Kai Chronicles

Eating, exploring and enjoying life

Tag Archives: coconut oil


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What’s Working for me Wednesday

WWW

 

It’s Wednesday again. Hard to believe it rolls around so quickly.

Lots has happened since last week. Some great stuff and some not so great stuff. Here’s the good stuff:

  • I spent some time at the beach
  • I baked cookies
  • I sold an article
  • I got a YES to write for an online parenting website
  • I got confirmation to cover a local performance festival that may see a 2-page spread!!
  • I received my tap shoes in the post
  • I received my order of organic, additive free dried fruits

And that is definitely what’s working for me….the organic dried fruits.

I’ve tried for many years now to eliminate additives from my diet (and my family’s) but sometimes I just forget and end up with a package of something in my pantry that has numbers like 220, 202 or 110.

I’m working on a piece about this very subject and have once again been inspired to check every label before buying. My local supermarket does not even carry additive-free dried fruit, that’s why I had to order it online.

After a google search, I found a fantastic website called Organic Road. I love them already and I’ve just received my first order today. It was fast to arrive and I think their prices are great (Mr M disagrees).

 

feb 27organic roads

the loot from Organic Road

I bought:

  1. dried apricots 1kg
  2. dried cranberries 340g
  3. dried mixed fruit (cranberries, blueberries, cherries) 340g
  4. dried sultanas 250g
  5. shredded coconut 200g
  6. black sesame seeds 250g
  7. virgin coconut oil 250g

With postage the total bill was $75.90 AUD.

What really prompted the shopping was that I could not find coconut without a preservative in it at my local shop. I know to stay away from the dried fruits but I was shocked that shredded coconut could not be purchased without a number attached. But, to my delight and surprise, I did find coconut flour in the shop today. To give them credit, they are stocking more and more organic and gluten-free foods.

feb 27 coconut flour

Oh, I have plans for you…

Tomorrow I have an interview set up with Tanya Winfield, founder of Additive-Free Pantry. She is also inspiring me to cut out some of the crap that I feed to Master T. It will be hard because some of his favourite foods are loaded with additives: ham, bacon and salami. I just have to explain to him that these foods are not good for his health. He’s 7 now, so I hope he will understand.

Do you read labels? Are you concerned with the amount of additives in food today?

 

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WWW – What’s Working for me Wednesday

WWW

I missed the last 2 weeks of WWW. I had too much working for me those past weeks because I was on holiday in far north Queensland!!! This Wednesday though, I am back to reality and back to writing. Believe me, I was surprised to not have written at all during my holiday. That was not my intent at all.

I’m on day 3 now of my healthy eating and all is well. My diet consists of dairy-free smoothies, vegetables, some fruit, probiotic yoghurt and protein(nuts, free-range chicken, salmon and eggs)..and decaf coffee..lots of coffee. I have been wanting something sweet so today I made a flourless chocolate cake. It’s more like a brownie and very yummy. It’s definitely what’s working for me this Wednesday!!!

I found the recipe in the pages of a past House & Garden magazine. There was a 3-page spread by Teresa Cutter on chocolate treats that are good for you. She says

Chocolate comes from the antioxidant-packed cocoa or cacao bean, which is also a source of minerals such as magnesium, calcium, chromium and iron.

Great news, Teresa!!!

So far, I’ve tried 2 of the 8 chocolate recipes that she provided and both have been easy, healthy  and delicious. The cake has very few ingredients and I whipped it up in less than 10 minutes. Even Master T liked it. I just wish I could have had a glass of cold milk with my piece like he did!! If you want to try it, here’s the recipe.

you'll need this

you’ll need this

and this

and this

 

280g quality dark chocolate ( I used 70%)

2/3 cup organic coconut oil

4 free-range eggs

2/3 cups almond meal

2 Tbsp cornflour or arrowroot flour (I used potato flour)

Preheat oven to 180. Grease and paper a 20cm springform pan.

melt chocolate and oil

melt chocolate and oil

Place chocolate and oil in bowl and set over a pan of simmering water.Stir to melt the chocolate.

add eggs

add eggs

Remove from heat and whisk in eggs.

Stir in dry ingredients and combine well.

ready for the oven

ready for the oven

Pour into pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out with moist crumbs. Cool slightly in tin then refrigerate for 3 hours (I did 1 hour and it was fine). I sprinkled the cooled cake with pure cocoa powder before serving.

IMG_0666

 

Keep in mind that this cake is very, very moist and quite oily. It does taste of coconut and has a mealy texture due to the almond meal. To me though, any dessert that contains chocolate and no gluten, yeast or dairy is a winner!!! Maybe I really can have my cake and eat it too….