Hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”) is the propagation of fractures in a rock layer caused by the presence of a pressurized fluid. Hydraulic fractures  is one means by which gas and petroleum from source rocks may migrate to reservoir rocks.

While that sounds pretty benign, there are some real downsides to high-volume hydraulic fracturing.  How much do you know about this topic?

Cast your vote and be entered to win a $50 Nutiva Gift Certificate. Winner will be announced on or around March 1, 2012.

From another happy customer, who uses Nutiva Coconut Oil on her skin.

The Best!

Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
I use this product on my body and hair.  IT IS THE ABSOLUTE BEST!!!!!  It moisturizes like no other.  I use it on my hair as a light deep conditioner.  I put it on my hair before I wash my hair like a hot oil treatment.  I just let it marinate in my scalp and stuff. and then i wash my hair.  It leaves it soooo soft and it even de-tangles!!!  And it leaves my hair feeling strong and it is growing, but be careful if you use too much on your hair it will become very greasy and heavy.  You only need a tad.

Okay next, I use it on my skin!  I wash my face and i put it on my face afterwards.  It leaves my face feeling extremely soft, clean and moisturized. also, it doesn’t clog my pores. And once or twice a week I will do a soothing bath with the coconut oil.  A warm bath mixed with the oil, is soooo heavenly.  Lol.  Also use it when i shower too.  It leaves my skin feeling soooo soft, like i have eczema and it doesn’t irritate it at all.  My skin loves this stuff. it melts fast and the smell will takes some getting used to.  I haven’t tried cooking with it yet because I really just wanted to use it on my skin cause I have extremely sensitive skin and eczema and I needed something pure and organic, and honestly, I can see my skin clearing up.  My eczema is less itchy and actually looks better and is under control.  Coconut oil is so vital to my everyday skin care regimen.  Best thing ever.

Dear Nutiva – I just wanted to email to let you know that we have been feeding our dog your coconut oil since last fall and the changes in him are just amazing!

He had some skin allergies last fall, and in searching the Internet I saw that many people feed coconut oil to their dogs.  We use your organic coconut oil for frying and baking, so had some on hand and decided to give it a try to see if it would help his coat.  After a few weeks, his coat started shining like you wouldn’t believe, and we noticed that his normal ‘doggy’ smell was GONE.   He smells GOOD!!!  The last couple months I have noticed that he is not shedding nearly as much as he used to.  I used to have to vacuum every single day and the canister would be full of hair.  Now I have been able to cut down to every other day (and could easily go longer if I was not such a clean freak!) because there just isn’t hardly any hair to vacuum up anymore!

I just had to email because I am nothing short of amazed at the changes we’ve seen from the coconut oil.  We haven’t changed anything else, so it has to be what has made such a difference for him!   Thanks so much for such a great organic product that is of such high quality, and yet is reasonably priced!!!

Sincerely,  Ann B.
(and our dog, Spyder, too!)

Here’s a great early morning power shake for you.  This Strawberry Protein Shake also adheres to the Nutiva  3-2-2-1 Program recommendations, and we like that a lot.

This recipe won our January 2012 Recipe Club $50 Gift Certificate prize.  Congrats to Jennifer Monk, from Loveland, CO, who submitted this one to the Nutiva Recipe Club.

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons Nutiva Organic Extra-Virgin Coconut Oil
2 Tablespoons Nutiva Organic Chia Seed (*made into Chia Gel – let sit at least 20 minutes)
2 Tablespoons Nutiva Organic Hemp Seed
1 Tablespoons Nutiva Organic Hemp Oil
6 frozen Organic Strawberries
1 Tablespoons Agave Nectar
2 cups Almond Milk

Directions:

Get out of bed, *mix Chia Gel, go take a shower.
After showering and getting ready for your day grab your blender.
Throw in the ingredients above, no specific order.
Let blend for a good 3 minutes or more.
Poor into your favorite breakfast glass and enjoy.
You will have energy and be satisfied beyond lunchtime. Makes it easy to eat light and healthy at lunch!

Give this delectable Coconut Oil Cranberry Orange Muffin recipe a try and wow all of your friends!

Do you have a recipe you would like to share? You can submit your recipes by joining the Nutiva Recipe Club!

Ingredients:

Muffins:

3 cups Fresh or Frozen (thawed and drained) Cranberries
1-2/3 cups Organic Cane or Date Palm Sugar
2/3 cups Nutiva Coconut Oil
½ cup Milk
2 teaspoons Vanilla
4 teaspoons Grated Orange Peel
4 Eggs
3 cups All Purpose or White Whole Wheat Flour
½ cup Coarsely Chopped Walnuts or Pecans
2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1 teaspoons Sea Salt
½ teaspoon Baking Powder

Glaze:
3 cups Powdered Sugar
1 Zest of 1 Orange
1 Juice of 1 Orange

Directions:

Muffins:

One batch makes 3 small loaves and 1 medium loaf in slightly less than 60 minutes at 350 in a conventional oven or 15 Texas size muffins ¾ full in 30 minutes on convection bake at 325.

Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 350°. Grease bottoms and sides of loaf pans (8.5″ x 4.5″ x 2.5″ or 9″ x 5″ x 3″) or muffin tins. Stir together cranberries, sugar, oil, milk, vanilla, orange peel and eggs in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into pans or muffin tins. Bake 8″ loaves 50 to 60 minutes, 9″ loaf 70 minutes to 80 minutes, muffins 30 minutes (325 in convection oven) or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in pans on wire rack. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans, and place top sides up on wire rack. Cool completely before glazing or slicing.

Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, refrigerate up to 10 days, or freeze. I usually pick up extra cranberries at Thanksgiving and freeze until Christmas. I make this and give it to friends at Christmas.

Another great variation is to fill the center of the muffins with several tablespoons of lemon curd before glazing. Use a frosting bag and a piping tip to add the filling. It sure provides another dimension to the flavor profile.

Glaze:

Variation of Glaze: For a richer glaze, use 2 tablespoons of softened cream cheese and 2 tablespoons Half and Half milk mixed with powdered sugar. Then add orange juice to desired thickness. Drizzle glaze on top and let roll down sides.

Prepare these little Cashew Coconut Squares for a quick on the go snack.  Much easier to make than most bars and full of Coconut Manna and Chia Seeds.

Submit your recipes to us by joining the Nutiva Recipe Club!

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp Nutiva Coconut Manna softened
1/2 cup Raw Cashews
1/4 cup Raisins
6 Dates cut up
1/8 tsp Nutiva Chia Seeds
1/8 tsp Sesame Seeds

Directions:

Process all in food processor until coarse.

Press into a 4×6 inch dish.

Chill.

Cut into 12 pieces. Enjoy.

Recipe Credit: Joanne Shafer, Minnetonka, MN

Get ready for this Cocoa Coconut Surprise recipe stuffed with lovely Coconut Oil and Coconut Manna to pump up that flavor.

If you would like to share one of your recipes you can get started by joining the Nutiva Recipe Club.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Nutiva Coconut Oil
1/4 tsp Peppermint Oil
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tbs Raw Coconut Nector
1 tbs Raw Heavy Cream or Nutiva Coconut Manna
1 tbs Raw Cocoa
1 cup Go Raw Chocolate Granola

Directions:

1. Before mixing, the ingredients should all be at room temperature.

2. Stir in the granola after all of the other ingredients have been thoroughly blended together. The heavy cream can be substituted with coconut manna.

3. Refrigerate after all of the ingredients have been mixed. The coconut oil content will cause the mixture to solidify in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

In 2011, adventurer Katie Spotz became the youngest person ever to row an ocean solo after 70 days alone at sea. As part of the challenge, Katie was raising funds and awareness for the Blue Planet Network to help communities worldwide gain access to safe drinking. To date, over $150,000 has been raised for water projects and Katie is currently visiting water projects in Kenya. Nutiva became one of the first sponsors in making this all possible.

(This photo was taken at one of the sites with some of the thousands of school children that now have clean water to drink.)

Please consider making a donation to the Blue Planet Network at www.blueplanetnetwork.org. A $30 donation can help one person gain access to safe drinking water for life!

If you are in the mood for a sweet, delicious treat filled with Hempseeds, Chia Seeds, Coconut Oil and Coconut Manna you have to try this Coconut-Almond Cream Pie recipe!

If you would like to share a recipe with us you can do so by joining the Nutiva Recipe Club.

Ingredients:

Crust:
1&1/2 c. Raw Unsalted Almonds
1/2 c. Nutiva Hempseeds
1 Tbl. Maca powder (optional)
2 Tbl. Agave Nectar (I used Xagave organic white and blue)
3 Tbl. Nutiva Coconut Oil

Filling:
1 pt. MimicCreme brand sugar-free Almond and Cashew Cream
1/4 c. Nutiva Chia Seeds (white or black)
1&1/2 Tbl. Agave Nectar (I used Xagave organic white and blue)
1 c. Nutiva Coconut Manna
Shredded Coconut

Directions:

To make crust start by adding the almonds, hemp seeds, and Maca powder to a food processor.

Process these ingredients until the almonds are finely chopped. Add the agave nectar and coconut oil and pulse until all ingredients are mixed together and the mixture looks crumbly.

Take a 9 in. pie dish and push the crust mixture evenly throughout the plate making sure to go up the sides. Make sure that all the mixture is packed and then place the pie plate and mixture in the freezer.

While the crust is setting in the freezer add 1 c. of the almond and cashew cream to a mixer and blend until frothy (start on low and adjust to high so the cream doesn’t get all over you). After the mixture is frothy add the chia seeds and let set. This is when I started melting the coconut manna by putting the jar in a pot of hot water until it was a creamy consistency. Add the manna and agave nectar to the cream and blend until all ingredients are mixed together. The mixture will be really thick. Add the remaining almond and cashew cream add blend on high for about 1 minute. The mixture will be like a creamy pudding.

Remove the crust from the freezer and pour the filling into the crust. Spread filling evenly throughout the crust. Sprinkle with shredded coconut.

Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for at least 1 hr.

Enjoy! *Warning: This is a very rich treat!

Recipe Credit: Renae Hard, Oak Harbor, WA

“I am now a confirmed addict of this stuff. If I run out, I start craving it. Popcorn is just not the same without melted Nutiva coconut oil and sprinkling of coarse sea salt. Cannot be more specific than to say that my body ‘feels’ better–joints, mobility, sense of well being since I started consuming it regularly. The scent of it is intoxicating as well. I for one don’t need a scientific “paper” to tell me what my body needs and responds well to.”