Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil Hair Treatment

More great stuff from Tropical Traditions today, folks! Since the change of seasons I have been all about the hair. I have super long hair that I love, except that I get these crispy ends. (yes, CRISPY!) Even right after a trim. I think it's some strange combination of heat, humidity and sneaky little end-crisping gnomes. Whatever the cause, I found the solution in Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil Hair Treatment.

Tropical Traditions Organic Hulled Millet

Since changing to a gluten free diet, I have been more aware of my nutritional needs. Before, I was one of those rare fast food junkies that always opted for the whole grain breads and chips in the stores. It was very depressing to me that going gluten free not only meant a lot of tasteless spongy food, but most of it was pure sugar as well.

I started exploring the food available to me in my new gluten free life (hence the gluten free product review blog) and have found some great stuff out there. Reading those labels began to take it's toll, though, and I knew I could do better than I ever had before to offer my family good nutrition. I began to study the other grains that were available to me. It was very encouraging to discover that there were a lot of whole grain, healthy options out there, even for people who can't eat wheat.

I have to admit, I was a bit nervous when I received the bag of millet from Tropical Traditions to try. As stated, I've done the research and I know how healthy millet is, but buying a loaf of gluten free bread made of millet is a lot different than just eating the millet itself.

D.D. had a nervous reaction as well, "Mom, that's what I feed the birds!" I replied with, "Well, if it's good enough for them, then we may like it too." We swallowed our nerves and tried the most basic recipe for millet I could find. I'm glad we did! This was another learning experience that I am more than happy to share with all of you.

Ease of Use

Tropical Traditions Hulled Millet is pretty easy to prepare. It can be made on the stove, or in a crock pot or a host of other cooking options. The cooking methods and times are very similar to brown rice.

Appearance

These little grains are pretty! They have a pearly sheen with a tan color. I had to talk D.D. out of playing in the bag because they feel neat in your hands. Once cooked, the millet looked a lot like couscous.







Taste and Texture

The cooked millet from Tropical traditions had a nice bite to it. It was a little like brown rice, but with more texture due to the smaller grain size. It has a great mouth feel. The flavor was mild, but delicious. I was very pleasantly surprised by both the flavor and texture that this gluten free whole grain offered.

Versatility

Honestly, I'm going to say that this is the best part about the millet from Tropical Traditions. You can use it for anything! It can be used at breakfast as a hot cereal, at lunch as part of a salad and a side dish or main course for dinner. It can be mixed in to any dish to add texture and flavor, it would be a fantastic substitute for barley in soup... The list goes on! Those of you who are industrious enough in your kitchens to have a grain mill can even make your own whole grain millet flour.

Overall Value

My jaw just about hit the floor on this one- A five pound bag of organic, whole grain hulled millet from Tropical Traditions is only $8.88! Get a ten pound bag for $15.54. I get very excited about low prices and with this kind of versatility, this is a LOW price! (Not that I'm suggesting it should be raised :)

Rating

I love the stuff! I'm very glad I tried it and I can't wait to find many more uses for it.

The Giveaway

If you are familiar with Tropical Traditions or GFPR, I'm sure you saw this coming- Tropical Traditions will send one lucky reader a five pound bag of millet to try for themselves. Before we get into that, though, we have to see the legal stuff:

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. 

Back to the fun stuff! To enter to win a five pound bag of gluten free whole grain millet from Tropical Traditions, you must first use this link to sign up for their newsletter. After you've done that, come back here and celebrate the versatility of this product by leaving a comment telling me your best use for the millet. It can be a recipe, or just the name of a dish, but make it fun.

On Wednesday, April 28, 2010 D.D. is going to pick her five favorites from the list. Out of the top five, we will draw a random winner out of a hat. If you need a little inspiration, check out the recipe section of the Tropical Traditions site.

As usual, please make sure that there is a way to contact you within your comment. Good luck to all who enter!

This giveaway has been completed, Thank You!

Tropical Traditions Coconut Cream Concentrate

Since doing the review for Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil, I’ve been exploring more and more with coconut products. They have natural health benefits that are pretty amazing! The latest product I tried was Coconut Cream Concentrate. It’s some interesting stuff! I’m excited to do this gluten free product review, and to share the recipe I developed while testing this product.

Ease of Use

When I received the jar of Tropical Traditions Coconut Cream Concentrate, it was below freezing outside. The cream had separated from the oil, which made the jar look pretty, but create a challenge of use. I heated the entire jar, stirring as I went, to combine the oil and cream again. It didn’t take long, but it is one extra step to keep in mind for your first use.

After the Coconut Cream Concentrate was combined and in liquid form (thick liquid) it was easy to use. You just measure and pour it into whatever you are mixing it into.

Appearance

Tropical Traditions Coconut Cream Concentrate is thick and creamy. It has an off-white color and mostly smooth texture. When it is warm it pours out of the jar easily. When it is cold it is more solid and needs to be scooped or warmed for pouring.

Taste and Texture

It tastes thick and creamy too! The flavor is very rich. It tastes like unsweetened coconut, a pretty complex flavor. It fills your mouth and stays there (but not in the unpleasant greasy way). The texture is mostly smooth, though it does offer more texture than a pure liquid would.

Versatility

There are a ton of uses for Tropical Traditions Coconut Cream Concentrate. It can be used in both savory and sweet recipes. There are a lot of recipes for it on the Tropical Traditions recipe page, and even more in their Virgin Coconut Oil Book. I used the Veloute Base for Non-Dairy Cream Soups from the book and made a delicious Tomato soup. I tried other recipes as well, but the soup was my favorite. I was amazed at how thick and creamy it was, while being gluten free and dairy free.

Overall Value

A 32 oz. jar of Tropical Traditions Coconut Cream Concentrate retails for $19.95. It’s pricey, but worthwhile to keep on hand for the versatility.

Rating

I recommend Tropical Traditions Coconut Cream Concentrate. This is especially true for people who want to make great gluten free and dairy free cream soups!

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.

Tropical Traditions Coconut Flour

Gluten free flour can be a tricky thing. To be honest, I don't bake a lot because the exacting science can be a bit much. This gluten free product review seemed like it was going to be quite a challenge because of that. I realize that having reviews of flour here is important. They are one of the most important products to know about. So, I took the plunge.

For this review I made brownies, using the recipes off of the bag of Tropical Traditions Coconut Flour. I also made Chicken Cacciatore using a recipe from the Tropical Traditions recipe site. Using coconut in savory food was scary for me, but the results prompted me to bump this review to the top of my list.

A quick note about the Tropical Traditions recipe site: There are a ton of gluten free recipes there. I also found a lot of recipes that were not in the gluten free section that actually were gluten free.

Ease of Use

Tropical Traditions Coconut Flour is very easy to use. Likewise, the recipes I found for it are pretty simple. As with any flour, it can be very easy or very complicated, depending on it's use.

Appearance

Tropical Traditions Coconut Flour is a fine powder, slightly off white in color. It clumps a little bit, but not in hard clumps. The appearance of the finished brownies and chicken were great. There was no flour in site:)

Taste and Texture

The flour itself smelled and tasted like coconut. (Because it's ground coconut)

The brownies were great! They were chewy and fudgy. They rose well and looked very good. The coconut flour gave them a slight coconut flavor and a thicker texture. There were no big pieces of coconut, but you could tell it was there. I am a huge fan of the chocolate and coconut combo, so I loved it.

The Chicken Cacciatore was a big surprise for me. Not only did this recipe use Tropical Traditions Coconut Flour to coat the chicken, but it was cooked in coconut oil. I was really afraid that all that coconut would not blend well with the tomato sauce.

I was wrong! This stuff was good! The coconut flour added a pleasant hint of sweetness. It was not at all overpowering. The coconut flour browned up beautifully when cooked in oil. I will definitely be using it again for coating fried foods.

Versatility

Tropical Traditions Coconut Flour has unlimited potential! It can be used for everything that flour can, but it also has other uses. Due to the fact that it is made of pure, ground coconut, it can be eaten alone, sprinkled on food or blended in smoothies.

The only limitation comes when you are making food that should absolutely not taste like coconut. I've learned from my chicken experience that there are not as many things in this category as I once thought.

Overall Value

Tropical Traditions Coconut Flour costs $10.95 + shipping for a 2.2 pound bag. This is pretty comparable to other gluten free flours. My recommendation is to buy in bulk to reduce shipping costs if you plan to use this product often.

Rating

I really like this product. I can't say I'm in love with it yet, but I may get there:)

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.

Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil from Tropical Traditions

Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil has so many uses! I was mystified as I read the book Virgin Coconut Oil, how it has changed people's lives and how it can change yours by Brian and Marianita Shilhavy that came with my bottle. There were so many health benefits and uses listed that I knew this gluten free product review was going to be no short project.

I decided to give this one awhile, to test many of it's uses. I even went so far as to take a few days and not use any butter or oil, just coconut oil. Here's the scoop:

Ease of Use

Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil is easy to use. It comes in a large, big-mouthed jar that is easy to scoop out of. The oil was solid when I received it and stayed so in my chilly kitchen. I used a spoon to scoop large amounts and a knife for smaller portions.

Appearance

Normally this would apply to a finished product, but since the coconut oil disappears in recipes I will cover the oil itself. Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil, when solid, is milky white in appearance, for the most part. It carries a swirly translucent look that is really cool to look at!

When warmed into liquid, the oil is clear. Completely clear, like water. It is the same basic consistency as olive oil.

Taste and Texture

There is virtually no taste when mixed into a recipe. Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil carries a slight flavor of coconut, without any of the sweetness I usually associate with that flavor. It does add a richness and depth of flavor to most recipes.

It smells like coconut! This was the only problem I had. I used it the first time to make an herb sauce for my steamed veggies (fabulous, by the way). The smell of coconut was there, but not the taste. It took awhile for my mind to get around.

Versatility

If the book is to be believed (and I have no reason to believe otherwise) then there is no limit to the uses of Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil. You can cook with it, spread it on bread, cure lice and medicate your animals. It has a super long shelf life so you can use it for a long time.

Overall Value

A 32 oz. jar retails for $37.50, on sale right now for $27.50. It is pretty pricey, but you really can use it for everything! If you're not sure you're ready to commit, try the 16 oz. size for $25.00, it comes with a money back guarantee.

Rating

I recommend Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil from Tropical Traditions and the book that goes with it. There is plenty more to say about this product that won't fit in a review. Watch for follow-ups on Examiner.