Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil Review & Giveaway

When my daughter was first diagnosed with celiac disease, I learned about this whole new world of food allergies. My youngest couldn’t eat gluten (wheat, barley or rye), meat (protein processing problems as a result of her illness), strawberries or tomatoes (all acidic food allergies she has since outgrown). One of the things that popped up in my research was coconut oil—both because it is soy free (another common food allergen) and for the purported health benefits.

In the 4 years since then, I have never gotten around to trying it. Soy is (fortunately) not something we have to worry about, and we had enough on our plate learning to cook gluten free. However, when Tropical Traditions offered me the chance to try their Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil, I couldn’t resist. It was perfect timing too—I couldn’t wait to use it in my holiday cookies! For my cookie swap, I made chocolate chip cheesecake cookies, replacing the oil in the recipe with coconut oil.

They were divine! It’s basically a chocolate chip cookie with cream cheese. The coconut oil adds a little bit of unique flavor to the cookie. The one problem I did have was the cookies overcooked a little. I don’t know if it was the substitution or if I was being particularly unaware but I kept almost burning the cookies. I did the exact same thing just last week when I cooked the rest of the dough I had frozen last month. Next time I bake with coconut oil, I’m going to try turning the oven down just a little.

The following week, I used the coconut oil in place of vegetable oil for a country-fried steak dinner. Again, yum! I was concerned about how it would work in the gravy but it was very tasty. Coconut oil hardens when cooled, though, so the leftovers were solid! They still reheated well, which is good because it is one of my favorite leftover meals. I always make extras so I can have lunch for a couple days. Now, I’m hungry! And craving country-fried steak! I guess I’ll be adding that to next week’s menu plan.

One of the reasons I had always resisted trying coconut oil was the high cost. It is definitely more expensive than vegetable oils, but Tropical Traditions makes organic groceries more affordable with regular specials, frequent coupons and a generous referral program. In fact, they’ll start you off with a freebie right away. You can receive a free copy of the book Virgin Coconut Oil: How It Has Changed People’s Lives and How It Can Change Yours with your first order from Tropical Traditions.

Simply place the items you want into your cart and select Checkout. In the box “How did you hear of us?” select “Referred by a friend” in the drop down box. When you enter our referral id (5761514) into the sponsor box, you will receive a complimentary copy of this book. (Please note: This is a referral program so we also receive free products when readers choose to enter our user id at checkout.) Plus, I have a freebie to giveaway to 1 luck reader!

You have the chance to win a jar of Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil from Tropical Traditions—simply visit their free recipe website then come back here to tell us which recipe you would like to try with your new coconut oil. You can earn additional entries by:

• Subscribing to our site by email or RSS
• Following Tropical Traditions and Inexpensively on Twitter
• Signing up for Tropical Traditions newsletter to be notified of sales & events
• Blogging about this giveaway
• Tweeting about this giveaway: Win a free Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil from @TropTraditions & @Inexpensively! http://bit.ly/7jF5UO

For your extra entries to be counted, be sure to leave an additional comment directing us to your entry. Only one additional entry per method (i.e. While multiple tweets are appreciated it, only one will count as a drawing entry.) The contest runs until January 18th at 11:59pm est. One winner will be notified by email on January 19th (as selected by Random.org). (Note: I will be out of town at that time and apologize in advance if I’m running late!) Winner will have 48 hours to complete the claim form or a new winner will be chosen.