Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil

Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil - Review & Giveaway

This giveaway has ended: Congratulations to #41 dag888888. I like to choose natural food options as much as possible, and since I've been limiting my intake of saturated fat, I've been experimenting with different oils. When asked to review Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil, I hesitated for a minute.

Isn't coconut oil loaded with saturated fat? Yep. I've been reading lively debates on the subject on vegan and whole food websites for quite some time. There is no real consensus, but it's absolutely true that coconut oil is saturated fat. It's also true that it's a plant source food, with no trans or partially hydrogenated fats...and that's where I'm torn.

So, I agreed to try the coconut oil and see how I felt about it. First things first, Coconut oil is solid at temperatures below 76 degrees. I'm laughing because in the winter, my home is never above 64 degrees and my coconut oil was always solid in my house.

In order to use the coconut oil, I submerged the jar in warm water and waited for some to melt. It was easy enough, but super funny too.

I did this every time I used it, and then put it in the cupboard where it instantly became solid again. The storage possibilities were amazing...without any preservatives!

Tropical Traditions sent me a jar of their virgin coconut oil, along with a book explaining how it is made, why they think it's healthy, and some recipes. I found the information helpful, except for the testimonials. I never believe something is a cure-all, and a lot of the stories made that claim. Recipes and an explanation of where the product comes from, however; are always welcome.

Can you guess where I used this most often? I added it to my raw almond butter to get it a little oilier and used it in place of butter in all sorts of recipes. If I was going to use saturated fat anyway, might as well go vegan. You can find great coconut recipes at their site.

My thoughts:

-I'm not sure if Coconut oil is healthy or not, but it's probably no worse than butter and I use that, so I'm willing to use coconut oil.

- It smelled divine, like a pina colada.

- It worked well as an oil/butter substitute, but did leave a faint coconut taste.

- I still haven't made a curry or any savory dishes with it, but I plan on it.

Tropical Traditions is generously offering one Suburban Jungle reader 1 free jar of virgin coconut oil. Use swagbucks to search out some great recipes and I tell you, you will not be disappointed...and the jar will last you a long time.

To Enter:

Subscribe to the Tropical Traditions Sales Newsletter. Come back and leave me a comment that you did.

Extra Entries:

-Blog or Tweet about this giveaway - 2 entries - Leave 2 comments (one with a link) - Be sure to include @suburbanjung and a link to this post in your tweet
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-Enter one of my other current giveaways and leave 2 comments (tell me which one) - 2 entries

This giveaway will end on November 19, 2009 at 9:00 pm EST. The winner will be selected by random.org and notified by email within 1 day of the contest end. The winner will also be identified on this post by November 20th.

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.