SUCCESS!

I am typically not one to boast or brag, but today, I feel like I have earned a coveted award.

 
 

Today marks the happiest day of my frugal frog life! After the Paleo Faileo coconut debacle of last week I have TRIUMPHED!

I found an EASIER and still cheap way to make coconut butter from scratch in the comfort of your own kitchen. All you need is:

A bag of unsweetened dehydrated coconut (I found this in the “special” organic section of Wegmans and I have also seen it at Whole Foods in the Bulk Bins and in the baking aisle). This bag cost me $2.69. Not bad.

Do NOT get the “reduced-fat” option for 2 reasons: 1) It will not successfully turn into butter and 2) Fat is your FRIEND! Do not fear it!

The second thing you need is a BLENDER! Put those food processors away (or at least the mini chops)! The blender is the TICKET!

There are 3 easy-peasy steps to the coconut butter process:

1)      Pour the coconut into the blender

2)      Blend the coconut (I used the “puree” option) for 10-20 minutes depending on the strength of your blender.  Be sure to scrape down the sides OFTEN.

3)      EAT!

Seriously, I am GLOWING! For less than $3 I made my own jar of coconut goodness! Break out the apples and the sweet potatoes because I am going to town! 

If you could find the recipe or the process to make any food at home, what would YOU choose?

Paleo Faileo

In my attempts to embrace the frugal frog fun to the best of my ability, I have tried to get creative in making my favorite foods more economical. Consequently, when I saw this at the grocery store:

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I immediately thought that I could try and make this from scratch:

At Whole Foods I pay $13.99 for a jar, and there are no Whole Foods around me so it would also be lots of gas $$. At my local market, I pay $1.50 for a coconut. Thus, when I saw the coconut staring at me, I decided to try and make my own coconut butter. 

It started with me poking holes in each of the three soft spots (it is the weakest part of the coconut):

Then I drained the water out. There was quite a bit of dance-shaking to get all of it out.

The third step was my favorite. I selected a giant bath towel and wrapped the coconut up, nice and tight.

Then I got my pink tool box out of the closet and found my hammer and went at it like a kid at a pinata party.

I have had the most stressful few days ever. To be perfectly honest, this was incredibly cathartic! I highly recommend cracking coconuts for stress management. :)

Then I cut up the meat of the coconut and rinsed it.

And then, into the food processor it went.

I then processed it for 10 minutes. When nothing seemed to happen, I put the shredded coconut on a cookie sheet and toasted it, thinking that would aid in the process.

I then put it back in the food processor and continued to process it for the last 30 minutes of "Teen Mom" (Try not to judge me...). Then, suddenly, my beloved mini food processor stopped. 

It grieves me deeply to announce that on September 15th, 2011 at 6:45 PM, my food processor made its last chop. 

It will be dearly missed, as will the coconut butter that was never finished. 

I think if I had a regular processor, not a mini, it would have gotten the job done. But alas, the world may never know. 


And this my friends was my first, but most definitely not my last, paleo faileo. 

Have you ever had a recipe or kitchen failure? Do share! 

Be Sure to Enter the Giveaway!

If you have not entered to win a jar of Coconut Butter, be sure to do so by Tuesday (September 6th) at noon (EST). 

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Trust me, you DEFINITELY want to win this! 

This giveaway is not sponsored by any company! I just LOVE this stuff, and want to share the joy!

There are 2 ways you can enter to win:

1) Comment on THIS post

2) Follow me on Twitter (PaleoRunnerGirl) and tweet:

    I am excited to win some Artisana Coconut Butter from http://paleorunnergirl.blogspot.com/

 

 * I just had some on a sweet potato and it was seriously HEAVENLY!!!!*

I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts...

It is Labor Day weekend. The unofficial end of summer. While I adore the fall with all of my heart, it is always sad to see the season of pool days and sundresses come to an end. As I was contemplating the departure of summer this morning, I decided that the best way too keep a little part of the season alive was to dive into some coconut butter.

Lately, I have found that there is no need to decieve myself by pretending to use it as a garnish—it is best eaten by the spoonful...er, I mean spoonfullS. 

However, while I sit here glorying in my coconut induced coma of happiness, I realized that you, my dear readers, are left out in the cold. For this reason, I picked up an extra jar of Artisana Coconut Butter (my absolute favorite) to give to one of you. Now, I want to make it VERY clear that this is in NO way sponsored by Artisana or any other company. This is my unbiased and well-researched (if it is made of coconut, I have tasted it!) opinion and I just feel like sharing (I am the youngest, I am VERY good at sharing...and wearing hand-me-downs).

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            There are two ways to enter this contest, and you can get your name placed in the metaphorical hat twice if you do both:

1)      Comment on this blog post by answering one or both of the following questions: What will YOU miss about summer? What are you most looking forward to about fall?

2)      Follow me on Twitter (PaleoRunnerGirl) and tweet:

    I am excited to win some Artisana Coconut Butter from http://paleorunnergirl.blogspot.com/

This giveaway will end Tuesday (September 6) at noon (EST).