Tropical Traditions FREE SHIPPING - Today Only

I wanted to share with my dear readers that today (Monday, November 12, 2012) Tropical Traditions is offer a discount up to 50% off on some items and FREE SHIPPING! Go to Tropical Traditions and click on "Current Sales at Tropical Traditions" to get the Free Shipping Coupon Code. I just placed my order!

I discovered Tropical Traditions when I won a giveaway for Tropical Traditions Gold Label Organic Coconut Oil. Ever since then, I have been hooked on their products. I wait for emails for discounts and free shipping and I stock up. If you haven't discovered coconut oil, I would highly recommend it. I have always cooked with extra virgin olive oil, but after reading a journal article that talked about olive oil become toxic when heated too high, I switched to cooking with coconut oil. Coconut oil is a great alternative because it can withstand high heat without becoming toxic and is so healthy for your body. (Although, I have to confess that my #1 use for coconut oil is moisturizer for my face and my body!)

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.

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Weekly Challenge: Eating Out of the Freezer - Day 7 [#CTWW]

The challenge for this week is to not buy food at the grocery store. You can read about this week's challenge here: Eating Out of the Freezer, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, and Day 6.

Day 7 (Sunday)

Breakfast
Fage Yogurt (fridge, bought last week) with the following:
   Organic trail mix (pantry, home made)
   Organic hemp seeds (fridge, previously bought)
   Organic rolled oats (pantry)

Snacks
Organic banana (fridge, bought last week)
Almonds (pantry)

Lunch
N/A - went to lunch with my parents

Snacks
Organic apple (fridge, bought last week)

Dinner
Creamy Avocado Pasta with the following:
   Pasta (home made by my dad)
   Organic peas (freezer)
   Organic lentils (left over from previous meal)
   Organic avocado (fridge, previously bought)
   Organic garlic (pantry, from CSA Farm)
   Extra Virgin Olive Oil (pantry)
   Organic lemon juice (fridge) - N/A since I bought the lemons today

Thoughts: Aside from my dad bringing his home made pasta and buying lemons today, I could have done this meals with what I had on hand. I have several bags of pasta in the pantry. I could have used pasta I already had, but my dad really wanted me to try his (first time) home made pasta tonight. I also could have made the creamy avocado sauce without the lemon juice. I do have lime juice in the fridge, but it probably would not taste the same. I still consider tonight's meal as successfully eating from the freezer, fridge, and/or pantry.

I found it quite interesting not being able to stop at the store to pick up an ingredient that I need. However, I am being more mindful of what I am buying and freezing. I like having items on hand in the freezer and pantry that can be made into a meal in case I cannot go to the grocery store. Although I know for the most part what I have on hand, making an inventory and keeping it up to date would help with meal planning in the future.

>> What tips do you have for eating out of the freezer and/or pantry?
  

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Weekly Challenge: Eating Out of the Freezer - Day 6 [#CTWW]

The challenge for this week is to not buy food at the grocery store. You can read about this week's challenge here: Eating Out of the Freezer, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5.

Day 6 (Saturday)

Breakfast
Omelet, made with:
   Snowville Creamery grass-fed milk (fridge, new container bought last week)
   Organic fried egg (fridge, picked up from CSA farm last week)
   Organic cheddar cheese (fridge, previously bought)
   Organic bell peppers (left over from Thursday's dinner)
   Organic lentils (left over from Thursday's dinner)
Faye yogurt (fridge, bought last week)

Snacks
Organic banana (fridge, bought last week)
Trail mix (pantry)

Lunch
Bhindi Masala (left overs from last night's dinner out)

Snacks
Organic apple (fridge, bought last week)
Granola bar (home made)

Dinner
N/A - went to friend's birthday party

Thoughts: Apples are the only remaining fresh fruit. Carrots are the only fresh produce. I still have some milk, eggs, and yogurt left, but I do not think I would be able to pull of a complete dinner, unless we do breakfast for dinner. I still plan on coming up with something for Sunday night's dinner. I feel like pasta, frozen veggies, and pasta sauce are an easy meal, but I cannot serve that every day. Either way, this has been a great lesson for emergency preparedness to know what types of meals I can make from what I have on hand.

>> What tips do you have for eating out of the freezer and/or pantry?
  

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Weekly Challenge: Eating Out of the Freezer - Day 5 [#CTWW]

The challenge for this week is to not buy food at the grocery store. You can read about this week's challenge here: Eating Out of the Freezer, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, and Day 4.

Day 5 (Friday)

Breakfast
Snowville Creamery grass-fed milk (fridge, new container bought last week)
Organic fried egg with organic coconut oil (fridge, picked up from CSA farm last week)
Organic cheddar cheese (fridge, previously bought)
Organic Ezekiel bread (freezer, I usually freeze 1/2 of the bread)

Snacks
Organic pear (fridge, bought last week)
Granola bar (homemade)

Lunch
Enchilada (left over from last night)

Snacks
Organic apple (fridge, bought last week)
Organic Stonyfield yogurt (fridge, bought last week)

Dinner
Ate out

Thoughts: Today was easy since we went out with family to dinner. I am moving tonight's dinner to Sunday night so that I can complete all 5 weeknight dinners. I am sure I have something left I can through together. LOL

Aside from tonight's dinner and a birthday party we are attending tomorrow night, the rest of the breakfasts and lunches will be out of the freezer, fridge, and pantry. I will end this week's challenge with another post summarizing what I learned (and did not learn) during this week. Although the break from grocery shopping was very nice, I did miss going to Whole Foods. I kept trying to find a reason to go there, but kept telling myself to wait until my planned trip on Sunday.

>> What tips do you have for eating out of the freezer and/or pantry?
  

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Weekly Challenge: Eating Out of the Freezer - Day 4 [#CTWW]

The challenge for this week is to not buy food at the grocery store. You can read about this week's challenge here: Eating Out of the Freezer, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3.

Day 4 (Thursday)

Breakfast
Snowville Creamery grass-fed milk (fridge, new container bought last week)
Organic fried egg with organic coconut oil (fridge, picked up from CSA farm last week)
Organic cheddar cheese (fridge, previously bought)
Organic Ezekiel bread (freezer, I usually freeze 1/2 of the bread)

Snacks
Organic banana (fridge, bought last week)
Almonds (freezer)
Organic coconut date roll (pantry, previously bought)

Lunch
Pasta with veggies (left over from last night)
Organic green figs (fridge, bought last week)

Snacks
Organic apple (fridge, bought last week)
Fage yogurt (fridge, bought last week)

Dinner
Enchiladas, made with:
   Organic bell peppers (freezer, from our CSA farm)
   Organic onion (left over from last week)
   Organic lentils (pantry, previously bought)
   Organic sour cream (fridge, left over from last week)
   Organic cheese (fridge)
   Organic salsa (pantry, previously bought)
   Sweet corn salad (pantry, canned by dad's friend)
   Organic whole wheat tortillas (freezer)

Thoughts: My original plan for tonight's dinner was some type of casserole. However, I was really struggling with what type of casserole to make. I was thinking something like Veggie Divan (a vegetarian take on Chicken Divan), but it did not sound appealing. I was really struggling all day trying to think of what to cook with the ingredients I had on hand. While driving home in traffic and listening to Classical music to relax, vegetarian enchiladas popped into my mind (thank you Tchaikovsky). I remembered that I had a package of frozen tortillas. A cup of peppers, some onion, sour cream, cheese, and salad and I have enchiladas. They were delicious!

My advice is to think of what you have on hand and get creative. Take a previous meal or meal idea and see how you can recreate it. If all else fails, just type your ingredients into Google and see what recipes come up.

>> What tips do you have for eating out of the freezer and/or pantry?
  

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