Coconut Oil

A couple of months ago my mom was telling me about all the health benefits of coconut oil and what a difference it makes in cooking so I decided to try it.  Wow.  Once you try it you'll never go back to using vegetable oil!  I found a couple of articles online about all the health benefits and all the different uses for coconut oil and it's just amazing.  Coconuts really are one of nature's most perfect foods.  I use it almost everyday in my cooking and use it in baking as well.  I originally started off using an organic version I found at the store but with how much I used it I was able to find a much bigger package of it at Wal-Mart.  Since whether or not it was organic didn't bother me I decided to use it instead.  It comes in somewhat of a solid form which first weirded me out because I was expecting it to be liquid like most oils.  It does melt at a very low temperature which is really helpful when you're using it for baking.  When I use it for baking, I'll measure out how much I need and then I'll pop it into the microwave in a measuring cup for a couple seconds to get it liquefied, especially if I'm using it in a cake or brownie batter.  I've used it for pretty much everything I've needed oil for since the very first time I used it.  Occasionally I still do use olive oil but I could myself phasing that out too.  Don't be fooled by the name because it has no coconut flavor to it at all, it takes on whatever flavor you're cooking.  I'm excited to try using it for some of the things I've read about on these website. 

 http://wakeup-world.com/2012/03/02/160-uses-for-coconut-oil/
 http://www.deliciousobsessions.com/2012/01/52-uses-for-coconut-oil-the-simple-the-strange-and-the-downright-odd/