlic rather than just 1
• 1 large or 2 small carrots, you can also add a zucchini
• if you love parsnips try adding 1 medium parsnip - soooooo good! (but don't do it if you don't like them in the first place lol)
• we use gluten free pasta and it works perfectly (usually i use organ brand with amaranth or quinoa, to get the extra goodness from them)
  

for other recipe tweaks & reviews have a look at this thread

______________________
MY Gluten Free Recipes
______________________

of course there are millions more blogs and recipe pages out there, but these are the ones that have caught my eye....

Blogs
Adventures of a Digestive Diva
Dirty Dishes
Elana's Pantry (GF, Dairy free,High Protein, Vegan and Raw)
free from (UK blog)
gluten a go go
Gluten Freeda
Gluten Free Blog
Gluten Free Journey
Gluten Free Mommy
Gluten Free Bay (GF & Kosher)
Gluten Free Fun
Gluten Free Girl
Gluten's Arch Nemesis (Australian, GF & Casein Free)
Healthy Fishies
Karina's Kitchen
The Celiac Kid
Umeboshipink

Other Links
About.com Coeliac Disease Blog
Celiac.com
Coeliac Society of Australia
Gluten Free Aussie

This post is going to be a work in progress, and designed to be tips for the novice gluten free cook - those cooking for friends or family, or with a new diagnosis of coeliac disease or a gluten intolerance. I'll just add to it as i think of things...

General Tips

• Lots of recipes are naturally gluten free, or can be with just a few simple label checks such as risotto made with a GF stock
  
• Make sure you check ALL ingredients to ensure they're GF - it's amazing what you think can't possibly have gluten in them that does!! things like sauces, lollies, sprinkles, icing sugar, even corn flour! lol
• Ensure your work area is totally gluten free, and all equipment is too. it's better to use steel or silicone spoons to stir or mix, than wooden (same with chopping boards, glass or marble is probably best, followed by plastic then wooden). Ensure all strainers (ie: for pasta etc) can be thoroughly cleaned - most wire strainers can NOT be used as they are impossible to get clean enough.
  

Baking Tips

• If using used metal tins for baking clean very well and line thoroughly with baking paper. If you have silicone "tins" they are preferable as they are much easier to clean thoroughly.
• If you only want to make a simple cake it's probably much easier & cheaper to go with a packet mix (Basco is the most common but there are other brands it's possible to get) than to buy all the separate ingredients if it's a one off.
• be aware that many sprinkles and icing sugar / icing mixes contain gluten. check labels carefully
  

Catering Tips

• For a buffet situation ensure that GF food is kept away from the gluten food, and everyone is aware not to cross contaminate it by swapping spoons, spilling other gluten foods into it etc
• Let your GF guests serve themselves first if possible
  

Lastly, don't be offended if your gluten free guest prefers to cater for themself, for some people even the slightest trace or crumb of gluten can make them extremely sick :(

I posted my meal plan on the thermomix forum on the weekend:

Saturday night i was out for dinner (vietnamese) but made potato and leek soup with garlic pizza for dinner for everyone else

yesterday's lunch was sweet potato and chickpea soup

last night M&D came for dinner and we had bbq meat and i'll make some tmx salads - beetroot, coleslaw and asian noodle salad

and still to have....
butter chicken & a potato and kale curry
vegie stir fry with the tofu i bought
brussels sprouts (probably with steamed veg and grilled meat of some kind or maybe a roast)
pumpkin & english spinach lasagne
tacos

I'm nearly out of meat in my freezer now but can't afford to do my big meat shop i usually do every few months, so i'm trying to use what i have (just chicken, some round steak and one pack of sausages) and do some more vegetarian meals.

Wednesday I'm going to have a stall at a market night for our local preschool. If I have any sales I'll be donating 10% of the sale to the preschool. If you would like to see the thermomix in action, have a taste of some things made in it, please email me for the West Belconnen (Canberra) location :)

Here's what i'm going to make (if all goes according to plan)

• pumpkin risotto
• mushroom risotto
• herb & garlic dip & crackers
• TM31 (whole wheat) bread

I also have my second demo tomorrow morning and will be making

• berry sorbet
• hommus
• beetroot salad
• pasta fagiole
• TM31 bread
• custard (vanilla or lemon)

have I posted about my first demo yet?

inspired by the threads on the forum I've been making some breakfast smoothies a few times a week (I'm a bit bored with porridge finally lol)

Here are the threads:
http://www.forumthermomix.com/index.php?topic=1337.0
http://www.forumthermomix.com/index.php?topic=1343.0

here's what i've been throwing in mine:
4-5 strawberries, hulled
1 large banana, peeled (frozen is fine)
a good handful of cashews
sprinkle of sunflower seeds (maybe 10g)
some chia seeds
a few stalks of soemthing green - i've used english spinach before, and used parsley today (i promise you can't taste it at all!)
some seaweedy stuff (i use the nori wrappers torn up but i'm sure there's better stuff ou can buy)
and milk of your choice (i use my tmx rice milk) - add enough to get your desired consistency
i think some fresh juice might be nice in it too, or a little soda water

i generally put everything but the milk in and whizz it up for 30-60 secs on speed 8 or so, then add the milk and do another 30-60 secs on speed 6-8, then serve. delish!