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

Break(fast) outside the box.

If you haven't noticed, I just took a little hiatus. The fam and I went on a little extended vacation to the East Coast. We always go to the beach the third week of September, when all the kids are back in school (except mine), the rates are cheaper (you know I love that), and the weather is a perfect low-mid 80s with bath water temperature ocean water. The only thing I don't like about taking vacation that week, is that it seems we leave Ohio in summer weather and come back to 50 degree fall weather. I don't know how this happens in a 1-2 week window, but it does. So, we go from sweaty sunny beach days to ... fall.

Now, I'm not anti fall. I'm not. I'm anti winter and spring. If fall went straight back into summer, well, I think I would never complain about anything ever again. Fall is cozy. I want to light candles all day, diffuse earthy essential oils and wrap up in a blanket and a good book with a cup of nettles tea and a bowl of pumpkin fauxtmeal.

What?

Yes, pumpkin fauxtmeal.

I never intended for this blog to be all about food, and, trust me, it won't be. But I do love food and spend probably more than half my life creating it. Which makes it natural for me to have a lot to say about it. And I think we get caught up in food ruts. So, I like to share different ways of doing the same old ... same old. Now, ditch that lectin filled oatmeal and give this a try. You will be deliciously excited. Your digestion will thank you. And your cells will be full of immune boosting vitamins and antioxidants. (Flu shot, who?). I've had this for breakfast every morning, and it's time I stop being stingy and let you in on my morning indulgence (is it still an indulgence if it's much lower in calories than oatmeal and very high in nutrition? Probably not, but your taste buds will never know).

Can I get a spoon high five?

Finished fauxtmeal with ceylon cinnamon, chia seeds and coconut milk on top.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Pie Pumpkin (or acorn squash, butternut squash, alternative winter squash)
• 1/4-1/2 cup shredded coconut (more or less depending on preference)
• 3 Tbsp coconut oil (or butter, earth balance, etc.)
• 1 Tsp cinnamon
• Big pinch of sea salt
• Pinch nutmeg
• Sweetener of choice (I used coconut nectar and stevia together, but honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar would all work deliciously too!)
• Toppings of choice (chia seeds, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, raisins, cranberries, etc.) 

STEPS

• Heat oven to 400. 

• Half the pumpkin, scoop out the seeds (throw them out or roast them), and place (cut side down) in a baking dish with 1/2" of water in the bottom of the pan. 

• Roast in 400 degree oven for 20 minutes (or until a fork will go through the skin). 

• While this is cooking, melt coconut oil (or butter) with sweetener (the amount will vary depending on what you use) and spices/salt.

• Once pumpkin is soft, flip it so cut side is now up. Drizzle with the melted mixture of oil, sugar and spices and put back in the oven (still cut side up) for another 20 minutes. 

• Once pumpkin is a nice golden color, remove from the skin and puree in a blender or vitamin (I've even used my bullet blender). 

Blended roasted pumpkin, ready for the fixins!

You can use the shredded coconut as is, or you can toast it. Toasting it gives it a warm nutty flavor that is unmistakeable to coconut. I'm a big fan. The coconut also gives it the "oatmeal" texture. So, add more or less, depending on your preference. Too much might make it a little chewier. So, start with less and work your way up through taste testing. 

Warm toasted coconut.

• Stir about half the amount (depending on your appetite and the size) of the pumpkin in with the toasted coconut. Taste for seasoning and add more spices/sweetener to your liking. Top with chia or pumpkin seeds, coconut milk, a dash of cinnamon, maybe some raisins. Sit back and enjoy!

• Save the leftover pumpkin for tomorrow! But be sure to keep the coconut separate as to keep it's slightly crunchy texture. 

Your pumpkin will be too much for one meal.
So, save the pureed pumpkin in the fridge, and heat up in a pan tomorrow morning! 

This week, I roasted one acorn squash and a pie pumpkin, pureed it and kept it in the fridge. It's fed me for 4 mornings so far, and I still have another serving for tomorrow. Not bad for $2, which was the total I paid for the squashes at the local market. And the pumpkin, cinnamon, raw honey, coconut are all cold and flu bug fighters. So ... breakfast for the win!

Now can I get that spoon high five?