Feeding large families and groups with a Thermomix

One question I regularly get asked at demonstrations is "I have a large family, how many people would that feed?". I can give my own experience, with a family of 5 and times when we have cooked regularly for 4 adults, 3 children as well as cooking for extras when we entertain, and then the amount of food we can produce for a cooking class to give everyone a serve. Sometimes people still want to hear more...

Much has been written about this by different bloggers, but I wanted to share some of my customers' experiences with you to help you decide, as well as have this reference to pass to some of my demo guests to help them make an informed decision about Thermomix fitting into their family....

So I have interviewed a few customers, and here are their responses.

HAYLEY, family of 9 

My name is Hayley and I am a mummy of 7 beautiful kiddies, ranging from 12 years to 7 months. 

I've had the privilege of borrowing a Thermomix and I am in awe of just how amazing this machine is. I cannot get my head around how QUICK and EASY it is for me to use. Also following recipes, something I don't usually do! I cooked 6 different recipes on Thursday, most of which I had a teething 7 month baby on my hip, who was only happy to be 'attached'. 

I would never have been able to have made the dishes I made with an unsettled baby, if I hadn't have been using the Thermomix. I have had great joy making dough, scrolls, pizza, cinnamon scrolls, salads and risottos too. I've been surprised how far the portions go, with the usual vegetables, or salads made in the Thermomix.

I did wonder if there would be enough making only one risotto and was pleasantly surprised to see that it was enough to feed my entire family. I have to give the Thermomix back and will be counting down until I purchase one myself.

LAURA, uses her Thermomix to cook for crowds 

I have enjoyed using my Thermomix to drastically speed up the process of catering large events of about 100 people.  Although I'm not always able to use the Thermomix to COOK for that many people, the prep time alone that is saved by using the Thermomix makes it a worthwhile investment.  In the time it takes to chop one or two onions by hand, I'm able to chop 2 or 3 kilos in the Thermomix.  Using the Thermomix to make dips, curry pastes and sauces is much more cost effective than buying them commercially, and its ability to effortlessly chop and mix coleslaws, make sorbets and grate cheese, means a lot of food can be served in a short amount of time. The major benefits I've seen by using the Thermomix to assist with catering have been a reduced prep time and greater cost effectiveness.  For a large number of people, the Thermomix sometimes does need to be combined with more traditional cooking methods like stovetop, but the two can work harmoniously together to streamline the catering process, save you money and drastically reduce onion-tears!

AMANDA, family of 5 & cooks for 'family nights'

I’ve had my Thermomix for 2 years in November. I regularly cook for 4-7 people. I never thought the size of the Thermomix was a problem for feeding my family.  I do have 3 young children so most of the meals I cook feed them, me and my husband when using just the jug.  When using the Varoma there is always enough for 8-10 depending on the meal!

I mostly use it to cook main meals which are 4-6 serves.  Mostly meals consisting of a protein in a sauce that can be served with pasta or rice which are kid friendly!

Some dishes I have cooked in it that use a lot of meat are Penne with Meatballs, Meat Loaf, Butter Chicken (I increase to 1kg of chicken), Beef Stroganoff (again I increase to 1kg of beef) – I find most recipes you can increase the meat because there is always a generous amount of sauce. 

I find that when I am making meals for lots of people I tend to make a main meal and then some sides.  I love that with the Thermomix I can make all those things in the one machine. – an example is the Penne with meatballs.  I make the meatballs, then I make the sauce, I make side salad and some dough to make pizza bianca – this stretches the meal or gives you lots of left overs.  Also when I do make the very few things I still make on the stove  - I use it to chop my onions garlic and herbs.  I also use if for sauces or gravies with traditional roasts or BBQs and also for marinades.

I use the oven for baking bread to go with the main meal or to bake lasagne etc.  I rarely use my stove anymore as I use my Tupperware Rice Cooker and Tupperware Pasta Cooker while tandem cooking something in my Thermomix. I also use my Thermoservers as I can keep things warm while moving on to my next part of the meal.

Things I use my Thermomix for, other than evening meals are healthy snacks for school lunch boxes  using up fruit and veggies just about to go (stock, smoothies, fruit muffins), marinades, dough, cake mixes, custard, sauces, boiling eggs and most importantly DIPS!!

I must admit I do not use my Varoma as much as the jug of the Thermomix.  With the things that we cook the volume is ok just with the jug.  The few meals I do cook with the Varoma always serves 8-10 people so I imagine if I was cooking for that many I would use it more.  Personally, I'm not a big fan of steaming meat….fish and veggies yes, but not meat.

I knew a Thermomix would save me time and I would be able to cook much more in a shorter amount of time.  I knew it would save me money cooking much more from scratch and I would cook a larger range of things I normally wouldn’t have attempted (butter, yogurt, bread dough, meringue)

I LOVE MY THERMOMIX!  I think regardless of how large or small your family is you will not regret the purchase.  I do think having a Thermoserver or two for larger families or for entertaining guests is a must!

WENDY, family of 8 

I've had my Thermomix just over a year. I have 6 kids, so cook for 8 most days, sometimes more. I thought it would be big enough, especially as I'd cook pasta etc separately.

Some of the mains we make are (serves 8): Quirky Fried Rice (we have left overs), Butter Chicken, Beef Stroganoff, Lamb Curry, Quiche (finish in oven). I cook veggies for the quirky fried rice, & the bacon, and love the way you can cook the 'fried rice' in the top. I have made pumpkin scones & cooked pumpkin in the Varoma.

I make banana cake, biscuits, other cakes. I am doing FODMAP at the moment which is gluten free, lactose free, no onion, garlic & lots of other things... Thermi makes life so much easier cooking with substitutions.

As a tool, the Thermomix helps me with grating cheese, mincing onion & garlic (when I can have it!) herbs, preparing sauces for bolognaise (I tend to fry it in pan, & prepare sauce in thermi) cake mixes & biscuit mixes. I also use my slow cooker, boil pasta on cook top, cook quiche in oven, garlic bread in oven, baked potatoes in oven and veggies boiled on cook top (when not steamed in the varoma)

For parties it is great, making cakes & biscuits, large quantities of white sauce & bolognaise sauce for lasagne. My 14 yr old even made the marble cake the other day by herself :-)

We thought about it for over a year, but just the convenience & the ease of using it, enabling us to cook with more fresh ingredients and now especially with food intolerances it's wonderful. And the best thing?! My hubby will now cook dinner as it's so easy :-) 

AVA, family of 7 (and sometimes up to 9 or 11!) 

I've had my thermomix for 3 years and it regularly cooks for 7 people but on many occasions it works up to 9 or 11 people.

To be honest when I first saw the Thermomix I was most sceptical about the capacity of bowl. To this day there are still times when I mutter "Huh ! Who'd of thought it!" when I end up with left overs to pack for hubby 's lunch the next day!

The single most used recipe which we use a lot for our bulky meals is the bechamel sauce. I experiment with different cheeses, herbs, mustard, addition of similar creamy substances such as sour cream, cream , etc . I'm a terrible person when it comes to following a recipe! I will do everything but! Steaming my peas and corn in the varoma whilst the sauce is coming together and then turning that into an 'anything goes' bake. Some our common ones : tuna bake, ham and corn, bacon and broccoli, cherry tomatoes and grated zucchini, etc.
Fried rice is another common one in our house with the veggies on the varoma and omelette on top tray cooking. In the Asian cook book there is a 'Drunk Chicken' recipe which I use and then shred the chicken and turn into San Choy Bow.

We do the madras curry which I use around 700 g of cubed meat. Our spaghetti sauce uses 1 kilo of mince and that's the limit for my jug as by the time I mix the 1 kg of steamed mince with the 1 kilo of sauce from the jug , I'm over by about 1 ladle of food and a very grateful German shepherd! This mixture gives me exactly 2 meals for 7 people. Spaghetti the first night and pasta bake the next!

Although I can cook rice in my Thermomix, my rice cooker definitely allows more meat to be cooked in the Thermomix. Cooking lamb shanks or curry in the slow cooker all day let's me have the thermi available for mash and veggies in winter. I have one TM jug and 2 thermoservers, one of which is always filled with yogurt. But it is still manageable for me to cook for 7 or more people with a little pre-planning. I do have "oh damn!" moments though where I've forgotten to chop something up before I occupy the thermie for the next 30 minutes!

Other things I use my Thermomix for are stacks of play dough, but more recently making batches of pizza dough and delivering them to friends for later proofing.

I like fancy foods but with the numbers in our house its just not viable as frequently as I like it so I rely on chutneys and little treats to make the meals seem more special. For example make a jar of Cassundi to keep in fridge and serve on the side of the curry or deprive the dog of that extra ladle of spaghetti and turn into a samosa or a spring roll!

And if you've read aaall the way down here and you'd still like to read some more, here are some brilliant articles which I read prior to deciding on the Thermomix too.


QUIRKY COOKING

RETRO MUMMY

THERMOFUN

Has that helped you decide? Get in touch with Thermomix in Australia to put you in contact with a consultant in your area.

Note: this post is the opinion of myself and my customers who have contributed. I am an Independent Thermomix consultant in Perth WA, and have written this post to help my prospective customers decide for themselves if the Thermomix is right for their family. I have not been asked or sponsored to write this post and the views are entirely my and my customers' own and not those of Thermomix in Australia or Vorwerk.

"I Love Your Cauliflower Cheese Bake" recipe | Thermomix Varoma Recipe

I know this seems quite a simple dish that probably doesn't require a recipe....but when I post pictures of things like this on my Facebook page everyone starts to ask me for the recipe, so I am guessing some of you would like to know how?


Ingredients
1 whole cauliflower, cut into pieces
3 slices of bread or breadcrumbs pre-made in your TM
500g milk
50g flour
50g butter, diced
1/2 ts salt (optional)
100g cheddar cheese cut into small chunks
500g water for steaming

Method

Preheat oven to 220c. You can put a large rectangular casserole dish in to warm up with the oven at the same time

Place bread and 40g of cheese into TM bowl and grate for 5-10 seconds, speed 6. Set aside. No need to wash TM bowl
Add 500g of water, put cauliflower pieces in Varoma, set in place and cook on Varoma temp, 20 minutes, speed 2
When cooked, set varoma aside with the cauliflower still inside and lid still on to keep warm (you can sit the varoma on top of your round Thermoserver if you like) and empty water out of TM bowl (no need to wash)
Add milk, flour, butter and salt if using to TM bowl, cook on 90c for 7 minutes, speed 4
For the last minute of cooking time, stop Thermomix, add in the remaining cheese chunks and mix at speed 7 for 10 seconds, then drop down to speed 3 until timer finishes
Put cooked cauliflower in casserole dish
Pour cheese sauce over the top
Top with cheese and breadcrumb mixture
Bake on 220c for 15-20 minutes or until golden. Alternatively you can just brown the cheese and breadcrumbs under the grill until golden

You could also do this with half cauliflower, half brocoli, or with any other veggies you like

Purple Carrot & Date Muffins | Thermomix recipes

My 3 year old gasped when she saw purple carrots the other day when we were shopping, so we grabbed some to have some fun with and came up with these beautiful purple carrot muffins. The mixture just looks so beautiful. And I just so happened to have some purple gingham print muffin papers, and I do like to be a little matchy-matchy!! Let me know if you make them, drop me a line on my Facebook page.

Ingredients

250g purple carrots (approx 3-4)

140g dried pitted dates

70g brown sugar

120g olive oil

150g self raising flour

60g almonds

2 eggs

30g milk

1/2 ts cinnamon powder

Method

Pre-heat oven to 180C and line a muffin tin with patty pans or silicon muffin cases

Mill almonds in TM bowl for 15 seconds speed 9 (set aside)

Chop dates in TM bowl for 15 seconds speed 9 (set aside with almonds)

Grate carrots in TM bowl for 10 seconds speed 7 (set aside with above, no need to wash bowl)

Mix eggs, sugar, oil and milk for 10 seconds speed 5

Add almond/date/carrot mixture and mix for 10 seconds speed 4

Add self raising flour and mix for 3-4 seconds speed 4 - Only mix until flour JUST disappears (look through the hole in the lid and turn off once flour disappears. Over mixing will make your muffins less light and fluffy)

Spoon mixture into muffin pan

Cook for 20 minutes and allow to cool in tin for 5 minutes before turning onto a cooling rack

*yes, this can be made with regular old orange carrots!

Look at that GORGEOUS colour!!

Breakfast outside the box....porridge in the Thermomix

We've recently given boxed cereal the flick in our house. My husband LOVES to make porridge for the kids in the TM and now we have a "porridge-off" and compete to see which one of us can come up with the best recipes! 

We've made:
'Apple & Custard', Nutty porridge (no oats, all nuts and spices), Apricot porridge, Blueberry & Cacao, Raspberry, Almond Date Vanilla, Banana & Maple, Vanilla, Apple & Cinnamon...so many combinations!

What have you tried?

Porridge recipe on Recipe Community

Turkish Delight Layered Cheesecake (non bake) | Thermomix Recipes

© Nat's Thermomixen in the Kitchen (This is my personal recipe. I am happy for you to use it, print it, pin it, share it...but please give credit and link to my page. Many thanks! Hope you like it)

Ingredients

Base
80 g butter 
250 g Chocolate Biscuits (I used chocolate ripple)
Layered Cheesecake topping
500 g cream cheese 
400 g tin condensed milk 
100 g chocolate buttons or choc chips 
2 tsp Gelatine powder 
50 g boiling water 
handful of turkish delight chocolate balls for decoration - optional
sliced turkish delight bar for decoration - optional
1 tsp natural pink food colouring cochineal extract
3 Fry's Turkish Delight bars cut into 1cm chunks
1 tbsp rose water essence adjust according to your taste

Preparation

Base

1.

Snap biscuits in half and add to bowl with butter and mix for 10 seconds speed 6 or until biscuit comes together.

2.

Press biscuit mix into a greased and lined springform cheesecake tin and allow to firm up in fridge.  No need to bake

Cheesecake topping

3.

Mix gelatine powder with 1/2 MC of boiling water in your MC with a spoon until dissolved, then set aside and allow to cool.

4.

Add chocolate buds to TM bowl and grate speed 9 for 5 seconds, scrape down

5.

Melt 3 minutes speed 3 and 50C.  Set aside.  If you have a second BBL set use your second bowl to make the cheesecake mixture while you put  your bowl used for chocolate aside, and clean it later by making a hot chocolate for yourself!  Otherwise clean your chocolate bowl and move on. 

6.

Add cream cheese, condensed milk , rosewater and colouring to bowl and mix 15 seconds speed 6.  Taste to see if you are happy with the strength of the rosewater flavour, add more if necessary and mix speed 4 for 4 seconds. 

7.

Add cooled gelatine liquid to cheescake mixture in bowl and mix speed 4 for 4 seconds

8.

Tip approx 2/3 of cheesecake mixture into another bowl, leaving 1/3 in your TM bowl.

9.

Add melted chocolate to remaining mixture in your TM bowl and mix for 4 seconds on speed 4.

10.

Pour chocolate cheesecake mixture onto cooled biscuit base

11.

Gently press pieces of Turkish Delight into the cheesecake mixture

12.

Pour remaining cheesecake mixture on top and smooth and flatten out the top

13.

Decorate top of pink cheesecake mixture with slices of Turkish Delight and Turkish Delight balls, or as desired.  Allow to set in fridge before serving (1-2 hrs minimum)

Find and print my recipes here on Recipe Community

Teriyaki Style Fish & Udon Noodles with steamed veggies | Thermomix Recipes

© Nat's Thermomixen in the Kitchen (This is my personal recipe. I am happy for you to use it, print it, pin it, share it...but please give credit and link to my page. Many thanks! Hope you like it)

Ingredients

(serves 2 adults and a few small people, increase where needed to suit your family)

Fish & marinade

3 white fish fillets (I used basa)

40g mirin

15g chinese cooking wine

45g light soy sauce

5g sesame oil

2 cloves of garlic

1 spring onion, halved lengthways 

400g or more of udon noodles

vegetables to steam (I used cauliflower and brocoli as cooking time was similar to the fish)

toasted sesame seeds for garnish

3 Tb oyster sauce

1 Tb sesame oil

1 Tb water

1 Tb castor sugar (pre-milled in TM)

(mix the above 4 ingredients with a spoon in a small bowl while the main dish is steaming, you know...the old fashioned way!)

Method

1. Add garlic & spring onion to TM bowl, chop 3 seconds speed 6, scrape down
2. Add marinade ingredients, mix for 2 seconds speed 4
3. Pour marinade over fish in a shallow dish and marinade 1 hr or as long as you have before cooking
4. DON'T WASH TM BOWL
5. Put fish on top Varoma tray, tip remaining marinade back into TM bowl (don't freak out, you are going to cook this at 114 degrees, you won't die, but it will add to the flavour)
6. Fill TM bowl up to 500g mark with water
7. Add veggies to basket
8. Put Varoma in place and cook for 20 minutes, Varoma temp, speed 2
9. With 3 minutes remaining, add the udon noodles to the bottom half of the Varoma (if you think you will forget, set the timer initially for 17 minutes, then put the noodles in and set for the last 3 minutes)
10. When cooked, take lid off Varoma and slide under bottom half to catch drips, pour your little bowl of sauce over your noodles and stir through (leave a few spoonfuls to drizzle over the fish)
11. Spoon a little sauce over the top of the fish, sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve with noodles & veggies (you can serve the fish whole, or break it into bite sized pieces)

TIPS

If you wanted to increase the quanity of this recipe you could use the bottom half of the varoma for fish also, and cook your noodles in  your Thermoserver instead - just pour boiling water over them and sit for 2-3 minutes

Find and print my recipes here on Recipe Community

Fish Shepherds Pie | Thermomix recipe

© Nat's Thermomixen in the Kitchen (This is my personal recipe. I am happy for you to use it, print it, pin it, share it...but please give credit and link to my page. Many thanks! Hope you like it)

Ingredients

200g white fish fillets (approx 2, I used basa)

200 g smoked salmon, roughly chopped 

600 g milk 

750 g desiree (pink skinned) potatoes diced into 1-2cm pieces

100 g butter 50 g plain flour 

150 g frozen peas & corn (or one or the other)a few sprigs of parsley 

1 clove garlic 

1 brown onion, halved 

3 eggs 

500 g water for steaming 

Preparation

1.

Make a foil parcel by cutting two pieces of foil the same size as your top Varoma tray.  (see photos below)

Put one piece on the top tray (folding edges up slightly) and lay your white fish fillets on top, add 1 MC of milk and season with salt and pepper.  

2.

Place second sheet of foil on top and gently fold edges of the two pieces together to seal the parcel (you will want to be able to unseal this parcel later without tearing the foil, to retain the milk and juice).

3.

Chop garlic, parsley and onion for 3 seconds, speed 5

Scrape down and add 500g water to TM bowl

Put lid on, add diced potatoes to bottom half of Varoma, put fish tray in place, cover with lid and cook on Varoma temp for 6 minutes, speed 2 (6 minutes is just a reminder to add the eggs in for the last 14 minutes of cooking time)

After 6 minutes, insert basket with 3 eggs, return Varoma to position and reset timer for 14 minutes, Varoma temp, speed 2

4.

After cooking, remove Varoma and set aside (place lid underneath to catch drips)

Put eggs in cold water to cool down so you can peel them easier in a moment

Gently open foil parcel and flake the fish into bite sized pieces and set aside, retaining the milk and juices in the foil to add to the white sauce next

5.

Pour garlic, onion and parsley from the TM bowl into strainer and retain with the flaked fish

Add retained fish juice and milk to TM bowl, along with the other 500g milk, flour and butter

Cook on 90c for 7 minutes, speed 4

While this is cooking, peel your eggs and roughly chop them

6.

When sauce is finished add in the parsley, onion, garlic, white fish, smoked salmon, chopped egg, peas and corn and gently fold this through with the spatula, then tip pie filling into a casserole dish and wash TM bowl

7.

Return cooked potatoes to the TM bowl, add the remaining 50g of butter and mash for 15 seconds on speed 4 (you can use the butterfly for this if you want really smooth creamy mash, but I like mine a bit more textured...do yours for longer if required)

Scrape mash mixture on top of the pie filing in your casserole dish and spread over top with a fork

Bake for approx 20 minutes, 180c in oven until top is golden

Tip

Try adding some grated cheese to the top of your pie 

Substitute smoked salmon for 1 salmon fillet and cook this with your white fish at the beginning

Add some dijon or wholegrain mustard to your white sauce

Find and print my recipes here on Recipe Community

Egg white recipes | Thermomix

I have been finding with a lot of recipes I am needing to use the yolk from the egg only, and am then left with the egg whites. I have been freezing these, in a small container per egg white, then transferring them into a snap lock bag once they are frozen. Once they have defrosted, allow them to sit at room temperature for around half an hour to help them stiffen into peaks better when beating.

So what are some good uses for egg-white only?

Well the most obvious one would be SORBET!!

Here are some others

Coconut Macaroons

Meringues

Pavlova Cake 

from Thermomix-Recipes.com

And last but not least...Macarons!! 

Recipe from Super Kitchen Machine

What are your favourites?

Banoffee Pie Custard | Thermomix Recipe

Banoffee Pie Custard

Ingredients: 

500g milk

2 eggs

100g brown sugar

50g flour

40g butter

2 bananas, sliced

Add all ingredients (except banana), cook 90 degrees, 6 minutes speed 4. 

Add sliced banana*, cook 90 degrees, 1 minute, reverse 2.

If you want to avoid your banana pieces breaking up, stir them through during the last 30 seconds on speed 1. 

Almond Milk and Almond Smooshy Stuff...nothing goes to waste with a Thermomix!

I recently went to a Raw Organic Chocolate making workshop, which I've mentioned on my Facebook page. One of the recipes we tested was making a highly potent raw chocolate energy drink, which is dairy and sugar free. It uses nut milk as the base along with other ingredients (if you would like the recipe just contact me and I can send it to you, its in our newsletter for August). So of course I stocked up on ingredients and made my own almond milk yesterday using this recipe from Farmer K's Kitchen.

Once you make your almond milk, which with a Thermomix takes all of 2 minutes and only 100g of almonds to make 1L of milk, you are left with what can only be described as almond 'smoosh'!! So not wanting to be wasteful and knowing the nutty goodness I had before me, I decided to wack this into some chocolate muffins and test it out. OH.....MY........GOODNESS!!!!!!!!! They were divine!

Here is my rough recipe for those of you playing at home (adapted from EDC)

Choc Chip Muffins with Almond Smoosh

150g self raising flour
150g almond smoosh
180g milk
150g raw sugar
2 eggs
50g olive oil
100g choc chips
2 TB cocoa powder

Put all ingredients in (except choc chips) and mix 20 seconds speed 4 (or until just combined).
Add choc chips and mix on reverse speed 4 for a few seconds until combined
Spoon into muffin papers and cook 180c for 20 mins or until cooked.

Voila!!

Chicken, Bacon & Mushroom Risotto | Thermomix recipes

My sister once gave me a beautiful chicken, bacon and mushroom risotto recipe, passed to her from her boyfriend who was a chef. It has always been one of our favourites and one of the few meals I could cook really well and be delicious every time (prior to getting my Thermomix!).

So naturally, it was the first recipe I tried to 'convert' as a new Thermomix owner. Risotto was one of the main selling points for me when it came to considering a Thermomix...and when you can make it in 17 minutes with NO STIRRING then its pretty hard to walk away from!

Here it is for you to enjoy. Tweak it however you like but I think its pretty spesh! For those of you already on my mailing list, this is in our team newsletter for this month. If you would like to get on the list let me know, as we have some great tips and recipes each month.

Chicken, Bacon & Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts (or 3 thigh) diced 2cm cubes

150g diced bacon

6 button mushrooms

100g white wine

1100g water

2Tb veggie stock from EDC

50g olive oil

350-400g arborio rice

small onion

1 garlic clove

a few basil leaves chopped

50g parmesan (grate this first and keep aside to top risotto)

Method:

1.      Grate parmesan 10 sec speed 9 and set aside

2.      Chop onion and garlic 2-3 sec speed 6

3.      Scrape down sides, add oil, bacon, and cook for 2-3 minutes, reverse speed 1, 100c with MC off

4.      Insert butterfly, add rice & wine and cook 2 mins speed reverse + soft, 100c

5.      Add chicken pieces, 4 mins, speed reverse + soft, 100c and cook until white all over (will not be cooked all the way through but the stock will cook the rest)

6.      Add stock paste, mushrooms, basil, water (up to max capacity marker). Cook 20 mins**, reverse + soft, 100c until all stock absorbed and rice is to your liking (soft or al dente). Add any remaining water through top after around 15 minutes cooking time.

7.      Transfer to your Thermoserver and top with parmesan. 

Really nice accompanied with steamed vegies in winter or a salad in summer.

Recipe contributed by Natalie Sanderson