Tropical Traditions Shredded Coconut Review & Giveaway

I have an awesome give away for you from another of my favorite online stores - Tropical Traditions!

They sent me a one gallon pail of their shredded coconut for review.

Tropical Traditions Shredded Coconut is 100% natural coconut made from organic dried coconut from the Philippines. They are grown with no fertilizers or pesticides. The premium dried coconut contains no additives or preservatives, and is not sweetened. Unlike most dried coconut on the market, their dried coconut products are not treated with Sulfites to keep them white. This is why I love Tropical Traditions so much - you are getting 100% pure food the way it was intended to be, not all doctored up with a bunch of sprays and chemicals.

I'm a huge coconut fan so I was thrilled when the pail arrived. The first thing I thought when I opened it was "My Lord there is a lot of coconut in that pail" - lol! Seriously - a one gallon pail holds a lot of shredded coconut! It is well worth the price of $22.50 a pail (on sale right now for $16.99). There is enough coconut to supply my household for at least a year!

Since there aren't any preservatives I like to keep my little pail in the freezer - I just pull it out when needed.

The smell and taste is pure coconut - nothing else. I love that it's unsweetened, there is usually enough sugar in the products I'm making, it certainly doesn't need any extra. Plus if you are using the coconut in a recipe that is savory and not sweet you don't want sugar added. The shredded coconut is a very small cut so it's perfectly suited for baking. That's exactly what I did!

I've made a ton of recipes with the coconut - one of my favorites is the Chocolate Coconut Macaroons. I used the recipe from the Tropical Traditions Coconut Recipes site.

Chocolate Coconut Macaroons

* 2 egg whites
* ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
* ½ cup organic whole sugar
* 1 cup dried shredded coconut
* 3 oz. organic dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 320 degrees.

Whip egg white till almost stiff peaks form.

While continuing to mix, add the vanilla extract and slowly add sugar. Mix in the dried shredded coconut after mixing in the sugar.

Now, melt the chocolate and fold into the coconut mixture. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes in preheated oven. Let cookies cool on the pan and then serve! Makes approximately 15 cookies.

I doubled the recipe and it made way more than 30 cookies - I must have made mine a bit smaller than the intended recipe but oh boy are these good!

I also made the Chili Coconut Crusted Shrimp



Very easy to make and absolutely delicious!

Make sure you check out all the other Coconut Recipes that Tropical Traditions has. There are so many great ones!

The good people at Tropical Traditions have offered one of my reader their own 1 gallon pail of Shredded Coconut! Your gonna love it!

Here's how you can win!
Leave a separate comment for each entry.

Main Entry: Must be completed in order to enter the giveaway contest and before you can do the bonus entries.

1. Subscribe to the Tropical Traditions Newsletter so you can be kept up to date on specials, sales & new products! Leave a comment telling me you did and the email address you signed up with.

Bonus Entries:These can be completed if you'd like extra entries for a chance to win.

2. Follow Tropical Traditions on Twitter and leave a comment with your twitter ID.

3. Follow me publicly on Google Friend Connect (right column) & leave a comment telling me you do. = 2 entries - make sure you leave 2 separate comments!

4. Subscribe to my blog by email (top right)& leave a comment telling me which email address you signed up with. = 2 entries - leave 2 separate comments.

5. Snag my button (top right) and put it on your site or blog! Don't forget to tell me where you put it so I can go and look! = 2 entries - make sure you leave 2 separate comments.

6. Blog about this giveaway with links back to this site and leave me a comment with a link to your post = 2 entries - make sure you leave 2 comments.

7. Follow me on Twitter and tweet about the giveaway - leave a comment with the link to your tweet. You can do this once a day and leave one comment daily. - 1 entry per day.

Copy & Paste:

Win a 1 gallon pail of 100% natural shredded coconut from Tropical Traditions & Candid, Clever & Cost-Effective http://bit.ly/a8GXJb

8. Become a Fan on Facebook and share the giveaway. Make sure you leave your Facebook ID in the comment!

9. Fav me on Technorati - leave a comment with your ID.

10. Share this giveaway on another site, forum, Mr. Linky, Facebook etc. just make sure it isn't already posted - then leave a comment telling me where you posted it. One entry for each place you share the giveaway!

11. Enter any of my other current giveaways listed on the right - leave a comment telling me which ones you entered. One entry for each giveaway! Leave separate comments for each entry.

Open Worldwide
Ends March 24/10

Enter Here!
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If the form is not working for you - please use comments below to enter.

Disclaimer:

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.

RAGU - Recipe For A Good Start Contest

Have you guess heard about this? I thought it might be something my US readers would like to know about. I mean who couldn't use some extra college funding for their kids.



Ragu - Recipe For A Good Start Contest

Beginning Monday, March 1, 2010 and ending Wednesday, March 31, 2010 you can enter the Ragu Recipe for a Good Start Contest by submitting your original recipe using Ragu pasta sauce, and share your tips for giving kids a good start in life.

The top three finalists, selected by a panel of judges, will be posted back on the site in May - when America will vote on their favorite entry (and will have a chance to win a new set of cookware)! Those top three will also compete in a live cook-off event in New York City in August 2010, and the grand prize contest winner will receive a $5000.00 scholarship for his/her child!

Enter the contest here
Official rules here

Wish they were offering something similar here in Canada - I'd enter!

Good luck to anyone who enters and please let me know if you win!

Disclaimer:

"Disclosure: I was entered for a chance to win a Ragú® family package in exchange for this post. No monetary exchange took place."

Tasty Tuesday - Sugar Free Yummies

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned several times before that I am diabetic. However, I have huge problems because I am a carb addict. I would rather eat cake, cookies, bread, buns, corn on the cob - yeah pretty much anything that will drive my sugar up and I crave it. I've made a lot of lifestyle changes like switching up soda pop for water - although I do have the occasional diet soda. I try to buy the items in the store with the lowest carb & sugar counts etc.

I've also been trying to cook low sugar or sugar free when I can. So I thought I would share a few of my favorite recipes here, I figure I can't be the only one that needs to watch their sugars & carbs.

4 LAYER SUGAR FREE DESSERT

1ST LAYER:

1 c. flour
1/2 c. chopped nuts
1 stick softened butter

2ND LAYER:
8 oz. cream cheese
2 pkg. Equal
1 c. Light Cool Whip

3RD LAYER:

2 pkg. sugar free pudding (1 butterscotch & 1 vanilla)
3 c. milk

Combine 1st layer. Press in 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool. Beat together the 2nd layer and spread over the 1st layer. Beat together 3rd layer and spread over 2nd layer. Spread a thin layer of Cool Whip over all. Sprinkle with chopped nuts.

This is really yummy and everyone I serve it to doesn't seem to notice that it's sugar free.

HAWAIIAN DESSERT

6 slices pineapple, in own juice, drained
3/4 c. reserved pineapple juice
2 env. sugar free lime Jello
1/2 c. milk
1/4 tsp. almond extract
3/4 c. crushed ice

Bring juice to a boil; add Jello, stirring until Jello is dissolved. Combine pineapple and milk in blender; blend well. Add Jello mixture, almond extract and ice. Mix thoroughly in blender. Pour into individual dessert dishes. Chill until set, about 1 hour.

So refreshing!

SUGAR FREE PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. natural peanut butter
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/3 c. sugar-free maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. liquid sweetener
1 2/3 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder

Mix dry ingredients, mix all others in order listed. Combine all ingredients. Roll one teaspoonful of dough into a ball, place on greased cookie sheet, flatten with a fork dipped in flour....continue until all dough is used. Bake in 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes.
Do not over bake. In fact it's best to take them out a little under baked, they will finish cooking as they cool. Other wise they tend to be a little dry.

SUGAR FREE OATMEAL COOKIES

1 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. oatmeal
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 c. raisins
1 c. unsweetened applesauce
1/4 c. water
1/3 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 c. nuts (chopped fine)

Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl. Mix well. Drop by teaspoonful onto lightly oiled baking sheet.

Bake at 375°F for 10 to 15 minutes or until browned.

Yields about 4 dozen.

I go a little heavier on the spices because I like a lot of flavor.

So that's it for Tasty Tuesday - do you have a favorite low sugar or sugar free recipe? Please share if you do!