Homemade Coconut Butter

A few months back a friend of mine introduced me to coconut butter. My jaw about hit the floor. A little side note: I LOVE BUTTER. We go waaaaay back to my years of single digits and "we'll never divorce." I was never a mayo kid; it was always butter. But coconut butter? Really? There's sucha thing?

 With a lot of buzz lately on how it's made, I decided to try it myself. Afterall, look at the cost difference here: $7 plus for 8 oz compared to $3 plus for 12 oz of Bob's Red Mill shredded unsweetened coconut. I heard the size of shred matters. The smaller, the better. Also, after I had made this, I had learned that researching how the coconut is dried can be important when it comes to nutrients, etc. I'm not sure at what temperature Bob dries his coconut since other brands can be more expensive...I see a possible future inquiry to him. 

 I slowly started out with a small amount of shredded coconut in my Vitamix until the entire package was in there. Yes, it's true. It took about 15 minutes of blending but I would turn it off and stir along with the use of my tamper while blending. Although I could have gone a little bit longer, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy this was.

I am finding these days, that when I get overwhelmed about trying out new things, it's best to just dive in for the try in order to put another recipe in the books. What about you? Have you tried making coconut butter? I'm curious what kind you have tried and how did it turn out?

Sushi Mama!

A couple years back in our small group, a friend said she made her family sushi & California rolls at home. I remember feeling so overwhelmed at the thought and having no clue on how to even start that process. The lil guy and I in the past have enjoyed the occasional 'sushi' bar at the store but it's always been 'crab', spring rolls or California rolls. Never really raw fish. Well, one day I was at Costco and noticed the nori on the end of an aisle and it was considerably cheaper than the health food store. After searching the ingredients and debating for longer than the normal grab, it ended up in my basket.

After weeks of sitting in the pantry, a creative juice finally flowed and here is our result: dampened nori, quinoa, shrimp, raw bell pepper & carrot and avocado to top it off.

(My photography classes were back in high school so don't judge my skills or lack thereof.) This is the lil guy's plate of seconds! Not only did he love these, but after looking at the ingredients of the store's 'sushi' ingredients, there are so many, too many names to pronounce and the processed ginger even has red dye! Sufferin' suckatash.....sucha downer.

These were by no means...perfect. However, I am no longer overwhelmed by my friend's statement of her making her own at home. On the contrary, I realized that I too, am capable....sorta.

An added bonus here: our lil guy asked to try the nori plain and dry....he LOVES them and eats them like chips!  Who knew?