Why Make your Own

I cook daily for meals but also to supply my pantry. I often make staple ingredients. I try to make my own coconut milk whenever I can, just like I make my own bone broth and sauerkraut pesto, salad dressing and barbecue sauce. Why do I do this? I started thinking about this.

I realized I use a basic set of rules to decide not to buy manufactured foods.

(My Criteria for making it Homemade)

1. Can’t buy it or can’t buy it organically, I use the clean 15 and the dirty dozen to help me choose.
2. Really Expensive.
3. More than 5 ingredients
4. Has ingredients I am trying to keep out of my diet,
   • most additives
   • sugar
   • wheat
   • grains
   • dairy
   • corn
   • soy
   • GM food products
5. Major ingredients that have nothing to do with the name are a good sign of a problem. I like at least the first 2 or 3 ingredients to have direct connection to the product name.
6. Ingredients are understandable as food items. Too many unnatural ingredients, things like stabilizers, monosodium glutamate.
7. Manufactured product loses major health benefits like sterilized canned sauerkraut.
8. Fresh Products that require refrigeration sold at room temperature.

The more I use of a product the more important these guidelines are.

I will use coconut milk and coconut yogurt as an example. I use a lot of coconut milk. I use it as my dairy alternative. I make yogurt with it, I use in smoothies and cook with it in sauces. I tend to pay more attention to things I use a lot. When I make your own, I know what it is and what is in it.

If you look at canned and carton based coconut milk, they don’t pass my packaged food tests for regular use. You can buy it without refrigeration because it contains preservatives or has undergone a preservation process. There are too many ingredients that have nothing to do with the name, Coconut milk. Canned coconut milk has guar gum and or stabilizers. Cartoned unsweetened coconut milk is sold as the same product out of the refrigerator and on the shelf. It contains guar gum and xanthan gum. In addition it is expensive to buy.

When I make coconut milk it has 2 to 4 ingredients, all which I can pronounce and are naturally derived. I know it is fresh and I can taste the difference. Here is my recipe. I ferment this freshly made product to make coconut yogurt, really fermented coconut milk.

Coconut Milk Recipe

My recipe can be made in a blender, be sure your blender will tolerate hot mixing.  You can scale the recipe to fit your blending Jar

Ingredients

• 2-3 cups of hot water
• 1 packed cup of fresh or frozen grated coconut.
• 1 tsp vanilla optional
• ¼ tsp salt optional

Equipment:

• Blender
• Measuring Cup
• Fine Mesh Strainer
• Canning funnel
• Storage jars with lids

Instructions:

1. Assemble ingredients.
2. Add 2 cups of very hot water to the blender.
3. Add 1 cup packed shredded fresh coconut to the blender. Cover Jar.
4. Cover the blender cover with a towel. Wear a Hot Mit and hold the cover down.
5. Blend until smooth. Be careful it is hot!
6. Pour through a fine mesh filter.
7. Check periodically to be sure the liquid is moving through the filter.
8. Add pulp back into blender, with 1 cup additional hot water.
9. Strain and mix both passes.
10. Store in clean quart glass bottles.
11. Label the jars with the contents and date.
12. Store in the Refrigerator.
13. This coconut milk may separate, so shake before using.

Coconut Yogurt Recipe

My recipe can be made in a Blender, and a dehydrator. You can scale the recipe to fit your blending Jar . This recipe makes a thickened liquid that is suitable for smoothies, drinks or lassi. Click the link for a spoon-able Coconut Yogurt Recipe

Ingredients

• Coconut Milk
• Fermented Coconut Water
• Probiotic Capsule of choice

 

Instructions:

1. Warm Coconut Milk to a simmer about 185 F for 10 minutes. Do not boil.
2. Bring Coconut Milk to room temperature and pour into Blending Jar
3. Add 1 serving of fermented coconut water
4. Empty 1 capsule of probiotic into milk.
5. Blend on low for 1 minute to mix
6. Pour into glass jars cover loosely with cheese cloth.
7. Place in dehydrator
8. Set dehydrator to 85 – 95 degrees F.
9. Warm 12 hours.
10. Decant Yogurt.
11. Refrigerate, Use within 5 days.