Tropical Traditions Coconut Cream - A Review and a Giveaway!

One of my favorite foods is Thai food! Over the past few years I’ve started cooking it more and more often. One of the biggest problems I face when cooking Thai food is coconut milk. Most recipes call for it, but few use a full can. This has always been a problem for me. Sure I could freeze the leftovers, but they usually end up getting pushed to the back of the freezer and sitting there until they finally get tossed. I could use coconut extract, but I always felt that I would lose some of the “essence” of the coconut milk that way.

Well, I discovered that Tropical Traditions has a great solution to my problem! They sell Coconut Cream Concentrate, which is certified organic whole coconut meat in concentrated form. Just 1 teaspoon of this cream mixed with 6-8 oz water gives you coconut milk, or you can use it alone as a non-dairy creamer for your coffee or as an addition to your morning smoothie! I’m thinking I may use it in ice cream recipes that call for heavy cream! 


I tried it out in this recipe for Lower Fat Thai Peanut Sauce – I added a little bit more water to mine, because I was having mine over salad greens and wanted it to mix easily. I also cooked my tofu in a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, water and chili garlic sauce (1 T each). If you’re new to cooking tofu – don’t forget to press it before putting the marinade on! It will soak up a lot more that way.

The coconut cream worked great in this recipe – I went ahead and put in a full teaspoon, since I like the rich coconut flavor. It’s such a great deal when you compare it to the cost of coconut milk as well – it usually runs from $1.50-2.50 a can, and I’m pretty sure this one jar is going to last me well over a year! No more realizing I don’t have any coconut milk at the last minute or having to use all that room in the pantry to store the cans.


BUY IT: You can buy Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil here. It's currently on sale!


WIN IT: One lucky winner will win their own 32 oz bottle of coconut cream!  Open to US and Canada

Contest ends July 5th at midnight EST

Don't forget to check out my other giveaways here!

Read more »

Tropical Traditions Coconut Peanut Butter - A Review and a Giveaway!

My daughter loves peanut butter – I think for her it’s one of the major food groups!  A lot of peanut butters have a LOT of ingredients other than just peanuts.  Not Tropical Traditions!  Theirs is made of peanuts and coconut, that’s all.  The peanuts are 100 % organic, and the coconut is unsweetened.  I love the flavor the coconut adds to the peanut butter, the flavors go together so well!  My daughter is still on the fence about it, but I think she’ll come around. 

If you live in a hot climate like mine, the peanut butter will be a little on the runny side.  Or, you can keep it in the fridge and just remember to take it out well before using so it isn’t too hard to spread. 

Little Miss and I both enjoyed these yummy No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies! 

No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

• ¾ C sugar
• ¼ C TT Virgin Coconut Oil (or butter)
• ¼ C milk
• 3 T cocoa powder
• ¼ C TT Coconut Peanut Butter
• 1 ½ C oats
• ¼ C coconut flakes
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Add first four ingredients to a saucepan and bring to a boil. 
2. In the meantime, pour the remaining ingredients into another bowl. 
3. After the mixture boils for one minute, remove from heat and pour into the bowl with the other ingredients. 
4. Mix well and then drop onto parchment paper or a nonstick cooking mat, allow to cool.  If it’s warm where you are, you may need to pop them into the fridge or freezer. 

Want to try out Tropical Traditions coconut peanut butter for yourself?

BUY IT:  You can buy Tropical Traditions Coconut Peanut Butter here.  When you check out, choose referred by a friend and use referral code 6967300 to get a free Virgin Coconut Oil book with over 85 recipes!  

Congratulations to the winner - comment #90!

Jena said...90

I tweeted about the giveaway!
(@suhodgepodge)

Don't forget to check out my other giveaways here!

**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.  All opinions expressed are 100% my own. 

Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil - A Review and a Giveaway!

Congratulations to the winner - Angie Lilly!  Comment #109!


When I got my amazingly well packaged Gold Label Coconut Oil from Tropical Traditions, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I’ve heard a lot of good things about it, but I couldn’t help but wonder if it would affect the taste of my food.  When I opened the container, it was solid – coconut oil is a solid up to 76 degrees, so depending on the temperature in your house it might be a solid or a liquid.  It had a coconut smell, but not a whole lot of coconut flavor when I tasted it, which was good!   

I started easy, with a red coconut curry.  Because of the high fat content of the coconut oil, I decided not to use quite as much as I normally do.  I simply scooped it out as a solid and it quickly melted in the pan.  It turned out great!  A few days later it got its real test – Mexican food.  I used it to make a Mexican casserole and didn’t notice any coconut flavor in the food at all!  Mission:  It Doesn’t Make Your Food Taste Funny a success!  It also handles high heat well.  I love that it is resistant to mutations of fatty acid chains even under high heat, unlike most vegetable oils.  This makes it an excellent choice for frying.  You can find a great assortment of reader submitted recipes here. 

Red Curry made with Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil

Coconut oil can also be used to condition your hair and skin (it makes a wonderful all-natural chapstick) in addition to being eaten.  I know my Aunt who suffers from multiple chemical sensitivity disorder uses coconut oil all of the time for conditioning of her skin and lips. 

BUY IT:  You can buy Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil here.  Use referral code 6967300 to get a free Virgin Coconut Oil book with over 85 recipes!  

WIN IT: Tropical Traditions has graciously offered to give one lucky reader a free quart of coconut oil!  

  Entry Methods:

*Please leave one comment for each entry method.  On at least one of those comments leave an e-mail address so I can contact you if it is not available via your blogger profile.  Contest ends Mar 11, 2011 at midnight and the winner will be announced by Mar 13th. Open U.S and Canada only.

1.            Mandatory - Sign up for Tropical Traditions newsletter and leave a comment below.  They are always having great sales!  

2.            Follow me on GFC, twitter or like me on facebook. (1 entry each - leave a comment below for each entry)

3.      Follow Tropical Traditions on Facebook or twitter.  (1 entry - leave a comment below for each entry).  

4.            Tweet about this contest (up to 1 entry per day) 

          I entered the @Troptraditions  #giveaway @FrugalGreenMom1 http://nblo.gs/eKRiT

5.       Comment on any of my non-giveaway posts (1 extra entry limit).  Leave a comment below telling me which post you commented on.  

6.            Grab my button and post it on your blog – 2 entries.  (Leave 2 comments)

Don't forget to check out my other giveaways here!

**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.  All opinions expressed are 100% my own.