Thanks petra, jessy, & Lars for your suggestions. I love coconut (too much) so I have to be careful when cooking with it. I played it safe today... made two dozens of coconut-apple muffins for little man's school. Got rid of most of them only saved three for the two boys for tonight's dessert. Then I added some into my sourdough sandwich breads. They turned out very nice. The rest of the meat I dumped into the crock pot of chicken curry. Jessy and Petra, I will save the recipes suggested. When I crack another coconut they will become handy. Lars, I know what you mean. Coconut macaroon is another thing that I cannot resist :-) I just have to wait for some special occasions to make them. Will give most of them away and save just enough for the boys. If I kept them at home I would end up eating most of them! :-O Al

Here are two interesting links I found about coconut oil. I'll quote from one of the articles below: "It was back in the sixties and seventies when some researchers tried to prove that saturated fats were dangerous and dreadful and should be avoided as much as possible. This made some people turn away from coconut oil, but now, the usage of coconut oil is gaining popularity once again as cooking oil. Let’s explore some of the reasons why this change has occurred...." "There are two types of cholesterol, namely, High Density Lipoproteins (Good Cholesterol) and Low Density Lipoproteins (Bad Cholesterol). While the Bad Cholesterol (LDL) gets deposited in the inner walls of arteries and poses a threat for your heart (in extreme cases, it can result in heart attacks), the Good Cholesterol (HDL) does just the opposite. It helps lower the level of Bad Cholesterol, provides energy and nutrition to cells, and benefits the body in a number of other ways as well. You will be delighted to know that coconut oil has some saturated fatty acids like Capric Acid and Lauric Acid, which raise the level of High Density Lipoproteins in the body, lowers Bad Cholesterol, boosts immunity and fights aging. They also increase the rate of metabolism and help shed weight." In my native country - India, the Southerners use a lot of coconut oil in their cooking and yet obesity or cholesterol is not a renowned diet related problem there from what I know. Yet, my family has never really used it for cooking and I also never did. Thanks to grainlady's periodic insistence on the use of coconut oil in so many recipes, I decided to a little research on my own. What I also learnt is that while too much may cause diarrhea, a little bit will certainly not hurt and edible grade Coconut Oil Is: · Anti-inflammatory · Antimicrobial · Antifungal · Antiviral · Improves nutrient absorption And there are over 80 uses listed on this page: - See more at: http://healthimpactnews.com/2011/80-uses-for-coconut-oil/#sthash.LVOFrmQq.dpuf There is also a weight wise recommended usage chart. Oh and by the way, I just bought my first bottle also, may not use it every day but will surely use it in baking. I wonder if anyone has ever used a few drops in homemade insecticidal sprays for plants? (did not find it in the list) A question for grainlady or anyone with experience - I have this honey wholewheat oat banana bread recipe (to be made next week) that uses apple sauce instead of oil, I wonder if adding a teaspoon of coconut oil will help the bread last a week or more? I usually make banana bread and store in the refrigerator on the second day itself (that does affect the taste) in order to make it last a week or more(and I don't like it cold so need to defrost before having). Here is a link that might be useful: Why is Coconut Oil So Special

We sold coconut oil from NOW foods while I was still married to the ex. He still carries it, it's $5.99 for a 12 oz. bottle. It's more expensive than butter, and certainly more expensive than shortening, but not more expensive than walnut oil or hazelnut oil or even good olive oil and it's much healthier for your heart, IMO, than butter. They all have about the same amount of fat and calories, but all fats are not created equally in a nutritional sense. Ashley likes apples sauteed in a bit of coconut oil in lieu of butter, and says they don't need as much sugar either, because the coconut oil adds some flavor of its own. I use it in some baked goods, but find that things like shortbread are somewhat the worse in taste and texture for the substitution. Of course, I make shortbread about twice a year, so it's an occasional splurge anyway. It's all a matter of what you like, and I find that I have to experiment and try things to determine whether its a good sub for certain other fats. I can also say that I'm in my 50s and have extremely low blood pressure, my glucose levels are excellent and the only reason I have high cholesterol is my genetics, it's an inherited trait from my mother's side and has nothing to do with my diet. I eat sugar when I like (Michigan beet sugar, grown and made locally), butter in moderation, use regular old flour off the shelf. However, I grow my own organic garden, my own grass fed beef, my own free range chickens and eggs and then I can and preserve those things myself. I try to avoid the hydrogenated fats and remember what my old doc told me: "If it wasn't a food 50 years ago, it's not a food today". Of course, he also told me that if you're over 40 and you get up in the morning and nothing hurts, you've died in your sleep. In spite of that, I have no discernable aches and pains and can still do a cartwheel on Makayla's lawn, spend 10 hours digging post holes without giving out and outrun the grandkids, so I must be doing SOMETHING right. Annie

laceyvail- It sounds like you have done an excellent job maximizing the space available - no small feat (pun intended :-). We live in a 1,372 sq. ft. home, but the basement makes a big difference compared to your space challenges. My mills (and I have a number of them) would be a priority - even if I had to stash them behind the sofa or a chair along with buckets or #10 cans of grains/seeds/beans, but this is how we've lived for 43-years of marriage. There's a great little book by Cindi Van Bibber "No Wheat Grinder Wheat Recipes". The recipes are made with cooked wheat "base" and you blend it in a high-speed blender (see link below) to make things like cakes, cookies, breads/cereals, main dishes, meat dishes, desserts, salads and side dishes. But that's another appliance there may not be space for in a small abode. But if you have a Vitamix, it can be used to grind grain into flour, and used to make coconut milk or nut milk. I use the pulp left from making coconut milk to make coconut flour and the pulp from almond milk to make almond flour for making gluten-free baked goods. Even a small coffee/spice mill can be used to mill grain, especially the softer grains. When I do Home Food Storage Classes, we always have lively discussions about where to find storage space for enough food for a year. Having lived in a 2-bedroom, 10'X50' mobile home when we were first married and had our first child, I was able to accumulate 6-months worth of food (so we were never "starving" college students), and I learned how to maximize space. Our best friends were Mormons and they taught us the value of food storage - which paid dividends over the years. Creative solutions: -Shallow shelves up the backs and sides of closets, or the space next to the doors on the inside (wide enough for canned goods). -Raising all beds to accommodate storage underneath. -Making a side table for your bedroom or living room out of a steel or plastic trash can topping it with a round piece of plywood a round tablecloth. Add a round sheet of tempered glass or plexiglass on the top of the tablecloth to keep it clean. Store things inside you don't need frequently - such as off-season clothing, holiday decorations, etc. -Build narrow shelves (the depth of quart canning jars works well) beside a window to the wall corner, and cover them floor-to-ceiling with matching or contrasting window coverings, which makes the window look larger while hiding all your canned goods. -Under and behind sofas -Window seats with storage inside. -Bench seat at the end of the bed with storage inside. -Shelves, close to the ceiling, around the perimeter of a room. Cover it with a pretty valance if you don't want the items to be seen. -One clever mother disassembled her children's bed frames and stacked boxes of canned freeze-dried and dried food like powdered milk, grain, seeds, beans, etc. (6 #10 cans per box), and topped the boxes with a simple dust ruffle she made from a sheet, and put the mattress on top. This mother had an incredible food rotation system in order to make it work well. BTW - there is enough space in the footprint of a single bed for enough food for one person for 1-year. With people eating Reese's Puff Cereal made with 27 ingredients, Cheez Whiz - 27 ingredients, Nutri-Grain Strawberry Yogurt Bars - 56 ingredients, Morning Star Farms Chick'n Nuggets - 59 ingredients, KFC Chicken Pot Pie - more than 100 ingredients, and calling it "food", really aren't concerned with nutrition or food quality and what is now being called "death by fork". -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Cindi's Lifestyle Treasures - Books