Young Thai Coconuts 

I use coconuts a lot in my diet. Coconut meat, coconut water, coconut milk, shredded coconut, coconut flour....I think you get the idea. In Costa Rica, the ticos and ticas (natives) call the young coconuts "pipa". A young coconut has "water" inside. A mature coconut has "milk" inside. Water is mainly used to drink. There is a little bit of meat, but it is kind of slimy to just eat plain. I sometimes scrape it out and freeze it to add to smoothies along with the coconut water. If I'm not feeling that ambitious, I just give it to the dog and chickens. Milk and meat from mature coconuts is used for a wide variety of things: coconut cream, shredded coconut, coconut milk, coconut oil, coconut flour, etc.

I wanted to share what I do with the coconut water from young Thai coconuts. I freeze the water in ice cube trays to use in smoothies instead of actual ice cubes. I like to buy a box of  9 coconuts from a local Asian market (way less expensive than the health food stores). If you do this, please remember they have to be kept refrigerated until you use them. This is what you will need to start. 

Use the knife like a machete to whack away at the coconut on one side. When you have macheted out a  spot, you can use the point of the knife to cut out the coconut meat from the hole.

Flip the coconut over and let it drain out into a pitcher or bowl like this.

Pour into ice cube trays and freeze. This is about what things look like when I'm done with the "freezing" portion. I like to chop the coconut open on the plastic wrap that was around it, then wad the thing up an throw it away in a neat little package.

Next is to break open the coconuts and get the meat out. 

So, take your hammer and bang away. Hit it next to the hole. It is weakest at this point. Then hit it next to that hole you just made. This should break it open pretty good. Just give it a few hard whacks slamming it down against the ground until it breaks through. Oh yeah, doing this on concrete works best. 

Use a spoon to scoop out the meat; it's quite tender and easy to do, unlike the mature coconuts. That meat is really thick!

From here you can put it in a smoothie, or freeze for later use.

Organic Dessert Pizza

Basically, this is a giant sugar cookie, with frosting and fruit...well, and chocolate chips of course. My son despises fruit so I knew he wouldn't get any dessert on Thanksgiving if fruits were included. And since I made the desserts, I made sure he was able to indulge also. His slice was one with chocolate chips. This was a huge hit with all the children, and most of the adults also.

So, begin with a sugar cookie recipe. I used the following from my Better Homes & Gardens cook book:

2/3 C Organic Butter, Softened
3/4 C Organic Sugar
1 t Aluminum Free Baking Powder
1/4 t Sea Salt
1 Range Free Egg
1 T Raw Milk or Coconut Milk
1 T Organic Vanilla
2 C Organic Flour

Beat butter until creamy. Add sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat until combined. Beat in egg, milk and vanilla until smooth. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer then stir in any remaining flour.

Lightly flour baking stone and turn dough onto stone. Press down with hands to make a circle and press out as much as possible with your hands. Use a rolling pin to get dough out close to the edges.

Bake at 375 for approximately 15 minutes or until cookie is lightly browned. Let cool completely.

Frosting:
1 - 8 oz Organic Cream Cheese, Softened
1/2 C Organic Powdered Sugar
Blend together well and spread on cookie

Top with whatever kinds of fruits you like. I used strawberries, raspberries, oranges, blueberries and chocolate chips.

Organic Dinner Rolls

 I’ve made these a lot over the years. They work best with organic white flour. A mixture of whole wheat flour works nicely also, but just doesn’t rise as well. One year when I was at my brother-in-law’s home I made these with yeast that hadn’t been refrigerated. Not a good idea. Not my yeast.  No rising involved, yikes! So, instead of making a trip to the store, we kind of shocked them into rising. I remembered that one of my girlfriends doesn’t raise her pizza dough before baking; she just bakes at a very high temperature. So I thought about that and decided it was worth a try. I baked the rolls at 420 or so, and it worked. Not perfectly, but they did rise pretty well and turned out decent. It’s kind of a bummer when you have it all planned out, and, it’s for a big event and then there’s a disaster. Luckily this disaster ended up working out well.

 

 

```Warm the following in a saucepan until butter almost melts:

1/3 C. Organic Butter

1 C. Raw Milk

¼ C. Organic Sugar

Dash of Sea Salt

```In a medium sized bowl stir together:

1-1/4 C. Organic Flour

2 Packages Active Dry Yeast

```Add the warmed mixture and one egg to the flour mixture. Beat on low speed 30 seconds scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. With a wooden spoon, stir in 2 to 2 ¼ C. more organic flour.

```Turn dough onto a clean surface and knead for a couple minutes till dough has a nice, smooth consistency. Place approximately 1 T. Olive Oil in a bowl and put the dough in it.  Flip it over once and cover in a warm place. Let rise until doubled.

 

```Punch dough down in bowl (my favorite part) and turn out onto floured surface. Cut dough in two equal parts and let rest for ten minutes. Roll out each part into 12 inch circles. Brush with very soft or melted butter. Cut into pizza slices. Roll up each “slice” starting with the wide end.

 

```Place in a greased baking dish, cover and let rise until doubled in size. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes. Cover with tin foil after baking ten minutes so tops don’t burn. Brush tops of rolls with butter after taking out of oven for a soft roll.

```You can make whatever shape roll you like. I usually do the crescents, but you could also do cloverleafs, parker house,  rosettes, etc.

Organic Gluten Free Peanut Butter Play Dough
1 C. Creamy Peanut Butter (I make mine in my blender)
1 C. Raw Honey
1 C. Organic Coconut Flour
Wax Paper

 Mix peanut butter and honey together, then mix in the coconut flour. You can add in whatever mix-ins you’d like: raisins, chocolate chips, coconut, etc., or leave it plain. Once this is mixed well, take tablespoonfuls and roll in a ball. Wrap in wax paper and keep in the frig for an anytime snack. 

 This may make your hands a bit greasy, but will not stick so it’s a fun thing to make with kids. It’s also full of protein and good enzymes from the raw honey. I got this recipe from a girl who works at Real Foods Market in Orem.

Organic Pumpkin Dessert Surprise

1 - 16 oz. Can Organic Pumpkin
1 - 12 oz. Can Evaporated Milk
1 C. Organic Sugar
1 t. Organic Cinnamon
1/4 t. Organic Nutmeg
4 Free Range Eggs
1/2 C. Organic Butter
1 Organic Yellow Cake Mix (no pudding in the mix)
Organic Whipping Cream or Vanilla Ice Cream

Mix together the pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and eggs. Pour into an ungreased 9X13 glass pan.


Cut butter into cake mix and sprinkle on top of pumpkin mixture in glass pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Done when cake mix is slightly browned. Serve with whip cream or ice cream.

Aunt Suzanne's Chocolate Cheesecake

I grew up knowing this as "Chocolate Cheesecake". I've heard it called "Better Than Robert Redford" or "Better Than Sex". I'm not going to comment on either of those, just know that it's one of the yummiest desserts I've ever had. And, I can thank my Aunt Suzanne for the recipe. It's also quite easy to make so don't be afraid of all the layers...
I made this along with three other desserts for Thanksgiving: dessert pizza, apple pie and pumpkin dessert surprise. I also made dinner rolls, mmmm good! Anyway, on with the chocolate cheesecake!

Bottom Layer : 1 1/4 C. Organic Flour, 1 Cube Melted Organic Butter, 1 C. Finely Chopped Pecans. Mix all of this together and press into a 9X13 baking dish. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Second Layer: 1 C. Organic Powdered Sugar, 16 oz Organic Whipping Cream Whipped, 8 oz Organic Cream Cheese. Beat together and spread on cooled nut layer.

Third Layer: 2 Small Packages Chocolate Instand Pudding, 3 C. Raw Milk. Beat together and spread on top of second layer.

Fourth Layer: 16 oz whipped whipping cream beat with 3 T. Organic Sugar. Spread on top of third layer.

 

Top with chocolate shavings.

 

Store refrigerated until ready to serve. Serves a lot!

 

Gluten Free Organic Granola
7 C. Organic Oats
1 C. Chopped Raw Almonds
1 ½ C. Organic Shredded Coconut
1 C. Organic Oat or Spelt Flour*
1 t. Organic Cinnamon
½ t. Organic Nutmeg
½ t. Organic Cloves
1 t. Sea Salt
½ C. Organic Sesame Seeds
1 ½ T. Hemp Seeds
2 T. Organic Maca Powder

1 C. Raw Agave, Brown Rice Syrup or Honey

½ C. Organic Olive Oil or Raw Coconut Oil
2 T. Organic Vanilla
1/3 C. Water

1 C. Organic Dried Fruit (raisins, dates, pineapple)

1 Package Chocolate Chips (I prefer Enjoy Life®)

 

Mix dry ingredients in an 11x17 glass dish. Mix together wet ingredients and pour over dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Put in a 225˚ oven for 4-8 hours stirring each hour. Or, you can bake at 300° for 40 minutes stirring every ten minutes. Add dried fruit and chocolate chips after baking. How long you bake it depends on how crunchy and crispy you want it. I prefer not cooking the full amount of time so it's not quite so dry. Enjoy with raw milk or greek yogurt. Stores well in an airtight container for a couple months.
Happy Baking!

*Spelt flour may safely be consumed and still be considered gluten free by most who have gluten sensitivity.