Coconut Oil and Rosemary Mashed Potatoes

Funny, when I was a kid I didn't really like mashed potatoes....I wasn't a potato fan at all. I had to stay at the table until I finished everything that I took on my plate. Needless to say it was often potatoes...Now my mom wasn't that strict about eating...she just never made anything different for you if you didn't like something, and she made you at least try it...even if it was a tiny bit. So if you took a helping you had to eat that helping.

Today I do like potatoes and they are so fun to make them your own, you can add many things like wasabi, cream cheese, Parmesan, herbs, butter and much more...

This time I decided to try making a vegan mashed potatoes, using coconut oil and coconut milk. I get my coconut oil from Tropical Traditions, the first time I had it I won it on a blog giveaway, and now I Buy it regularly. It is good for skin, hair, ans well as cooking. They often will have free shipping or buy one get one free, so it's a good deal for a good quality product.

Ingredients:
3 potatoes cooked (peeled and boiled like you would for any mashed potato)
1/2 cup  coconut milk
1/3 cup coconut oil
1-2 clove garlic (cooked with the potatoes)
1 teaspoon fresh chopped rosemary or any fresh herb that you like or have to taste
sea salt to taste

After potatoes are cooked, drain and mash while still warm add coconut oil if it is in it's hard form it will melt quickly, add coconut milk until desired texture. You can leave the skins on the potatoes if you prefer, make sure the garlic is mashed along with the potatoes, it should be very soft by now. Last add the sea salt and stir in the fresh herbs.


I am sharing this and linking to My Meatless Monday's hosted by Cheah.

Toasted Coconut Ginger Blondies

Ever since I won a large jar of organic virgin coconut oil, I have been using it often, for my skin, hair and cooking. There are a lot of health benefits with using coconut oil. You should really check it out. Then I won some coconut cream concentrate, and have been enjoying it on my toast in the morning with some almond butter. Now I am really getting into coconut lately, and just bought 2lb bucket of coconut flakes.


I was checking out Tropical Traditions free coconut recipes so I can find many new ways to use the ingredients. I found these Toasted Coconut Ginger Blondies that use coconut oil and the coconut flakes, then adding my other favorite crystallized ginger. I like the way they have the recipes organized because you can search them by what they use, next I am checking out some of these recipes using the coconut cream concentrate. I mean they have everything from Coconut Chai Smoothie, Coconutty Creamy Grits, to Spicy Coconut Fish Recipe, with many more in between.

Now you know that I'm not much of a baker, so I was cautious trying to follow the recipe so I wouldn't have failure on my hands. I was making these to bring along when we went to visit my in-laws. Of course I still had to make a few changes...I didn't add as much crystallized ginger even though I'm a ginger fan, not everyone is, so I toned it down just a little, then I thought a tablespoon of vanilla was a lot, I used less then added some coconut extract, and ground ginger, and as always less sugar, then added a few chocolate chips. That's it!

Ingredients:
1 cup sifted flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/3 cup chopped crystallized ginger (called for 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup butter, or coconut oil, (I used coconut oil and a little coconut cream concentrate)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar ( it called for 3/4 cup)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp coconut extract
1/2-1 cup flaked unsweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x8 baking pan with extra fat of choice.
Sift the sifted flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda together into a small bowl. Stir in the crystallized ginger.
Melt fat of choice gently . Whisk in brown sugar, mixing well. Let cool slightly if warm.
Whisk egg, vanilla and coconut extract into the sugar mixture. Mix in flour mixture in stages until well combined.
Stir in the chocolate chips.
Spread batter into prepared pan and sprinkle flaked coconut on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes.


I've never made blondies before so I wasn't sure how they were supposed to look going into the pan. I really had to spread the batter in there! It was more like a cookie dough.

It came out okay, but I was wondering about 1/8 tsp baking soda? Why bother? I don't know if I measured that little of an amount correctly. What would have happened if I added 1/4 tsp?

They were so good and I think it still had enough ginger with the smaller amount, yet still had a nice ginger bite to it. My daughter even liked it.

My pan was a little larger than 8"X8" by a half inch 8.5 x 8.5 and the were a little flat, but no big deal. I think maybe next time I will use a smaller pan though. They sure smelled good when they were baking in the oven.

The chocolate chips were a nice touch! The bars were such a big hit they didn't last long. I didn't get to save one for breakfast!

Coconut Bread

I won this coconut oil on a blog giveaway at Girls to Grow, it's a great mommy blog with lots of tips, info and mommy concerns. I have been wanting to try organic virgin coconut oil for awhile and was lucky to win a generous 32 oz jar. Tropical Traditions is a great company that offers many quality organic products, and offers many specials and blog giveaways. I bought some bamboo, red and black rice when they offered free shipping. I still want to try their coconut chips and coconut flour. I wanted to try the oil for cooking as well as skin care. it is also supposed to be pretty healthy for you. I first tried using it when making popcorn, and Maranda asked what that smell was. I thought it was great, but she wasn't so sure. It has a light coconut smell not overpowering at all. Then I thought I would check out more coconut recipes that they had on the website. Many use the coconut flour and coconut cream concentrate, they sound good, but I need more product.

I ended up finding this recipe found on at Caribbean Choice. I try to find recipes for sweet bread that doesn't use so many eggs or butter. This is a Jamaican recipe and I only made a few changes...I skipped the raisins and used the grated coconut in sweet syrup instead of peeling and grating a coconut.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1/4 cup coconut milk
6 Tbsps. soft margarine, melted
1/2 tsp. vanilla
6 Tbsps. raisins, floured (I skipped this)
1/2 small coconut, peeled and grated (I had some canned grated coconut in sweet syrup instead)
I also added a little coconut essence for a little more coconut flavor, I wanted to really taste the coconut. Yum!

METHOD / DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven at 350°F/180°C
Sift dry ingredients in a bowl.
Combine sugar, beaten egg, coconut milk, melted margarine, vanilla, raisins and grated coconut.
Scrape mixture on a floured board and knead lightly to form a dough.
Shape dough and place into a greased loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes or until done.

It was strange to place the bread in the pan after kneading it like this, but I thought I'd give it a shot.

I spread the sweet coconut on top as well, hoping that it wouldn't burn. I had some sanding sugar that I added to the top too. The topping worked out well, I think next time I'll add more.

It was very good for breakfast and would be a great snack. You can spread it with a little cream, sweetened condensed milk, butter or jam...or eat it as is!

Mmmm...can you smell it? It didn't last long!