an easy way to drink good-for-you coffee

Living here in the Northwest we have a definite coffee culture, even more so than the rest of the country. Especially right now, when sleep is quite interrupted, I REALLY enjoy my morning cup of warm caffeine goodness. (This photo is how my husband and I travel...coffee grinder, French press, and kettle...the ONLY way to travel)...

I've been seeing a naturopath for a couple of years now and have been amazed at the improvement in my health, especially during my pregnancy. But, on my last visit, the first after delivering my beautiful little girl, my doctor told me to avoid CAFFEINE and ALCOHOL. Um, yeah, so I just got to the point where I could have these things! (I did have some coffee and wine during pregnancy, but was careful about limiting them). Apparently when your adrenals are taxed, these things hinder their improvement. SAD FACE.

I am generally a conflicted person...part type A, part artist...part follow-the-rules-girl, part take-it-easy-and-enjoy-life-girl. So, when it comes to this issue of coffee, I decided I would keep it to one cup in the mornings and call it good.

Enter, coconut oil. I've been using it to cook with occasionally for a while now. I've read of the enormous benefits of consuming it daily. I try to remember to use it when I'm sautéing veggies and I did find a great, easy recipe for making chocolate treats in the freezer. But, I'm not disciplined enough yet to get it daily.

I read about a year ago that you could stir it into your morning coffee...um, ew. That sounds horrible and I tried it and it was. Oil slick on top of my lovely French press coffee. No thanks.

Then, I saw, just this morning, about BLENDING it into your morning coffee, with butter...? Hmm. Ok, I'm still gonna have to try the butter thing to see, but I am not gonna get my blender out every morning, pre-coffee (DANGER!).

But, it dawned on me that I have one of those cheap little battery operated milk frother things...

It works! I put a whole tablespoon of this coconut oil into my coffee, used the little frother guy to emulsify it (Alton Brown taught me well), and voila! No oil slick on the coffee. Yes, you can lightly taste the coconut oil, but the Spectrum kind above has less coconut taste to me. I'm so excited to find this out! This is definitely something I can do daily to make me feel like that cup of warm caffeine is providing some more health benefits.

Good For You Coffee, the Easy Way

-cup of your regular morning coffee, fixed how you generally drink it
-1 Tbsp Unrefined Coconut Oil
-milk frother/drink mixer

Put coconut oil in coffee, blend away. Feel good about your coffee!

Have you tried this another way? Do you add any other ingredients to make it even yummier? I'd love to hear about it if you have!

P.S. Happy 4th of July! Coming soon...the birth story. I'm excited to share my experience... xoxo