Crazy Paleo Stuff
I’m pretty sure that when I announced I’d been trying the Paleo Diet that all non-Northwesterners were like “What? Next are you going to tell me you do crazy stuff like make your own coconut milk??”
I’m here to reassure you, that yes, indeed, I have been making my own coconut milk. Although I’ve mostly gone off Paleo (I like cookies too much!).
How does one make coconut milk when one lives in the soggy, drenched, evergreen-a-licious Northwest?
With unsweetened coconut flakes!
I buy these in bulk from my fav thrifty grocery store, Winco.
How to make adapted from here:
Boil 5 cups unsweetened coconut flakes with 5 cups of filtered water in a pot.
Let it cool.
Blend in a blender, magic bullet, food processor, Food Ninja, etc.
Pour through a metal strainer into a bowl.
Use a potato masher to push the rest of the liquid through (I changed from a bowl to a Pyrex container).
Ta da! Coconut milk!
I save some in a mason jar in the fridge for my coffee and freeze the rest. It takes a while because of the boiling and cooling processes, but really it’s not that hard.
And it makes me seem really hip.
Next you’ll think I do equally crazy things like make my own Lara Bars and stuff like that.
Um…. (insert guilty smile)
You wouldn’t be considered crazy in Souther California either. I’ve made my own Lara Bars. And since we still do grains but we’re gluten free, we make our own clif bars (thank you pinterest). My kids even like the ground flax in things.