Homemade Coconut Milk

I started making my own Coconut Milk in the past month. All the store bought canned coconut milks have guar gum or some other additives to keep it emulsified. I wanted a pure coconut milk. This is super easy and cost way less than a can of coconut milk to make. I use this same coconut milk to make Coconut Milk Kefir.





Homemade Coconut Milk
1 cup of Shredded Unsweetened Coconut (preferably organic)
1 cup of boiling water (should be filtered, or distilled)

Pour boiling water over shredded coconut and let sit until cooled. Pour mixture into a food processor or blender.  Blend until very smooth. Pour blended mixture through a cheese cloth (I just use a muslin cloth). Squeeze the cloth to extract the liquid. Keep squeezing until no more liquid comes out. Discard the pulp. Store your coconut milk in the fridge. Use within 2-3 days. If you let it sit beyond about 4 days it will go sour.

I generally try to only make what I can use within a couple of days. It also freezes nicely but separates a little when defrosted. You can just blend it again to bring it back to a smooth consistency.

I buy my shredded coconut in 5 lb bags for about $16 and use it constantly.

Enjoy!

Sunflower Seed French Toast Sticks (gluten free, grain free, dairy free)

I made this Sunflower Seed Bread last night and then cut it into sticks and made French Toast out of it.

Sunflower Seed Bread 
(original cake recipe from the Internal Bliss cookbook)

2 1/2 cups of Sunflower Seeds (soaked and wet)
2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
1/3- 1/2 cup Honey (used 1/3 of a cup)
4 eggs
2 Tsp Cinnamon

Soak your sunflower seeds for 8 hours in 5 cups of filtered water with 1 Tbsp of sea salt. Drain out through strainer and rinse with filtered water.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Grind the sunflower seeds into a paste in your food processor.
Add the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth.
Pour mixture into greased 8X8 baking dish or 9 inch cake pan
Bake for 50 minutes or until knife comes out clean.

Let cool some before removing from pan (has a tendency to want to stick). While still warm loosely cover with plastic wrap and let cool completely.

French Toast Sticks
Cut the Sunflower Seed Bread in half lengthwise.

Then cut off stick size slices. Dip into a batter of 2 beaten eggs combined with an 1/8-1/4 cup of milk of choice (I used homemade coconut milk). Turn to coat all sides. Cook in hot pan in lots of oil or butter (I used coconut oil). Turning until all four sides are golden brown. Serve with your choice of toppings. (We used a drizzle of maple syrup.)

These are very filling. My kids and I ate only two each along with a fried egg.

(Buddy ate two french toast sticks with a fried egg, and his cup of beef bone broth. He could barely finish the second toast stick. )

Homemade Breakfast Sausage

We love breakfast sausage, but we don't like all the nasty extra ingredients they put in it.

A while back I set out to find a way to make my own. I don't have a meat grinder or any of the paraphernalia required to make cased sausage. But it is really easy to make sausage patties. The first time I made this recipe, I bought a pork roast and cut it into large cubes and ground it by pulsing it in batches in my food processor. The second time I picked up a pound of clean ground pork from Whole Foods and whipped up the same recipe super fast. You will never buy breakfast sausage again when you see how easy this is. I love being able to control exactly what is in our food and still getting the flavors that we have enjoyed in the past.

Jimmy Dean Type Pork Breakfast Sausage

1 lb ground pork
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp rubbed sage
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp crushed coriander
( I found the whole coriander was a little intense. I collect the coriander seeds when my cilantro goes to seed and crush it in my mortar and pestle. The coriander is that "something" spice that gives most sausage it's sausagey flavor.)

For a Hot Version just add 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper

In a large bowl place ground pork. Sprinkle the spices over the pork or mix the spices seperately and then sprinkle over the pork. Mix well (I just used my hands). Form into small patties. And cook in a pan on medium heat with a little oil for each batch of sausages. Turning and cooking until cooked through and golden brown. Drain on paper towels or brown paper and serve.

You can also store these in the freezer in zip-top bags, just place waxed paper between the patties to prevent sticking.

Maple Sausage
1 lb ground pork
3 Tbsp Maple syrup
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp crushed coriander

Maple Garlic Sausage
1 lb ground pork
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp Maple syrup
1 tsp granulated garlic
 This combination ends up tasting like Chinese food to me. The combination of the salt, the syrup, and the garlic is very reminiscent of a soy sauce flavor with garlic. Odd but true, and very tasty!

These two sausage versions cook quickly and brown faster because of the sugar in the maple syrup. So watch to be careful you don't burn them.


In a large bowl place ground pork. Sprinkle the spices over the pork or mix the spices seperately and then sprinkle over the pork. Mix well (I just used my hands). Form into small patties. And cook in a pan on medium heat with a little oil for each batch of sausages. Turning and cooking until cooked through and golden brown. Drain on paper towels or brown paper and serve.