Cool Uses for Coconut Oil

Cooking/Baking

Cooking with coconut oil is a joy! It has a high heat capacity and the aroma will waft through your house, creating the most amazing scent. Coconut oil is very good for you and can help you lose weight too, if you eat a little every day. There is even a book called The Coconut Diet Plan that tells you all the great things about coconut oil and why it is essential for your body's health.

Here are a few ideas to incorporate some coconut oil into your diet:

Heat the oil and mix with herbs and spices such as rosemary and basil and some dried cranberries for an exotic hot dressing for a spinach salad. Add some vegetarian bacon crumbles for an added touch and some salty flavor (we call this "fakon" in our house!).

Mix with butter in the pan for making the world's best pancakes!

Add to hot cocoa for exotic flavor. My favorite recipe for hot chocolate involves real cocoa, coconut oil, vanilla extract, milk, half and half and sugar in the raw or honey.

Use coconut oil in your baking cookies, muffins and cake. I would recommend replacing 1/3 to 1/2 of the vegetable oil with coconut oil to reduce costs and to increase flavor. (Coconut oil has come down in price somewhat but tends to cost more than other oils.)

Try using coconut oil in breads too. I always use olive oil when baking bread but this always gives a harder crust. If you mix half olive and half coconut oil, it will create a crust that is slightly less brown and less hard, less tough.

Nourish your skin:

Coconut oil is an excellent massage oil. The aroma is therapeutic as you will imagine laying on a beautiful sandy beach somewhere while the oil penetrates your skin and soaks in, making your skin smell amazing and extremely soft without any oily residue leftover at all.

This makes an especially sensual and erotic massage oil for lovers too, so if you are married and looking to increase your intimacy and do something fun for your quality time together, it can be a wonderful experience as a prelude to sex or just for fun on days you just want to relax together and enjoy exploring each other's bodies.

You can make an excellent skin lotion out of coconut oil or add some to your favorite natural organic lotion. It is solid so you'd have to gently melt it on extremely low heat on the stove, which will take only a few seconds. Mix it in when it cools some, before it re-hardens. The best way to do this is in the summertime when it is warm outside and left for a few minutes in the Sun. The coconut oil will naturally turn to its liquid form if it is warm in your house in the winter. You can make your own lotion by using it alone or mixing it with some shea butter and maybe a little vanilla for scent. Also you can use a few drops of essential oils such as lavender for tranquility and calm or sweet orange for a happier mood.

I love to put coconut oil directly on my face after a nice hot shower. It penetrates immediately into my skin and smells great. My face feels softer and it is moisturized too. Usually I put this all over my whole body and then wipe what is left on my hands on my hair, especially on the ends.

If you try your hand at soap making coconut is an excellent additive. If you don't want to go through so much work as to make several bars, you can just merely melt down one pure glycerin bar you buy at the grocery store for under $2.00 and add some essential oils and coconut oil to it.

When you mix coconut oil with your favorite natural soap, you will find that it makes an excellent natural shaving cream for shaving your legs, armpits or face for men. The coconut oil will cause the bubbles of the soap to be super tight and small so that shaving is easier. The leftover coconut oil will penetrate your skin, especially in conjunction with hot water and will leave your skin feeling moisturized, smooth and soft. The essential oils best for a manly scent are cinnamon or lime. PLEASE only add just a drop or two AND NO MORE of essential oils if you only make one bar at a time. Essential oils are extremely intense and can have dire consequences if overused.

(NOTE: ESSENTIAL OIL OF CINNAMON CAN CAUSE MISCARRIAGE OR EARLY PREGNANCY TERMINATION. PLEASE DO NOT USE OR GO NEAR IF YOU ARE PREGNANT! IT IS UNSAFE FOR MOTHER AND UNBORN BABY ALIKE IN THIS CIRCUMSTANCE. )

Coconut oil is an excellent healing balm for lips when used alone or mixed with shea butter and one drop of essential oil such as grapefruit or lime for cheerfulness and joy.

Coconut is also excellent for hair as a conditioner. You can use a very small amount after your normal shampoo and conditioner. Comb through hair while still in the shower, focusing mostly on the ends. This is a great idea before you go to the beach or out in the Sun in summertime as it will protect your hair and make it shiny too.

Bottom line for me is that coconut oil is great aromatherapy because it is a happiness trigger... it just gives me the best feeling! I love using this as massage oil and skin lotion direct from the jar with no additives. It just makes me smell like a big sugar cookie! It's so yummy! It smells good and tastes good and is great for you too.

Enjoy your coconuts! :)

XOXO.

Mermaid Girl =D