DeDivahDeals

Fashion and Fun after Fifty

Posts Tagged ‘green smoothies’

Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil | Giveaway #spon

Disclosure: 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.

 

What I don’t know would make a whole new world”

That was what my grandmother would say whenever she learned something new, and considering she lived to be 98, it was usually only on rare occasions. However, I’m sure she would have said it, just as I did when I received a 32 oz jar of Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil.

tropical traditions jar

Two weeks ago I had no idea they were over 100 different ways in which to use Virgin Coconut Oil, and it blows my mind just thinking about a few of those amazing uses. Virgin Coconut Oil can be used as a health and beauty product, in cooking, baking, making sauces, dips or simply adding to a hot beverage or mixed in a green smoothie. I am in no way making any health claims but if you want to know more about the benefits of coconut oil, check out this website http://coconutoil.com/

 

One morning for breakfast, I decided to try it in a green smoothie so I added a tablespoon of Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil to a handful of kale, ½ a banana, and a teaspoon of flax seeds, when mixed with water it became a tasty tropical coconut flavored smoothie.

Green Smoothie made with  Virgin Coconut Oil

Hubby and I now use it every morning in our smoothies and although we may switch up on the fruits we use, it’s never without the Coconut Oil.

 

Mother’s Day was a great time to try it as a baking ingredient. I used a box of muffin mix and substituted the vegetable oil with Virgin Coconut Oil using the same measurements, however, it needed to be melted first, so a few seconds in the microwave did the trick.

I allowed the milk and eggs to come to room temperature before adding the Virgin Coconut Oil so that it wouldn’t solidify in the cold batter. My hubby and mini men ate them all except two which I had to hide in order to have them later!

Muffins for Mother's Day

I also use it as a butter replacement on my morning toast.

Virgin Coconut Oil as a butter replacement

Mother’s Day weekend was also a good time to try and make a natural body scrub. It was very easy to make using two cups of Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil blended with a cup of white sugar and 5 drops of Essential Oil. This mixture made 3 small jars of the body scrub, which is way more than enough for me, so I will probably be gifting a jar to a friend and then saving one for Father’s Day as a gift to hubby.  

Body Scrub made with Virgin Coconut Oil

Like I said, there are over 100 ways in which to use Virgin Coconut Oil so it will definitely be a staple in our house both in the kitchen and the bathroom.

 

How about you, what are some ways in which you would or have used Virgin Coconut Oil?

 

If you’ve never tried it, here’s your chance, Tropical Traditions, has offered to send a 32 oz jar of Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil to one of my lucky readers.

In order to be eligible for this Giveaway you must first subscribe to their Tropical Traditions Newsletter. You can also receive Bonus entries into the giveaway for completing the following tasks:

o Follow on Twitter @troptraditions @ttspecialdeals @ambde

o €œLike€ Tropical Traditions and DeDivahDeals on Facebook

o €œLike€ Virgin Coconut Oil on Facebook

o Follow on Pinterest

o Follow on Google +

o Find Giveaways and Deals!

Good luck, Giveaway ends at midnight, 05/31/14

Tropical Traditions Logo

If you want to learn more ways in which to use Coconut Oil, check out this YouTube Video

How to Use Coconut oil: There are hundreds of uses for coconut oil!

Winner of Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil  If you order by clicking on any of my links and have never ordered from Tropical Traditions in the past, you will receive a free book on Virgin Coconut Oil, and I will receive a discount coupon for referring you


Patricia Dean-Escoto | Guest Post

Hello Friends and Happy Monday!

Today, I have the privilege of presenting to you a guest post written by Patricia Dean-Escoto.  In April, Patricia began a book blog tour to introduce the creation of the “My Breast Cancer Advocate”  app.  

She is also the author of The Top Ten Super Foods for Preventing Breast Cancer and has given us one of her favorite recipes to make a tasty and nutritious, green smoothie using coconut and kale!

Patricia-Dean-Escoto

Patricia-Dean-Escoto

Patricia Dean-Escoto is a certified nutrition consultant and breast cancer survivor.  She holds a master’s degree in education and has more than 20 years of experience working in both the field of education and healthcare.  In 2006, after being diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer, Patricia returned to school to study nutrition and completed studies at Bauman College for her certification as a nutrition consultant.    

Recently, she hosted a year-long radio show called Pathways to Healing on the Voice America network where she interviewed experts in the field of health and wellness.  Patricia is author of The Top Ten Superfoods for Preventing Breast Cancer‘ and creator of the My Breast Cancer Advocate app which is designed to assist those who are newly diagnosed with or recovering from breast cancer. Her company, Pathways2healing, works exclusively with cancer patients in the area of nutrition and exercise.  She lectures both locally and nationally on the topic of nutrition and cancer prevention.  

The My Breast Cancer Advocate app can be downloaded using these links: 

Patricia-Dean-Escoto-Blog-Tour-Banner-404

To learn more about Patricia and her work, please feel free to contact her at via these Social Media Networks:

 

Making the Case for the Coconut

 

coconut

We have been conditioned to believe that all saturated fats raise our cholesterol. Besides butter, no other saturated fat has been more vilified than the coconut.  For decades, we were discouraged from eating it and told, that it not only contained bad fats, but that, it would make us fat.  All of this was done to promote the sale of the actual villain in our diet – margarine.

However, nothing can be further from the truth. Coconuts, in all of their forms, are one of the most beneficial, microbial and anti-fungal foods we can eat. In addition, several studies have shown that coconuts not only raise good cholesterol (HDL), but they also are instrumental in lowering glucose levels associated with diabetes.

Coconut Oil and your Heart

A study published in the Philippine Journal of Internal Medicine demonstrated that populations such as those found in Polynesia or Sri-Lanka, who consumed coconuts on a regular basis, do not have higher serum cholesterol levels nor do they have a higher incidence of heart disease. This is most likely due to the fact that the saturated fat in coconut oil is completely different from most saturated fats found in foods like animal products.  Most fats in our diet today are made up of long-chained fatty acids, which are stored in the body as fat and in the arteries in lipid forms such as cholesterol.

Unlike these types of saturated fats, coconut oil contains a unique form of fat that is composed of medium-chained triglycerides (MCT).   Due to their chemical structure, MCTs, which are smaller, actually pass through cell membranes easily and therefore are easily digested, without using extra enzymes in the process.  As a result, MCTs are sent directly to the liver, where they are immediately converted to energy instead of being stored as fat in our blood cells.

Coconut Oil and Diabetes

A study conducted at the Sydney Garver Institute of Medical Research discovered that a diet rich in coconut oil protects against insulin resistance.  Additionally, this type of diet avoids accumulation of body fat that is associated with other high-fat diets. Both of these factors are important because obesity and insulin resistance are major factors leading to the development of type2 diabetes. Furthermore, coconut oil is one of the only oils (walnut oil is the other) that retain its molecular structure when heated at high temperatures. All other oils, including olive oil, will break down, thereby releasing toxic chemicals into our foods as they are heated.

Additional Benefits

In addition to promoting heart health, coconut oil has been studied for its beneficial aid in weight loss.  It is thought that the benefits are derived, again, from its composition of MCT.  Because coconut’s medium-chain fats are easily absorbed and used as energy, it actually increases the body’s metabolic rate inducting weight loss.  One such study found that while the consumption of long-chain fatty acid metabolic conversion contributed to a weight loss of 66 calories in participants, MCT consumption translates to 120 calories burned!

Coconuts can be consumed in many forms.  One thing I like to do is to add a handful of coconuts to my morning or after workout shakes.  Additionally, instead of using milk in these shakes, I either use unsweetened coconut milk or coconut water.  You can also use coconut flour as a substitute for baking.  It adds a wonderfully nutty flavor to muffins and biscuits.

Here is my favorite morning smoothie using coconut water.  Enjoy!

green smoothie

Tropical Kale Smoothie:

Serves 2. 274 calories

Baby kale (2-cups),

Pineapple (1-cup fresh),

Orange (1-whole),

Mango (1-cup fresh),

Chia seeds (2-T),),

Unsweetened coconut water (1-cup),

Crushed ice (1-cup).

Add all ingredients in a blender in the order listed.  Blend these and gradually increase the speed to high then continue blending for 30 seconds.

 

 


Spider in the Smoothie

Hello Friends and Happy Tuesday

Now that we are halfway through the first month of 2014, you are either continuing your resolution to get healthy or have ditched it all together and have a freezer full of Talenti Gelato!

talenti gelato

So let’s just say for the sake of argument that you are maintaining a healthy lifestyle, eating right, exercising and starting each day with a delicious and nutritious green smoothie.

You have a new Ninja Bullet and have stocked up on your healthy greens, kale and spinach, your fiber, Chia and Flaxseeds and fresh fruits, apples, mangos, berries, kiwi, pineapples and bananas.

fruit

 

One morning, still a little groggy you grab a banana from the bowl and begin to peel it only to notice a small white blotch.  Upon closer inspection you realize that spot is a cocoon, a cocoon filled with baby spiders!   Your first reaction…”what the what?… eeeew… gross…” and then fear takes your breath away!

Spiders on Bananas in the UK The fear that you might have eaten one previously not noticing the white blotch that are now infested with spiders…ok I’ll stop.

No, that couldn’t happen in the US could it?  We have the FDA regulating our imports right…oh, forget about that pesky little government shutdown thingy, that wouldn’t have affected my local produce – right?

Probably not, but unfortunately it did occur in the UK and it was reported by the Huffington Post  (here).  What should you do to ensure the fruits and veggies you are buying to keep healthy won’t make you sick?

fruit (1)

WASH IT BEFORE YOU EAT IT!

 Sounds simple right, but there are a lot of people including my husband who doesn’t wash fruit before he eats it.  Fortunately for him that’s the first thing I do after we unpack the grocery bags.  Sure there are products on the market made specifically for washing fruits but I wonder if they too could leave a contaminant on the fruit.

You could use a spray bottle or submerge the fruit in a mixture of water and white vinegar.  Your best bet is to simply wash them under cold running water using a vegetable brush or rubbing briskly with your hands then blotting them dry with a fresh paper towel.

Radish

I know there’s nothing like biting into a freshly picked apple or peach at the Orchard or a few fresh berries from the field.  Just remember to bring along a bottle of water to rinse them before you eat them, it’s better to be safe than sorry!

Lettuce

Do you wash ALL your fresh fruits and veggies before eating them?

Stay Blessed – No Stress in the New Year!

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