Young Thai Coconuts

I think one of our families very favorite foods is the young thai coconut!  The health benefits are almost second to none and many books have been written about them-- I'll list some info at the bottom of this entry.

Young thai coconuts became a daily habit in our house shortly after our 3rd baby, Noah, was born.  At about 6 months old, I supplemented breast milk with a bottle or two of coconut water from the young coconut.  I would either purchase them at a local Asian market or even the local WM Neighborhood market carried them at the time (not sure any more?).  When I was weaning Noah, coconut water was a staple in his diet and we all enjoyed the delicious and tender coconut meat to either eat plain, dehydrate or use in smoothies.

Now that Noah's 6yrs old, this favorite family food is more of luxury than an every day food, due to cost (~$3 a piece) and effort it takes to get them open.  Gramma gave us a coconut for Christmas, so the boys and I got to splurge on some yummy meat and then used the coconut water to make what we call a "healthy orange Julius".  Although we don't always have young coconuts in our fridge, we always have raw, cold-pressed coconut oil/butter in our pantry and it's a part of our regular diet for a myriad of health reasons.

Young coconuts are much different than the traditional brown hairy mature coconuts. In their youth, they contain soft "spoon meat" along with approximately 8 -10 oz of pure coconut water. These plastic wrapped white coconuts are easy to recognize because they are cylindrical around the edges with a conical top.

To open these treasures, you'll need a sharp cleaver.  I bought the best one I've ever owned at the local Asian market (for roughly $8.00) where I bought our coconuts.  I found the easiest way to open them is to hold them on a cutting board and hit the cleaver hard at the base of the cone-shaped top, thereby cutting off the top of it.  From there you can turn the coconut upside down and drain out the liquid and then use a spoon to scrape out all the meat.

The coconut we had at Christmas yielded 8oz of pure coconut water.

One of our favorite beverages is what we named "Healthy Orange Julius".  The boys never had an "Orange Julius" from the mall like I had growing up, so they just went along with my suggestion of a name:)  But, seriously, for you folks out there that have had one, this healthy version tastes very similar!

Recipe:  Fill a blender up with 2/3 fresh juiced oranges and 1/3 coconut water.  Add ice and blend.  Enjoy this frothy, healthy snack!

  

Below is a list of some of the health benefits of Coconuts and Coconut Oil/Butter:

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  Easy to digest and can aid in normalizing blood sugar
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  Contains several anti-fungal properties-- those who suffer from candida or other fungal conditions could benefit from adding coconut oil in their diet
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  Contains no cholesterol and has been shown to actually lower cholesterol levels
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  Consuming coconut oil on a regular basis has been shown to restore healthy thyroid function
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  Coconut oil repairs and restores the skin by both consuming it and rubbing directly into skin... I often use it instead of lotion
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  I used coconut oil on my skin to prevent stretch marks when I was pregnant and I attribute not getting a single stretch mark to coconut oil in tandem with exercise and healthy diet
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  Book:  The Healing Miracles of Coconut Oil by Bruce Fife, ND