Everybody Likes Coconut

Even doggies like coconut... see here:

This is sort of relaxing to watch, isn't it?

Taste-Test Infuser Mango Coconut Water



Ok, here are the results of my second try with the fruit infuser-this time with mangoes and coconut water.  After 4 hours, I got  a rich mango liqueur-like flavored beverage with very little coconut water taste.

 It’s so syrupy and fruity sweet, I only imbibe a little at a time.

Fruit Infuser Recipe

For this taste test, I filled the infuser core with 3 sliced mangoes plus the pits (to extract all the flavor) and a short stalk of spearmint leaves. Then I filled the pitcher with 2-one liter containers of coconut water. Next, I placed the pitcher in the refrigerator for the fruit and herb flavors to infuse into the coconut water.

A Coconut Cocktail Of Flavors

What I got is a flavored drink so heavenly sweet  with the essence of mango, I wondered  if I should I add it to  a shot of rum or vodka for a cocktail.

Wait a minute!  That should be an oxymoron: coconut water and vodka? Hmmm….

Taste-Test Of Fruit Infuser Lemon Water

The lemon drink I made with my new fruit infuser pitcher has a liqueur-like refreshing flavor. The infuser pleasantly flavored the water: The lemon drink was not tart or sour like lemonade made with juiced lemons. My next homemade beverage try will be coconut water flavored with fresh mangoes.

Lemon Water Fruit Infuser Recipe

For the lemon beverage I added a couple of chopped spearmint leaves in the pitcher’s core along with sliced lemons. First, I washed the lemons to remove any petroleum-based coating. Next, I added ¾ cup of sugar to 4 cups of water in the pitcher. 

Then, I put the jug in the refrigerator and let it sit overnight while the fruit and herb flavors were infused into the water.

The result was exotically flavored water, slightly sweet with the very refreshing taste of lemons.

No More Wasted Fruit – More Flavors To Be Made

I’m in nooooo hurry to make the mango coconut water. I can wait until we finish-up the lemon water. The fruit infuser pitcher makes a huge, tasty difference.

The $30 I paid for the fruit infuser will be paid back numerous times. Hopefully, I will be able to reduce wasted fruit and money with my new infuser. 

I always have oranges on hand.  And, usually, I have about ½ a watermelon left-over. I also always have more than enough granny smith apples in my refrigerator’s crisper.  

 But next, I’ll slice up those mangoes.  For once, I hope to be able to get out ALL of the sweetness trapped around the mango pits.  I hope that my homemade mango coconut water will be tasty. I’ll keep you posted.

Get Sexy Puffy Lips With Coconut



Use coconut water plus coconut oil to get lush, fleshy lips for this summer. Your lips will look realistically larger but not like clown lips from bad plastic surgery.

Here’s how to get better looking lips for this summer:

First, drink coconut water throughout the day to stay hydrated and to avoid shrived-up lips.  “Shrived” is not sexy.

When you are fully hydrated, tissues like lips actually puff-out. The effect is more obvious when you drink coconut water, in my opinion.

Next, seal-out the drying effects of summer sun and hot winds with a little dab of coconut oil, especially around the edges.

Then use a little coconut oil under shimmery summer colored lipsticks and glosses to avoid the irritating and drying effects of mica and other makeup ingredients.

Lastly, moisturize your lips at bedtime with coconut oil for smooth lips the next morning. Use plain extra virgin organic coconut oil. Or use a dedicated lip product that's formulated with coconut oil.

Coconut’s benefits give big lip cosmetic effects that are dramatically natural-looking and very sexy.

Coconut For Less Watering Of Your Garden

If my watering can will only hold enough to water, say, 5 pots in my container garden, I CANNOT have more than 5 pots.  Whether I have bigger or smaller containers, they all have to be watered with only 1 trip with the water bucket. That’s my firm rule for container gardening.  I hope that I can bend my rule with promising new soil blends that have coconut coir mixed-in to hold more moisture.

Let’s face it, watering pots is the bane of maintaining a beautiful and bountiful container garden. 

There’s never enough rain.  The grass sprinkler is overkill and damages leaves. If the temperature spikes above 90 degrees, I wind-up having to water the pots 2 or 3 times a day.

I do all this to keep the basil, plus my other potted herbs, vegetables and flowers from wilting on summer’s scorching days.  Hopefully, soil blends with coconut coir will keep me from having to tote so much water.

Get Sexy Pretty Feet This Summer With Coconut Oil



Don’t cover-up your feet with tennis shoes in hot weather.  Coconut oil makes it easy to showcase sexy toes in golden sandals for summer.

Coconut oil makes it easy to keep your feet looking sexy pretty  without using drying soap or odor-causing moisturizers that contain petroleum products:

Here’s my coconut oil summer foot care pedicure ritual:

• Deep cleanse your feet with 2 tablespoons of coconut oil plus 2 drops of squeezed lime juice. Massage the mixture all over your feet.
• Then soak  your feet in a footbath that contains a tablespoon of bath salts or baking soda. Do not add soap.
• Remove calluses with a natural pumice rock
• Soak feet again in the footbath
• Rinse feet
• Next, massage each foot with plain coconut oil and a drop of spearmint essential oil (no lime).
• Lastly, spritz your feet with a lightweight moisturizer that contains caprylic/capric triglyceride, a coconut oil derivative.  This last important step helps to maintain a natural sheen on your feet’s skin. This ultra moisturizing derivative really helps to prevent dry flaking skin and calluses from forming.

Coco Water Now In Rural Schools' Vending Machines



Wade Bergner at a Wis. High School (Photo courtesy Fresh Healthy Vending)



Coconut water is now available to fitness conscious teen-agers at Chippewa Falls High School in rural northwest Wisconsin.  One Coconut Water brand is stocked in the school’s vending machines, thanks to Principal Becki Davis who accepted an offer from Fresh Healthy Vending to place machines in her school.

Protein shakes and other healthy snack and beverages  are also stocked in the machines.

There are no health food stores in the small town of Chippewa. Davis said the students were excited to have healthy snacks and beverages available.

 Wade Bergner, a local triathlete made it  his mission to supply healthful snacks to Wisconsin school students via the vending machines.

When Fresh Healthy Vending contacted Davis, she said she thought to herself ‘there’s no good reasons NOT to try this’.  She found that many of her students were already familiar with the health benefits of coconut water.

Jewel Expands Selection of Coconut Products

Happy about something new in the beverage section

Chicagoland’s Jewel-Osco grocery store company now sells 2 major brands of coconut water in the beverage section. The brands were on shelves in May 2013, down the aisle from bottles of mineral water in my local store. 

Previously, Jewel only sold coconut juice in the ethnic section.

Several years ago, Jewel was one of the first mainstream grocery stores to sell coconut milk.  The stores also have a large selection of cooking oils, but still do not sell any coconut oil brands at my neighborhood store.

But now, millions more people in the metro area will have ready access to popular coconut water brands.

Get Coconut Oil Protection On Low UV Level Days



Chicago's Trump Tower reflects a cloudy sky

Here in Chicago, most days are not sunny, even during the summer.  Why that is, especially these last few years, I don’t know.  But to maintain an even skin tone, I use sunscreen regardless of the UV level.  Most days it’s not high, so I use coconut oil for sunscreen.

Coconut oil is rated SPF 6 and it’s perfect for days when there’s not much sunshine and the UV levels are low.  I can get a mottled, uneven look to my skin even on cloudy days.

But my skin doesn’t get burned from the sun. So it doesn’t make sense to use a sun product with a high rating, say, SPF 50.

Coconut oil is one more weapon in my sun protection arsenal. Coconut oil provides adequate protection for my skin on days with low UV levels.

 Coconut oil is the perfect skincare product to keep my skin glowing and very even-looking without using overpowering chemicals every single day.

Switch-up To Coconut Butter Biscuits

Last Sunday morning, I woke-up with a burning desire for Edna Lewis’ biscuits from her chef’s book In Pursuit of Flavor. But I didn’t feel like converting the restaurant quantities in Ms. Lewis’ book to a serving for 2.  So, I made my ordinary biscuit recipe with a new twist: I substituted coconut butter for dairy butter.

How Coconut Butter Biscuits Taste

Yum , Yum and Yummy are the only words I need to describe the flavor of the coconut butter biscuits. They were delicately sweet with a slight nutty savor.

They seemed to take a little longer to brown. The color was a toasted yelllow.  And, the texture was about the same but I wondered if I should have used a tad bit less of the coco butter. Other than that, they tasted awesome. 

Coconut butter is the way to go for biscuits.

What is Coconut Butter?

Coconut butter is basically pureed fresh coconut meat. Don’t confuse the nut butter with coconut oil which is extracted from dried coconuts.  They are 2 different coconut products that serve different cooking purposes.

Coconut butter can be eaten fresh from the jar. It’s just that good!  I also use it on toast or slathered on top of cookies. I’ve taste-tested two different brands. Some brands have a little bit of added coconut oil to make the  butter to easier to get out of the jar.

Eat Homemade Biscuits And Taste Healthy Flavor

My biscuits baked-up up great. They tasted great and they tasted healthy.

Frankly, these last few years I’d been a little lazy when it comes to making homemade biscuits.  It just seemed like too much trouble in the morning.

 I had even thought about buying canned biscuits until I saw that they contain 36% sodium.  That was a definite ‘no go’ and I put the can right back down in the store’s refrigerated case.

The same goes for the biscuits that come with fast-food fried chicken. They taste like they’re made with 50% salt. They never taste healthy or flavorful, they just taste like salt.

Coconut Butter Is A New Flavor Sensation

Try substituting coconut butter in your own biscuit recipe or use the instructions on the back of the baking powder can. You’ll never miss the dairy butter or salt. Homemade biscuits that have coconut butter’s flavor are just that good!

New Coconut Oil Deodorant From BASF

Now he knows he needs a Deodorant!

Just in time for summer's hot days, Freshaxyl  natural deodorant has arrived on the scene to fight underarm funk.  Freshaxyl deodorant is formulated with glyceryl laurate which is a coconut oil derivative.

The personal care product is made by Care Creations which is part of BASF.  Germany-based BASF has joined the growing list of major corporations that are turning to coconut oil as an active ingredient to control underarm odors.

Freshaxyl also contains Moringa to “ help capture odors” according to BASF. This tree is native to India and has many botanical and food uses according to a Purdue University Report-Moringa oleifera.

Glyceryl laurate is also a basic ingredient in Tom’s of Maine natural deodorants. Tom’s uses commonly recognized botanical herbs for odor control, like lemongrass. Tom's of Maine is now owned by Colgate-Palmolive.

Glyceryl laurate has a wide spectrum of antimicrobial activity according to a National Institute of Health Report: link NIH Glyceryl laurate. Coconut oil and human breast milk are the only known sources of glyceryl laurate.

Get Better Looking Hanging Plants with Coconut

Colorful hanging baskets signal the start to  summer gardening here in Chicago.  Coconut coir fiber hanging basket designs look more naturalistic than  plastic pots.


 

Coconut husks with coir

Coir fiber baskets are also much lighter than clay pots.

Garden centers sell coir baskets pre-made or the coconut coir fiber by the yard to use in your own wood baskets.