Forum Thermomix
Welcoming Center, Management and General Chat => Chit Chat => Topic started by: the_vermins on November 12, 2010, 11:24:09 am
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I was looking in my pantry earlier today when custard powder caught my eye. Now I've got the taste for real custard there's no way in hell I'll ever go back to it. So I piffed it.
What have you turfed out lately that you used to use but no longer do?
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bread mix
baking powder
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custard powder
commercial baking powder
commercial self raising flour
white sugar
icing sugar
caster sugar
never use food colourings now because I am more conscious
normal salt, am using rock salt and even more lately seasoning food with dulse flakes
tomato sauce
salad dressing
(Its not really a question of what I have got rid of, but more what i have put IN there now that I have the TM)
one thing I really want to get rid of is the Gravox gravy mix - any suggestions?
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Have just found out that DD is allergic to rice and soy. No wonder she doesn't like rice! We avoid soy anyway, but do use the odd bit of soy sauce - so that has gone in the bin.
Will keep the rice for the rest of us.
I threw out everything in CP63's list when I got my TMX, and also
stock powder
tinned soup
And there's lot's of things I never buy anymore
milo
muesli bars
I've been roasting beef once a week in an oven bag. It collects all the juice, then I use that and the gravy recipe in EDC, although about half the quantity.
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all of those mentioned except tomato sauce - I buy grannies sauces from the markets because I love them:)
I do gravy like in EDC - tweaked a bit. Add a bit of stock concentrate.
Of - also don't buy icecream.
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Not quite out of my pantry but today I packed up my food processor, my kenwood chef and my breadmaker to go in the loft.
I've only had my tmx for 10 days and I'm not ready to part with the other things yet. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to part with my Kenwood and my food processer is a dearly loved magimix so that might stay too. We're putting our house on the market soon so to clear my kitchen of non-essentials will be a great advantage. Before TMX there is NO WAY I'd have put those items away.
Nik
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I've got rid of or used the last up:
bread mix
icecream
SR flour
caster sugar
icing sugar
stock cubes
any pre mixes (not that I had much)
mayonnaise
sweet chilli sauce
rice flour
But I now have lots of different rices, flours, more spices/herbs and probably a few other things I can't think of.
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Ditto,ditto,ditto,ditto - also chilli sauce, worcestershire sauce, jams, choc topping, nutella, cordial, LSA....I'm sure there's more. 8)
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Some old panko - who knew it gets rancid?
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what is panko?
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what is panko?
Japanese style bread crumbs.
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:o i am sooo bad i have gotten rid of of all processed packaged foods like 2 min noodles etc but i did spy a box of custard powder in the back corner of the pantry the other day so when i move in a couple of weeks alot of things will go west, i am still yet to start making our sauces and i really should get more organised, i just dont want to waste ingredients with such picky kids
:( but nothing ventured nothing gained i spose :)
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Terri, I only turfed out the dregs of the custard powder. Don't think I would throw a whole box though. I'd probably put it in my camping kit.
It's good to see other people lists. Once I finish marking these god forsaken uni assignments, I'll have time to make stock etc. Sigh...
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cathy79 does roasting beef in an oven bag keep it more moist and tender?
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thanks chocdot. i will know not to buy any of this now!
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I've gotten rid of a lot of what other people have, plus I no longer buy clothes washing powder (my daughter is allergic to all the regular brands, so we were spending a fortune with the brands from the health food store).
The Nutella is a godsend too, as we can make it gluten free, dairy free & sugar free for my daughter - I can buy that also at the health food store, but at 12.95 for a small jar, it is a treat - I can make the same stuff at home, for $3.50 - & she devours it!!
We also make Lara bars - something you can't get here in Australia, but that my daughter got addicted to in the US. They are super yummy and very health. There is no way I could make them without the TM, as I need to turn dates into a paste.
With the TM I find I'm using herbs and spices a lot more as well.
This is my first post - I've had my TM for a few months, and LOVE it. It makes cooking for my daughter who has so many food problems, really easy. The only problem is I've put on some weight playing with it - but only a little bit. :)
Thanks for all your posts to the forum - they make life so easy for a newbie like me, I truly appreciate reading all your recipes & hints.
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Welcome ILMTM!! I love to hear more about your Lara bars. ;)
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I want to hear more about the Lara bars too, esp as my dd3's name is Lara and a bar named after her would be extra popular in our house.
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Welcome ILMTM. I'd love to know more about the Lara Bars too please.
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Yep, all that! And tinned tomatoes - just use fresh and chop them up in the tmx.
Re Gravox - I haven't bought that for years - I just tip the juices from the roast into the tmx, add about 30g cornflour/rice flour/gf flour per 500g of juice (maybe more flour, I just guess), plus some tamari or soy sauce to taste. If it's a beef roast I like to add some beef stock paste, or chicken stock paste for roast chicken - but I don't always have it, and it tastes fine just with the meat juices and tamari. Hope that helps! :)
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Hi ILMTM, welcome to the forum. You have got us all wanting your recipe for Lara Bars - please don't keep us in suspense for too long. I have done a bit of googling and come up with this one - there seems to be so many flavours in the original Larabar though so am hanging out for your version.
http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2009/05/homemade_larabars.php
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per 500g of juice
see thats the thing, I never have that much juice. Thats why I find it easy using the water and gravox :'( or do you mean the water that runs off which the vegetables cook in?
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I always put an inch or two of water in with the roast (and veges), cover it with foil, and cook slowly for about 3 or 4 hrs - that way there's plenty of juices left over for gravy. :)
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creampuff - I adjust the recipe for 250mls because that is more then enough for us. Also, if I don't have enough juices, I just do water and add a touch of vege concetrate if I need it
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thanks everyone for your tips, I will certainly give them a go (really didn't want to use Gravox). Just out of interest, we normally use a Turkish oven like this for roasts - surprisingly, it seems to be a different taste. (Would still be able to make the gravy without Gravox in it tho)
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cathy79 does roasting beef in an oven bag keep it more moist and tender?
Definitely makes it more moist and tender, and so easy to collect the juice. They don't seem to evaporate away, and the pan is so much easier to clean as well.
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CP63 I always do my roasts in an Easy Cook. If it's hot I put it in the laundry.
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yes, its always good to have an oven alternative for a hot day
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Lara bars are gluten free, dairy free, sugar free (which are my daughter's three main dietary requirements), vegan and raw as well. My daughter really loved the chocolate coconut one, but we found she likes it more without the shredded coconut in. With the LARA bars, once you have the ratio of dates to everything else, you can have any flavor that you want (check out the LARA bar site - the flavors are yum, and they have the ingredients list to make it easier for you to make them at home). www.larabar.com
Lara Bar Recipe
I adapted the recipe from here http://enlightenedcooking.blogspot.com/2008/02/home-made-lara-bars-energy-bars-part-3.html
500g pitted dates – pulverized on 10 (I do it in two batches of 250g)
add almond meal 100g
add a few shakes of cinnamon
add 50g cocoa powder
add 1 or 2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil
add slivered almonds 100g
blend in the TM until just combined (you don't want the slivered almonds to be pulverized) – put into slice pan & place in fridge overnight. Cut into bars, wrap in clingwrap (or alternatively shape into balls or logs & wrap in cling wrap)
When I had my TM demonstration I got the consultant to pulverize 1kg of dates for me - it was what really sold me on the TM - in my usual blender it would take me about 1.5hrs to make them, with the TM it takes me about 15 mins! I make a batch about once a week & they don't last long. They are the only snack we can easily take with us when we go out, and are an absolute godsend for when we are stuck waiting for hours in the hospital to see the specialist (my daughter is very sick so we get to do this at least once a week). :)
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Firstly, thanks for the recipe I love my TM but more importantly, so sorry to hear about your daughter. It must be a real worry for you and I hope the professionals are soon able to help her get better. :-* :-*
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Firstly, thanks for the recipe I love my TM but more importantly, so sorry to hear about your daughter. It must be a real worry for you and I hope the professionals are soon able to help her get better. :-* :-*
Ditto from me too I love my TM. Happy that the TMX is making life easier for you to spend more time for your family.
Gretchen
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Welcome I love my TM. Thanks for the Lara Bar recipe. I had never heard of them but they sound delish. I tried blitzing dates once and I nearly lifted the roof of the house with the noise. I used the packet dried pitted dates and I think they were a bit old and too dry. :D
Hope the TMX makes life easier for you I love my TM - sound like you are busy with your DD. Hope all goes well for you.
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Thanks for that. DD1 loves this coconut rough (http://fulllittletummies.blogspot.com/2010/07/filling-tummies-with-homemade-coconut.html) which has similar flavours so I'll be trying those bars.
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Thank you, I Love My TM! I haven't made Lara Bars for years and had stopped because they were a bit of a nuisance to make in the blender. I had a friend in the states send me some ages ago and HAD to find the recipe they are so beautiful. Now I can make them again, YAY!!
I have gotten rid of bikkies from my pantry. i wasn't buying all that many really but now if the kids want one we make them - never buy. I love it.
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Thanks for the recipe, they sound delicious and healthy. I'm thinking of you and your DD.
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Lara bars sound a lot like what we call 'treat balls' (http://quirkycooking.blogspot.com/2010/02/raw-cacao-treat-balls.html) or 'bliss balls' (we roll them in balls, usually) - the kids snack on them a lot! I use all sorts of nuts in mine - mostly almonds, but also cashews & macadamias. Sometimes add dried apricots /sultanas too. Great for energy, specially with raw cacao powder! ;D
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Must try those Treat Balls and Lara Bars.
So sorry to find that your daughter is ill ILTM, but I bet the TMX is making life easier for you if you had to prepare specialised food for her.
This post led me to a doing this blog post (http://bushgourmand.blogspot.com/2010/11/thermomix-savings.html) of what I don't buy anymore since I've had Herman. I must admit to buying Gravy Mix, but I do buy a good one (in bulk). It's Knorr Rich Brown Gravy with Real Roux. We all adore it. I buy the 2.4kg tub and shell out heaps to friends and family.
I'm impressed with the ingredients of this mix. Aside from flour etc, it has:
toasted onion powder
tomato powder
herbs
apple juice powder
carrot juice powder
garlic powder
herbs & spices
It does, of course, have flavour enhancers, but we don't have it every day... :P
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I forgot to add that I never buy tinned soup now! I used to get so annoyed with all those recipes with a tin of 'cream of...' soup in it, because I hated to use it! Now I make a quick white sauce based, condensed soup (http://quirkycooking.blogspot.com/2009/02/can-canned-soup.html) in the tmx to substitute for the tinned soup! Tastes better, and better for you!
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Oh yes, have to add that one too! ;D
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Welcome I love my TM. Thanks for the Lara Bar recipe. I had never heard of them but they sound delish. I tried blitzing dates once and I nearly lifted the roof of the house with the noise. I used the packet dried pitted dates and I think they were a bit old and too dry. :D
Hope the TMX makes life easier for you I love my TM - sound like you are busy with your DD. Hope all goes well for you.
I posted in another thread about dried fruits that are a bit "long in the tooth" or too dry and too hard.
You can bring them back to life with steaming. It may take five minutes or fifteen minutes or even a bit longer but eventually they will plump and be useful. I am very frugal and it pains me when I see people tossing food, and expensive food at that, when it is possible to save it.
Last year I had some figs that had migrated to the rear of a cupboard and the package was like a brick. It took half an hour of steaming, fifteen minutes to get to the point where I could separate the figs, and another fifteen until a skewer penetrated easily.
A few days ago I reconstituted some papaya strips that were so hard I could probably have driven nails with them. My fault, I forgot they were in the dehydrator and did not remove them after turning it off a couple of weeks ago and have not had occasion to use that one.
Ten minutes of steaming and they were perfect for chopping and adding to scone dough.
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Thanks for that tip Andiesenji. I must have missed that thread (or just forgotten it). I have some mango slices that are like concrete so will try to resurrect them today
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I found this tip about steaming dried out fruit very useful Andie.It's dried apricots that tend to get forgotten in my cupboard.
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Here's a couple of photos that illustrate how well steaming can bring dried fruits back to life after a long period of storage. (Or forgotten in the back of a cupboard.)
I took these photos a year ago of a batch of dried fruits, plus some of my homemade candied ginger that had also dried out too much to be easily used and not quite dry enough for grinding into powder.
The fruits in the mix are mango, papaya, peach, pear, pineapple, apple, red plums, besides the ginger.
(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h129/Basenjibabe91/Cooking/HPIM2404.jpg)
After fifteen minutes of steaming they looked like this:
(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h129/Basenjibabe91/Cooking/HPIM2406.jpg)
You can easily see that the big slice of ginger, that was opaque prior to steaming, is now translucent, all the fruits are tender and perfect for eating as is or inclusion in a recipe.
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Wow Andie, that is amazing. :o Thank you for looking in your archives for the before and after photos for us to see.
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Wow that's great. Thanks for the tip Andie - I am certain i will use it one day (probably soon, lol).
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Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us Andie and for the photos - the proof is in the pudding when you see photos (probably will be :D :D)
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You should see what it does to candied cherries that have been stored too long. They look like they belong in a stained glass window.
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Thanks heaps Andie. I often buy something out of the ordinary to make things and then have left overs that I forget about. Now I can soften them and eat or use.
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I've made apple and vanilla muffins last week with a couple of tins of pie apple that were lurking in the back of my pantry. :)
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Thanks for the tip Andi!