Coco Loco

I cannot tell you how LONG I've been wanting to post this particular blog. You know why? Because it's pure awesome....and delicious.

It's no surprise that I'm thrifty. And anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE all things COCONUT! I always have. But when coconut milk came on the market, I was less than thrilled. First, it never tasted like coconut to me. Second, it was missing a ton of flavor and was FULL of gut damaging fillers (carrageenan and gums? No thank you!). So, I set out on a quest to make my own that tasted like actual coconuts should.

At first I was making coconut milk from cans of coconut milk. Remember this blog post? Well, I never was quite comfortable with that method because I don't like to consume anything from cans. And, while that version was better than the garbage they sell next to the soy milks, it still lacked substance. So, I decided to buy a good old brown fuzzy coconut and go to town. What I found is that I could get coconut water, coconut milk, coconut flour and then coconut flour pastries, all from one single $2 coconut. Holla!

Without further adieu, here's what you'll need (all available via Amazon.com):

Your tools: Brown coconut, coconut tapping tool, meat separator and nut milk bag.

You'll need a coconut tapping tool & a meat separator (available as a bundle here), a brown coconut (available at asian stores, Whole Foods, Earthfare, etc.) and a nut milk bag.

Three eyes.

Once you have those tools, grab your coconut and look at the top with the three eyes. One of these eyes is a "soft spot" (only one, the other two are hard as rocks), where you will push your coconut tapping tool into.

Tap the soft eye. 

Once you've tapped the eye, remove the tool and either insert a straw and drink, or tip it over into a glass to drain all the delicious coconut water out of it.

Drink up!

Or save for later.

Once the water is drained, it's safe for cracking in half. I use a hammer, but I've also been known to just throw it down on concrete and watch it shatter open. It's a good way to get out aggression. Once it's open, you can see all the nummy white meat inside. This is what you'll use to make your milk.

Blessings from the tropics!

Now, that meat doesn't just fall out. It takes a little work to peel it away from the shell. This is where your separator tool comes in handy. Just work the tool in-between the meat and the shell and wiggle back and forth until the meat pops out. (Don't worry about the brown "rind" on the meat. You can eat that and leave it on!)

Separate meat from the shell.

Take all the meat and place in your vitamix (or similar) blender. I usually fill the water up a couple inches above the meat. Usually this will take the total mixture up to the 7-8 cup mark on my blender container. Put the lid on and blend on high for a good 30-60 seconds. In the colder months, I have to blend longer to get the coconut oils in the meat to really melt. You want it to be a bit warm so it's easier to strain. If it's not slightly warm, blend longer.

Meat and water. Don't worry about the brown fragments. They are edible!

Once it's good and blended, you'll want to strain the pulp from the milk through a nut milk bag. Don't forget to squeeze the bag to get all the delicious milk out!

Pour the blended mixture into your nut milk bag. 

Squeeze the bag to get all the yummy milk out.

After you've squeezed all the milk out, put the strained milk back into the blender with a pinch of real salt, sweetener of choice, vanilla, cinnamon, etc. (whatever you like!). Blend until mixed.

Add ins!

Make sure to rinse the blender container before adding the strained milk back in.

Once you have it blended, pour into mason jars. I usually get 1.5 -2.5 quarts of milk that I use for drinking, smoothies, creamer (for my chaga tea!), etc.

Milk!

I love fresh coconut milk in my morning chaga tea. I top with cinnamon! Yum!

Once the milk sets in the fridge, it will separate. The cream will rise to the top. You can scrape this and make coconut whipped cream and use the remaining liquid for smoothies. Or simply stir or blend it back together. I found that a pour lid works really well with my milk. You can find that on Amazon.

Now that your milk is finished, it's time to do something with all that pulp.

Coconut pulp. 

If you have a dehydrator, place in a tray of your dehydrator. If you don't have a dehydrator, you can use your oven on the lowest setting, or even dry in the sun!

Coconut pulp ready for dehydrating into coconut flour.

Once it's dehydrated, you'll want to blend it again to break up the chunks and then store it in the freezer. Coconut flour is EXTREMELY absorbent and will pull moisture from the air and get yucky fast in your cupboard.

Place in freezer bag and freeze the dehydrated flour.

You can toast the flour before use to give your baked goods a more "nutty" flavor. Or you can use it as is. I use as is and make so many yummy goodies like these 3 ingredient coconut flour cookies?

I'm loving this coconut flour zucchini bread with sun butter. Drool.

There you have it, folks! That's a lot of stuff for $2! And you can rest easy knowing that it's free of gut disturbing fillers, preservatives, etc. If you have a favorite coconut flour recipe, leave it in the comments! I'd love to try your family favorites.

I hope you love the results as much as I do. Cheers!

Stephanie

What to do with your butts

I think every post I ever write unveils just how deep my frugality goes. Is frugality even a word? It is today. I'll make this one quick, because I now a ton of you are waiting for this cauliflower alfredo recipe. But I had to share this one to get to that one. You'll see why soon enough.

So, you know I'm always telling you to save all parts of your veggies. I love giving you all sorts of ways to use them, throwing very little away. I'm like the Native Americans ... only with veggies instead of buffalo. I can say that, being as I am part Native American. Maybe that's where I get this need to use every bit of everything? Any schnitzel, I specifically remember mentioning to keep a bag in your freezer in which you throw all your bits and pieces, day after day. Kind of like this.

My current stash of frozen bits

If you forget me telling you that (or if I forgot to tell you that but think that I did), then here's what I mean. When you have bits of veggie stuff that you'd typically throw out or compost, toss it in a freezer bag instead. Here's some examples:

Cauliflower leaves? ... throw them in the bag.

Onion skins? ... Yep, they are super full of nutrition and add a fab flavor to any veggie stock.

Garlic skins? ... Just like onions, they are perfect for this!

Don't forget to keep and freeze parsley/herb stems, carrot tips, etc! Once your bag is full, it might look a little like this.

Ready for stock!

Now, toss all those frozen bits and pieces in a soup/stock pot. Cover it with filtered water. Bring it to a boil. Let simmer for a few hours. I like to add some salt and spices (salt, cayenne, herbs). Drain through a nut milk bag or just a colander. Now you have veggie stock for rice, soups, etc. I freeze in one cup portions in my deep freeze, so they are always measured and ready for any recipe! This comes in super handy ... like tonight when I made curry and needed some stock on-hand!

So, go make some stock so you can create this amazeballs alfredo I'm going to share with you.

Namasté!
Steph

Youponing: DIY coconut milk

I gave up dairy years ago, in an effort to reduce inflammation in my sweet, one-time-use vessel. I never liked cow milk. I always thought the smell was off-putting. But, I did used to use soy milk for cereals and such. Fast-forward 10+ years later, and I'm off the soy too (I'll explain later). So, what's a girl to do? I love almond milk, but I do fear the dreaded PUFA over-consumption. And I am NOT about to give up my obsession with sunflower seed butter just so I can squeeze in the PUFAs in almond milk and keep my omegas balanced.

But I NEED something white and creamy for my smoothies and recipes!!!

Oh, hello coconut milk. I didn't see you there. You're so chill and easy going. I bet it was that island life you lived, wasn't it? You just slid right into my life when I needed you most and said "Ya mon, I heah for ya."

Have you ever tried coconut milk? It's darn good. But the price tag can get a bit sticky for us frugal folk. But, never fear, I'm here to show you the ways of my alter ego "Thrifty Cent". Here's my super easy peasy version for the busy mama or the just plain lazy.

First, go to Trader Joes. Almost all of their cans are BPA free, and you will pay at least 1/3rd of what you would anywhere else. There you will find these most magnificent cans of light coconut milk for 99 cents. Yep, that's less than a buck, guys!

Under a buck at Traders, y'all!  

Second, open up that bad boy and dump into a quart jar and add one can full of water to it. (Or go crazy and do twice the milk in a half gallon mason jar, like I do).

I prefer a wide mouth jar. 

Third, sprinkle in a pinch of salt and then whatever else you would like to flavor it with. I like vanilla and coconut sugar (coconut, meet coconut) or stevia. I've even made peppermint at Christmas time!

Vanilla & sea salt is always a good choice!!!

Fourth, shake, chill & enjoy.

Last, say thank you for just saving you a few bucks on coconut milk.

Someday I'll show you how to make it from scratch using the dried stuff!

Love & coconuts!
S

I'm cheap.

Cheapy cheaperson, here. Yes, tis true. If I were a hip hop artist, my name would be "Thrifty Cent". I'm frugal as they get. I'm not cheap in the gratuity sense, but cheap in the "if I can find a way to do this myself instead of spending money, I will" way. If I spend a dime on myself, I writhe in guilt for days. When you've lived an entire life of financial struggles, you end up this way. But, this fact is what triggered me to start this blog in the first place. Being broke has its perks. For one, you know every free spot in town. You enjoy every moment of just laying in the grass under a tree with your kid. You become thankful for every bite or a full fridge. And, you learn how to DIY. And I am stubbornly DIY now. I actually like my creations so much, that, if I won the lottery tomorrow, I'd still make them instead of buying them. Lastly, you find a use for every last thing that you do buy ... or grow. 

When I began the NovaNalu blog, I wanted it to cover 3 things: Eating, praying and loving. So, I want to spend the next few posts talking about the "eat" part and how to obtain foods on the cheap. Namely, produce. Why? Because produce is the most expensive part of a grocery trip, aside from meat. 

I want to give you ideas of how to use every part of your produce, even the extra bits you'd normally throw away. I'll even throw in some snack food ideas, to keep you from buying pricey snack foods too. NN is NOT a foodie blog. So, if you're not into this sort of thing, stay tuned, and I'll give you some love in the next post or two.

For today, I will talk about CSAs. For those not familiar, CSA stands for "community supported agriculture". In a nutshell, it's locally grown foods from smaller farms that produce a variety of items for you to pick up each week at a specified location. CSA season is now through summer and a little into fall. There are a few CSA options out there. LEAF has several options. Fresh Fork is another local Cleveland CSA. Some offer only veggies and fruits, some have meats and dairy included. We do the City Fresh CSA available through LEAF. 

City Fresh has a single share (feeds 1-2) for $15/week and a family share (feeds 3-4) for $28/week. Also available is a "limited income" option for those of you (us) who aren't as financially blessed. The limited income option is only $9/week for the single and $16/week for the family share. It doesn't take much to qualify. We didn't even have to prove our income. They just basically have an honor system and go on faith. And I like that. It makes me feel like we are a community, and we are taking care of each other. And it gives those less fortunate an opportunity to feed their family nutrient rich foods for pennies. Beats the ramens, anyday! 

Here's a sneak peak into our share for the week. We got: kale, broccoli w/leaves, kohlrabi w/leaves, snap peas, dill, beets w/greens, onions, lettuce, garlic scapes, a qt of strawberries, apple butter ... I think that was it. I didn't get them all in one shot, because I was super ambitious in creating things with it. But here's some of what we got. 

A few of the goodies from CityFresh this week.

These snap peas could fit into the "love" category instead of the "eat" category...and the "dessert" category instead of the "veggie" category. 

Kale. King of greens. Can I get a witness?

So, you see, we got plenty of eats for one week. Not bad for $16. And even at $28, it's a steal. 

Over the next week (CSA goes from Thurs to Thurs) I'm going to share a few tips on how to use each bit of these yummy greens. 

With a happy belly, 
Steph