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Why Fractionated Coconut Oil?

11/8/2016

Many skin care recipes ask for coconut oil, and some ask for 'fractionated' coconut oil. Think of facial creams, body butters, tooth paste, liquid hand soap, shampoo and even oil pulling. You might have wondered why some recipes ask for fractionated coconut oil, rather than regular coconut oil. Without going into the nitty gritty details about long and short chain triglycerides, lauric acid etc. the difference YOU notice is that the fractionated version is liquid and stays liquid. Unless you live in a tropical country, your coconut oil will remain liquid all the time. But on this side of the pond, northern Europe, normal coconut oil will turn hard when temperatures drop. Below 24°C to be precise. Is this important? Well, in some products it is. Imagine your facial oil turns hard so you can't get it out of your little bottle anymore, something like that. Still not really disastrous.

But when it comes to toothpaste, shampoo or oil pulling, you might want to use the fractionated version. This will prevent your sink from clogging up with build up coconut oil. Last weekend I created a liquid hand soap with fractionated coconut oil and the whole family loves it! It sounds silly but everytime I get home I can't wait to wash my hands ;o) See my fb post in which I share my recipe of liquid hand soap.

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Gluten Free Pita Bread - Quick and Easy Recipe

10/8/2016

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The most difficult about eating gluten free, I believe, is missing out on a piece of good bread. Yesterday, I REALLY wanted pita bread so I decided to try out my all purpose gluten free flour, which I never intended to use, but hubbie bought it, with good intentions. I was sooo happy this recipe was a big hit. Credits for this recipe go to 'A Virtual Vegan' where the flour is with gluten, but gluten free flour works just as well. My husband said it was 'a bloody beaut' (Australian slang for absolutely delicious). I would love to share this recipe with you so here it goes:

Makes 4 pita breads

INGREDIENTS

1,5 cups gluten free all purpose flour
1.5 teaspoons of quick or instant yeast
0,5 teaspoon salt
0,5 tablespoon olive oil
Around 200 ml. of lukewarm water

METHOD

Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl, making sure to keep the salt on the opposite side to the yeast.
Add the olive oil and enough of the water to make a firm dough. I used 200 ml. of water. You might not need all of it or you might need a few drops more. Be careful not to add too much water as it will be difficult to 'correct'.
Stir well with a spatula until the flour is absorbed and you have a shaggy dough.
If the mixture looks a little dry add a few more drops of water very gradually.
Scrape your mixture onto a clean and dry surface. If you think you will find kneading like this difficult then grease your surface and your hands with some olive oil. This will make it easier to handle. Try not to use more flour to knead on or add more flour during the process.
Start kneading. Preferably you will need to knead for 7 - 10 minutes. I was impatient and kneeded for about 4 minutes :o) Your dough will start out a little bit sticky but the more you knead the smoother and less sticky it will become. The dough is firm so quite hard to knead. That is normal. Keep going until it feels smooth and when it is in a ball shape and you squeeze it together on each side, it bounces slowly back to shape when you let go.
Divide your dough into 4 pieces.
Roll each piece out into a circle or oval shape about 3 mm thick.
Place on a lightly floured baking sheet and cover gently with clean, damp dish towels.
Leave to rest for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 260 degrees C whilst you are waiting.
After 30 minutes uncover your pitas and gently flip each one over. You will need to peel them off the tray but this should be pretty easy to do because of the flour underneath.
Place into the hot oven
Bake for 5 - 6 minutes. They will have puffed up nicely but not be coloured at all.
When you remove from the oven they may feel a little hard but cover with a dish towel and leave to cool and they will soften up.
They are even better when you pop them into the bread toaster for a minute or so

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Why Fractionated Coconut Oil?

Gluten Free Pita Bread - Quick and Easy Recipe

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