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My hubby bought me a waffle iron for Xmas, I’ve been wanting one for AGES! So I decided to treat myself to a fancy waffles breakfast 
I already had some of my Coconut Milk Ice Cream made up in the freezer, this particular batch had a swirl of Caramel through it.. mmmmm. I also had just received the most recent Co-op delivery so had some delicious organic maple syrup.
I had made a batch of AP GF Flour for some Xmas baking, so I used that for this recipe and it turned out wonderfully.
My Flour mix of choice is based on one by Gluten Free Girl. I grind and blend my flours in my TMX the following is the ratios I use.
200g Raw Brown Rice (I use the Rainfed brown rice available in the co-op)
50g Almonds (I use the Insecticide Free Almonds also avail in the co-op)
250g Sweet (Glutinous) Rice
150g Sorghum Flour (Organic, also via the co-op)
150g Potato Starch
200g Tapioca (Organic, also via the co-op)
It works perfectly for biscuits and cakes, pancakes and waffles etc 
Onto the Waffles!
I used a stovetop waffle iron for these ones, so they are thin and slightly crispy, but soften up when drizzled with Maple Syrup and Ice Cream heh. They can be rolled into waffle cones and as they cool they harden.
GLUTEN FREE WAFFLES
250g Gluten Free Flour Mix
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder (Optional, I didn’t use any leavening agent in the stove top iron)
1 tsp Baking Soda (Optional, as above)
1 tsp Himalayan Salt – ground
15-30g of Rapadura. This is entirely to taste, and dependant on what you are using them for!
90g of nuttelex or coconut oil
2 Eggs
400g Almond Milk (or other milk of choice)
Instructions
I toss everything into the TMX and mix on Speed 5-6 for 30 seconds, scrape down and whizz for another 10 secs if necessary (If your butter/coconut oil needs melting, 1min @ 90 speed soft works!).
I then ladled it onto the waffle iron, cooking for approx 1-2mins each side, or follow the directions of your electric waffle iron!
Simple!
NB: I altered this recipe to weights and changed a few things after remaking it a few times in my electric waffle iron as well!
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I have been slack!
The Current quarterly Co-op is coming to a close, so I’ve been busy working on that, Pregnancy definitely doesn’t agree with me, so I’ve been pouting about that lol, done plenty of cooking, but a few things that just weren’t quite right yet, not right enough to share anyway!
So I thought I’d do a quick Catchup post with some Instagram pics of my week!
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First up! the winners of the Easiyo prizes
I numbered everyone up with their various entries and got my daughter to pick two numbers for me (but forgot to take a pic of it lol)
1st Winner is Kate Ryan
2nd Winner is Lori Howlett (Lori sent a bunch of people to the FB page and gained quite a few entries, paid off! lol)
Back to today’s scheduled posting
I use tomato paste a lot, on Pizza’s in bolognaise, in butter chicken! So I decided to make my own. It doesn’t work out very cost effective depending on the price of tomatoes though, so I buy some of the Spiral Organic Tomato Paste via the co-ops as well.
Homemade Tomato Paste!
Ingredients
- 1250-1750g of Tomatoes, fresh, red and ripe! Smoosh as much as you can into your Thermomix/Pot.
- 1-2 TBSP of Rapadura (Dependant on how ripe your tomatoes are)
- 1 TSP of Celtic Sea Salt
- 1 TBSP EVOO (Extra virgin olive oil)
- 2 Bay Leaves
Method
- Chop and place your tomatoes into your Thermomix Bowl (If you are using a pot, you will need to use a food processor to process the tomatoes before putting them into your pot)
- TMX – 30 seconds on Speed 5
- Add all your other ingredients.
- TMX – 40 mins Varoma Temp Speed 1. (if you are doing this on a stove, you will need to have the mix at a high simmer/low boil and you will need to stir often!)
- TMX – Increase speed slowly until you reach 9. Process for a minute. (if using a stovetop you will need to transfer the mix to your food processor every 40mins to process, this is important, because only once it has all been processed do you see the true colour/consistency)
- Repeat Steps 4 and 5 until you are happy with the colour and consistency of the paste. (I generally go 2 more times, but it depends on the ripeness of the tomatoes etc)
This recipe isn’t one that will last long in the fridge, so I generally transfer to small baby food containers, or Squeeze’ems (which I will be stocking in the shop!) and freeze in 70ishgram portions
I originally found the method for this via funkenwagnel.com and altered accordingly
Let me know how you go if you decide to make some!
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I’ve had a few requests for the way I prepare my Coconut Milk Yoghurt, so I took some pics of my current batch to share!
I use this in Smoothies, in recipes (ie; Naan or Lemon Yoghurt Cake) with Muesli/Fruit for Brekkie or I strain it to thicken it and use it instead of Cream Cheese in things like Cream cheese icing, mmmmmmm lol.
Dairy Free Coconut Yoghurt Recipe/Method!
- 2 x 400g tins of coconut cream/milk**
- 1/4 cup of starter yoghurt or alternative (more on this below)
- 1TBSP of Maple Syrup (or raw honey, liquid stevia etc)
Instructions
- Pour your coconut cream/milk into the container you are going to set your yoghurt in. This can be anything that seals, glass jars, Easiyo tub etc
- Depending on method, you will need to heat your coconut milk/cream to blood temp (37degrees) If you are using an Easiyo there is no need, so long as your milk is at room temp. If you are going to use the oven method as detailed below you will need to heat the milk.
- Add your starter and syrup and whisk/shake well.
- If you are using an Easiyo, you now fill the thermos with boiling water to the top of the baffle, place the yoghurt tub into the thermos and close the lid, put it somewhere out of the way. You can leave it for 6-12 hours depending on how ‘sour’ you want your yoghurt. I generally do it overnight, prep it after the kids have gone to bed and get it out in the morning.
If you don’t have an Easiyo, enter the giveaway below!, You can set your yoghurt in the oven with the light on. No fan, no heat, just the light. Place the jar into the oven, close the door and leave for 8-12 hours. - Refrigerate and enjoy!
** I use Spiral organic coconut cream/milk as that is what I supply via the co-op and can therefore get cheap! The 2.8L tins have a massive amount of very thick cream on the top, this makes delicious yoghurt!
There are a few things that can affect the outcome of your yoghurt -
Starter; There are a few different options in regards to a starter. You can use 1/4 cup of neutral flavoured commercial yoghurt. We use a lactose free yoghurt, I find that the bacteria eats all the milk proteins and my children, who normally vomit on contact with dairy, suffer no ill effects. You can also use a powdered/granular probiotic, the insides of an inner health capsule, or specific probiotics sold to be used as yoghurt starters from places like Cultures Alive.
Do not be tempted to add more starter yoghurt, you can overcrowd the bacteria, it will result in a watery yoghurt!
Temperature; If you over heat the yoghurt you will kill the bacteria, it needs to maintain temp to culture, but too much heat and it will not work. Too little heat and the bacteria won’t grow, you’ll end up with a very mildly sour coconut cream/milk, don’t chuck it though! it works wonderfully in Dairy Free Butter Chicken or other curries
Using your yoghurt; Depending on the brand of cream/milk you used, sometimes some batches are thinner than others, some have a tendency to split and you will notice that there is yellowish liquid in the bottom of the jar/tub and creamy white yoghurt on the top. The liquid is Whey, and is great for many uses, or you can shake it back into your yoghurt, it will just then have a drinking yoghurt like consistency. I tend to use the creamy yoghurt off the top and when I’m ready to start another batch I shake the whey into the remaining cream and use that.
You can also strain your yoghurt to make it thicker, I personally use a chux and plastic strainer (Though I’m getting some Living Synergy nut milk bags in stock in the next week or so and am looking forward to trialling one of those!) The longer you strain it the thicker the yoghurt will get. I strain mine for lengthy periods when I’m looking for a cream cheese style consistency to use in things like Cream Cheese Icing! If you strain it long enough you can get a cheese like consistency from it.
Don’t throw the Whey out! you can use it in smoothies it has a lovely smooth slightly sour flavour. Or you can use it to soak oats and other grains.
Giveaway is now closed!
To celebrate finally getting the blog underway, I’m going to have a giveaway. There will be 2 prizes, one aimed at those who are unlucky enough not to own an Easiyo and one for those who already have an Easiyo and will now be using it all the more!
Prize no. 1 – Easiyo Thermos, 1L Tub and Instruction Booklet.
Prize no. 2 – Easiyo Spare Tub set. 2 x 1L Tubs and 2 x 250ml Tubs plus a fantastic recipe booklet.
You can get multiple entries into this giveaway.
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Entry 1 by commenting on this post, let me know how you use your yoghurt any success/disaster stories etc.
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Entry 2 by liking (or already having liked) Hunting The Alternative on Facebook.
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Entry 3 by referring someone to the HtA Facebook page and getting them to leave your name on the giveaway post on there.
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and Entry 4 by Pinning this recipe (there’s a little Pin It button up the top there! ) and letting me know you have done so.
I’ll leave the giveaway open for a week and draw it next Sunday the 11th of November.
Good Luck! and I hope you enjoy the Yoghurt!
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Apollo and Surreal love Ice Cream, I make a lot of sorbets, but nothing beats real Ice Cream… and I LOVE a good Ice Coffee, made on Almond Milk with this Coconut Cream Ice Cream in it and Homemade Coffee Syrup! mmmmmmm
Not to mention a Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding isn’t anything without some cream or ice-cream on the side!
It took me quite a few goes of making this to be able to get it the right consistency. I finally got it to a point where even straight from the freezer you can scoop it out!
I use an Ice Cream maker but those with a TMX or a lot of patience can make it without, its just a matter of getting air into it!
Dairy Free Coconut Cream Vanilla Ice-Cream!
- 500g Coconut Cream
- 2 Egg Yolks
- 100-150g Rapadura
- Pinch Salt
- The seeds of 2 Vanilla Pods
- 2 TBSP Home made Vanilla Extract**
Instructions
- Place all ingredients into the TMX
Cook for 5 minutes at 80 degrees on Speed 4. - Pour the custard into a bowl, cover with cling film/put a lid on and place in the freezer.
(I generally leave my custard in the freezer for 24 hours.) - Remove the frozen custard from the freezer and let it sit for 20mins to soften.
- Place/Pour it into your Ice-Cream maker and churn for 20-30 mins!
(If you don’t have an Ice-Cream maker you can simply allow it to soften slightly, then cut into cubes, place in your TMX mix for 20 seconds on speed 9 then for 10 seconds on speed 4 and return to freezer. Theoretically you could add air manually as well, by removing when almost frozen and whipping with a hand beater/kitchenaid! - Return whatever you haven’t eaten straight out of the bowl to the freezer and eat as you desire!
**I find homemade vanilla extract a necessity here as the alcohol content stops the icecream from freezing solid. It helps keep it a consistency that you can scoop straight from the freezer. All images in this post are of icecream scooped straight out of the container without any resting time.
ENJOY!
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Hi there,
Welcome to Hunting the Alternative! We are a community of people who are all trying to do the best by our families within our means! Hence, starting up organic co-ops in various cities, as well as offering certain products here in the shop for as good a price as we can!
We’re big on alternative lifestyles, whether they be Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Wheat Free, Nut Free, Vegan, Vegetarian, Paleo or Primal!
We have a lot to do with Babywearing communities as well!
Nyssa is the main voice of the website and Facebook Page, she currently resides in Melbourne and handles the distribution of the Melbourne Co-op. Nyssa has a 5yo Daughter, Surreal a 15month old Son, Apollo and a Bub due early next year!
Nyssa’s daughter is Allergic to Dairy, Gluten/Wheat Intolerant and allergic to Soy, she therefore does most of her cooking from scratch and will share plenty of recipes, hints, and tips! She also has a Thermomix and will share how great it is for a family with intolerances/allergies and from scratch cooking!
Kylie is the distributor for Adelaide, she has an adorable munchkin, Marley. Kylie blogs over at.
Kelly and her family, including 1yo Flynn help Kylie out with the Northern Adelaide distribution.
Renee and her family run the distribution for the Newcastle/Hunter Valley area!
We’ll do some guest posts on all our distributors as we start blogging regularly!
Please have a look around the site (there’s still a lot of dead ends atm) and come join us on Facebook!
