Alright, let’s be honest. It’s the start of a New Year, and regardless how much we may roll our eyes at the seemingly pointless endeavor of New Year’s Resolutions, endless posts on social media from “friends” posting selfies of their “post-workout glow”, the new juice they whipped up for breakfast, the ridiculously challenging-to-prepare and often frighteningly small portion of Vegetarian/Gluten free/Sugar-Free/Paleo/dairy free/vegan/whatever lunch, we’ve made resolutions too. Maybe we didn’t call it a “resolution” and maybe we didn’t plan to begin January 1, but we’ve all had that thought, “I’ve got to figure this out” in regards to our diets. I have. For years, I’ve been doing just that, Searching For Food. The RIGHT food, food I love that tastes good and helps my body, my mind and my mood. I’ve tried so many diets, some good, some bad (more on that later), some manageable, some impossible, some purely selfish (fine when it was just me), and some not-so-acceptably selfish when I was preparing meals for my family according to my specific dietary needs. I’ve learned a lot and yet I still know so little. But that’s okay, because I keep trying, keep searching, keep discovering. Food is amazing and you need to learn to see it that way. It’s not boring, terrifying, confusing or simply utilitarian. It’s AMAZING.
So let’s start this off small. One step at a time, one meal at a time, one day at a time. So the first recipe I’d like to share with you is to simply use Coconut Milk Coffee Creamer. No, it does not make your coffee taste like coconut. I would never do that to you, or myself. Coffee is coffee and should taste like coffee. And I always start my day off with coffee. I don’t care where I am or what time I woke up, my whole body yearns for that first sip. And not for the caffeine jolt (I drink decaf on the reg) but because I love it. I delight in it. Few things are more satisfying than that first sip. And if you don’t drink coffee, that’s okay. I mean, we’re not going to be friends ever, and if I see you walking down the street I’ll probably throw garbage at you and run, but my point is, this creamer can be used in tea, chai and I’ve even used it in my kids hot cocoa. My husband, who hates all things “diet” or substitutionary, actually prefers this to his half and half. In fact, we don’t buy half and half anymore. This is our go to creamer. Try it, you’ll love it. I promise.
Why coconut? Because coconut is a nutritional powerhouse. I could go on for pages but no one wants a research paper on the health benefits of coconut in its various forms. This is a blog. Keep it short and sweet (that is, naturally sweet and in moderation). The key thing to note is that coconut is a saturated fat that contains MCT or Medium-chain-triglycerides. What the what? I know, but stay with me. MCTs are metabolized differently than other fats, being sent straight to you liver and accessed immediately for energy. In one study, done by the European Journal of clinical nutrition, it showed an increase in calorie burn by 5% in a period of 24 hours. This is just the tip of the iceberg, my friends.
Back to the recipe, the best part is that this is so simple to make. It takes less than 5 minutes and you can totally customize it! It’s your diet, and no one else’s. Feel free to add cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla bean or hazelnut extract. I leave ours plain, as my husband doesn’t tend to like flavorings in his coffee and drinks his unsweetened. But you do you. The world is your oyster!! Just don’t add oysters. It will not taste good.
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