Coconut cream from freshly squeezed coconut is an indispensable ingredient in almost every Bicol's cuisine aside from hot chili pepper of course. It is a staple ingredient for a Bicolana like me who can't live without for delicious, mouth-watering, and lip-smacking gastronomic treats.But wait, I will not share some of my coconut cream cooking recipes yet (in the near future, I will! lol).
With this coconut, I'd love to share it with you how to make a home-made "Virgin Coconut Oil" - the cold way absolutely without applying heat.Here's my how-to-do-it VCO.
Ingredients: - 2 pcs. medium size quality matured coconuts - coconut juice from matured coconuts
Materials needed: - clean cheesecloth (as strainer and for squeezing) - containers for coconut mixture and VCO - funnel
Procedure:
Place and wrap the coconut mixture into the cheesecloth.
Press and squeeze the cloth to allow the coconut milk to flow out of the cloth.
Keep squeezing for several times until all the creamy juices come out of the mixture.
Set aside the squeezed coconut, it can be used as fertilizer.
In a container, filter the coconut milk using a cheesecloth.
Cover and allow the coconut milk to settle untouched in room temperature for 18 hours. Fermentation takes place setting the coconut oil to separate naturally in between the curd and white watery mixture (can be fermented and turned into vinegar).
Carefully remove the curd (top layer)
Gently scoop out the oil (2nd layer) and pour into ready container while filtering using a cheesecloth on top of a funnel for a transparent result.
Now you have your virgin coconut oil ready.
finished product
Some benefits of VCO:
Beneficial to the heart as it contains about 50% lauric acid (an essential fatty acid that is only found in high concentrations in mother's milk) which helps in preventing various heart problems including high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure. The saturated fats present in coconut oil are not harmful same with other vegetable oil.
It helps boost the body's immune system.
It has anti-viral and anti-microbial properties.
It aids to regulate blood sugar.
Serves as basic ingredient for soaps, lotions and creams.
Helps in preventing premature aging due to its antioxidant properties.
Aids in treating various skin problems including psoriasis, dermatitis, eczema and other skin infections.
Heals & nourishes the skin, hair and scalp. A good form of moisturizer for the skin.
Helps maintain healthy thyroid function.
Serves as an effective insect repellant when mix with peppermint oil.
It heals animal wounds.
Coconut juice serves as refreshing electrolyte-rich drink and can be a good replacement for sports drink.
Do try it at home. I hope I've imparted something helpful in my own little way. Please feel free to share your thoughts. Thanks for the visit and hope you will keep coming back. :)
As the lyrics of the song Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles goes, "it's been a cold lonely winter" but here in the Philippines particularly in our place, it's been long on and off rainy days for the past two week in March. Rainy days from January until the early weeks of March do not usually happen during these months. Can this be a sign of global warming? Here comes the sun and I can feel its scorching heat. Summer is finally here. It is an anticipated period every and signals the start of a long break from school, camping, beach outing, resort hopping, swimming, surfing, mountain climbing, wakeboarding, wakeskating and waterskiing.
The big S is for swimming. Summer is time of year and the best time to dig out our summer wardrobes and dust off our swimming stuffs for a cool adventure. When the temperature soars, swimming is a great fun to perform that can be enjoyed by people of any age and at its best to beat the summer heat.
Swimming is the best exercise which helps us to keep our body fit because it involves the use of almost all the muscles required for movement, without the weight of our body pounding us with each move like when we are walking or running. It controls the blood flow in our body and helps in maintaining good health especially if done once a week.
In our place, Fountain Spring Resort offers summer swimming lessons from basic and advance to competitive. Swimming course starts on April 14, 2009.
Other health benefits that swimming can offer:
Tones almost every major muscle in the body
Burns calories
Regulates breathing
Stimulates circulations
Soothes the mind
Improves stamina
Improves cardiovascular (heart and lungs) fitness
Offers a non-impact environment, unlike running or weight training
Provides social interaction
Persons who know how to swim can help save in an emergency situation
Cool tips to survive the summer heat:
The best ways to keep the kids safe in the water starts with proper supervision or watching the kids when they are in or around water even if they know how to swim.
Disinfect the swimming pool to avoid recreational water illnesses (RWIs) like infection and diarrhea by swallowing contaminated with germs water.
Protect yourself from the sun by limiting sun exposure during the peak intensity hours between 10am to 4pm. Excessive sun exposure can be at risk to develop skin cancer.
Stay indoors whenever possible or stay in the shade or if can’t be avoided, apply sunscreen at leas 30 minutes before going outside. The SPF should be at least 15 (for young children) and SPF15 or greater (for older children). Be sure to reapply sunscreen every two hours or after swimming or sweating to protect against UVA or UVB rays.
In addition to putting sunscreen, it is also top recommendation to wear hat, dark sunglasses that block 99 to 100 percent of UVA rays.
If you must go outdoors, wear lightweight and light-colored cotton clothing.
In summer when the temperature is high, it is advisable to drink plenty of water to keep the body cool to shun heat stroke. Heat stroke is the most severe form of heat illness when the body overheats and cannot cool down.
Avoid heavy meals and eating too fast. In doing so, it would mean an increase in body’s metabolic heat and would generate sweat which leads for more body’s water loss.
Know the perils of outdoor eating. Warm summer weather is a perfect breeding ground for bacteria so it important to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold until ready to eat them to keep away from food poisoning.
Be sensible with alcohol. Hot weather speeds up the effects of alcohol so extra care should be taken when drinking. Alcohol will lead to dehydration so make sure to alternate alcohol drinks with water.
So before we pack our swimsuit, chill out our mood for the action ahead and beat the heat with those cool ideas.
Do you have chilly ideas and experiences that you would want to share to beat the summer heat?
finished product
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