Don't Forget

Remember, I'm hosting a giveaway for a quart of Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil.  

If you want to enter to win, you'll have to act fast because the drawing closes tonight.

You Can Use Coconut Oil for What? - Awesome Giveaway!

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Coconut oil keeps showing up everywhere. I first heard about the benefits of cooking with coconut oil a couple of years ago because I always, always, always look for ways to cook and eat more healthfully. 

Although high in saturated fats, coconut oil contains fats that are good for us like Omega-3 fatty acids and something called medium chain triglycerides that increase our metabolic function, are utilized by our body without turning to fat and are digested easily.  It's important to look for coconut oil that is not hydrogenated, however.

Tropical Traditions sent me a free sample of their Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil.  I cooked with it then started researching other uses for coconut oil and found hundreds more uses beyond cooking.  Do a Google search for uses of coconut oil and you'll find more hits then you'll ever have time to check. Here's a teaser:

• as a moisturizer 
• treat insect bites 
• gets rid of "doggy" breath (for your dog, of course)
• controls "doggy" dandruff (and people dandruff too)
• fade age spots
• as a natural deodorant
• hair de-frizzer
• kills lice and lice eggs
• teeth whitener
• energy booster
• treat eczema

People claim many medical benefits, but as I researched I learned that scientific study on coconut oil is in its early stages, so I hesitate to comment on the medical aspect.

I do know that I cooked the most delicious whole wheat blueberry pancakes ever using coconut oil and when I made a boxed cake mix for my husband's birthday using coconut instead of regular vegetable oil it tasted fantastic, like it had been baked from scratch.

Now that I know about dozens (hundreds) of other uses, I can't wait to try my coconut oil in new and different applications.  Do you want to try some too?  Tropical Traditions allowed me to host a giveaway for one quart of their delicious coconut oil.

Here's the commercial first.

Win 1 quart of Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil!

Tropical Traditions is America’s source for coconut oil. Their Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil is hand crafted in small batches by family producers, and it is the highest quality coconut oil they offer. You can read more about how virgin coconut oil is different from other coconut oils on their website: What is Virgin Coconut Oil?
You can also watch the video they produced about Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil

Tropical Traditions also carries other varieties of affordable high quality coconut oil. Visit their website to check on current sales, to learn about the many uses of coconut oil, and to read about all the advantages of buying coconut oil online. Since the FDA does not want us to discuss the health benefits of coconut oil on a page where it is being sold or given away, here is the best website to read about the health benefits of coconut oil.

So, do you want to win?  Enter below.  The winner will be announced Monday, August 13.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tropical Traditions gave me a free sample of Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil to try and review.  All opinions expressed are my own

Cut It Out! - A Winner!

The winner of the free e-book Cut It Out!  is (drumroll) - Meredith!

Off Visiting

(Looks just like me, doesn't it?)

Today I'm guest posting at Since You Asked.  Dawn has been running a series called, "In Celebration of Mothers" and I had the chance to share a little bit about motherhood.

Here's how it starts ...

First you are the vessel or the mother ship as I’ve heard it called.  This tiny, developing person depends on you and you alone for his very life.  Soon, you deliver your child and he still needs you, but with the help of others, could survive without you. 

Click on over to Since You Asked to read the rest.

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You still have a chance to win a copy of Kate Megill's new e-book, Cut It Out!

Want to find out how?  Just click here

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Cut It Out! - A Giveaway

It couldn't have come at a better time.

Whenever I turned on the news last week, I heard about the drought in many parts of the United States.  The drought will drive up grocery prices as early as the autumn.  So Kate Megill's new e-book, Cut It Out!, arrives just in time.

Kate's book is about how she feeds her family of 10 for $500 a month without using coupons.  I am a frugal grocery shopper, and always have been, out of necessity.  As a mainly single-income family for more than 20 years, and having a family or six, I learned how to make a dollar stretch because I had to.

Sloppy habits have overtaken me lately and I'm not as careful as I used to be.  I need Cut It Out! so I can get back on track and pare down my grocery bill again.

I appreciate that Kate's emphasis is not based on couponing.  I've gone that route before, and while you do save money, it does take time and coupons in the ads are often for items I don't usually buy.

Enough chit chat about me, here's what Kate shares.  By using a systematic approach to meal planning and grocery shopping it is possible to save money without going to six grocery stores every week.  She explains how many years ago she set up a Master Meal Plan and a Price Book to systematize her weekly meal plan and grocery list and enable her to determine which of the three stores she shops at has the best price for the groceries she needs.

I felt overwhelmed when I initially read about the Master Meal Plan and Price Book because they are a lot of work.  Then I considered two things: first, the majority of effort occurs in the beginning as you develop the documents, after that it's just a matter of occasional list maintenance; and second, Kate provides downloads!  I don't have to create my own Excel documents.  Okay, I told myself this won't be so bad after all.

As I continued to read, I recognized I might actually save time by having established Master Meal Plans.  No more wondering as I wrote my grocery list what we would have for dinner that week. The meals I normally cooked would all be listed in one convenient place.  Additionally, it would be easier to shop the grocery ads and match up our meals to sale items.

I can't lie, though.  Filling in your Price Book and devising your Master Meal Plan will take time, but like all organizing plans, once the initial work is complete, the bulk of the effort is over, forever.

Kate also provides information on developing a well-stocked pantry and how that is feasible even on the tightest budget, how to implement her suggestions if you're only cooking for one or two and she furnishes a copy of her Master Meal Plan.  There are even more goodies tucked into this little gem, but I'll let you discover those on your own.

Let's sweeten the deal.  Kate is allowing me to run a giveaway of Cut It Out!  One lucky reader can win a copy by following the Rafflecopter instructions below.  The drawing will be held on Thursday, August 2.  But, if you want to read the e-book Right Now, Kate is offering it for only $1.99 from July 30 until August 3.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

While you're at it, visit her website Teaching What Is Good where she shares inspiring messages about God's love, motherhood and life.


The author provided a free copy of her book for my review.  All opinions expressed are my own.