Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil

Coconut Oil, how I love thee..


Do you know how fabulous coconut oil is? I have a new found love for the stuff. I have been using it on my skin and hair for a couple of years now, but I barely used it to cook (or un-cook). When Tropical Traditions sent me a sample to review, I decided to use it on more then just my hair.

I usually use Olive Oil when cooking, I am Italian, and it's the only oil my family ever used, so I used it out of habit. I thought that coconut oil would make my food taste like coconut. Boy was I wrong. Tropical Traditions has a buttery rich taste. I add it to my grains, beans, massaged kale salads (the best part of using it while massaging is how soft it makes your hands), cooked vegetables, spread on gluten free bread. YUM!  I have a new obsession (move over Bubbies and Sunshine Burgers!). ;) The more I learn about coconut oil, the more I want to use it over any other oil. Coconut oil has a higher smoke point, so it won't go rancid like olive oil does when cooking at a high temperature (like on my sweet potato fries or when sauteing veggies!).  

Check out this video: How We Discovered Virgin Coconut Oil - An Interview with Brian Shilhavy, CEO Tropical Traditions:





Tropical Traditions has high standards, check out this info from their website:


"We have a strong commitment to family farming and organic standards. We stand firmly against genetically modified foods (No GMOs). But the organic label is not enough for us. We research and find out where the products are produced, and how they are produced. We find that some organic standards too loose for our trust, so we look beyond what is claimed on a label. We find out as much as possible about those who provide the products. And if a certain quality of product does not exist, we will work with others to produce that product and offer it to our consumers. We did that with Virgin Coconut Oil in the Philippines, and we have done the same thing since coming back to live here in the US."


LOVE IT!!!!!


If you don't already use coconut oil on your food, give it a try. Even T is a fan! ;)




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.

Facebook Fan Page

Hey All!


I just made a "Fan Page" for Ginger is The New Pink!


Please "Like"! :)


Xo
Lauren

LOTS of Pre and Post Irene Eats

Hey All, thanks again for all the love! <3 We really are blessed that a little flooding was all we had to deal with. Half of our town had no power for hours and trees were uprooted everywhere. Thankfully no one was hurt. And we made it through IRENE!!!!


Onto eats, this was a salad I made for lunch one day last week: massaged kale, avocado, hummus, raw cashew cheese and Bubbies.

We had ordered take-out from a sushi restaurant in town (pre-Irene). I ordered an avocado salad:

And a few avocado cucumber rolls. I felt like having normal rolls so I didn't get purple rice (like I usually do). 

Another lunch: romaine and kale salad with raw kraut, Bubbies, a Sunshine Burger, hummus, capers and raw cashew cheese.

The night Irene arrived, we used our oven to make some yummy roasted potatoes. I added mine to a kale salad along with cashew cheese, avocado and raw kraut. 

My Whole Foods had the new Chia Kombucha's by GT. I bought all 3 flavors to try (unfortunately). I am not a fan!!! Iccckk, so slimy. Now what to do with the other 2 bottles I have? 

Good thing I have a whole case of Trilogy Kombucha to make up for the icky Chia Kombucha! I joked on Facebook that this was to get me through Irene. But the truth is, GT's Kombucha was on sale 2 for $4.00. So I picked up a case of my favorite flavor!

I forgot to mention that I won 3rd place in the Sunwarrior Smoothie Contest!!! I will be getting a t-shirt, a shaker bottle and 3 products of my choice. I chose 3 bags of the Chocolate Protein Powder, since it is my favorite. Anyway, my lovely friend Mariel entered too and won 4th place (by only 1 vote!). She gets the same prize package I do so it wasn't a big deal. She held a contest on her blog for everyone who voted for her (which I did because I voted for all of my friends that entered) and I won! She sent me a package of One Lucky Duck Chocolate Chip Cookies and some of her homemade raw-vegan "Funner-Butter Cookies!"

Mariel is wickedly talented! And only 16 years old! I am so jealous that she knows all about eating healthy at such a young age. I wish I was eating raw and vegan when I was 16! Instead I was eating packs of aspartame filled gum as meals.

Her cookies reminded me of Peanut Butter Lara Bars. So delicious! Thanks Mariel!

And finally, a raw vegan mudslide pie that I picked up at Dean's last week when we visited my Mother-in-law. This was as amazing as it looks!!!

Have a great day all! XO

We Survived!

(My backyard after Irene)

Hey All, Just wanted to let you all know that we survived Irene with no problems (besides a little flooding in our backyard).  Thank you for all the love and prayers. I feel like we were really lucky. My parents and family are all okay too. Baby A had her first earthquake and hurricane, all in one week! ;)

I'll be back with a yummy post tomorrow! Stay safe all! XO

Here's the story of the hurricane..

Hey Lovey Doveys, I hope all is well. We are expecting a big hurricane here in NJ and I am freaking out!! We aren't on the shore, but our families are, and they are saying the whole state should expect a BIG hit! We are already in a State Of Emergency! Please say prayers and send us good thoughts!


Anyway, for lunch one day, I made a big salad of romaine, Bubbies, hummus, raw kraut and RAWbundant's raw vegan feta! Yummy!!

For dinner one night I made a big kale salad topped with lentils and brown rice. This is a new staple in our house, T loves it!

Before this horrible, upcoming, hurricane weather, we had a few gorgeous days this week. Baby A and I took some nice walks. :) I snapped this picture on one of them.

Another high raw dinner: pinto beans and brown rice topped with peppers (from my garden and avocado). 

A mid-post pic of the pups..

On Wednesday, we went down to the shore to have dinner at my Mother-in-law's house. She made collard wraps stuffed with sprouts, veggie slaw, cashew cream, avocado and tomato! SO GOOD!

And we also had kale, a little brown rice pasta with broccoli rabe and few baby potatoes. She is a great cook! And lucky for me, a vegan!

I hope you all stay safe this weekend and no one gets hits too hard by IRENE!! Have a great day all! XO

Raw Finds

Hello Butterflies! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend. As always, ours was pretty busy. :) I did find some yummy raw eats though...


Organic Nectars raw ice cream in Pistachio is probably the best flavor ever! I have had the Mint Chocolate and Cherry Chocolate, and the Pistachio definitely takes the cake...err... ice cream! ;)

I picked up some raw crackers at Dean's. We went down to the shore for a BBQ, so of course, I had to stop in. These are Raw Makery, Pizza Flavored Crackers. Yummy!

This time they had RAWbundant's  raw/vegan cheezes! I bought the Bulgarian Fera-style in garlic and dill. I can't wait to have this on my salads this week! I tried this at the Forks Over Knives event and I've been dreaming of it ever since. It even has probiotics in it! Zoe makes some amazing goodies! I also grabbed more of her delicious Sundried Tomato Crackers. 

This was another new item I found this weekend: Go Berry Hemp Bar. I will be trying this in the near future and I will report back! ;)

As I mentioned, we had a family BBQ at T's uncle's house. Just to be safe, I brought a box of veggie burgers and a quinoa salad. This was cooked quinoa with raw carrots, peppers and celery. I dressed it with olive oil, sea salt, ground pepper and lemon. Everyone seemed to like it! His Aunt made sure I had lots of veggies and even got me a Nana's Gluten Free/Vegan cookie to have for dessert! How cool is that?

And finally, my little Bella Bombina. Can you believe she will be 9 months in 2 days? Ah! Time flies! She even stands on her own now. I think she will be walking very soon!!!

Have a great day all!

Food/Fitness Journal: #3

Here is what I ate/did on Wednesday August 17th, 2011:

(Still Breastfeeding)

Upon Waking: Stretch, take probiotic with a glass of water


Breakfast: Green Smoothie: Spinach, 2 frozen bananas, almond milk, chocolate Sunwarrior protein, 2 brazil nuts, wheatgrass powder, E3Live and about 1/2 a tablespoon of cashew butter. I also took my supplements at this time.


Workout: P90x Shoulders and Triceps


After Workout: Coconut Water


Before Lunch: Probiotic with water


Lunch: Salad of romaine, capers, a Sunshine Burger, hummus, 1 Bubbies pickle, raw kraut, cherry tomatoes, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, ground pepper, dulse flakes and curry powder.


Snack: A raw organic food bar and half of a Kombucha.


Before Dinner: Probiotic and 20 chlorella tablets.


Dinner: Buddha Bowl: raw kale with millet, black beans, soy-free miso, capers, cherry tomatoes, raw kraut, avocado and olives. I also take Omega-zen 3 at this time and another raw prenatal. 


After dinner: 1 small square of raw chocolate.


Took a walk with the baby, T and the pups around the block.


As you can see, I have a new found love for capers! I just read that they can help with inflammation! Awesome!!




Before I go, I wanted to mention a cool raw website that streams un-cooking videos every Friday. Check it out: Blythe Raw.

A New Member of The Fam

Hello Sunbursts, I hope you are having a wonderful week! We didn't end up going to the beach on Monday due to the rainy weather. But we had a fun day anyway. Even went to the Italian grocery store we went to last Summer, when I was preggers. I picked up some organic olive oil and broccolli rabe. T stocked up on Italian bread! Ha ha! Anyway, I made this delicious dinner one night: raw kale with garden tomatoes and white beans with risotto. 

I picked up some Raw Chocolate Cookies at Whole Foods because I felt like something sweet and chocolaty. Story. Of. My. Life!

Here is that broccoli rabe I mentioned. T made peppers, potatoes and onions with some peppers from our garden and I heated up the broccoli rabe I had bought and added it. YUM!

The weather has been cooler due to the rain, so a walk was in order. Here is Miss Ginger!

And Miss Sueshe. Sueshe is now ours! We now are the owners of 2 pugs and a baby! HA HA! I have been giving her wheatgrass, chlorella, dulse, spirulina and her energy has been so much better! She even makes it a whole block now!!

And of course, can't forget Miss Audriana, AKA: Baby A! She loves the swings at the park! 

Have a great day!!! XO

A "Rawly" Good Weekend

Hey Love Bugs!  I hope you all had a great weekend! T took today off so we can go to the beach, but it's been raining on and off, so I am not sure if we are going to go! :( Yesterday, he did Warrior Dash, have you heard of it? He is crazy, in my opinion! HA HA! Baby A and I stayed home with the pups and enjoyed the rainy day in bed cuddling! My kinda day! 


On Saturday, we went to the shore to pick up my younger (15 years old) brother-in-law, he ran the race with T. He stayed overnight so they could leave early in the morning. Anyway, we had lunch at Dean's (my favorite health food store). I picked up some of Zoe's Raw Crackers!!! I was so excited to see "Rawbundant" being sold there. Zoe said they also had her raw vegan cheeses, but sold out! I believe it, they are amazing!!

The crackers were Sundried Tomato flavor. They were really good! I wish I picked up another bag.. This one is gone! ;)

I also had my usual, a raw collard wrap: carrots, sprouts, tomato, cabbage, lettuce and raw vegan cashew mayo.

I picked up a raw pizza to have for dinner when we got home. This was very tasty!

At Whole Foods, I grabbed a container of the most delicious kale chips by New York Naturals. I LOVE the Bombay Ranch flavor, but I was excited to see they had Salt and Vinegar! Oh.My.Word.YUM!

And lastly, the first fig of the season, from our tree!!! Some of you may remember, one of the reasons we wanted our house was because of the fig tree in the yard!!! ;)

Have a great day all!!!

P.S. You can still vote in the Sunwarrior Smoothie Contest, on Facebook. Just "LIKE" Sunwarrior then "LIKE" my photo! And friend me while your at it! ;)

Meals in Bowls

Hey Loves, I hope you had a great week! I am super excited for the weekend because we have some fun stuff going on. Including Baby A's first trip to the beach! :) I will be sure to post some pics! ;) Thanks to everyone who voted for my smoothie in the Sunwarrior contest, I truly appreciate it. Especially since I use the stuff everyday and being a stay at home Mom, it isn't cheap! If you haven't voted and want too, you just have to go to Sunwarrior's facebook page and "Like" it, after that you have to "Like" my smoothie here.  The contest ends on Thursday. Thanks so much again!


Anyway, onto my meals. We had a lot of food in bowls this week.. Including, this dinner of raw kale, millet, avocado, capers and cherry tomatoes (from the garden).

Lunch one day was romaine, raw kraut, left over millet/white bean burgers, hummus and cucumbers.

Another dinner: raw kale, quinoa, black beans, olives, yellow pepper (from the garden), raw kraut, avocado and cherry tomatoes (again, from my garden). 

And finally, raw kale, cherry tomatoes, avocado and white bean/millet burgers. These burgers were based on a recipe from Whole Living magazine that I tweaked..

White Bean/Millet Burgers
Adapted from Whole Living Magazine
1 19 ounce can white beans (I use Eden Organics since they are BPA free!)
1/2 shallot, finely grated
1 large carrot, chopped small
1 tsp chopped fresh sage
3/4 cup cooked millet
One handful of kale chopped small
Sea Salt and Pepper
Coconut Oil (to "fry" in)


Drain beans, reserving 2 tbsp liquid. Transfer to bowl and mash. Stir in shallot, carrot, kale, cornmeal, sage and millet. Season with salt and pepper. Add 1 tbsp reserved liquid. If mixture is too dry, add more liquid.


Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add coconut oil. Form mixture into patties (should make around 12) and saute in batches until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes on each side. Enjoy as you would a burger, or on a salad, like me! ;)
Have a great weekend all!

Vote For Me and Rockin' Raw

Hey All! Lots going on here!! First, you all know how much I love Sunwarrior Protein Powder! I use it EVERYDAY! Well, I entered a smoothie contest on Facebook. You just have to "Like" Sunwarrior's Page, then "like" my smoothie to vote. I know a few other bloggers entered as well, you can vote for more then one smoothie! As of yesterday, I was in 6th place!!! I would love your help! ;)  And feel free to friend me, if we aren't friends already!


In other news, T and I were dog sitting my Mother-in-law's pug, Sueshe, over the weekend. She is in bad health. Overweight, 10 years old, rotted teeth, can barely walk, nails are really long.. etc. My Mother-in-law doesn't have the time she use too, so we asked if we can "adopt" Sueshe from her. Sueshe is still here, so it's looking good! ;) We brought her to get her nails cut, got her some stuff for her teeth, been feeding her healthy, and have been trying to exercise her (she can only walk a few houses). All of that plus some extra love from us and she is doing a lot better. So we will see. I know taking on another dog is a lot for me right now, but she has never seemed so happy. She really loves Baby A and Ginger really loves having her around. :) Here she is.. doing yoga.. ha ha!

And of course, Miss Ginger, on the couch!

 On Sunday.. T, Baby A and I ventured to Brooklyn for a lovely little  raw brunch at Rockin' Raw!

Believe, Inspire, Love (on the wall of Rockin' Raw).

T and I both started with a Watermelon Cooler which was watermelon, ice, and ginger. So refreshing! YUM! 

T ordered the pancakes all of the brunch items came with soup, salad and raw bread with a "cream cheese" spread. He liked the pancakes but didn't like the soup (I am not surprised, raw soup is pretty hardcore in my opinion, I am not a huge fan myself).  He also stated that he like Pure Food and Wine better. Humph, what a raw snob! ;)

I ordered the Fried "Egg" with hashbrowns and zucchini "bacon". Yes, that "egg" is raw and vegan, it does look creepily real! Ha ha! I found the dish to be great. The "bacon" was crispy, the "egg" firm and the texture was DEAD ON, the soup was tasty, salad was delicious and hashbrowns were just okay. They were made of jicama, didn't remind me of hashbrowns at all. But I got the idea. :)

For dessert we took home a Raweo and a Mini Cinnabun. So good!!! I liked the Raweo better then the ones at One Lucky Duck. The filling was really creamy. And the Cinnabun was full of flavor! Two thumbs up!

Over all, Rockin' Raw was good. Not amazing, but not horrible. I would like to go back to try their lunch menu, but I not sure T would want to go to Brooklyn for raw food again! ;)

Anyway, have a great day all and don't forget to vote!!! :)