Coconut Milk Recipe: A Healthier, Cheaper Alternative to Cows Milk happened unexpectedly one night when I got fed up. I am not one to normally watch the news or TV much but it was on the other day and I was shocked.
There I was getting ready for dinner and I heard,
“Consumers can expect to pay more for milk in 2013.”
What? As if I wasn’t already flabbergasted about the price of milk to consumers anyway. You see, the source of my outrage comes from a few points all agriculturally and politically related. I know, politics and farming- whodathunkit.
Let’s start with the fact that most consumers of milk do not have the right to purchase RAW milk. Why raw milk, you ask? Because raw milk contains Vitamin C among a plethora of other healing antibodies that are destroyed with pasteurization ULTRA-pasteurization, and homogenization. Seriously, how many processes can you put a food through before it is no longer the original substance. My guess is one.
Even Louis Pasteur admitted he was wrong, on his death bed, he even recanted saying the Germ Theory was all wrong: “It’s the terrain, not the germ.”
Meaning if you are healthy the germ isn’t an issue.
Raw milk does more good than harm and for all of the outbreaks of recalled/tainted spinach and leaf lettuce that isn’t subject to pasteurization, yet. Most people do not know the health benefits since this is how it has been all of their lives. Further more if they do know the health benefits they have little chance of procuring raw milk for themselves.
Never before in history has their been such a high incidence of lactose intolerance, casein intolerance and milk allergies. This isn’t because of the milk itself but because of the milk practices that are causing peoples system to reject it. It isn’t that all of a sudden science is getting better and medicine has determined this to be a problem. This is a problem that has just recently come to surface and it is because of the way milk is produced. If there were intolerances and allergies hundreds of years ago the likelihood that milk would be a staple today is rather low at best.
Furthermore, I think the milk industry has gone overboard. The fact that they claim that milk is the best source of calcium for children isn’t completely accurate. There is more to strong healthy bones than just calcium though it is a component, just like Vitamin D, magnesium and phosphorus.
Consumption of milk is acid forming causing the body to leech calcium from the bones to use. Meaning the more milk you drink the more calcium is leeched from your bones, leading to weak bones. It is no wonder that we are the worlds leading consumer in milk and dairy products, yet we have the HIGHEST rate of osteoporosis in the world.
In addition to all of this milk is inflammatory and mucus causing, pasteurized milk that is, not so much for raw milk which has been known to cure plenty of ailments. As a nation we are giving far too much of this to our children and ourselves. I am amazed when I see adults drinking milk that cam from another animals mammary. If animals could communicate with us, surely one of them would feel pity and take us aside and say, “hey, you know, you don’t need to be drinking that!”
Perhaps the higher cost of milk will lead people to do their own research and even consume less. Although the Milk industry doesn’t want that to happen since it would affect their bottom line. However, your health would be better for it.
What to do without milk. cereal and coffee just won’t be the same? I agree. There are things that just need milk or a milk product. In fact, I have been using a dairy alternative that has major health benefits and it is almost half the price of milk AND it is organic!
I use coconut milk that I make myself. It couldn’t be more simple and you can’t mess it up. I buy coconut shreds at the bulk bins at the big box chain because theirs are not processed on equipment that also processes allergens like wheat or soy. This way I know I am getting a safe, pure product.
When I went to the store I wanted to compare the price of coconut milk against cows milk.
Here it is:
cows milk 1 gallon @$5.99 – Smith Creamery- a local brand that leaves the cream in and DOES NOT homogenize. This is what I drank when I did drink milk.
coconut shreds 2 lbs @ $2.99 a pound.
I was able to make 1 3/4 gallon of coconut milk for the price of ONE gallon of cows milk.
cows milk per cup- 0.375 or about .38 cents
coconut milk price per cup- 0.2142 or about .22 cents
Cost for one gallon of coconut milk $3.42
I pay $3.42 for a gallon of coconut milk BUT- I get coconut flour free!!!
What? How do I do that? I have all of this shredded coconut pulp that I have squeezed every drop of coconut milk goodness out of and after that I spread it out on a cookie tray and pop it in the oven on 200 degrees and dry it out. Once it is dry I put it back into my Vitamix and whizz it until it is fine and now I have coconut flour that I can use any way I would use almond or wheat flour. This drives the price of the milk even lower. And before you say that I got ALL of the nutrition out of it let me clarify:
Flour- of any sort is typically as processed as this and as per my directions I only use the coconut once. Many recipes call for additional runs in the blender with fresh water. This does result in an inferior product in my opinion so I simply use it once and then use it for flour. So no only does it still maintain some nutritious value it is an excellent source of fiber. Furthermore, you will notice that many flours are fortified with vitamins because they have been stripped during the processing so they we added back as synthetics.
Nutritional Values of Coconut Milk:
Following are the nutritional values present in about a half cup of fresh coconut milk:
- Calories – 230
- Proteins – 2.3g
- Fat – 23.8g
- Carbohydrates – 5.5g
- Dietary fiber – 2.3g
- Sugar – 3.35g
- Vitamin C – 2.8 mg
- Vitamin E – 0.15 mg
- Vitamin B1 – 0.026 mg
- Vitamin B6 – 0.033 mg
- Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic acid) – 0.183 mg
- Folate – 16 mcg
- Vitamin B3 (Niacin) – 0.76 mg
- Iron – 1.64 mg
- Selenium – 6.2 mcg
- Sodium – 15 mg
- Calcium – 16 mg
- Magnesium – 37 mg
- Phosphorus – 100 mg
- Potassium – 260 mg
Health benefits of coconut milk:
- zinc promotes prostate gland health
- phosphorus is necessary to take with calcium to build strong bones
- medium chain fatty acids
- magnesium helps you to relax and handle stress better
- contains selenium- people with Celiac or gluten issues are often selenium deficient. This is a powerful antioxidant and inflammatory. it helps with arthritis also.
- iron helps to prevent anemia
- vitamin c is an immune booster
- potassium helps to lower blood pressure
- copper and vitamin c help keep skin healthy and elastic as well as veins
- rich in manganese keeps blood sugar under control
- has good, healthy, medium chain fatty acids in it
Just for fun here are 5 foods with more calcium than milk!!!
- almonds
- rhubarb
- collard greens
- spinach
- herring
Here is my challenge to YOU: Try coconut milk in place of cows milk for one month and see how it makes you feel. Let me know in the comments below how it was and what worked for you or didn’t work for you. [plulz_social_like width="350" send="false" font="arial" action="like" layout="standard" faces="false" ]
Coconut Milk
By Published: January 10, 2013
Coconut milk is s super healthy, economic dairy alternative.
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded coconut unsweetened
- 4 cups filtered water room temperature
Instructions
- Place shredded coconut into blender container.
- Add filtered water.
- Allow to sit for a few hours for the coconut to absorb the water.
- Blend on high speed for one to two minutes.
- Strain using a nutbag or fine sieve into a glass storage container and refrigerate.
- Skill Level: Easy
This is a great post. After doing my own research on milk and raw milk, I have stopped drinking it too. I also use coconut milk or almond milk to add to my coffee/latte’s. Thanks for sharing! It’s too bad we can’t get raw milk these days easily. Unless you have your own cow, it’s almost impossible.