Barlean's Organic Coconut Oil Giveaway (U.S. 1/21)

Clearly I am a huge fan of coconut oil and use it for just about everything under the sun. I am still blown away by how many uses it really has! If you have not taken the time to read 160 Uses for Coconut Oil, I suggest you do so in the near future. You will be amazed at the power of this oil!

I have been pretty married to one particular brand of coconut oil since I began using copious amounts of it close to 2 years ago. I was able to purchase 5 gallon pails which suited my needs just fine. I dabbled in other brands of coconut oil but never found one that I felt was a as good as my favorite brand.

A few weeks ago I received an email from Terence, an account manager at Barlean’s, thanking my for writing 80 Uses for Coconut Oil and letting me know that he linked it on the company’s Facebook page. He wanted to thank me for the time I spent writing the post by sending me a jar of their coconut oil. Oddly enough, I had never tried that brand although I use their Flax Oil, Omega Swirl products and their Olive Leaf Complex. A few emails later and my coconut oil was on its way along with a few other goodies (more on that later).

I was actually quite excited to try Barlean’s Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. The information on their site made it sound quite promising. The company states that their Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is:

• Island fresh from the province of Quezon in the Philippians;
• Has an exceptional coconut flavor & aroma;
• Superior to other brands in that the coconuts are hand selected then harvested at the peak of flavor & nutritional value;
• Pressed on demand – bottled on demand;
• Solvent & chemical free;
• Certified organic by the USDA.

This particular coconut oil is cold pressed which means that the coconut is opened and the soft “meat” is scooped out and allowed to dry at very low temps (this is to lessen the amount of liquid in the coconut—like the remains of the milk) then it is expeller pressed.  Their processing is NOT “copra” processing which is dried meat made by smoke drying, sun drying or kiln drying. Copra oil usually has to be refined in the end—something they would never do! The cold pressed process allows for a smooth coconut flavor to the oil but one that is not overpowering.

I have to admit that coconut oil is a little hard for me to take straight off the spoon. It’s a texture/oily thing. I gag a bit and sometimes I just can’t do it. Even the taste gets to me after a while.

After the Barlean’s shipment arrived I immediately opened the jar of coconut oil, grabbed a spoon, crossed my fingers, and downed about a tablespoon. Much to my surprise I really, really enjoyed it. It was VERY smooth going down and I only gagged a little...not my full blown gagging reaction. It tasted wonderful and had a sweetness to it that I liked. I double checked the label to make sure that there was no added sweeteners because it tasted too good to be true. Nope – nothing questionable in there! I decided to take another spoonful just to be sure and again, it went down easily, tasted amazing, but left no lingering aftertaste or oily residue.

I would never want to steer my readers in the wrong direction, so I took the oil to the most discerning critic I know…Tiny! She has been taking coconut oil straight off the spoon since she was about 14 months old (she is almost 3 now). She loves the stuff and has never had an issue getting it down. I handed her a spoonful and she devoured it, asked for more, then grabbed the jar and hid it in our office “just in case.” (Just in case = I want it and you can’t have it!) I’d say that this is a pretty powerful endorsement for Barlean’s Coconut Oil!

The only downside for me is that it does not come in a larger jar. The price is reasonable, I can stand behind the company’s ethics and business practices, and their customer service is fantastic. Plus they have a 100% guarantee that their products are both all-organic and non-genetically modified. That is huge for me! Oh, did I mention that they use black, opaque plastic bottles made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE). HDPE is fully approved by the US and Canadian governments for vegetable oils and has an untarnished record of health and safety. Another consideration of using HDPE plastic is that it leaves less of an environmental footprint-less natural resources (such as water and electricity) go into producing HDPE bottles and they are much lighter than glass bottles, so they require less fossil fuel for transportation and less protective packaging during shipping. And all their HDPE bottles are #2 recyclable.

I plan on expanding my coconut oil repertoire and will include Barlean’s coconut oil in my daily usage of it. Now if they would only come out with a one or five gallon pail….hint hint!

Ok – now for the best part! One lucky reader will win a 16 ounce jar of Barlean’s Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil.

Mandatory Entry: Leave a comment below letting me know your favorite use for coconut oil. Be sure to include a valid email address if one is not already linked to your profile.

Extra Entries (please leave a comment for each one – no need to reenter your email address):

1.   Visit 160 Uses for Coconut Oil and let me know which use surprised you most;

2.   Visit Barlean’s website and let me know which product(s) you might also be interested in trying;

3.   Follow Hybrid Rasta Mama via email, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Networked Blogs, and/or Google +)
4.   Follow Barlean’s via RSS feed, Facebook (you will get a free sample of their Omego Swirl) and/or Twitter;

5.   Stumble 160 Uses for Coconut Oil.

The giveaway opens today, Sunday, January 8, 2012 and closes at 11:59pm on Saturday, January 21, 2012. Giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.

Good luck!!!

Be sure to keep an eye on my blog in February. There will be some more Barlean’s goodies up for grabs!