Thermomix- try before you buy

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Sometimes I can’t contain my love for this fabulous kitchen appliance which is why I am here sharing it with you. We all cook differently and what I cook may be different to you. The great thing about Thermomix is we can bring the TM6 to you in person or virtually and show you the features.

A Thermomix demo allows you to have a hands on experience and allows me to direct you to recipes that suit your household. Whether you are a 2 or a 6 person household, have dietary requirements or allergies, having an in person experience will often answer all your questions and answer some simply by you using the appliance.

How much time do you need? Well that is up to you. A 3 dish experience takes approximately 90 minutes, however we can also organise an express demo in a lunch break or similar.

What is in it for you? apart from tasting the food when in person, host receive a host reward when you have two friends along to share the experience. these items are often our most popular accessories to use with your TM6.

How do you book? Click here to book in a time.

Thermomix Cooking Experience

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Is there any other appliance out there where you can have a hands on cooking experience that allows you to try the appliance out before purchase?? Well with the Thermomix that is exactly what you can do, in fact we encourage it. We want all our customers to get great value out of their Thermomix and we like to work out what you like to cook and what you don’t like about cooking to make your experience in the kitchen the best it can be.

Are you the time poor cook? How would your life change if I could show you 80, 30 minute meals to choose from for quick mid week dinners (and that is just the ones with meat)

Are you the person who wants to stop going to the supermarket 4 times a week. How would it feel if I could show you how to meal plan and send your shopping list to Woolworths for click and collect or home delivery, having everything you need for the recipes you want to make?

How would it feel to be able to make dishes you only thought were possible to have when you dined at a restaurant?

Would you like to save on basics like grated cheese, almond meal, caster sugar, bread? These things are easily made with your Thermomix saving you money on everyday essentials.

How would you life change if there were step by step instructions for your kids or your partner to start getting dinner ready before you got home from work?

These are just a few of the reasons thousands of people invest in a Thermomix. For me I need to produce copious amounts of food for my hungry teenagers and I love variety. I am never lost for things to make. I also love the search feature on our recipe app where you can type in 2 ingredients and it suggests a list of recipes ( with pictures- I love knowing what the end result would look like and lets face it we eat with our eyes first) to make.

The next questions is are you the next person to try out the new TM6? In person and virtual can be arranged and you can book in a time with me here

Our current promotion for May… or you might be ready to simply order a Thermomix for your household. If you are you can order here

Macadamia Nut Tartlets

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This recipe has been a favourite of mine for many years. One of those recipes I saved from the weekend papers many years ago. Where it came from I can’t quite remember but I have adapted it to make it super simple in my Thermomix

Ingredients

  • 170g Plain flour
  • 110g Raw Sugar
  • 125g Butter, cubed
  • 15g cold water or 1 tbsp
  • 1 cup macadamias
  • 20g Butter
  • 90g Brown Sugar
  • 20g golden syrup
  • 1 egg

Method

Place sugar in Thermomix, 10 seconds speed 8

Add Flour and cubed butter 5 seconds Speed 6

Add water, Mix 10 seconds speed 6 or until the pastry forms a ball. Clean and dry Thermomix bowl.

Lightly grease a 24 mini muffin pan. Divide dough into 24 equal pieces. Press each piece into the muffin pan and use your finger tips to make tartlet cases. Rest in the fridge for 30 mins.

Divide macadamia nuts between tartlet cases.

Preheat oven 180 degrees.

Add 20g butter to Thermomix and melt 1 minute 60 degrees speed 2 or until melted. Add brown sugar, egg and golden syrup and mix 5 seconds speed 5.

Pour mix over nuts in tart shells and bake for 25mins. Cool 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Tips

Substitute other nuts as you prefer- pecans would also be a good choice.

Have not got a Thermomix, reach me here to join on of my classes or direct you to the Mix shop

Bath Bombs #dayspaathome

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Most days my daughter asks to make something. It is often food but I thought we needed to make something other than food for at least one day. However while we are all in Quarantine, as the corona virus has changed 2020 in ways we could never have predicted, I now have more time at home with my family.

As we won’t be going to a day Spa any time soon, we often try and recreate one at home. Hence my daughters #dayspaathome hast tag added to our experience of making Bath Bombs.

Bath Bombs can be very frustrating. Not wet enough and the mixture won’t hold together, too wet and the mixture will ‘activate’ and expand like crazy. When you get the mixture just right they are amazing. Making your own is an inexpensive activity that teaches patience and perseverance. When you get the mix just right they are simply rewarding.

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Ingredients

You will find most of these ingredients at the supermarket, health food store or Bulk Foods Store.

  1. 1 cup Baking Soda
  2. 1/2 cup Cornflour
  3. 1/2 cup Citric Acid
  4. 1/4 cup Epsom salts
  5. 1 tablespoon vegetable oil ( v6 from Young Living or try fractionated coconut oil)
  6. Spray Bottle with Water
  7. 10-12 drops of Essential Oils of Choice ( Stress away is my favourite pick, however you can customise as you wish. All Citrus are very uplifting, Lavender is relaxing.) If you have not got essential oils in your life get them from Young Living here
  8. Moulds- I use metal moulds or you could also use silicon baking moulds.

Method

  1. Add all dry ingredients too a large Bowl
  2. Mix together using a Whisk
  3. Add vegetable Oil  and essential Oils and mix together
  4. Gradually spray the dry mix with the spray bottle, mixing as you go. You need to consistency of Wet sand. This is the tricky bit so go slow. Test the mix by clumping some together and see if it holds.
  5. When you think you have the right consistency, get your two halves of you moulds and slightly overfill, push the halves together quickly and hold together, twisting the halves on themselves. You will need to give it a light tap before trying to unmould your Bath Bomb. Once you have taken one mould off the Bath Bomb, you will need to dry over night on plate.
  6. If using silicon moulds lightly pack the moulds and leave to dry over night before removing from Moulds
  7. Run a Bath, pop in a bath bomb and relax.

Optional extras

  • add a few rose petals or Lavender flowers for that true #dayspaathome feeling
  • add a few Pink Himalayan salts for contrasting detail.

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Laundry Soaker

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Ever wanted to break up with store bought soaker?? I used to buy a product that promised to clean my clothes and had fantastic selling slogans like Oxy-clean and Oxy-action! However I now choose a low tox option for cleaning and personal care where possible. No fillers, no fragrance just all the ingredients that get the job done.

If you don’t know about the dangers of fragrance, I recommend you do some research.

The benefits of making your own means you will know exactly what goes in. Here is my recipe. The ingredients can be found at your local supermarket or as suggested.

I use Essential Oils as they have great cleansing properties, including degreasing and they are purely made from plants. No fillers, just plants! every home should have these and I highly recommend them.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups Baking Soda
  • 3 Cups Washing Soda ( Lectric brand from supermarket or purchase from your whole foods store)
  • 1 cup Epsom salts
  • 2 Cups Borax ( I found some at Bunnings)
  • 1-2 cups Sodium per carbonate (Oxygen Bleach- buy from Biome)
  • 20 drops Each of Thieves, Purification and Lemon Essential Oils ( Purchase these from Young Living here)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and store in a container with a tight fitting lid. Use 1/4-/12 cup per soak with warm water. Soakers work better with time and warm water. be patient and you will be rewarded!

Now this recipe makes quite a lot!!! You can easily halve the recipe to make a smaller quantity but I prefer to make in bulk.

Hope you like it!

Raw Chocolate- Turkish Delight

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I absolutely love Chocolate. Even more I love the process of making it myself. Knowing what goes into the final product is important for me too. Chocolate can be highly nourishing with lots of naturally occurring minerals.

Making chocolate is super easy if you have a thermomix. You can easily weigh all the ingredients, control the temperature, mix and stir and get an amazing final product that is glossy and just delicious. No thermomix? Don’t worry you simply need a saucepan with a glass bowl and you can make it this way too.

One of my favourite combinations is Turkish delight. As a child I remember eating soft gelatinous pieces of very sweet Turkish delight as a treat from specialty delicatessens. These days I use one of my not so secret ingredients to get the Turkish delight flavour, Geranium essential oil from Young Living that is FSANZ approved. This is exactly what some Chocolate companies use to flavour their chocolate and you can do this in your very own kitchen.

Ingredients

180g Cacao Butter ( buttons)
50-60g Raw cacao powder
80g maple Syrup
Pinch salt
1-2 drops Geranium Essential Oil from Young Living
1/2 – 1 cup chopped dried figs

Stovetop method

Put glass bowl over saucepan of simmering water
add 140g cacao butter buttons and melt.
remove from heat and stir through remaining cacao until melted
add cacao powder and maple syrup
mix until all combined
add essential oil and figs and mix.
Pour onto lined baking sheet or moulds and set in the fridge

Thermomix method

Add cacao butter to Thermomix, speed 8, 10sec
Scrape bowl and melt 15mins 37 degrees speed 2 (scrape bowl down half way)
Add maple syrup, cacao powder and pinch salt
Mix 5 min 37 degrees speed 2
Mix 5sec speed 5 .
Add Geranium essential oil and mix 3 sec speed 3
Finally stir through chopped figs

Pour onto a lined baking sheet or silicon mould and set in fridge

I like to pour onto a sheet and then chop into bite sized pieces

Adding pistachios, rose petals and/or freeze dried raspberries takes this recipe to the next level.

I like to buy my whole ingredients from The Source Bulk Foods. You can buy exactly what you need by weight.

Sometimes we simply want all the flavour without the hassle. You can also use 200g of good quality dark chocolate and get a great result. Simply melt the chocolate before adding the figs and essential oil. My chocolate of choice for this would be Green and Blacks 70% Organic dark chocolate

To get the Geranium Essential Oil, go straight to Young Living To simply get started I recommend  the basic culinary kit (AUD$69- you will find it under specialty kits) that includes food standard oils of lemon and orange in addition to my favourite relaxation perfume blend Stress away. Then you can simply add Geranium to your order! Once you are done send me a quick email or message through the blog and I will email you a copy of my complete chocolate workshop! Then you can start more delicous combinations, think Orange and almond and Rocky road like the picture below. You will be whipping up these amazing treats in no time.

A note on the essential Oils. They are potent and I always recommend using 1 drop initially, 2 might be too strong for you.

Hope you love this recipe!!

Belinda xx

Increasing productivity with essential Oils

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Our workplaces can be hives of productivity or a place of negativity. Let’s face it we all want the former whether you are a business owner or worker or both. Everyone wants to feel good and being in a stuffy workplace is not conducive to an efficient and enjoyable atmosphere.

Australians spend on average 90% of their time indoors. I was recently reading about an article where Japanese company Takasago scented their building to see the effect it has on their workers. They found that those who work with computers made 54% fewer typing errors when the workplace was scented with lemon, 33% fewer errors when they smelled jasmine, and 20% fewer mistakes with lavender in the air.

It is important to note that using artificial fragrance to scent your workplace has health risks due to the use of Phthalates which acts as a binder and makes the smell last for a long period of time. Not the mention the other questionable ingredients used in them. There have been numerous studies showing the link between phthalate exposure and the increased risk of developing wheeze, asthma and allergy.

So let’s keep it simple. Ventilate your space with fresh air when you can. Ditch your synthetic air fresheners as they are increasing your exposure to pollutants.

Improve your indoor air quality by setting up a diffuser and use pure essential Oils. I find it fascinating that there are more and more studies being done and show that they have the ability to reduce air borne fungi with Lemon being one of them.

It is important to use Pure essential oils. Ask questions where you buy them from. Does the company produce them, test them, farm sustainably, provide full transparency to their processes?? The last thing you want to to buy essential oils that are adulterated!

The thing I love about using essential oils is you are bringing the scent off plants inside and they smell amazing and really can make you feel good.

Who knows what will happen hen you try this blend. Maybe you too will have fewer errors at your desk! What you will have is peace of mind and did I mention an amazing smell.. yep I think I covered thatfullsizeoutput_1ad3

Pop 3 drops Lavender Essential Oil , 2 Lemon Essential Oil and 1 of Jasmine Essential oil in your diffuser and enjoy your day.

Don’t have essential oils? order yours here

Lemon and Lavender are included in Young Living’s popular premium starter kit that includes 11 Essential oils and a diffuser. It is a great place to start.

 

Enjoy Belinda X

 

 

 

Misting Sprays

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Over the weekend I was reading the weekend paper and came across Misting sprays that were very expensive! $40 for a single bottle of spray seemed a little ridiculous to me.

This is something that you can very easily make your self and then re-fill your bottle when it runs out. Using a few different combinations you can achieve a spray for different effects. Grab your essential oils and make your own. You can use my suggestions or make your own. You will make beautiful smelling sprays, you won’t add to the throw away culture of more and more products. You won’t fill your indoor airspace with harmful ingredients.

 

 

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Morning Glory

This is a great refreshing uplifting aroma perfect for your living space or bathroom. Bergamot has been used for a long time in the perfume industry for it’s feel good effect. You will love it in this combination with the happy sweet scent of tangerine and refreshing spearmint.

  • 100ml spray Bottle
  • 5 drops Tangerine
  • 5 drops of Spearmint
  • 5 drops of Bergamot
  • 1 tsp vodka or fine salt
  • cooled boiled water

Add Vodka or salt to your 100ml spray bottle. Add your essential oils. Swirl to combine and top with water.

Now let’s break down the cost of making this spray

  • Spray bottle $2.30. I buy mine here
  • Tangerine $0.09/drop =$0.45
  • Spearmint $0.18/drop = $0.90
  • Bergamot $0.15/drop =$0.75
  • Vodka 1 tsp $0.28 ( based on a 700ml bottle)

Total cost $5.20!

 

Sweet Dreams

Creating a calming environment can be an effective tool in assisting a good nights sleep. I don’t think anyone would argue with you how good you feel after a good night’s sleep. This combination is great as a pillow mist or room spray before bed for adults and children alike.

  • 100ml Spray Bottle
  • 5 drops Lavender
  • 5 drops Vetiver
  • 5 Drops Cedarwood
  • 1 tsp vodka or fine salt
  • cooled boiled water

Add vodka or salt to your 100ml Bottle. Add your essential oils. Swirl to combine and top with water. Spray down pillows, bedding and curtains before sleeping. Sweet dreams.

lets break down the cost again

  • 100ml Spray Bottle $2.30
  • Lavender $0.13/drop = $0.65
  • Vetiver $0.35/drop = $1.75
  • Cedarwood $0.06/drop = $0.31
  • vodka 1 tsp $0.28

Total cost $5.29

Make these for yourself or as a gift for someone else.

Essential oils are awesome. If you are yet to start your own collection, jump over to my Essential oils page and pick a starter kit to suit your needs.

 

Belinda x

Seedlings Baby Range

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Parents make hundreds of decisions about the health and happiness of their families. When young Living formulated the Seedlings range, they wanted to take the worry out of what might be in the lotions and soaps used on their babies skin.

The soothing, plant-based formulas use infant-safe essential oils and are free from harmful ingredients to help you gently comfort and care for your little one. With essential oil-infused products made by experts and diluted to a strength safe for your baby, Seedlings leaves you with peace of mind and your baby feeling snug and secure.

Features and benefits

  • Non-Greasy
  • Dermatologist Tested
  • Formulated without harsh chemicals
  • Worry Free

 

 

Seedlings Starter Kit

$253(AUS)  Basic Starter kit + Seedlings Bundle on ER.

NZ, US, EUR pricing pricing also available.

Become a member of Young Living today!!

Wholesale pricing, free product points and products you can trust!

Order Here

 

Choose Kindness

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Last week I went to the Cinema to see Wonder. A fabuous Movie based on a book by R.J Palacio. This book is all about bullying of a young Boy who was born with facial deformities. I read the book prior to the Movie and thought it was a good thing to do on a hot day in the school holidays. I also thought it would be good for my children to see the Movie and to then discuss the themes in the Movie. What I did not anticipate was how I was going to feel watching it.

My biggest fear as a parent is that one of my children would be a Bully. No parent wants that or for their own child to be on the receiving end. When I was 11 in year 6 at primary school, I was at a sleep over at what I thought were my friends house for a birthday party. I can’t write down what these grils did to me here as that is too confrontational but least to say my heart sunk that someone could be so mean and violting to someone else at such a young age. I did not tell anyone because I was scared of what they would do to me and I was embarassed to be on the receiving end. It was such a blow to my confidence. I wanted to ask the parent to call my mum and go home but I did not want to make a scene or act that it had offended me. To this day I still wonder what in the world could posess someone to be so mean to another. Why me?

As I sat in the movie theatre watching this Movie, it really highlighted for me that there needs to more more awareness of bullying. Parents need to step up, schools need to be consistent and not wash it over because it is not ok. As for workplaces, like a family behaviour is learnt from that which is modelled to them. The behaviour of those in management or seniour roles will be reflected through the whole organisation.

For many years I was fearful of these girls. I went to high school and did not continue schooling with many of these girls and for years struggled with being accepted and being good enough. But now I know that what they did was more about them than me. I hope they have found happiness.

Random Act of Kindness day was mentioned on my morning run last week. This is promoted at different times in different countries and I can’t help but notice the similarity in the letters to RUOK? What if we were all kind every day, would we even need the RUOK day? Life is hard and not everyone can be a captain of a team or win a prize and life should not be about that. Life is about meaningful relationships and connection.

Choose your words wisely. A saying I share with my children often is ‘quick to think and slow to anger’. Most arguements and disagreements I believe are often the result of poor communication and assumptions. If you have not heard the saying don’t assume- you will make as ass out of you and me, remind yourself of this one.

We are all good enough. Christmas is often a time of reflection and this year I have done a lot of reflecting before hand. Life is a journey, love your family and learn to listen because that truly is the way to better communication.

Choose Kindness and have a Merry Christmas

Belinda x