Give the boys a go with it. I was surprised at my son's interest in it and he was so much more adventurous than I was! Things like chilli and ginger which I'd never bought before are now staples in our pantry. I bought him some prawns last week thinking he'd put them on pizza but instead he whipped up a prawn and chicken laksa - absolutely delicious!

Pizza dough is a great place to start for boys I think. They can start off with basic toppings but as time goes by they'll be whipping up tasty base sauces in TMX, experimenting with exotic toppings. Pizza was a win-win recipe for me - I would make the dough and set it to rest and son would top it and cook it when he got home. Great tasting pizzas for only a couple of minutes work... what more could a Mum want?

Hi Patsy

There is a recipe for orange juice here (which I haven't actually tried!):
http://www.joysthermomixexperiences.clancie.com.au/OrangeJuiceRecipe.htm

I make smoothies daily but have never had just orange and have never not peeled my oranges. I always start off with a tray of icecubes, a splash of yoghurt, a banana and an orange and then usually a thick slice of pineapple or an apple (about 4 pieces of fruit in total). It makes 2 huge smoothies - one for me and one for my son.

It was especially nice in the summer to have fresh peach & raspberries or blueberries with the banana and orange but definitely not cheap!

Lucy is my rottie. She has 1kg kangaroo mince with 1/2 a celery chopped up, leaves and all (good for preventing arthritiis) and 6 carrots plus any leftover veg from fridge, with water to cover, cooked in large stockpot on cooktop (or woodfire in cold weather) with a packet of pasta added for last 20 minutes. Lasts for about a week. Served with leftovers from our tea and a slurp of yoghurt!

I have thought about doing it in TMX but would probably have to do 2 batches a week and it costs nothing to cook on the woodfire.

Hi Ermy and welcome!

I have had my machine for 14 months and bought it after going to a demonstration through Monika Pawlisz (monika1@adam.com.au). She seems to supervise demonstrations so may be able to put you onto a consultant in your area - I'm not sure if there is a hierarchy of consultants, perhaps one of them on the forum can let us know?!?!

Best thing I ever bought!

Hi Mama Bel

Great work! I also have had great success with the recipes in my everyday cookbook - the hardest part is finding them!  I've been surprised at the amount of criticism the book has received. Obviously we all have different tastes and will give them our individual touches but I think that the majority make an excellent starting place.

I made a list in Word a few weeks ago of all that I'd tried - I must post it some time...

Hi CarolineW

I thought perhaps I was being a bit harsh about the UK cookbook so i have just had a quick flick through meat and poultry and found the following examples:
P116 Cashew chicken - Sauce made in TMX but dish cooked in saute casserole on hob for 45 minutes
P124 Lamb curry with mushrooms - Sauce made in TMX, meat browned on stovetop, dish cooked in oven 2 hours
P131 Chicken with a tomato and fennel sauce - Garlic chopped in TMX, all other ingredients (vegetables, herbs & chicken) sauteed then into oven for 15 minutes
P132 Red chicken curry - Red curry paste & rice made in TMX, rest done in pan on stove top

I don't think I'd be alone when I say that I seem to need to cook "whole meals" in my TMX. After all it is a THERMOMIX - not just a wimpy "food processor"!!! Things like creamy salami & tomato fettucine, curries, bolognaise, etc and varoma dishes (liquid in bowl, meat & veg in basket & varoma) which produce a complete meat & veg meal with sauce satisfy this need. How many of us have eaten almost raw vegetables because we are determined that they are going to cook in the same time as the things below the varoma? Or am I the only one!

All of the above recipes (which all sound quite appealling!), could have quite easily been done wholly in the TMX so perhaps the recipes have been amended already to reflect this. (My F&EC book has a 2006 date in it.) As they are I don't think they utilise the TMX"s versatility.

I would also like to know if there is an easy way to get the water out as I make butter most weeks and still have trouble.

I now wash my butter 3 times so the water is virtually clear - I read somewhere that the butter will last better if all the buttermilk is washed out. Then I squash, squash, squash with a wooden spoon in a glass bowl till my wrists are ready to drop off, pat, pat pat with a wooden scraper on a wooden cutting board (water spraying out onto anything too close and me hoping that the wood will absorb the rest of the water!) and then I still find that water sprays out as I scrape a knife across it!