Showing posts with label good fats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label good fats. Show all posts

Wednesday, 22 June 2011

Coconut Oil - nutiva, cooking


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Nutiva's Organic coconut oil is the best I've found. I've tried several brands, but nothing tastes as clean and pure as this. There is a definite undertone of coconut, but I like the flavor, even when frying eggs or eating it on cinnamon raisin toast. I recently had bloodwork done and my HDL (the good cholesterol) was an impressive 77---anything over 39 is considered in range; over 50 is heart protective). I attribute this great HDL number to using only coconut oil, butter, and olive oil in my cooking & drinking green tea.



Amazon's Subscribe & Save offer is a great deal; I really like the 2 pack of these smaller (15 oz) jars. We're a small household and I like keeping one jar sealed while using the other. Keep in mind that coconut oil is different than other oils--it is solid at temperatures under 72, so it will look something like shortening in the wintertime. Still tastes great and is wonderful to use in all kinds of cooking.



One more important detail: this is an organic, COLD PRESSED coconut oil. Others may be organically grown, but I've found some brands are hydrogenated to make them solid at room temperature (I won't go into all the reasons this is not a "good thing"). Suffice it to say that any coconut oil you buy should be cold pressed (and that goes for your olive oil, as well). Google to find out why...



Happy eating!



This is a marvelous product with some interesting health benefits (google it up). You can use it in baking, frying, in sauces, for vegan raw pies, mix with chocolate for puddings, moisturize your hair or skin, soothe rough elbows, etc.



This melts really fast in a pan, so you don't need a high heat. I fry eggs in it, and the coconut taste is subtle. Any ethnic dish that requires sauteeing or saucing and can benefit from a fresh coconut flavor, this is useful. I've cooked meats in it, as well. If you hate the smell/taste of coconut, obviously, this is not for you.



This brand, Nutiva, is organic and virgin. It smells so good. And I have an old jar that I never finished (really big one), and nearly two years later, after sitting right by the stove, it still smells fresh, like Cuban coconut candy my mom used to make. Yes, solid and fresh and white and fragrant TWO YEARS LATER. This is a very stable product.



Recommended.

First things first: the flavour of this coconut oil is wonderful. Very clean on the tongue with just a slight back hint of coconut flavour. YES, this WILL slightly flavour some of your dishes to taste faintly of coconut if the dish is not heavily spiced. When I use coconut oil in place of butter for many Ethiopian and Indian dishes, I don't really notice any coconut flavour--but these are heavily spiced cuisines and so the sheer level of spice involved will cover up the delicate coconut flavour of this oil. In baking, however, there is a wonderful little hint of it. When I've made cookies and cakes using this in place of shortening or butter, many people have commented that something felt different about the dessert, but they couldn't put their finger on it right away until I would suggest coconut. I say all of this, though, in case someone who absolutely HATES coconut is considering using coconut oil as a part of their diet. While it has many great health benefits, if you cannot stand the flavour of coconut in any shape or form, you probably will not enjoy this product. I personally enjoy the added depth and dimension is gives my food, as well as the fact it's cholesterol free.



If you're thinking this wouldn't taste like anything, then you're thinking of what is called "RBD coconut oil", that is to say, coconut oil which has been refined, bleached, and deodorised. This is not that product, and in my opinion, is far superior to any RBD coconut oil you could find.



Now, the health benefits. Coconut gets props for being cholesterol free. Many people want to downplay its wonderfulness by pointing out that it is loaded in saturated fats. However! The saturated fats found in coconut oil are mostly medium-chain fatty acids, which bind together to form medium-chain triglycerides. Medium-chain triglycerides, or MCTs, are much easier for the body to break down and process than long-chain triglycerides, which are the saturated fats that are usually predominant in our diets. Because MCTs are so easily broken down in the body, they don't put a great strain on your pancreas or digestive system. Coconut oil is not a cure-all, however. It's not some miracle food (IMO), but I do think it should be seen as a healthy, viable alternative to butter and some cooking oils. Should it replace these other oils and butter outright? No, I don't think so. But I think it deserves a place of respect alongside your butter and olive oil in the kitchen.

I've been using this brand for a couple of years now. It has a light coconut hint at times. I use it for popping corn and I can't taste any coconut, other items like meats or veggies sometimes have a hint of coconut...it's not necessarily a bad thing.



I thought I would save washing a spoon each time I used this and put in a clear, plastic spoon (Kirkland brand) into the jar so I could reuse it. DON'T KEEP PLASTIC IN YOUR COCONUT OIL!!! About 1 week later I went to make popcorn and I pulled out the handle of the spoon with no bottom of the spoon to be found!!! The acid in the coconut oil will eat away at certain plastics! Had to throw the 1/2 full jar away! Lesson learned! Just reordered and went on subscribe and save. - Nutiva - Cooking - Good Fats - Coconut - Moisturizer - Body Care
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Tuesday, 14 June 2011

Healthy Eating - health, olive oil


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This new cookbook featuring Olive Oil Dessert recipes has opened up our eyes to making desserts more healthful and they taste great too. We've tried several of the recipes and have found them to be delicious, user friendly and have become new family favorites.



I have tried several of these recipes and they are very good and easy to make. The comfort cake is to die for and I don't make chocolate cake any other way now! Also, a favorite is the blueberry muffin recipe with the crumble topping. My family loves them.

I am an avid baker who was searching for healthier alternatives to butter. I tried different types of "heart-healthy" margarine but the taste and texture was always way off. Luckily, I received this cookbook for Christmas and am very happy with the results. I never before tried using olive oil for baking desserts but am very pleased with both the taste and texture. Also, the butter flavored extract is a clever trick for those treats and cookies that usually have a familiar buttery taste. My favorite recipe so far is the Blueberry Streusel, especially served a bit warm with a scoop of vanilla frozen yogurt or low-fat ice cream. It was very moist and delicious. I also appreciate finally having a recipe for a butter-free graham cracker piecrust as well as a regular flaky piecrust that doesn't use 'trans-fat laden' shortening. This book will get alot of use in my kitchen. Highly reccommended.

If you want to lower your cholesterol but not give up sweets, this book is for you. It's not just sweets, but breads, scones, muffins, pie dough, etc..But beyond that, if you have food allergies or cook for someone who does, this serves double duty. The substitution charts in back allow you to swap out eggs (sev'l choices for sweet or savory substitutions) and dairy (even buttermilk) easily. You also have a conversion chart to use w/your previous recipes by swapping out high-cholesterol butter or margarine with olive oil, thereby making the desserts healthier and even lighter b/c the olive oil to butter ratio is less. I made Lemon Sugar Cookies and swapped out the one egg (b/c my toddler granddaughter is allergic) with 1/4 cup of applesauce. They were cookies we ALL could eat, they looked exactly like the picture, were delish, and received raves...better than a bakery. The olive oil pie crust is great, don't even need to mix it in the food processor, a simple wooden spoon brings this one together, easy as pie (no pun intended) to roll out too! The book is esthetically beautiful to look at, makes a good gift or coffee table book; but this one will most likely take up permanent residence in my kitchen!

I've only made the "ginger roos" and they were very good! The rest of the desserts look like they will be great too, I can't wait to try them! The only drawback is there is no nutritional information with the desserts. This would have been a bonus for calorie counters.

If you love desserts, this is the cookbook for you! I like to look at dessert cookbooks just to salivate over the pictures. I've tried several of these delicious recipes and have absolutely loved them! Plus its nice to know that there is heart healthy olive oil in them. I've always been big on butter, so I wasn't sure desserts with olive oil would taste good. But trust me, they are delicious! One of my favorites is the Cinnamon Twisties. They are so light and tasty. I only meant to eat a couple, but ended up eating a whole plate full....Easy to do when you're pregnant. This yummy dessert is one of my latest pregnancy cravings...I just can't get enough of them!

I love desserts and these recipes allow me to indulge without eater's remorse. They are delicious and I actually like them better than similiar recipes that call for butter, vegetable oil or shortening. My husband and kids love them too and no dessert from this book has lasted in my house for more than 5 minutes. I haven't tried one of Micki's dessert that I haven't absolutely loved. I am buying this book for my mom for Mother's Day. It's been a long time since I have felt passionate about a cook book. 5 stars!!!

We have big-time sweet teeth at our house, but also bad genes for cholesterol. I liked this recipe book so much I bought one for all my siblings. My family especially likes the Simple Brownies and Cinnamon Twisties. The recipes are laid out well and easy to follow, and it's great knowing the desserts I make aren't as bad as what I used to make.

I got this cook book about 6 months ago and it is the most used cook book in my house. My husband has high cholesterol and loves to eat too many cookies. There are very few lower fat cookies to be found in a grocery store or bakery. The recipes in this book use healthy olive oil and are easy to make, and also very yummy! Our favorites are the chocolate chip, oatmeal, and peanut butter cookies. The book also contains cakes, muffins, bars.... I have just recently tried using the author's conversion method to substitue butter for olive oil in a root beer cookie recipe I found on the internet. It turned out great! - Health - Olive Oil - Baking - Cookbook - Cookies - Good Fats
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