Mixing and Stitching with Mel Hornby -Australia Wide Thermomix Team Leader

16/06/2026

Nothing in this kitchen gets thrown out. Not on my watch. 🙅‍♀️

This is what a WASTE NOT Sunday looks like in our house.

Leftover fruit sitting on the bench? Apple cake. Cookidoo recipe, icing sugar on top, gone before dinner.

Leftover pumpkin in the fridge? Blitzed smooth in the Thermomix® and turned into the filling for pumpkin scones. Nothing wasted.

Leftover pears going soft? Pear jam. Straight into a jar. That is tomorrow’s toast sorted.

Leftover veggies that needed using up? Sliced with the Thermomix® Cutter+ in seconds and pickled. Cucumbers, red onions, whatever was in the crisper. Two jars full. Fridge stocked for the whole week.

One session. One bench. Four things made from what would have otherwise ended up in the bin.

This is genuinely one of my favourite things about cooking with the Thermomix®. It does not just make dinners. It changes the way you think about your fridge. Nothing looks like waste anymore. Soft fruit becomes cake. Leftover veg becomes pickles. Pumpkin becomes scones. The machine makes transforming food so fast and so easy that there is no excuse not to.

The Cutter+ attachment is honestly a game changer for anything that needs slicing in bulk. The cucumber jar alone would have taken me 10 minutes with a knife. The Cutter+ did it in about 30 seconds.

If you have ever thrown out soft fruit, forgotten vegetables, or half a pumpkin, this is the post for you. Come to a free demo and I will show you how the Thermomix® completely changes how you approach food waste. Send me a message and let’s find a time. 💚

Drop a comment below. What is sitting in YOUR fridge right now that you have no idea what to do with? Let’s brainstorm.

16/06/2026

Cannelloni

16/06/2026

Weekend session. Zero regrets. 😤🍝

Chunky bolognese pasta bake, 11 serves minimum, extra protein budget edition. Let me break this down.

The sauce is a big chunky bolo made in the Thermomix®. Beef mince, tomatoes, herbs, garlic, onion. But the secret to the budget protein hack? Beans. A tin of cannellini beans stirred through the sauce stretches it further, adds protein, and nobody even notices because the flavour is so good. That is practically free extra nutrition right there.

One dish went straight into the oven as a pasta bake with a béchamel sauce (also Thermomix® made in minutes, no lumps, every time) and a breadcrumb topping. The other containers went into the fridge and freezer for the week. Pasta heated up in minutes. Lunches sorted. Dinners sorted. School night panic sorted.

And while the bake was in the oven? Fresh bread, kneaded in 2 minutes by the Thermomix®, left to rise, then baked. Because if you are already in the kitchen you may as well go all in.

Total active time: maybe 45 minutes. Total hands-off time: the oven and the Thermomix® take care of it. Total serves: 11 and counting.

This is what meal prep looks like when the machine does the hard work. The Thermomix® made the sauce, the béchamel, and kneaded the bread dough. I just assembled and put things in the oven.

If the idea of having your week of dinners sorted before Monday even starts sounds good to you, come to a free demo and I will show you exactly how it all works. Send me a message and let’s find a time. 💚

Drop a comment below if you are a batch cooker. What is your go-to Sunday meal prep?

15/06/2026

I only pulled the birthday book out the other day

15/06/2026

Someone asked me this week whether it was worth it.

Not the price, not the features. Just whether it was actually worth it for a real family with a real budget and a bench that already has too many things on it.

And I said what I always say. Come and see it first. Taste the food. Ask me every question you have. Then decide in your own time.

Because that’s genuinely all I do. I’m not here to convince anyone. I’m here because I use my Thermomix® every single day and I’ve never once wished I hadn’t got one.

If you’ve been quietly sitting on the fence, here’s where things are at until 28 June.

If you’re already a Thermomix® owner thinking about the TM7, your older machine is worth money toward it. Up to $750 off depending on your model.

If you’ve never had one before, any old corded kitchen appliance can get you $150 off. A blender you never use, a food processor gathering dust, a kettle that’s seen better days.

And when you do get a TM7 this month, you get to choose a bonus: a second bowl for $149 (worth $429), the extended warranty for $99 including a free blade, or both together for $200.

No pressure from me on any of it. Just honest information and a standing offer to show you exactly what it looks like in real life before you make any decisions.

Message me anytime. The door is always open.

Offer ends Sunday 28 June 2026 at 11.59pm AWST. T&Cs apply.

14/06/2026

No apples in the house. Pears sitting on the bench. Done. 🍐

This is the Apple and Date Cake from Cookidoo (4.8 stars, by the way, it is genuinely that good). But I swapped the apples for pears because that is what I had, made them as individual muffins instead of a whole cake, and dusted the top with icing sugar because it makes everything look like it came from a bakery.

Total. Success.

This is one of my favourite things about having Cookidoo and the Thermomix®. The recipes are a starting point, not a rulebook. You can look at what is in your fridge and your fruit bowl, find the closest recipe on Cookidoo, and make it work with what you have. No special trip to the shops. No food waste. Just dinner (or in this case, afternoon tea).

Pear and date muffins dusted with icing sugar. Warm from the oven. Gone within the hour.

The muffin format is also genuinely genius for a family. Individual portions that the kids can grab without you having to cut anything. They travel in lunchboxes. They freeze beautifully. And honestly, muffins just feel more fun than a slice of cake, even when they are the exact same batter.

Cookidoo has thousands of recipes and the Thermomix® makes adapting them effortless. Come to a free demo and I will show you how the whole system works. You will leave with a full stomach and a very long list of things you want to try first. Send me a message to book yours. 💚

Drop a comment below if you are a recipe swapper! What is your go-to ingredient substitute?

11/06/2026

When you have a bazillion limes on the tree, the Thermomix® turns them into lime butter and suddenly it is a whole situation. 🍋😂

Scones. Homemade lime butter. Cream. That is it. That is the whole recipe for an absolutely perfect afternoon.

The lime butter label says “May 2026” because that is what you do when the Thermomix® makes preserving this easy. You make a big batch, you label it, you put it in the fridge, and you feel incredibly organised for approximately four days until the kids find it.

Speaking of the kids. I think the full mouth thumbs up says everything that needs to be said about the quality assurance testing in this house. No notes. Full approval. Highest rating possible.

This is what the zero waste cooking journey actually looks like. Limes that would have just sat there and eventually dropped off the tree are now lime butter on scones, lime curd on birthday cake, and very happy small humans giving us the official thumbs up.

The Thermomix® makes the lime butter in about 12 minutes, completely hands off. No double boiler. No stirring. No scrambled egg disaster. Just limes, sugar, butter, eggs, and one very clever machine doing the work.

If you have a fruit tree sitting there doing its thing and no idea what to do with the abundance, I promise the Thermomix® will change how you think about that. Come to a free demo and let me show you what is possible. Send me a message and we will find a time. 💚

Save this one for citrus season. And drop a comment if you are a lime person or a lemon person. This is important research.

10/06/2026

10/06/2026

Tortellini soup

10/06/2026

When life gives you a bazillion limes from the garden, you make a birthday cake. 🍋💚

This is the Lemon Meringue Cake from Cookidoo, made entirely with limes instead of lemons because that is what I had an absolute mountain of. Swapped them out one for one and honestly? I think it was even better than the original.

Toasted meringue. Lime curd. Dried citrus slices on top. Candles. Party hats. A very happy birthday girl and a little boy who just wanted to eat the whole thing immediately.

This is what I love about cooking with the Thermomix®. The curd, the sponge, the meringue, all made in one machine. It is the kind of cake that looks like you spent all day in the kitchen. You did not. You spent your time with the people celebrating instead.

Zero waste. Garden limes that might otherwise have just piled up and gone off. Turned into something that made someone’s birthday genuinely special.

That is the kind of kitchen win I live for.

If you have been wondering what the Thermomix® can actually do beyond weeknight dinners, let me just say: birthday cakes, Christmas puddings, gelato, pastry, fresh pasta. The list is long and delicious. Come to a free demo and I will show you in person. Send me a message and we will find a time. 💚

Drop a comment below if you are a citrus swapper. Lemon recipes with limes, orange recipes with mandarins. I am always here for it!