• 3 Weet-Bix or Vita-Brits
• 1 TB carob powder
• 1 TB Coconut oil
• 1 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• Pinch or two of Stevia or natural sweetener
• 1/2 cup sultanas, raisins, prunes or figs.

Place all ingredients except fruit into blender and process.
Stir in the dried fruit and pulse lightly.
Using a teaspoon, measure out amount and roll into balls. The mixture should be firm and not too wet.
Once formed, roll in coconut.
Chill in fridge.
Enjoy!

The post Carob treats first appeared on Simply Susan.

1. As Edible Oil
To detox the body, takes 1 to 2 tablespoons in the morning. An excellent food supplement, known to help you alleviate thyroid disease, obesity, ill digestion system, and increase your immunity as the Virgin Coconut Oil is a Medium Fatty Acid Chain. It’ll kill the unfriendly bacteria only – leave the friendly bacteria alone. (Ref: The Healing Miracles of Coconut Oil by Fife)

2. As Massage Oil or Face Mask
Massage Oil: Apply to your body liberally as needed. For dry lines around your eyes, apply a small amount and massage it in.

Face Mask: Take 1 medium size ripe avocado (dry skin) or peach (normal skin), peeled, cleaned, and segmented (meaty part only). Put in microwave for 1 or 2 minutes until soft. Mesh with a fork. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons (more or less as appropriate) of virgin coconut oil to the cooked avocado or peach and stir. Mix in uncooked oats (up to 1 cup) until the mixture forms a thick consistency. Apply the facial mixture to your face, dry lines around your eyes, and neck. Avoid direct contact with your eyes. Leave mixture for 10 minutes. Rinse well with cool water.

3. Rash
Spread virgin coconut oil on the allergic area on the skin to make it soft and supple, with intense moisture and healing. The rash will be gone in 1 to 3 days. Virgin coconut oil is effective in curing the baby rash or any red rash caused by clothes irritation and dry weather.

4. Candida Fungus
Virgin Coconut Oil fights candida fungus very well which is generally found on the skin, mucous membranes of the mouth, intestinal tract and female areas. Mix 1 tablespoon of oil in distilled water, shake well and drink it or apply the oil on the infected area.

5. Sores, Cuts and Abrasions
Clean affected area thoroughly and apply the oil on top of it. In order to make sure the oil clean up the wound completely and stop infection, apply and saturate the bandage with oil. Then wrap around the wound with the bandage.

6. Sauna
Put few drops of Virgin Coconut oil in water and allow it to vaporize in the sauna.

7. Stain Remover
Coconut oil is excellent for cleaning stain, ink, carbon and other marks off most plastic and vinyl. Also the oil works well to remove chewing gum, paint and ballpoint ink marks from clothes. Add few drops of oil on top of dirt area; rub it with a damp cloth.

8. Healthy pets!
Many people feed coconut oil to their dogs. I used to feed eggs to our dogs to give them a shiny, healthy, clean coat so even though I haven’t given it to my dog (we don’t have one) if they were unhealthy, overweight or needed some fats in their diet, coconut oil would be a great way to go! Approximately 1/4 teaspoon per day for small dogs or puppies and 1 teaspoon per day for large dogs. However, please be mindful that large amounts of coconut oil can cause diarrhea while the body adjusts.

Some people use coconut oil as a spread on toast, much like one would spread vegemite. Other use it like butter over steamed vegetables, baked potatoes or rice.

However, I just couldn’t take it on toast nor straight on my veggies. We do use it in the following ways:
Any recipe calling for butter, shortening, margarine or vegetable oil can be a “coconut oil” recipe. It is simply a matter of substituting coconut oil for whatever oil is called for in the recipe. We also substitute it for olive oil, only not 100% (we like both types of oil) so we might do 50% of each. We fry or saute anything and everything in coconut oil. We use it with and on our popcorn. I’ve tried to take a teaspoon in hot water for my morning cuppa, but it just doesn’t hit the spot.

I really want to find more ways to get my coconut oil down…any palatable suggestions?

The post Uses for Coconut Oil first appeared on Simply Susan.

Just like I prefer to use Fair Trade products I can’t help but write about one of my favourite products. I love and use Coconut Oil but only particular brands. The brand I use if Banaban Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. But why that brand?

The Banabans are the ‘Forgotten People of the Pacific’ who have suffered from one of the greatest ecological and environmental disasters over the past century.

The Banabans are an indigenous people from a small Pacific island called Banaban or Ocean Island. In 1900 Banaban was discovered to be made of pure phosphate. This fateful discovery would see the beginning of 80 years of phosphate mining and the virtual destruction of the Banaban’s homeland.

In 1945 the Banaban people were relocated to Rabi Island over 10,000 miles away in the Fiji Island group. The Banabans and their island have now been left, forgotten, still suffering from of of the world’s greatest environment and human rights injustices. The phosphate rich deposits of banaban are now scattered across the farms of Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain.

By purchasing from Nature Pacific and using the Banaban products, proceeds are used to regenerate and rebuild a better future for the Banaban people. If you would like more information you can visit the , Banaban website and/or download a pdf information sheet here.

I purchased my first bottle of oil from the ebay store…and ever since then I have purchased straight from the distributor in QLD. Not only is it a great quality oil and a good cause the service is second to none! I ordered my purchase online at 2pm on a Tuesday and I could not believe it when my oil arrived in my South Australian home on Wednesday afternoon. I mean, have you ever experienced such fantastic service? Once you order and use their products I’m sure you’ll never buy another brand of coconut product.

Nature Pacific Coconut products

The post The Banabans first appeared on Simply Susan.

Hmmm, it tastes nice, good for the body: inside and out. But, as with most oils, oils ain’t oils.

I’ve been using coconut oil for years and over that time I’ve learned a few things.

Once wrongly accused of increasing cholesterol levels, coconut oil is now actually being used by doctors in the treatment of a variety of disorders. Clinical studies have shown that coconut oil has anti-microbial and anti-viral properties. Once mistakenly thought to be bad because of its saturated fat content, coconut oil is now known to contain a unique form of saturated fat that actually helps prevent heart disease, stroke, and hardening of the arteries.

The saturated fat in coconut oil is unlike the fat found in meat or other vegetable fats. It is identical to a special group of fats found in human breast milk that have been shown to improve digestion, strengthen the immune system, and protect against bacterial, viral, and fungal infections.

Coconut oil has been used throughout Asia and the Pacific for thousands of years as both a food and a medicine. Another incredible fact about coconut oil is that even though it is a fat, it promotes weight loss!! The reason is again because of the healthy medium chain fatty acids. These fatty acids do not circulate in the bloodstream like other fats, but are sent directly to the liver where they are immediately converted into energy, just like carbohydrates. So the body uses the fat in coconut oil to produce energy, rather than be stored as body fat. Medium chain fatty acids found in coconut oil also speed up the body’s metabolism, burning more calories and promoting weight loss. The weight-loss effects of coconut oil have been clearly demonstrated by many researchers. They offer wonderful health benefits and are nowhere found more abundantly in nature outside coconut oil. For the hypothyroid sufferer the medium chain fats rev up the body’s sluggish metabolism and promote weight loss as well.

But back to how oils ain’t oils:

We should all try to stay away from hydrogenated oils, whether it is coconut oil or vegetable oils. Hydrogenated oils are oils with trans fatty acids, which have been altered from their original chemical composition, and have been shown to raise serum cholesterol levels that can lead to heart disease.

Also try to buy unrefined coconut oil, often labeled as Virgin Coconut Oil.

Most commercial coconut oils are refined, bleached, and deodorized. While these oils do in many cases maintain the beneficial chemical structures of the medium chain fatty acids, they also contain chemicals used in processing.

You want to buy oil that has been cold-pressed. When expeller pressed coconut oil is prepared/heated, it is mostly treated with hexane. Even some oils labelled ‘organic’ have been prepared using hexane. Hexane is a hydrocarbon volatile colourless liquid derived from petroleum and used as a solvent in glue used for shoes, leather products, and roofing. Additionally, it is used in solvents to extract oils for cooking and as a cleansing agent for shoe, furniture and textile manufacturing and because it contains carbon as the primary backbone of the molecule it can be technically listed as ‘Organic’.

• Organic
• Unrefined
• Non hydrogentaed
• Non bleached
• Non deodorised

But where to get such an oil? Stay tuned… or click on the banner above!

The post Coconut Oil: Oils Ain't Oils first appeared on Simply Susan.

Eat fat lose fat

Eat Fat, Lose Fat is similar to “Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats”. They both support the consumption of real food: tasty, nutritious, organic, good quality, traditional, seasonal and local foods as opposed to foods that are processed, fast-foods, dead foods, old, has additives or preservatives or comes prepackaged.

Like NT, the book challenges the reader to look at the dietary practices of indigenous cultures and compares them to today’s modern scientific methods. Interestingly, today’s modern, scientific, new information is starting to catch up! 😉

Chapter One dispels the myths surrounding coconut oil. Chapter Two is more of a scientific chapter as the authors explain what ‘fat’ is and its relationship to heart disease and cholesterol. I’ve learned that fats aren’t all the same. In fact, healthy fats are essential to protect the heart from disease. Not useful but essential. The next chapter goes into detail about various fats and their effects upon the body and the major organs and body systems. Following this is the section that informs why low fat diets re so unhealthy and dangerous and it examines the danger in many of the past but popular diets such as Atkins Diet, The Zone Diet, The South Beach Diet, juice fasting and ever Weight Watchers! A must read chapter!

Chapter Five looks at the principles of traditional, healthy diets. many things are discusses from MSG, fermentation, raw versus cooked foods, and superfoods. The next chapter details the four basic principles of the recommended eating lifestyle plan. There is a helpful section with loads of tips on how to take coconut oil. This section also contains shopping lists and menu plans. A large section of the book contains resources and recipes- featuring the star of the book – coconut oil!

This book is very similar to Nourishing Traditions but more laid out in what to do each day and each week. Some things I learned new and other things I knew but applying them is a different story.

• Always, always, always eat breakfast.
• Eat loads more coconut oil.
• Take Cod Liver Oil.
• Focus more on nutrition, especially good fats rather than calorie restriction. If you supply the body with necessary, good fats, the body is more likely to release the stored fat instead of going into ‘famine mode’.

I cook a lot with coconut oil. We’ve been using it for years, much to the dismay of John’s army nutritionist. However, combined with green smoothies and moderate exercise, it has helped to lower his cholesterol level and heal his fatty liver. So with that in mind I set about buying myself some Cod Liver Oil and have just started adding that to my diet. I actually find it easier to take than coconut oil, which I cook with but can’t take straight.

Do you take Coconut Oil or Cod Liver oil to help meet your nutritional needs? What brands do you use? How long have you used it? Do you find it beneficial? I’d love to hear about it, especially those who use Cod Liver Oil.

The post Eat Fat to Lose Fat? first appeared on Simply Susan.