A 100% Pure Giveaway???

I am thrilled to say that last week when my post Have You Heard About 100% Pure? ran, the wonderful folks at Alex and Von offered to giveaway a $25 100% Pure gift card for one of my readers!!! I thought that was fantastic!

So now is your chance to sample the 100% Pure line of synthetic-, paraben-, fragrance and toxin-free all natural cosmetics. You could choose the cocoa tinted bronzer, the fruit pigmented lip glazes or the various skin washes or scrubs. 100% Pure is missing all the yuckies and synthetic what-nots that you will find in conventional cosmetics. Yet they cover well and perform as well as a department store brand.

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment down below telling me what product you would buy with the $25. I will accept comments through Friday at midnight. Then I will use random.org to choose a winner, whom I will announce Monday.

Good Luck Everybody!! And thank you so much to Alex and Von for sponsoring this giveaway!!

This post is shared with Traditional Tuesdays and Fat Tuesdays and Real Food Wednesdays

Product Review: Tropical Traditions Gold Label Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

Several weeks ago I got the great news that Tropical Traditions wanted to send me a sample of their Gold Label Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil! I follow Tropical Traditions (@Troptraditions) on Twitter and I have referenced their recipes and related content many times here. Not to mention that their website is a great resource for many of the products I use besides coconut oil, like Rapunzel Sugar and the full line of Eden Organics products(they have GREAT apple cider Vinegar). Of course I would accept a gift of some high quality coconut oil!

I have been using coconut oil ever since last fall when I first learned about the dangers of polyunsaturated vegetable oils. Not only is it a great alternative, it contains healthy fatty acids like lauric acid, which is also found in human breastmilk. Read about Lauric Acid here. And although coconut oil is high in saturated fat (it is a solid at around 72 degrees), there is significant evidence that coconut oil does not have a significant effect on cholesterol levels.

Tropical Traditions Gold Label oil is in a class by itself. An unrefined product of the Phillipines, the oil is made with only certified organics coconuts. But it is the traditional processing techniques that really impressed me about this oil. Their website explains in detail,

This Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil is a truly unrefined coconut oil. This coconut oil is made on Mt. Banahaw and surrounding areas from organic coconuts. Coconuts are used fresh (within 24-48 hours of harvest) from small family farms on Mt. Banahaw and other rural places in Quezon Province, the coconut capital of the Philippines. Only the highest quality coconuts are hand-picked from each harvest. The volcanic soil of Mt. Banahaw makes these organic coconuts some of the most nutritionally rich coconuts in the world! Testing done in independent labroratories reveals higher levels of phenolic antioxidants than other coconut oils. The fresh coconut meat is shredded (wet milled), and then cold-pressed using the water from inside the coconuts to make coconut milk. The milk is then allowed to sit for about half a day, while the oil naturally separates from the heavier water. The oil is then filtered from the curds (coconut solids). No chemical or high-heat treatment is used, and this oil contains no trans fatty acids. We do NOT mass produce this oil. It is made by families who are coconut farmers using old-fashioned traditional methods that have been used in the Philippines for hundreds of years. Our coconut trees and family producers are certified organic according to strict USDA standards. The families who produce the oil are also trained according to GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) standards and re-certified each year. This high-grade Virgin Coconut Oil has a long shelf life due to the high antioxidant properties. The Gold Label Standard is our highest standard for Virgin Coconut Oil.

The oil arrived promptly (packaged in glass unlike my other coconut oils) and I immediately began using it. I have used it in place of the other brands of coconut oil that I have previously used. I use it to pan fry super lean grass fed meats because of its high stability. I have used it in baked goods because it is perfect in muffins and the like, a much healthier replacement to vegetble oils. It is fabulous to use when I make my morning granola. I will even sneak in a spoonful onto our morning oatmeal. It's taste is subtle, but very fresh and coconutty.

But....I have hemmed and hawed over what recipe to include in my review of the product. Many of the applications in which I have used the oil have been basic. They don't really highlight the subtle flavor of the oil. Gold Label coconut oil is a fine product, much like a fine artisan olive oil. I wanted to blog about a recipe where the oil was raw and imperitive to the dish. I finally decided, mayonaise.

Mayo? Yup. Homemade lacto-fermented mayonaise has become one of the most important things I make. It is easy to find mayo that is made without soybean oil in the grocery store. But usually the alternative oils are still polyunsaturated, like canola. and sometimes even the good brands still mix soybean oil in the product. But in trying to avoid polyunsaturated fats in general, I kinda have to make my own. Normal homemade mayo only lasts for a few days, but with lacto-fermentation, by adding whey the mayonnaise is preserved for several months in the fridge.

Mayo made with olive oil or sunflower oil is strong! And it can be runny. But I have found that adding some coconut oil not only softens the flavors, but because coconut oil is a saturated fat it is solid at refrigerator temperatures and it gives your mayo a nice firmness. Using Tropical Traditions Gold Label Coconut Oil in this recipe adds a wonderful flavor and lots of nutrition.

Lacto Fermented Mayonnaise (Original recipe from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon)
1 Whole Egg, at room temperature
1 egg yolk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon whey
2/3 of a cup olive oil
1/3 cup Tropical Traditions Gold Label Coconut Oil
Generous pinch of salt

In your food processor, place egg, egg yolk, mustard, salt, lemon juice and optional whey. Process until well blended, about 30 seconds. Using the attchment that allows you to add liquids drop by drop, add the olive oil first and then the coconut oil with the motor running. Taste and check seasoning. You may want to add more salt and lemon juice. If you have added whey, let the mayonnaise sit at room temperature well covered, for 7 hours before refrigerating. With whey added, mayonnaise will keep for several months. Without whey, mayonnaise will keep for about 2 weeks.

Enjoy!!

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 in return for the free product.

This Post is shared with Food Renegade's Fight Back Fridays and Traditional Tuesdays and Healthy 2Day Wednesdays

Two Thumbs Up for Daily Multiple

Whole Food Daily Multiple Wins Both My Thumbs Up!

Somehow of late I’ve been doing product reviews.  Right now I have three products on my desk that are in line and one I’m currently testing.

I just completed a month trying Daily Multiple from Ionic Minerals.

Coming in to all of this remember one thing:  I am a skeptic’s skeptic.

It takes a great product to turn my head, and this one does.  So much was I sold that I promptly signed up to resell it so my readers could get it too.

What I like about this product –

1 It is based in an aloe vera solution made with pure filtered water. Aloe vera is enzyme rich and helps improve absorption and assimilation. The source of the aloe vera used in Daily Multiple is organic.  An old natural remedy I often offer to improve digestion includes aloe vera.

2 It contains fulvic acid to enhance absorption.  If you’re not familiar with fulvic acid, here’s some information: Fulvic acid is a natural restorative compound. One of its benefits is that it is an electro-chemical balancer and it helps metallic minerals become soluble.  In a way this is a complex topic and I’ll write more in an upcoming issue of herbalYODA Says!

3 DM contains wild honey as a natural sweetener.  Honey is an energizer and B vitamin source.  According to the manufacturer, there is 1 gram of total natural sugars per serving.  There is very little honey per serving, and this may be helpful to people who are sugar sensitive, or who are dealing with diabetes.

4 Whole foods from seaweed & sea vegetables provide health-promoting nutrients, antioxidants, and many anticancer compounds.

5 Cherries provide natural flavor and many more antioxidants. Read more about cherries here.

6 Eleuthero is an herb used for thousands of years known to many as Siberian Ginseng.  It too provides antioxidant, antistress, antifatigue, and anti-inflammatory benefit.  It also has been tested to show mood enhancement, especially in elders. It is an herb known to herbalists as an adaptogen which is more like what here we call a ‘tonic’.  Eleuthero also has liver protective and antiallergy benefits. This is one of my long time favorite herbs.

Daily Multiple is 100% Vegetarian and gluten free. 

It contains 72 naturally occurring minerals and trace minerals from IonicTrace.

As a believer and practitioner in energy medicine for many years I like the benefit offered by the use of purified energy enhanced water that helps activate minerals into their electronically charged ionic state for effectiveness.

Daily Multiple is sold in a 16 ounce blue bottle.  The daily amount is about half an ounce and this is just over a one month supply. Your purchases are welcome here.

Gayle Eversole, DHom, PhD, MH, NP, ND, is the Founder of Creating Health Institute.  She is a natural health educator and advocate, celebrating 50+ years blending science with the natural healing arts.  You may reach her through her website, Natural Healing through Natural Health at www.leaflady.org.