Koo Koo for Coconuts!

Cracking Open a Coconut the EASY way!

Enjoying Fresh Coconuts the easy way. My daughter and I love coconut water and coconut meat, we use to drool at the whole coconuts, imagining someone taking a hack knife and cutting off the top for us because we knew we would never be able to get that thing open to enjoy……. UNTIL a sweet young girl at our local fruit/veggie stand explained to us last year how we can open the tops EASILY!  We immediately bought one and when we got home it was the first thing we did… We were successful!!!!  And now coconuts have been on our weekly grocery list since. I use to enjoy the water and my daughter used to eat the meat, but now she has hijacked the water from me and eats the meat… It makes me so happy because I know how good it is for her. The coconut water and meat provides essential vitamins, minerals, and energy for a medium person’s daily requirements and is rich in electrolytes and potassium.  It is a raw whole complete food, not processed junk food, but can taste just as good to kids!  My daughter who also loves sugar proves that.

 

First, you take a decent size knife and skim off the top sides all around the top until the hard brown shell is nicely exposed. Then you turn the sturdy knife upside down and use the thicker part near the handle to tap around the exposed brown shell.  Go around the perimeter TURNING the coconut, KEEP GOING IN CIRCLES TAPPING. Just a medium tap. You feel like nothing is going to happen, but I promise YOU it will crack, just keep tapping away! Then you will see a crack starting around the entire top perimeter, then you can easily pry it off. Might take 60 seconds of tapping or so.

Now it is time to take a straw and enjoy the Coconut Water! So delicious! Packed with nutrition including bioactive compounds like cytokinins and enzymes that aid in digestion and metabolism. Cytokinins are known to have anti-aging and anti-carcinogenic effects. It is even a good source of B-complex. Drink away, Grace!

Next thing we do after the water is all gone, we scoop out the fresh moist coconut meat.  And devour that!

 

Coconut is one of my favorite ingredients in many of my recipes like my coconut crusted chicken and Thai coconut vegetable soup – mouthwatering.

Benefits of Coconut and How to Work Coconut into Your Diet

Coconut Oil & Benefits of Cooking with Coconut Oil

Coconut oil has helped me raise my beneficial HDL cholesterol levels. Coconut oil is probably the best oil to cook with because it takes the heat better than other healthy oils like olive oil. Coconut oil is mostly saturated fat, which means it is less susceptible to heat damage. Olive oil does not withstand the heat as well as coconut oil, however Olive oil is great for your health at room temperature and I use it on all my salads! I like buying my Native Forest 100% Organic Raw Virgin Coconut Oil, 128 Ounce
in a tub, better value and I just fill up a mason jar with it to keep it at hand.

Coconut Milk

Coconut milk is rich and satisfying like a decadent dessert. I use it in coconut soups, cauliflower mash and in deserts… One of my favorite staples to have in my pantry, cans of coconut milk. Thai Kitchen Organic Coconut Milk, Premium, 13.66 Ounce (Pack of 6) it is a better value to buy these in bulk, you can buy a pack of 6 or 12 or solo. I buy 6 since I use it often.  Coconut milk tastes great in my Thai Coconut Vegetable Soup.

Coconut Water

My daughter and I love drinking coconut water straight from a fresh coconut! It is the very best! And is great for a light workout natural sports drink because it contains potassium which is an electrolyte you lose through sweating. Coconut water is also great to add to smoothies as I have in my smoothie recipes.

Coconut Flour

I love cooking with coconut flour and it works great in my coconut crusted chicken recipe. It is great to add in baked goods also and lowers the glycemic index, which is good for diabetics or pre-diabetics. Great deals on organic coconut flour online. Organic Coconut Flour 3 lb, w/ Gluten Free Recipe E- Cookbook, Fine, Raw, Paleo Friendly Low Carb Non-GMO Certified Whole Foods can be pricey.

Coconut Meat

Coconut meat is our favorite right out of a fresh coconut, it is low in carbs.

Shredded Coconut

I use unsweetened dried shredded coconut flakes and add it in many of my recipes, like my coconut crusted chicken, it is great to sprinkle salads as well and over fresh orange slices. Buying online saves you money! Let’s Do Organic Unsweetened Coconut Shredded, Fine Shred, 8 oz.