Coconut Oil's Health Benefits

I wanted to pass on some info on Coconut Oil its such a nutritious oil. This is taken from Dr. Joseph Mercola's blog, he is one of the foremost experts on coconut oil.

The Hidden Truth About Coconut Oil

The truth about coconut oil is obvious to anyone who has studied the health of those who live in traditional tropical cultures, where coconut has been a nutritious diet staple for thousands of years.

Back in the 1930's, a dentist named Dr. Weston Price traveled throughout the South Pacific, examining traditional diets and their effect on dental and overall health. He found that those eating diets high in coconut products were healthy and trim, despite the high fat concentration in their diet.

Similarly, in 1981, researchers studied populations of two Polynesian atolls. Coconut was the chief source of caloric energy in both groups. The results, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, demonstrated that both populations exhibited positive vascular health. There was no evidence that the high saturated fat intake had a harmful effect in these populations.

The many benefits of coconut oil are finally reaching the mainstream.

Benefits like:

• Promoting your heart health
• Promoting weight loss when and if you need it
• Supporting your immune system health
• Supporting a healthy metabolism
• Providing you with an immediate energy source
• Helping to keep your skin healthy and youthful looking
• Supporting the proper functioning of your thyroid gland

the MCFAs in coconut oil are more health-promoting, because:

• MCFAs are smaller. They permeate cell membranes easily, and do not require lipoproteins or special enzymes to be utilized effectively by your body.
• MCFAs are easily digested, thus putting less strain on your digestive system. This is especially important for those of you with digestive or metabolic concerns.
• MCFAs are sent directly to your liver, where they are immediately converted into energy rather than being stored as fat.
• MCFAs in coconut oil can actually help stimulate your body's metabolism, leading to weight loss.

·         In fact, the ability of MCFAs to be easily digested, to help stimulate the metabolism and be turned into energy has entered the sports arena. Several studies have now shown that MCFAs enhance physical or athletic performance.

·         Additionally, research has demonstrated that, due to its metabolic effect, coconut oil increases the activity of the thyroid. And you've probably heard that a sluggish thyroid is one reason why some people are unable to lose weight, no matter what they do.

·         Besides weight loss, there are other advantages to boosting your metabolic rate. Your healing process accelerates. Cell regeneration increases to replace old cells, and your immune system functions better overall.

·                 

·         Nature still has a few miracles up her sleeve.

·         You've probably heard that breast milk is jam-packed with nutrients and disease-fighting ingredients that help keep babies healthy.

·         Well, incredibly, coconut oil contains one of the same compounds -- lauric acid -- found in mother's milk! And lauric acid is the predominant type of MCFA found in coconut oil.

·         Fortunately for our health, lauric acid in both breast milk and coconut oil transforms when consumed into a substance called monolaurin, the actual compound responsible for helping to strengthen the immune system.

·         

T

3 worst artificial ingredients, plus natural alternatives

Robyn O'Brien, Delicious Living

Apr. 1, 2012 6:00pm

Synthetic colors, artificial sweeteners, and genetically modified organisms. Here's how to eliminate them from your diet with healthier natural choices.

They’re cheap, colorful, and preserve shelf life—it’s no wonder artificial ingredients are now in most processed foods. Every year, U.S. food manufacturers use 15 million pounds of synthetic dyes alone, even as scientific evidence increasingly links some additives to health issues such as allergies and certain cancers. “The body doesn’t recognize these chemically produced ingredients as simple foods, so it has to work harder, and that leads to irritation over time,” says Ashley Koff, RD, coauthor of Mom Energy (Hay House, 2011).

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One way to avoid additives is to buy foods labeled USDA Organic. Here are the top questionable ingredients—and healthier natural choices.

Synthetic food dyes (Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 2)

Synthesized from petroleum products, artificial food colors are in cereals, baked goods, and even salad dressings. Some clinical studies link them to hyperactivity in children.
In 2009, Britain insisted food makers take them out of foods marketed to kids. The U.K. version of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, for instance, is now free of artificial growth hormones and colors.
Better alternatives: Vegetable (or no) coloring. Try mac and cheese that’s colored with annatto, derived from achiote seed. Vegetable-colored jelly beans (look in your bulk section, or try Surf Sweets) are better choices than, say, fake-color Skittles. Instead of blue yogurt tubes, offer kids plain or vanilla yogurt with granola, honey, or chocolate chips. And avoid rainbow-hued sports drinks; try uncolored coconut water instead.

Artificial sweeteners

Controversial synthetic sweeteners such as  aspartame (Equal Classic, NutraSweet), acesulfame K, and sucralose (Splenda) don’t seem to work well for weight loss or diabetes prevention, the health issues for which they’re commonly marketed. In a recent study at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, drinking diet sodas increased waist circumference in humans; a second study found aspartame raised blood sugar levels in diabetes-prone rats.
Better alternatives: The herbal extract stevia, or rebaudioside A, has a long history of safe use in foods. The sugar alcohol erythritol serves as the base of sweeteners like Swerve, which provides an easy 1:1 replacement for sugar. Xylitol is another good option—especially in gums and mints because it fights tooth decay—but it can upset tummies in large doses.

Genetically modified organisms

Introduced without labeling into the U.S. food system in the 1990s, GMOs are now in the vast majority of packaged foods. (Governments in Europe, Japan, and other countries mandated labels because of a lack of research on long-term safety.) GMO-food consumption is now considered a risk factor for allergies, autism, ADHD, and asthma, says Charles Benbrook, PhD, chief scientist at the nonprofit Organic Center.
If you see corn, soy, canola, cottonseed, or sugar (made from beets, not cane) on an ingredients label—and the product isn’t organic—you can assume it contains GMOs.
Better alternatives: Non-GMO Project verified and USDA Organic foods. Organic regulations prohibit GMO ingredients. Also look for the Non-GMO Project seal  which means the food has met thresholds mandated in Europe.

Been gone a while, Sorry!

Sorry I haven't been back here fo a while. I have been so busy and preoccupied since our move out west and now we are moving up to Oregon. This is not alot of fun, I haven't had to pack and move for 15 years and I liked it that way.

Anyway here's one of my favorite recipes for a quick lunch or dinner. Your gonna love it.

Portobello Mushroom Sandwich

This is for 1 sandwich

Portobello Mushroom Caps  (1 per person)

1 thick cut ¼” slice of a sweet onion

1/2 of a sweet red bell pepper

Garlic Veganaise (recipe follows)

*Optional Cheese slice (vegan or dairy cheese of your choice, I prefer a sharp provolone)

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 slices of your favorite bread or 1 roll (Ciabatta)

If you do not have a George Forman Grill place the veggies in a hot skillet brushed with grapeseed oil to grill.

Prepare the veggies by cleaning and seeding the pepper then cut in half and place on a hot George Forman Grill close the grill and cook until the pepper is soft and chard around the edges. Remove the stem from the mushroom sprinkle with salt and pepper and set aside to grill on George Forman, do the same with the onion slice. 

Toast the bread or roll and spread both sides with garlic veganaise. Place the mushroom on the bottom slice, then the onion and the pepper top with second slice of bread and Enjoy!

If you are using cheese you can top the whole thing with cheese and place under a low broiler until melted then top with the second slice of bread.

Wine and Desert Gifts for Christmas

                                              

       Wine and Dessert are wonderful friends. And they make such a great gift to send to family and friends for Christmas or any time through out the year.                  

At the Bakery (www.everydaygourmetbakery.com) we pair our Fudge Cake and our Vanilla Raspberry cakes with wines from a local winery. It is such a delicious way to say I love you at Christmas.

Other gifts that I enjoy giving are ones from sites online that support animal groups, rainforests and other issues like hunger. One of these is the online store at www.farmsanctuary.com also The Animal Rescue site and their shopping spot http://www.shop2give.us

Oh the Holidays

The Holidays bring with them a lot of things.... One of which is stress! Stressing over the gifts, and  is the house going to be ready for guests this year, "what do I serve at parties" and "What the Heck is all this going to cost me anyway"!

I am not an expert on this but I might have a few ideas that could save you a little stress:

• The first and foremost one is Relax; everything will work out fine and "why does everything have to be so perfect anyway"?? Stressing out only stresses those around you out and can sometimes ruin the holidays for all....
• Next make a list of only the essential people that you have to buy for. Take all of those other people off your list. We are in a recession after all and this is not the time to focus on purchasing gifts for those that are not the most important people in our lives.
• And try not to put more on your credit card than you can pay off in the first month of 2012.
• This might make the last two easier: Focus this year on the meaning of Christmas and not the commercialism, gather a group and volunteer at a homeless shelter or food kitchen. Get kids involved in a food drive or gift drive. Make gifts this year and involve the whole family in making them. 
• When you are buying gifts keep in mind what the recipient might really need. Make your dollars count buy making your gifts usable items that someone will actually use. And I don't mean a tie for daddy covered in comic book characters!
• What about those really hard to buy for people. Well food gifts are just the thing for them. Wrap up a bottle of sweet wine and order them a small chocolate dessert from (www.everydaygourmetbakery.com) and they will be happy campers for sure.
• And if you have the money but don't need the stress of shopping in those busy malls bursting at the seams with craized parents looking for the latest and greatest toy for little Tommy then order all or most of your gifts on-line and have them gift wrapped and shipped directly to everyone on your list....

Hope some of these ideas will be helpful. I try every year to be less stressed at the Hoilday's and one of the best ways I do it is to not fret over the gifts, the sales are better the day after anyway!!!!

Closing of the Farm Markets

 October marks the closing down of most of the farm markets across the country. If you are lucky enough to be in warmer climates you may enjoy them for a longer period and for that I am envious.  Here in the north east we are bringing out the cauldrons and filling them with sweet and tart apples, cinnamon and brown sugar, boiling it all down to make apple sauce and apple butter.

Everywhere the fields are dotted with orange balls of varying sizes filled with sweet orange flesh that we turn into pumpkin pies for the holidays. Some really really large ones make it into the local contests for the largest pumpkin grown each year.  Interesting to note is that the largest pumpkin ever grown weighed 1,140 pounds. I know some farmers around here that would love to beat that record.  Recently I heard of people partaking in a recreation called “punkin chunkin”. Our ancestors would roll over in their graves if they knew about this wasteful activity.

As “Gus Portokalos” from “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” would say the name pumpkin originated from the Greek word for “large melon” which is “pepon”. (And they probably washed them with Windex)J.   The name pepon was eventually changed to pumpkin by the English colonists.

During Colonial times pumpkin was a staple in the Native Americans diet and when the white settlers came to America they saw how the Indians used pumpkin and it soon became a staple in their diets as well. There are many uses for pumpkin;   unfortunately today we do not generally use pumpkin except for our traditional pumpkin pie.  This is too bad because it is one of the most nutrient rich squashes containing natural vitamin A and potassium.  An interesting fact about pumpkin is that in Colonial times it was an ingredient in the crust not the filling.

There are many traditional and nontraditional recipes for using pumpkin available today. One tweak on the traditional pumpkin pie that I like is to take your pie out after 15 minutes of baking then make a mixture of 2Tb organic flour, 4Tb organic cane sugar, 1tsp cinnamon, 2Tb earth balance. Blend this all together in a food processor or cut it in with a pastry blender. Then blend in 2/3 cup chopped pecans and 2/3 cup chopped walnuts.  Sprinkle this over the top of the pie and place back into a 350’ oven for 35 minutes.

A more non-traditional but really delicious recipe that my whole family enjoys is for Leek and Pumpkin Casserole. It also uses seasonally available ingredients like cider and leeks. The recipe follows:

Leek and Pumpkin Casserole

1 lg sweet onion, sliced

2 leeks, sliced

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 carrots, thinly sliced

1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced

1 3/4 cups diced pumpkin

1 cup diced sweet potato

2/3 cup diced rutabaga or turnips

14 oz can of chopped tomatoes or 2 cups diced fresh tomatoes

2/3 cup – 1 cup hard cider

2 tsp herbs de Provence

Salt and pepper to taste

Fresh flat leaf parsley for garnish

Method

Preheat the oven to 350’F. Put all of the fresh vegetables into a casserole dish and mix them up well. Add the tomatoes, 2/3 cup of the cider, the herbs and salt and pepper mixing everything all up together.

Cover and bake in the center of the over for 1 ½ hours, stirring once or twice and adding a little more cider if needed. You want the vegetables to be tender when done. Garnish with parsley and serve warm with crusty bread.

Fall is in the Air

With the weather cooling down in many parts of the country we begin to think of fall and all of the things that go with it. Harvest time is a big deal in our area. Soon there will be apple festivals, with the many different flavors of cider being pressed in old wooden cider presses at local cider mills. Flavors such as raspberry, cherry and good old fashioned apple.  The warm smell of cider doughnuts filling the air, wine tours winding down and wineries snuggling in for the long winter months ahead.  Make sure to pick up some of your favorite local wine or cider to store away to be used in soul warming mulled wine and cider drinks throughout winter.

In New England the foliage is already nearing peak in many areas. And soon we will hear the laughter of small children running through the corn field mazes that will begin to crop up all around the north east and heartland. 

Making good use of what we find at our local farmers market is probably at the top of many of your to do lists. Every week the colors of fall show themselves more and more and with them come the rich ambers, mustards and warm reds and green colors of winter vegetables.

With most area farmers markets soon coming to an end now is the time to prepare an area in your basement, garage or porch for storing those delicious beauties so that you can make them part of your winter meals on a regular basis. But once you’ve stored those beauties away don’t forget about them, it is easy for us to succumb to the old saying “out of site out of mind”.  Make sure you have chosen your storage area wisely preferably one that you walk by or go near on a regular basis and be sure to check your stock regularly making sure to look for soft or moldy pieces that may need to be used first.

One of my family’s favorite winter squashes is acorn. I have several ways to prepare this delicately flavored beauty but the recipe below is my favorite.

Coconut Scented Acorn Squash Puree

2 Acorn Squash cut in half and seeded

1 ½ cups organic coconut sugar

2 TB organic raw virgin coconut oil

1/8 tsp. sea salt

1 cup water

Method

Preheat the oven to 350’

Cut the tip off of each half of the squash so that it will sit level. Place all 4 halves in a large casserole dish with a lid and pour the water into the bottom of the dish. Divide the coconut sugar evenly between all four halves place the cover on top place in the oven and bake at 350’ for 1 hour.

When the squash is done carefully  (they will be very hot!) scrape down all of the meat into the center pool of melted sugar, do this for each half.  Now scoop this mixture out and into a bowel. Add the coconut oil and salt, mash up and mix until the oil is melted.  Serve warm.

Servings 4-6