GALLON of Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil Giveaway

Remember how I just did a giveaway for coconut oil?

Well, when I received the e-mail from the awesome people at  Tropical Traditions telling me that I could do a giveaway for a gallon of Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil, I was shocked.

I e-mailed back and said, “Did I read that correctly… a gallon giveaway?”  and they said yes.  Isn’t that exciting?  That’s $120 worth of coconut oil.

If you don’t know what to do with coconut oil or what it is, check out this video:

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 you have to do is subscribe to Tropical Traditions newsletter and leave a comment saying you did so.
Subscribe here: http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/subscribe_for_special_sales.cfm
(Don’t forget to leave your e-mail address or some way for me to contact you if you win.) 

Giveaway ends Monday, April 2nd @ midnight.

Cinnamon Flax Pancakes for One- How to properly fuel for a 5k

If you guys read my previous blog post, you know that I ran a 5k on Saturday.

I wanted to be 100% prepared and I’m a nerd, so I Google’d “What to eat before a 5k.”

Here’s what I gathered. (Pick one… don’t eat all 4 or you’ll throw up.)

• A banana.
• Whole grain cereal.
• Oatmeal.
• Flax pancakes.

So, if you want to fuel up for a race, these are the pancakes for you.

They were delicious. I topped mine with peanut butter, bananas, and more cinnamon… yummmm.

I’m REALLY excited about the results of the race. My dad, who is 69 years old, ran the race in 36:06, which is a personal record for him.  I was so proud.

I ran it in 26:03, 8 seconds faster than last year, and personal record for me.  And I got 2nd in my age division!

And here’s how you fuel:

 

Cinnamon Flax Pancakes for One

1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon flax seed
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 cup water (or more, if needed)
1 teaspoon-1 tablespoon Stevia (or more, if needed)

1. Mix all ingredients.
2. Place about a tablespoon of the batter on a heated pan on the stove.
3. Flip when it bubbles.
4. Eat!!

Giveaway Winner & Baked Coconut Donuts

Congrats to Rust Hawk for being the 10th commenter and winning the Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil giveaway!!

Here’s the perfect recipe to use your coconut oil.

Baked Coconut Donuts.

These were a-mazing.  I’m not really a huge fan of baked donuts, but these are game changers.  They were dense, but a fluffy-dense, and the coconut flavor was so prominent.  These are definitely for coconut lovers, but my mom, who is coconut-neutral, loved them, too.  I topped these with a regular buttercream frosting, but I subbed the vanilla flavoring for coconut and the cream for Almond Joy Creamer.  I topped them with toasted coconut.

Then I took a bite and died.

 

Baked Coconut Donuts
King Arthur Flour

Ingredients:

1 cup flour
½ cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons coconut flour (or all-purpose flour for a less-dense donut)
½ cup coconut flakes
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup water
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1/8 tsp coconut flavor
Salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Butter or grease your standard doughnut pan.
2. Whisk together the dry ingredients.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg, water, oil, and flavor until frothy.
4. Pour the liquid mixture over the dry ingredients, and stir until well combined.
5. Fill each doughnut form about half full, using ¼ cup batter.
6. Bake the doughnuts for 12 to 14 minutes, until they spring back when touched lightly and are very light brown on top.
7. Cool for a few minutes, then spread with glaze, or dust with powdered sugar.

Fluffy Mint Chocolate Chip Irish Scones

I’m honestly not very big on St. Patrick’s Day.

I’ll be 21 this year, though, so maybe I’ll enjoy the holiday a little more. 😉 Did you know St. Patrick wasn’t even Irish? He was British.

Anyway, I do enjoy all of the recipes.  I mean you can’t really fail with chocolate + mint.  Plus the decorations are cute, so there ya have it.

I wanted something not only chocolate and mint, but also Irish.  I did a Google search and found these “Real Irish Scones” on The Kitchn and it was settled.

I loved these.  I can’t even tell you how good they are.  They batter by itself was unbelievably fluffy, but when they came out of the oven I was shocked at how much they had risen.  Ahh… and they are completely studded with chocolate chips and the hint of mint just sets it all off.  I highly recommend these!

Fluffy Mint Chocolate Chip Irish Scones
Adapted from: The Kitchn

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon fine salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2-3/4 cup milk
1 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp mint extract

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Place a baking sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a Silpat in the oven.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a mixing bowl. Use your fingertips to work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture just holds together.
3. Working the mixture as little as possible, add 1/2 cup milk and sour cream and mix until it forms into a soft, slightly sticky ball. Add more milk if needed to reach desired consistency.
4. Place the dough on a very lightly floured work surface. Using a floured rolling pin, gently roll the dough to a 1-inch thick slab. Dip a 1-2-inch biscuit cutter in flour and cut out the individual scones, or slice the dough with a knife.
5. Remove baking tray from the oven and arrange the scones on it. Bake 10-15 minutes until just barely brown.
6. Serve with butter, preserves, and freshly whipped cream.  I served mine with chocolate butter.
7. If you have leftovers, reheat at 350°F for 2-3 minutes or until warmed through, or freeze by wrapping completely cooled scones in plastic wrap, then placing in a zippered bag or freezer-safe storage container. To reheat, thaw at room temperature in the plastic wrap, then unwrap and re-heat as above at 350° F.

What are you all doing for St. Patrick’s Day?? I’ll be running a 5k!

P.s. The coconut oil giveaway    is still happening. Don’t forget. 🙂

“Pi”neapple Impossible “Pi”e & “Pi”elets

Happy π day!

I made Pineapple Impossible Pie.  It’s “impossible” because it creates its own crust… so basically, it’s really, super easy for people who don’t have time to whip up a pie crust (ME).

Check out the other awesome pi(e)s around the blogosphere today:

(The following pictures belong to the owners of the blogs they are linked to.)

Chocolate Covered Katie:

A Periodic Table Blog:

Not Martha:

vanevalentine FOOD:

Sweet and Crumby:

Super Healthy Kids:

And lastly, my contribution:

Pielets!

“Pi”napple Impossible Pi(e)

From: Worth the Whisk (Don’t you love that title!? I do.)

If you don’t like custard, you won’t like this pie.  I’m not really a fan of custard, but my love of coconut made it bearable for me. 

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 2 cups cold milk
• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• ¼ cup butter
• dash salt
• 2 tsp pineapple extract
• 1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or not – your choice)

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 350º degrees. Prepare a well-greased 10″ Pyrex pie dish. (Or a 9″ and a 6-cupcake pan… hence the “pielets”)
2. Put all ingredients in blender, blend at high speed for the count of 10, then turn off blender and pour mixture into the prepared pie plate
3. Bake for 40 minutes or until edges are brown. Cool (in dish) on wire rack.

Do you like custard??

P.s. Don’t forget to enter my coconut oil giveaway!! It’s easy; all you have to do is comment.