'In the midst of first-time motherhood, this one appliance became like a best friend.'

My beloved Thermomix. 

I still remember the first time I laid eyes on you, I was halfway through my first pregnancy and my best friend had invited me over for dinner. 

You were bright, shiny and practically glowing with promise — the promise of facilitating my transformation from someone who once added six cups of salt stock to a saucepan to make chicken soup—into someone who could (and would, endlessly) make natural peanut butter from scratch.

I watched in absolute awe as my friend used her beloved ‘Thermie’ to whip up a beetroot, carrot and apple salad, a chicken curry and mango sorbet. All while barely breaking into a sweat.

There's nothing like the impending arrival of your child to make you reassess your entire life. 

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I’d spent a large amount of time trying to picture exactly how my life would change. I couldn’t fathom how in a few short months I'd be completely responsible for another human being. 

Whilst I'd mastered some forms of adulting, I could barely boil an egg. All I knew was that I had a six-month grace period before I'd have to start preparing nutritious meals and snacks to keep my kid alive. 

Growing up, I was treated to incredibly tasty home-cooked meals. My mum, an excellent and very resourceful cook, spent most nights banging around the kitchen, the entire contents of the cupboards spread across our benches in order to prepare a feast to feed our family of six and whichever extra straggler or two had decided to stay.

Cooking felt hard, overwhelming, MESSY. And expensive.

When I moved out of home at 19, I had never made a meal, well, an edible one anyway.

My confidence never really grew, I mastered a small rotation of very simple dishes, and picked up store-bought things when I’d attend family functions and hope no one noticed.

And then, there was you, my prized Thermomix. 

You swiftly replaced 20 different appliances when you moved in.

Sure, it took time for me to get to know you (and your 18,374 hidden talents). Though, the simplicity of guided cooking with Cookidoo meant my Thermie quickly became my new best friend and money-saver, my weekends filled with American Style Pancakes, the smell of fresh damper and Chicken Gallette at a fraction of the cost to buy them.

Suddenly, I was *that* person showcasing an array of delectable dishes and desserts at family gatherings, relishing in the unfamiliar sense of pride that came over me each time someone demanded I make my 'famous' Sticky Date pudding (which has to be the easiest, yet most delicious dessert I’ve ever tried). 

I'd become the person I always wanted to be — that had 'a dish'.

When my son hit six months, I could give him a variety of different fruits, vegetables and meats. It was ridiculously simple and so much cheaper.

In the midst of first-time motherhood, sleep regressions, teething issues, safety ratings and 100 foods before one, my life was made exceedingly more simple by the fact I could whip up everything he needed and still have my hands free.

It wasn't until I had my second child and entered parental leave once more, that the world plunged into a cost-of-living crisis. 

Our family of four was attempting to survive on one income, so I noticed how much cheaper it was to cook things with my Thermomix — how much easier it is to improvise when you only have to operate one very multi-talented appliance.

Hudson checking out the recipes on screen. Image: Supplied.

Our expensive Saturday morning ‘babyccino’ excursion was swiftly replaced with an enthusiastic request for porridge and honey (no amount of stirring on a stovetop can recreate the deliciousness), movie nights accompanied with homemade pizzas instead of paying for takeout, and homemade spaghetti sauce jam-packed using whatever array of leftover vegetables in the bottom of my fridge instead of chucking them out. 

Kids snack a lot and it turns out adding another one (as little as they are) into the mix drastically changes the amount of food we need to buy. Each kid has to have what the other one is eating, regardless of whether they actually like it — meaning packaged snacks are featuring less and less in our shopping trolley, not only due to the expense but because they more often or not end up on the floor.

As a full time working mother — I’m often plagued with guilt over some aspects of my parenting. The way I appease that guilt is by spending a Sunday night every few weeks with my Thermomix, whipping up a couple of delicious snacks and meals for my kids.

It's quick, it's fast, it's simple and I know exactly what goodness is going into each meal.

So thank you, dear Thermie, for helping me fake it 'til I (actually) made it.

Invest one time, save for a lifetime with Thermomix^® TM6 – and cook from their exclusive recipe library, Cookidoo^®. See how much you could also save with their savings calculator. 

Feature Image: Supplied/Mamamia.

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