I regularly help people to eat more healthily and in a way that suits their body's individual needs. Sometimes this involves eliminating certain foods for a period of time to address food intolerances or support better health.
I have much personal experience in this area too, both for myself and my children, which means I can relate to many of the challenges this presents!
Read on to find out how cooking and eating in our household has been absolutely transformed in the last year thanks to my introduction to the Thermomix. If you’ve never heard of this incredibly versatile, time-saving piece of kitchen-wizardry, you will be amazed at all the things it does!
It basically enables you to produce restaurant-quality food, effortlessly, by following the on-screen step-by-step guide and letting it do all the hard work for you. It chops, sautés, blends, mills, stirs, thickens, steams, boils, slow-cooks, ferments, weighs, whips, kneads, browns, sous-vides and yes, before you ask – it even washes itself up afterwards!!
That may sound too good to be true, but in all honesty it’s one of the best investments I’ve ever made. It lives on my worktop and I use it multiple times every day, it saves me time and hassle, and even after a year, I keep discovering new features and new delicious recipes from the 60,000+ built in to its Cookidoo platform.
I’ll be honest – looking back to life before the Thermomix, eating in this household was a major challenge. One son was on a strict gluten-free, dairy-free diet due to his Crohn’s diagnosis. In addition, he had made the life choice to stop eating meat though he does still eat fish for protein. The other son objected to my attempts at natural, healthy, free-from cooking, he loves meat, refuses to eat fish and prefers dryish food so wouldn’t eat anything in a sauce!
The net result was this:-
- I would run myself ragged, cooking multiple different meals every day.
- We were in a recipe rut with a limited range of accepted meal choices.
- Adapting recipes for free-from ingredients wasn’t always successful.
- Trying anything new ran the risk of not being well received or eaten.
- My love of cooking had become a distant memory.
- Feeding everyone had become a major chore.
- I found myself compromising on my own healthy eating preferences.
- I rarely had the energy left to cook separately the food I most love to eat.
Roll on a year and oh my, how things have changed!
My fridge is stocked with home-made staples that we use all the time, like delicious thick and creamy almond milk, cashew cheese, vegetable stock paste, pots of deliciously smooth hummous, curry pastes, chutneys and sauces. All so easy to make and I know exactly what’s in them.
Breakfast smoothies are a regular feature – using homemade almond milk and disguising all manner of gut-friendly, quality protein, probiotics and nutritious ingredients to keep us healthy, all blended to perfection.
I love my soups, especially in the winter, and with a huge range to choose from, I am guaranteed a bowl of goodness for lunch with very little effort. From chunky bean soups to spicy curried soups, to smooth & creamy vegetable soups - they are always a winner.
For a healthy fix, perfectly chopped and tossed salads using a wide range of ingredients can be prepared in literally seconds and taste fantastic.
Gluten-free bread, crackers and pizza bases which are so expensive to buy and are often highly-processed, can now be made at home with ease.
I regularly have a batch of healthy snacks/energy bars on the go for those growing teenager hungry moments. Some can even be made from the almond grounds produced as a by-product of my almond milk - bonus!
I have a range of tried and tested free-from cake recipes for birthdays and special occasions so no-one needs to miss out. They’re so good that everyone enjoys them whether free from is required or not!
Family meals such as risottos, curries, pasta dishes, pies, burgers and casseroles are a breeze and we have an ever-increasing list of favourites. I still sometimes cook meat / veggie options of the same meal, but the thermomix makes this so much easier and can be left to cook away whilst I get on with something else. Sometimes I get away with cooking one meal for all, which is a major plus! Thank goodness for the gluten-free, dairy-free vegetable lasagne which leads to empty plates all round every time - hurrah!
The highlight of my year with a Thermomix though came when I finally met a long-held goal that we could all sit down as a family and enjoy a curry night together. I love all hot and spicy food but had always had to cook separately for me if I wanted to enjoy these delights. Not any more! Curry nights are a regular and most welcome feature in the house and I secretly do a happy dance every time.
Planning ahead is made easy as recipes can be allocated to the week ahead at the click of a button then added to my shopping list, which even links through to online shopping apps for a number of different supermarkets!
Sometimes though, I like to go with the flow & can quickly search for inspiration based on an ingredient I need to use up – a great way to try something new and reduce food waste too.
There is no doubt in my mind that the Thermomix has transformed my life and I have truly appreciated it even more during this period of lockdowns and restrictions when enjoying delicious, healthy, home-cooked food is such a welcome pleasure.
It is for this reason that I am sharing my experience so that I can help others to transform their lives too.
If you would like to take the chore out of your cooking and learn how to make healthful cooking easy and joyful, please contact me for details of how to join our next online cooking experience/demonstration, open to all.
Alternatively if you would like a more personalised demo, we can arrange a date to gather a few select friends and show how it might meet your specific needs.
Are you experiencing unexplained symptoms? Do you feel generally unwell, but can’t put your finger on why? You may be suffering from intolerances either to the foods and drinks you consume or the substances you are surrounded by, in the air, in your home or at work.
Intolerances can contribute to a wide range of physical symptoms affecting the skin, digestive system, respiratory system, causing pain or discomfort and sometimes affecting energy levels, mood and behaviour.