Coconut

Last week the kids thought it was pretty cool that we tried a new fruit and a new vegetable, so they were eager to try more.  I promised them we could get a coconut the next time we went to the store.  It was a little bit of an adventure.  I'm glad I had the internet to help me figure out how to open it and remove the meat!

First we dug into one of the holes to get the coconut water out.  Interesting fact: coconut water can be used in IV's, and can be very effective for re-hydration because it's full of electrolytes!

I then put the coconut in a ziploc bag and took it outside to the concrete.  A few whacks with a hammer opened it nicely.  The kids were excited to see the inside.

Harvesting the meat was the most difficult part, but it wasn't too bad.  I put the coconut pieces in the oven for 20 min. and then was able to pull the meat with soft husk away from the hard outer shell.  Then the soft husk came off with a vegetable peeler.  I loved the fresh coconut, but the rest of my family didn't really care for it.  So I snacked on it all week.  Fun fact: coconut is so densely packed with nutrients that it's used to treat malnutrition.  A 2 inch by 2 inch square has 300 calories!  As far as calories go, it was worse than snacking on peanut butter!