A word on coconut oil (and the wonder of Trader Joe's)

Okay, so for a long time I was stuck on butter for pretty much any cooking... didn't really check out plant oils until I started hearing the big buzz on coconut oil.

I cooked with coconut oil for the first time at a friend's house, and was intrigued. I've used coconut oil for my hair and other beauty-related stuff before, and I put it in... some dessert I made a long time ago. Such a long time that I can't remember what it was. Hmph. But anyway, I loved the subtle coconut flavor it imparted to the food (one of the reasons I hadn't cooked with it before was for that very reason... I don't want everything I cook tasting like coconuts, right? WRONG.), and it was good for higher temp stir-frying.

Anyways, I did some checking around for info pertaining to coconut oil's health benefits (or non-
benefits), and opinions seem to vary on whether it is actually as awesome as we health food nuts
believe it is. Here's an article from WebMD, which basically says what WebMD always says... 
"It could be good, but we don't know so please proceed with caution". They do admit that coconut 
oil's fat profile, while still containing saturated fats (but no cholesterol since it is from a plant 
source), that it is not as harmful to the body as other saturated fats and may indeed possess 
health benefits. For example: "Coconut oil contains an unusual blend of short and medium chain fatty acids, primarily lauric (44%) and myristic (16.8%) acids. It is this unusual composition that may offer some health benefits." 

Honestly, though, their reliance on government health guidelines and published clinical studies 
gets to me at times... with lines like this, for instance: "But even though coconut oil is cholesterol-free, it is still a saturated fat that needs to be limited in the diet and if you are looking for real health benefits, switch from saturated fats to unsaturated fats by using vegetable oils like soybean, canola, corn, or olive oil," says [Penny] Kris-Etherton, a member of the 2005 Dietary Guidelines advisory committee and Institute of Medicine's panel on dietary reference intakes for macronutrients (which include fats)."

Um... soybean oil is extracted from soybeans using potentially toxic solvents. Corn is the monoculture crop that is destroying our nation's farmland, piece by piece. No thanks. The jury is still out on canola oil... yes, genetically engineered - Snopes says that the new-and-improved rapeseed was a product of good-old crossbreeding of plants, not some mad scientist splicing DNA from salmon into the seed or something - but still a bit creepy (and, I believe, also extracted with solvents or high heat rather than cold-press). I've used it in the past, but I generally avoid it nowadays when I can. So FORGIVE ME for disagreeing, Miss Kris-Etherton, but I'll accept my natural, unaltered fats over your smarty-pants recommendations. Olive was the only one she included that I, obviously, whole-heartedly endorse. 

By the way, even though she didn't mention peanut or sunflower oil, those are both extracted through the cold-press process (as is olive) and therefore, not as scary as Penny's icky faves. (http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodtip&dbid=202) (so are flax and hemp oil... perhaps I'll write more on those sometime.)

Now, a word on Trader Joe's. 

First off, here's their little blurb on their coconut oil. Yay!

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before that I love Trader Joe's. Yes, when the first TJ in Capitaland opened its doors on August 3rd, I was there. Not at 8 am, but I was there.
Their food is - for the most part - awesome, their prices are same, and their vibe is super fun. And, being a grocery store, they take food stamps! 

I'll just list a few of my favorite products from there, and uh... attempt to be brief.

~ the aforementioned Coconut Oil
~ Thai Yellow Curry (and, I might add, if you start the veggies/protein cooking in the coconut oil 
prior to adding the sauce, your dish will be that much more epic)
~ Pumpkin Bread/Gingerbread mixes (97.2% of the time I don't use mixes in my baking... these 
are the exceptions)
~ Thai Vegetable Gyoza (potstickers - AWESOME dipped in just a little soy sauce+rice vinegar)
~ Spinach Pie (which I guess has now evolved into this)
~ Butternut Squash Soup/Sweet Potato Bisque
~ Spicy Chai mix
~ Triple Ginger Snaps, also Ultimate Vanilla Wafers (and while you're at it, bookmark BakingBites!! Excellent blog, great recipes.)
~ Fruity Flakes (which, by the way, are great for keeping the blood sugar up on a day-long hike!)
~ Roasted Seaweed Snack (once you start eating these it is impossible to stop!)
~ Naan, garlic and whole wheat (check out this recipe!)
~ Tapenades (various, including this one and this one)
~ Giant White Beans (for real - check this out!)
~ deliciously marinated Mahi Mahi... but it looks like they discontinued it :-(
~ Salted Caramel Sauce (check out the cider-donut sundae in my last post)

Omgoodness... yeah, there are still plenty of others. But I'm kind of exhausted from all this Googling. I'll talk about more of my TJ faves in future posts.