Homemade coconut milk

Homemade coconut milk is much less expensive and better for you than the store bought.  You can use coconut flesh organic unsweetened shredded coconut and water! It is delicious in smoothies which I will share one of my tropical favorites later on, so get your milk ready!

**tips on coconut uses besides the kitchen:

1. This milk is amazing for topical use as well, so the remaining particles can be used for a mask.
2. The milk just like the oil is great to pour on your hair and put a cap on overnight.
3. For chapped dry feet, lather your feet with coconut oil and put socks on overnight, they end up super soft. 4. Use it as a moisturizer all over your skin, it's amazing! As they say don't put on your skin what you can't put in your body!

RECIPE:

1. Heat up 4 cups of water until HOT not boiling.
2. Add 2 cups of organic unsweetened shredded coconut and add the water (you can find the shreded coconut in a bag in the baking isle)
3. Blend very well for several minutes until you see it get creamy.
4. I use a mesh colander to strain my milk, do this first but have a cheesecloth handy if you want to strain it again to make sure there are not pieces left in the milk.
5. You can store in the fridge for about 4 days.  Since there are no preservatives, you will see the cream of the coconut separating at the top.  Just shake it or stir before using.
Keep in mind that the coconut cream that accumulates on top is used in some of my favorite desserts which I will share with you in the future.

HEALTH BENEFITS

The coconut palm is known as the 'tree which gives all that is necessary for living' because nearly all parts can be used, the water, milk, flesh, sugar and oil.
~Coconut milk is highly nutritious when ingested, and these nutrients may help fortify and condition skin and hair as well. The fatty acids in coconut milk are a natural antiseptic and may help treat dandruff, skin infections, wounds and dry, itchy skin. Furthermore, the high fatty acid content in coconut milk serves as a natural moisturizer for healthy skin and may help repair wrinkles and sagging in aging skin.

~Coconut milk contains lauric acid, antimicrobial lipids and capric acid, which have antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral properties. The body converts lauric acid into monolaurin, which may fight the viruses and bacteria that cause herpes, influenza and even HIV

~The medium-chain fatty acids in coconut milk may also kill the three major types of atherogenic organisms -- bacteria that cause plaque formation in the arteries