If your like me you have walked by coconut in the grocery store many times and wondered who in the world buys them. Well now that I have some uses for them it is rare that I don't have a coconut in the house!
I posted how to make almond milk a few entries ago and the same technique is used for coconut mik.
The first thing you need to do is poke holes in the "eyes" of the coconut. I used an object that I found in my kitchen utility drawer. I have no idea what it is but it works. I suppose a long clean nail would work, or perhaps an ice pick.
Next drain the water from the coconut over a bowl or measuring cup. This step is just so that when you crack the coconut open it doesn't splash out at you. Although the water is very good for you to drink, you don't need it for making any of the things I am going to show you.
Next, take it outside and crack it open with a hammer. If you are doing this inside I suggest putting down newspaper and hitting it open on the floor because you need to hit it pretty hard.
After the coconut is cracked open, you need to get the meat out. The shell comes off fairly easy, it is the inner shell that may cause some difficulties. If you have a high powered blender or food processor it is not necessary to even take the inner shell off, in fact it is preferable to leave it on. But if you have a regular blender you will want to take it off . Place the meat in the blender and add 3 cups of water to it. Part of this 3 cups can include the intial water you drained out of the coconut in the first step.
Blend it for a couple of minutes and drain it through a nut bag, or a paint strainer bag as I mentioned in the almond milk posting (April 30th). The nut bag can be purchased for about $5 at health food stores. A paint strainer bag can be purchased at such hardware stores as Lowes. I got mine for $2 and it came with 2 in the package. I supposed cheese cloth could also me used, but the bags can be used over and over again making it a more economical choice.
Squeeze the cloth and all the liquid you extract is coconut milk! If you want to sweeten it you can add a little sugar to it, but if you use it for smoothies, I recommend leaving it plain.Now for the pulp that is left in the bag. I have done a couple of things with this. First of all if you put only the white meat in the blender (getting all the inner shell off) you can use the pulp in your baking. I have added it to granola bars and chocolate chip cookies. It just adds a hint of coconut taste but you get all the health benefits.
If you are like me and leave the inner shell on, it makes an excellent shower scrub. I even use it on my face and I don't have to use lotion when I get out of the shower. The fats from the coconut is very healthy for your skin. 
And last but not least, this is how you make coconut oil. Pour the coconut milk in a pot and simmer it until it cooks down enough to where you can drain the oil off. This takes a long time, probably about 40 minutes or so. You only get approximately 4 tablespoons of oil out of it. The brown pulp that is left I have also used in my granola bars. It is filled with healthy fat and when I put it in the granola bars I count it as 1/3 cup of butter. I would also like to encourage you to research all the benefits of coconut. I am sure you won't be so quick to pass one by in the grocery store anymore!
