I Love Coconut and That's Okay!

This is a post from my awesome, healthy sister Heather:

I have been eating a lot of coconut products lately. A few months ago I gave up dairy in hopes that would help my baby's reflux issues. So coconut is a great alternative. Years ago when the "low fat" diet was the craze coconut got a bad rap and I know I for one stayed away from it. But coconut is actually really good for you. here is some info from greensmothie girl:

"Coconut oil is 64% medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs), which burn as energy quickly rather storing in the body as fat (especially belly fat) like the long-chains. MCFAs are quite rare in foods and have massive positive implications for your health, although the processed vegetable oil industry tried to malign the tropical oils years ago and many consumers have no idea what great nutrition they are missing out on. Coconut oil is anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-parasite, and anti-fungal. It prevents heart disease, linked by recent research to lingering infections in the blood and tissues that coconut oil kills. It has been documented to inhibit carcinogenic agents that cause colon cancer and breast tumors in animals."

read more here: http://www.greensmoothiegirl.com/robyn-recommendations

So I have been baking with coconut oil, instead of butter:

Here is a simple cookie recipe that even my non-sugar eating husband will eat because they aren't too sweet:

1 cup oat flour ( blend regular oats in blender)

1 cup wheat flour

1/4 cup honey

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 egg

chopped walnuts

mix all ingredients and bake at 350 F for 10 mins. or until lightly browned.

I have been making smoothies with coconut milk:

Here is an awesomely easy recipe:

2-3 cups coconut milk

4 frozen bananas

1 can frozen pineapple (pineapples in their own juice, I put the pineapple in a Tupperware and froze them the day before)

Unsweetened coconut flakes or powder

Blend the first three in the blender and pour into cups. Top with unsweetened coconut.

And I have ever once in a while been splurging on coconut ice cream, when I am feeling particularly deprived:


We have also made blueberry/banana coconut pancakes:

1 cup wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 tblsp coconut shreds

1/4 cup flax seed meal

1 tblsp honey (optional)

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 cup almond or coconut milk

2 tblsp coconut oil

blueberries or sliced bananas

Mix wet ingredients in medium bowl. Mix dry ingredients in a larger bowl. Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix well until consistency is smooth.

Pour a scoop of batter (1/4 cup) onto preheated pan at medium heat. Sprinkle with blueberries or sliced bananas on top. Flip over when batter begins to bubble.


Sorry no pictures but these were awesome. We eat them for our traditional Sunday night breakfast with scrambled eggs and green smoothies. Yum!!


So don't worry. I now give you permission to love coconut again. Go get some virgin coconut oil and use it any time a recipe calls for butter. You can also use it for sautéing. I have even used it to "butter" the bread on grilled cheese sandwiches.-Heather