For the last year and a half, I’ve been using organic, non hydrogenated coconut oil in place of oil, margarine, shortening – it’s wonderful to make fun foods that are actually good for the kids now! Things like biscuits, cookies, and other things I used to put solidly in the ‘pure junk’ category are now in the ‘pretty healthy’ group.

When I started using coconut oil about a year and a half ago, I decided I needed to buy it in a big enough amount that it would be reasonably cost effective (since we have so many people to feed!). So I contacted a bunch of coconut oil companies until I found one that sold what I wanted at a price that was somewhat affordable. They didn’t know what to do with an individual who wanted to buy amounts of the oil that only restaurants purchased, and it took a few phone calls for them to figure out where in the computer system my order should go. But we got it worked out and I bought a 5 gallon pail of coconut oil (40 lb), which we go through increasingly fast as time goes on. It took me nine months to go through the first pail; now we are at the bottom of the second pail and it’s been only five months. It does get costly! But I really feel it’s worth it.

Today I decided to find out if the same company would sell me the virgin organic (has a coconut flavor and smell that the regular organic doesn’t have) in a large amount. For almost two weeks, I have been sticking to my anti-candida diet, and surprisingly, really haven’t been finding it so difficult. The hardest thing has been getting in enough fats; it is really taking a very conscious effort. I was thinking about how to make it easier, and it occurred to me that if I got the higher grade of coconut oil, I could use it as a food instead of just as an ingredient to cook with. When I first called, they of course told me that the largest size is 1 lb containers (which has often been the standard first response of companies), but they passed me on to someone who assured me that I could get this stuff in the 5 gallon size, too (after I told her I was already buying 5 gallon pails of the other stuff).

So I ordered a bucket of each, which is 80 lb of coconut oil, half the regular for cooking, the other half the expensive stuff. I hope this will get us through at least the next six months without needing to place another order. As expensive as it is, it is still a third of the price that the retail buyer pays in the health food store. I tend to keep a pretty tight food budget, and this would seem to be outside the limits that I’ve established, but I look at it like this: I am careful with what I spend on food so we can eat plenty (quantity), and eat well (quality). I save in lots of other areas, which helps create enough financial room to make large orders like this.

After I made my order, I learned something interesting. The representative said that the oil will be processed specifically for my order – I assumed that they just had buckets of this oil sitting around, but actually, this is considered a custom order, so I will be getting very freshly processed coconut oil. That was a nice thought!

I am really, really looking forward to getting the virgin organic coconut oil. If you don’t know about the many fantastic benefits of coconut oil, do some quick searching on Google. I was amazed at what I learned about something I had always assumed was bad (because it was a saturated fat). It is really great stuff – and unlike lots of things that entail major changes to improve our nutrition, this is really easy. Just use coconut oil to replace all the bad fats in your diet (and it is even good for frying with, since unlike other oils, it remains stable at high temps).

Avivah