I contacted Tropical Traditions and asked if I could review their product I was delighted when I received a bottle of their Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil .
Tropical Traditions was the first to export Virgin Coconut Oil from the Philippines to the US. Theirs is produced by hand the traditional way, and is not mass produced using machines like so many other companies do.
Tropical Traditions CEO Brian Shilhavy explains about Tropical Traditions and how The Gold Label Brand Virgin Coconut Oil is made.
My first impression when I opened the box was that it was solid and white. I expected the oil to be pourable so I was really curious about it...I mean what made Virgin Coconut Oil,Virgin anyway? I did a little research, in my reading there was a lot of technical stuff but in a nut shell this is what I found out: The main difference between regular Coconut Oil and Virgin Coconut Oil is in the process of getting the oil. Regular coconut oil is extracted by cold compression or cold milling of dried Coconut kernels. Virgin oil is extracted from coconut milk obtained from fresh coconuts. Companies use processes like fermentation, churning , separation, refrigeration and action of enzymes, to separate the oil from the water or moisture. They take a lot of care with Virgin Coconut Oil to make sure that the coconut is never is subjected to heat or sunlight during the process also,virgin oil is not refined.
Everything I read only had good things to say about using coconut oil so I wanted to try it and I went to Tropical Traditions site and looked at their recipes. My diet is really restrictive, no grains, starches,sweets or salt.... short list but it cuts out a lot of what I can eat. I was delighted to find pages of recipes to choose from. My husband and I chose several to try out, because we could not decide what sounded best.
It smells wonderful when you open the jar!
I miss chocolate so I wanted to try the hot coco recipe, I followed the recipe ALMOST exactly, I did not put the salt in, nor did I use regular or raw sugar. I substituted the sugar with splenda.... this one did not do it for me. Maybe because it was not exact...I could taste the coconut and that was nice but it left an oily film on our lips that neither my husband or I cared for.
For breakfast we made Strawberry Vanilla Coconut Smoothies and Gluten Free Yam Pancakes.
Okay...the smoothies... I made them exactly as the recipe called, I used fresh strawberries and plain yogurt.Our first taste was really bitter... so I doctored it, I added orange juice and splenda and a few chunks of ice along with some frozen strawberries.mmmmmmuch better. It was so good and filling we did not need anything else with it. This would be the PERFECT breakfast on the go for a busy person, I could see me with one of those personal smoothie makers hmmmmmm.
However we had made the yam pancakes also. This was super easy to make and I followed the recipe almost exactly. I added more yams and eggs then it called for but that really didn't change it.
I shredded the yams and chopped the onion, stirred in the eggs and added pepper (no salt)
then I warmed the pan and added the coconut oil
and put the pancakes on to cook
They smelled wonderful as they cooked. Both Rick and I nibbled on them as I took them off the heat. THEY WERE YUMMY! I served them with ham and the smoothies and folks I have to tell you we were satisfied until supper time. I can not eat regular potatoes and I miss potato pancakes! This was a light and delicious way to treat myself with out breaking the rules. Rick added salt and said they tasted better, but without the salt they were still really good!
For supper... we are having Roasted Turkey and Slavka’s Festive Sweet Potatoes I would say that Tropical Traditions scored a home run in this household and I expect we will keep their Virgin Coconut Oil in the pantry from now on.
I was really surprised that Tropical Traditions has so many products available and I have my shopping list started! You can buy a bottle of their Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil for yourself here. Tropical Traditions has also kindly offered one of our readers their own bottle on them! For your chance to win simply enter below.
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Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.
