Coconut oil and the Mighty Muffin
 

I was thinking about how to make CO easier to get down and realized that it is great for baking and stands heat very well. So I'm considering cookies, muffins, breads, etc.

This led to thinking about other brain support ingredients to try to work in. Off the top of my head I would include-
1- Cranberries, blueberries, strawberries, and similar colored fruits
2- Raisins
3- Walnuts
4- Turmeric, ginger, cinnamon
5- Blackstrap molasses

What else? Anyone a cook? How about a joint Brain Bread recipe suitable for a bread machine?

Someone wrote that they cooked veggies and mixed them with some coconut oil when they were done. I don't know if that has benefits over cooking the veggies in the oil.

I usually steam veggies and I will mix them with the oil when they're steamed. I like to coat my veggies with wheat germ, so I'll warm the coconut oil in a pan, mix with wheat germ, and then coat my vegetables. I love broccoflower, cauliflower, broccoli, and brussel sprouts.

i dont know about bread, but i find the coconut oil goes down well in a mug of hot coco.it even adds a nice nutty flavor too. just keep stiring or the coconut oil will just float to the top

Burn test...
 

I inadvertantly did a test to see how hot you can cook with it..... I put afrying pan on the stove and turned it up to high ...then got distracted. The whole house was full of smoke and I thought something funny was going on, looked around and it was smoking like crazy, but never caught fire. It has a very high burn (ignition) point. I carefully carried it out side and set it on the cement side walk. It took us 3 days to clear the house. funny...but not funny.
Other oils would have been on fire if heated that high. Yes it does have a distinct flavor. I suspect you could bake with it quite easily. Another thing you might try is add it to a smoothie in the blender. It is a very unusual product. I'm going to try bake homemade bread with it using at my oil...let you know how it turns out!

Happy new year by the way....well lets hope so anyway!

yes you can use coconut oil
 

hello rev,
I use it to broil fish / salmon
use it when it says in the recipe same amount as oil/ or crisco -yuckie!
coconut oil will not burn like butter
the theaters have used it for years to pop -popcorn!
I can use it for these things that are room temperature ingredients
otherwise coconut oil - congeals - when mixed with cold water milk etc...
:D
http://www.coconut-connections.com/recipes.htm

Recipes
 

There are quite a few recipe books that specialise in cooking with Coconut oil.Try B Fife and also try M Enig or Sally Fallon

Oh dear
 

Could not find the authors in Amazon so put in Coconut and up popped Bruce Fife and then put in Nourishing Traditions, M Fallons best known book and up she came

behold the power of the internet
 

I did a quick search this morning while the kids slept and incredibly, found the following recipe, which does NOT call for coconut oil but which I substituted 1/2 olive oil and 1/2 coconut oil for the 1/2 cup of oil in the recipe, my kids wolfed these down. Here's the recipe, and thanks Rick for thinking of this:

Narda Butler’s Oatmeal Muffins
with Monkling modifications

• 1 1/3 cup oatmeal
• 1 1/3 cup yogurt (the original recipe uses buttermilk but I had plain low fat yogurt in the house, used that, & loved how they came out.)
• 1 1/3 cup flour (you can use spelt, or whole wheat, or a combo of white, wheat, spelt, whatever you like)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2/3 cup brown sugar (I used 2/3 cup organic cane sugar)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans if you like

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. And of course you want to use the paper muffin liners because it’s so much easier. The original directions tell you to soak the oats in the buttermilk for 30 minutes. What I do is throw in all the liquid ingredients for the 30 minute soak and I also toss in the turbinado sugar so that it will have some time to dissolve. Otherwise I’m imagining it might not dissolve completely and someone will bit into it and crack a tooth. In another bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. After the oats have finished soaking, add the dry ingredients to the wet ones, mix until just moistened & spoon into the muffin tins. Bake for 20 minutes.

Great with ice cream, er, I mean skim milk!

I don't have time to write too much, but you all might want to check into exactly what type of coconut oil you're using. Some are better than others.

thats true.... obviously the better ones are going to be 'extra virgin' and organic. but truth be known coconut oil isnt a new thing. supposedly back in the 1930's-40's coconut oil was the thing they used. but with the advent of wwII and japan occupying most of the pacific islands the supply got cut short so things switched more towards shortenings and other oils. well coconut oil is starting to make a comeback. its still a bit on the pricy side, but as supply grows and it becomes easier to find the price should come back down.
the last container i bought was 18$ for a 32oz jar. a little more than i really wanted to spend but still not bad. on the other hand its also supposed to make a nice skin cream and burn ointment too. not to mention that its actually supposed to be rather good for you since its pretty much all short chain and medium chain fatty acids(the ones your body goes through easy)

good article on coconut oil to read..... http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...ut-health.aspx

Hmmm, this got me to thinking.

I have been cutting way back on rich creamy salad dressings. Using the low fat version. The non fat is yuck imo. I use good quality EVOO and a squeeze of lemon juice a lot.

I bet the coconut oil would give salads a great taste. I love to add berries to salads too. Especially the dried ones.

I'll have to get some.

the coconut oil would have to be heated to use for salad dressing. its got a rather low melting point and melts at about 75 degrees. below that(room temp) in the jar it kinda looks and feels like parafin wax. straight outa the can its tastes horrid, but you can cook with it. you can use it instead of butter for frying. it'd take quite a bit to do fried chicken but i imagine it would taste pretty good. i know people who use it as a spread on toast in the morning with a dash of cinnamon. its got a great shelf life and doesnt go rancid like vegi oils can and its supposed to give a boost to your immune system. whats not to like?

muffins all gone
 

OK, that recipe I posted yesterday was a hit with everyone in our house, which included guests! Those muffins are GONE! I am making a new batch this morning to share with yet another round of company, and this time I will use all coconut oil, nixing the portion of olive oil, and I bet they will taste even better. My husband could not believe there was no butter in them. They really were tasty. I will let everyone know how they turn out, but I think it's safe to predict they will be scrumptious.

awsome!.....so far ive only put it in hot coco, but im gonna try scrambling some eggs with it