Monday, June 20, 2011

Travel Treats by Tropical Traditions

I can't seem to keep up with today.  It is just slipping through my fingertips.  It is almost 9pm and I just can't seem to understand where the day has gone.  I am overwhelmed with preparations for Africa, and thankfully my wonderful husband has it all under control.  He single-handedly accomplished our to-do list while I finished up work today.  

While we finish packing and preparing for our departure (3:50am tomorrow morning!) I leave you with one last post from my kitchen before taking off for Africa!
A few weeks ago the wonderful folks at Tropical Traditions sent me a jar of their Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil.  How did they know of my true love for coconut oil?  ...oh that's right, I write a food blog and have previously declared my love!

Today was the perfect opportunity to use up some of the coconut oil.  I wanted to bake a few wholesome treats for our travels and I was anxious to test out Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil.

I had no time to create any of my own recipes, and simply used the Tropical Traditions website for inspiration. 
These Healthy Carrot Oatmeal Bites utilize coconut oil to bring texture and flavor.  I sampled one of these at lunch and they are fantastic!
These miniature treats are perfectly sized.  They will be the perfect little pick-me-up as my day will certainly be long tomorrow!
I used a small scoop as the recipe suggests to perfectly size each bite.  I snuck a little one at lunch time today and it was the perfect balance of wholesome goodness and delicious sweetness.
Yum, yum, yum!
Can you tell I had fun photographing these little beauties!  I am going to have even more fun snacking on them!
I also made Gluten-Free Granola Bars listed on the Tropical Traditions website.
I overcooked them a bit, but they still turned out great.  I recommend cooking for 25 minutes not 30!

These are full of healthy whole grains, but also just sweet enough to be desired.  I am excited to dig into these granola bars tomorrow when the traveling becomes rough and I am weary!

Also on my "to-make" list were these Vegan Samoa Cookies.  Are there any other Girl Scout Cookie lovers out there?
Again, I didn't love how these turned out, but they are still delicious!

Last on my baking to-do list: Peanut Butter Granola from Peanut Butter Fingers.
I didn't have peanut butter on hand, but I did have Almond Butter.  I added about a cup of sliced almonds to the recipe and substituted the almond butter.
To take this recipe to the next level, I also added about a cup of dried apples.  Isn't nut butter and apples the best food combination to ever exist?  Well maybe first bananas and nut butter, but apples and nut butter is certainly a close second!
Thanks to Tropical Traditions for supplying the coconut butter that made each of these recipes possible.  
And thanks to my husband for packing while I was busy in the kitchen all morning!
All these snacks combined with whole wheat crackers, baby carrots, apples, bananas, and peanut butter packets...now we are ready for 24+ hours of travel. 

Right this moment we are multi-tasking...finalizing our carry-ons, blogging, watching the Bachelorette and sipping wine!  Soon we are off to bed- 3am is going to come very fast!

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