Tropical Traditions Coconut Peanut Butter (Review and Giveaway)

Last week I was quite excited to receive Coconut Peanut Butter from Tropical Traditions. We love peanut butter around her and I figured peanut butter mixed with coconut could only be yummy. I was right!

  This smells good and tastes better. This peanut butter and honey on homemade bread was delicious! I am also enjoying it be the spoonful. Ken laughs at us for eating peanut butter that way but we really like it!

  The coconut peanut butter is very smooth and it doesn't separate like other natural peanut butters it is at a fairly warm temperature. It isn't really easily spread however as it is rather stiff. I can handle that though- it tastes good enough to deal with a bit of stiffness. Tropical Traditions has many yummy looking recipes using Coconut Peanut Butter- check them out! I have been pleased with the recipes I have tried from their site.

If you should want to purchase Coconut Peanut Butter it is on sale for the next few days for 45% off.
To Buy it: Visit Tropical Traditions and place an order. Be sure to use the referred by a friend and enter my

User ID: 6527139 and you will receive a free book on using coconut oil. (I will also get something.)

One fortunate person will also win a jar of Coconut Peanut Butter!


To Win it: Please leave a topic related comment (not just "I want to win!") and I will enter your name in the drawing. If you would like an additional chance please subscribe to Tropical Tradition's Newsletter and leave me another comment telling me that you did.

This contest will close on Sunday February 6th. I will try to announce the winner next Monday.

This contest is open to those in the USA and Canada*. Be sure to leave an e-mail address or have your e-mail address easy to find on your blog so that I can contact you if you should win.


. 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 or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Tropical Traditions Coconut Peanut Butter (Review and Giveaway)

Last week I was quite excited to receive Coconut Peanut Butter from Tropical Traditions. We love peanut butter around her and I figured peanut butter mixed with coconut could only be yummy. I was right!

  This smells good and tastes better. This peanut butter and honey on homemade bread was delicious! I am also enjoying it be the spoonful. Ken laughs at us for eating peanut butter that way but we really like it!

  The coconut peanut butter is very smooth and it doesn't separate like other natural peanut butters it is at a fairly warm temperature. It isn't really easily spread however as it is rather stiff. I can handle that though- it tastes good enough to deal with a bit of stiffness. Tropical Traditions has many yummy looking recipes using Coconut Peanut Butter- check them out! I have been pleased with the recipes I have tried from their site.

If you should want to purchase Coconut Peanut Butter it is on sale for the next few days for 45% off.
To Buy it: Visit Tropical Traditions and place an order. Be sure to use the referred by a friend and enter my

User ID: 6527139 and you will receive a free book on using coconut oil. (I will also get something.)

One fortunate person will also win a jar of Coconut Peanut Butter!


To Win it: Please leave a topic related comment (not just "I want to win!") and I will enter your name in the drawing. If you would like an additional chance please subscribe to Tropical Tradition's Newsletter and leave me another comment telling me that you did.

This contest will close on Sunday February 6th. I will try to announce the winner next Monday.

This contest is open to those in the USA and Canada*. Be sure to leave an e-mail address or have your e-mail address easy to find on your blog so that I can contact you if you should win.


. 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 or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

A Taste Of Spring

This year has been colder the average. We've only hit average temperatures a few times this winter. This past weekend was a real treat. Saturday's high was close to 60* and Sunday's high was 68*! I opened all the windows and we all enjoyed a weekend outside in the sunshine.

Well, Lucky and Oscar decided to sunbathe from inside the house. Is it weird that my cat outweighs my dog by about 3 times?

Yesterday we all ate lunch outside.

Evan took a quick rest with Oscar.

Later that afternoon, I took advantage of the thawed soil by digging the last of our potatoes. I had given up on my garden this year but I wondered if the potatoes were still okay.

Digging up the potato patch had me excited for spring gardening. Jon helped dig after a while.

The kids shouted each time they saw a potato. Do we know how to have fun or what?

We got quite a few potatoes from our neglected row. Most were pretty tiny. I'll have to look up ways to fertilize potatoes this year. Some potatoes were munched on by...whatever lives under my garden beds. There were a few rotten potatoes too. Considering that I abandoned them, I was happy with what we ended up with.

I roasted half last night for dinner. I slightly undercooked them and I had too much oil in the pan so they weren't great. I'm going to try for better results with the other half soon.

Today we're back to a high of 40*. I'm glad for the fresh air and sunshine we enjoyed over the weekend. That might have to hold us for the next couple months.

Sky over Karachi

Asalam Alaikum,
Here in Karachi this morning it rained for a while. I love the rain in Karachi, every time it rains we go up on the roof and run around until we are all soaking wet. After the rain the sky cleared up and it was sunny for awhile then we went on the roof in the afternoon and the sky had a line cutting it right across. On one side clear blue and the other puffy clouds- white, yellow, orange and pink.





And of course there were cheels-

They were making passes in front of the clouds making a really pretty silhouette, but I couldn't catch it, they were too fast.

Disney Princess

It was a sweet, pastel coloured Disney Princess panel which I bought from Cottage Patch, Ampang.

There were 4 Princesses - Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora & Belle. All my favourites! Worked with 6 blocks (4 Princess + 2 names : 'Aurora & Belle').

Worked with only 2 colours - pink & lite purple fabric in hand spray effect, stripes & dots. First was a 1.5" lite pink polkadot, next was a 3" lite purple, then for fun, I added a 1.5" striped purple and lastly, I returned to the pink polkadot at 5.5". It all worked well!

Backing fabric was a complimentary purplish print and binding was the same lite purple solid.

A little girls dream ;-)

Measurement : 42'W X 54" L

Made out of 100% American cotton

Price : RM220

Status : SOLD!

Trash to Display Board

 A while back when I went to drop off our recycling I noticed these two shutter like things stuck in the the paper recycling. They obviously didn't belong there and I thought they were kind of neat looking so I decided to bring them home. They sat around for a month or two out in the garage but then I found a "need" for them.

   I brought them in and scrubbed them up good and then I decided to polish them a bit with shoe polish to make them look a bit better. Then I used raffia and tied them together so they could stand up.

  They were first pressed into use for my bridal show last weekend. I was having a rustic theme so I thought they fit in fine. I put it behind a centerpiece, hung a picture on it and also attached a ribbon to which I hung some boutonnieres for display.

 After I brought it home again it was stripped of the bridal show stuff and then yesterday I decided to make it into a display board. As I have been going through things around the house I have found various little odds and ends that friends (that either visited and were from) have brought me from other countries. I had dug some of the them out for our Homeschool day and thought it would be fun to have some way to display them.

  When making the board we decided to add some pictures to it as well. I had a cool calendar that Ken had given me a couple of years ago that had pretty pictures from all over the world- we added some of those to the display.

  I had thought I would put this in the boys' room as they love geography and have their walls already plastered with maps and flags from other countries. However we weren't able to find a good wall spot there so we ended up hanging it in the hallway that leads to the kids' rooms.

  The kids have had fun looking over all my odds and ends. It is a fun way to remember friends that live in other countries.

  And as always I had fun making something for my home without buying anything!

I am also linking to Frugal Friday at Life as MOM and Saturday Night Special at Funky Junk Interiors.

Trash to Display Board

 A while back when I went to drop off our recycling I noticed these two shutter like things stuck in the the paper recycling. They obviously didn't belong there and I thought they were kind of neat looking so I decided to bring them home. They sat around for a month or two out in the garage but then I found a "need" for them.

   I brought them in and scrubbed them up good and then I decided to polish them a bit with shoe polish to make them look a bit better. Then I used raffia and tied them together so they could stand up.

  They were first pressed into use for my bridal show last weekend. I was having a rustic theme so I thought they fit in fine. I put it behind a centerpiece, hung a picture on it and also attached a ribbon to which I hung some boutonnieres for display.

 After I brought it home again it was stripped of the bridal show stuff and then yesterday I decided to make it into a display board. As I have been going through things around the house I have found various little odds and ends that friends (that either visited and were from) have brought me from other countries. I had dug some of the them out for our Homeschool day and thought it would be fun to have some way to display them.

  When making the board we decided to add some pictures to it as well. I had a cool calendar that Ken had given me a couple of years ago that had pretty pictures from all over the world- we added some of those to the display.

  I had thought I would put this in the boys' room as they love geography and have their walls already plastered with maps and flags from other countries. However we weren't able to find a good wall spot there so we ended up hanging it in the hallway that leads to the kids' rooms.

  The kids have had fun looking over all my odds and ends. It is a fun way to remember friends that live in other countries.

  And as always I had fun making something for my home without buying anything!

I am also linking to Frugal Friday at Life as MOM and Saturday Night Special at Funky Junk Interiors.

Tender Cranberry-Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

I made these wonderful cookies over Christmas and I couldn't stop eating them. They're chewy, sweet, nutty, tart.... all things I love in cookies rolled into one.

Tender Cranberry-Raisin Oatmeal Cookies (adapted from King Arthur Flour.com) (dairy-free substitutions in blue)

3/4 cup butter (Earth Balance)
1/4 cup lard (or shortening)
1 3/4 cups brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. vanilla
2 eggs
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped pecans
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose)
3 cups old fashioned rolled oats

Preheat your oven to 350*. Lightly grease (or line with parchment paper) two baking sheets.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, lard, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices, salt, vanilla, beating until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; then add the syrup. Stir in the fruit and nuts, then the flour, beating gently until well combined. Add the oats last, making sure they're well distributed.

Scoop the dough by Tbsp's full onto the baking sheets leaving about 2" between cookies. Bake cookies until they're barely set on top- about 12-14 minutes. Leave them on the cookie sheet for a minute or two then transfer them to a cooling sheet to cool completely. Makes ~30 cookies.


I'm excited to add this recipe to the great list at "Sweets for a Saturday"!

Friday Feature- Dhikr and Tasbeeh(prayer beads)

Asalam Alaikum,

These are Tasbeeh(prayer beads). Muslims sometimes use them when making dhikr(remembrance of Allah{swt}). They can be made of many different materials- wood, metals(like steel or silver), pearls, ivory, glass, or precious stones. Some tasbeeh have 33 beads with two separating beads making three sections of 11, and some tasbeeh have 99 beads with two separating beads making three sections of 33 beads. One of the most common forms of dhikr is to recite "Subhan-Allah"(Glory be to God) 33 times, "Alhamdulillah"(All praise be to God) 33 times, and "Allahu Akbar"(God is the Greatest) 34 times.

The ones in the middle of the picture above are a ceramic set of 33 that belonged to my mother in law. Tariq asked me to fix them because the string had broken and the beads were loose, but they are a little heavy and no one really uses them. Each bead says "subhanAllah". The beads on the far left and the second from the right are both wooden sets with 99 beads. The second from the left(light blue) and the far right(pale yellow/greenish) are both plastic sets with 99 beads.



Some people don't use tasbeeh to make dhikr, as they see it as a bidah(innovation), so they prefer to use the joints of the fingers. My view is that if you let the tool become more important than the action(like saying-"I can't find my tasbeeh, so I can't make dhikr"), then that would be wrong, but I don't have a problem with the beads themselves.

Ponoka Alberta 1955?

On Jan. 24 I was at my usual knitting group. A new lady had joined our group the previous Monday and her name was Lois (that's all we knew that day)
This Monday she sat beside me again (coincidence?)..we were chatting and we mentioned being raised in small towns on the prairies and she mentioned that she was raised in Ponoka Alberta... I nearly choked...I asked her "Are you Lois Evans?" and she was as shocked as I was..oh yes, it was Lois Evans. We went to school together from Grade 5-8.....then my family moved to Saskatchewan.
We've since been busy reconnecting with others in our school pictures.
Found Doug Wessel in Duncan, BC...lives about 7K from my daughter's place...
This world of ours is getting smaller and smaller....
If anyone reading this blog recognizes someone else...please let me know!
in the bottom picture..Lois is in the very centre of middle row(checkered skirt with vest) and I am second from the right in the middle row. Grade 6 in Ponoka, Alberta.

The 'friendship stick' was made in Gr. 5 when Lois and I were at a Girl Guide Camp...see her name carved in at the top right...(Yes, I do save things!)

designed socks

using up heathergreen and black yarn and
came up with this amazing design...

Tag! My hijab story

Asalam Alaikum,
So this tag is from Muslim Convert, Since I recently posted about hijab in one of my Friday Features, I thought a little more background/details might be fun.

Rules
The title of this tag is : My Hijab Story
You can tag as many people as you want
Please state who tagged you
Have fun!

Questions:

1. How old were you when you started wearing the hijab? 23, (after reverting in December 2006)

2. What or who influenced you to become a hijabi? I had researched Islam and met several Muslim women in our local masjid, from the moment I decided to revert I knew I would wear hijab.


3. How has hijab changed your life? I find it helps me to focus more on my good points, instead of spending hours looking at my faults(mind vs. body issues)

4. What does hijab mean to you? Total attitude, not just the scarf, but the way you present yourself.

5. How do you deal with the rude comments/stares you get due to being a hijabi? So far I haven't had to deal with too much rudeness, but on the rare occasion that somebody has said something or asked a rude type of question I just answer them politely and they tend to do a double take and realize how rude they sound.


6. What is your favorite thing about wearing the hijab? It feels so feminine, since I was pretty much a tomboy this is something kind of new.

7. What is your hijab must have accessory? Plain old safety pins, I never leave the house without them(and a bunch extra in my purse)!

8. What advice could you give a newbie hijabi? If it is difficult for you then take it slow, better to go slow than jump in feet first, get frustrated and then leave off the hijab altogether.

9. What is one hijab trend you never understood? The whole gulf fashion of useing huge flower pins under the shayla stlye to "poof out" the back of the head. It just looks really odd to me.


10. What question do you get asked the most due to wearing the hijab? When in America it was the classic-"aren't you hot in that?", to which I reply- "not really, the airflow is pretty cooling and the sun is not beating down on my head".

In Pakistan it is generally "why don't you loosen up your dupatta, isn't that uncomfortable?", to which I reply "no, thank you"

So there is a bit more detail on my hijab. I tag anybody who hasn't already done it and wants to.

Furry Friends

A friend of mine has them and asked if I could help her sell these lovely furry-plush-soft-toy for her . . . .

Name : HARRY the Hippo

Price : RM60

Status : Available

Name : LIONEL the Lion

Price : RM60

Status : SOLD!

Name : BINGO the Bear

Price : RM60

Status : Available

Name : DOUGLAS the Dog

Price : RM60

Status : Available

Name : CASSIE the Cat

Price : RM60

Status : SOLD!

Heavy Duty Mittens

A few days before we went to Pennsylvania for Christmas, I rushed to knit the kids super warm mittens. I had a skein of "The Purled Llama" Yarn "Toro" Bulky (Super Bulky?) wool yarn. It's thick and fluffy.

I used the Family Mittens pattern and used the small size for Evan and the medium size for Charlotte. I made the cuffs longer so they could be tucked into their coats and avoid the "cold wrist" problem. When I washed them, I added lanolin to the water to help increase their waterproofness.

These mittens were a huge success. The children have played out in the snow for quite a while with these on and their hands are as warm as can be when they come in. The only issue with the wool is that the snow sticks to the mittens. I would take their mittens off of their hands and then have to beat the snow off of the mittens by banging them together.... the mittens, not the children. But as long as the mittens kept their hands warm and dry, snow stuck to them isn't a big deal.

Cribset utk Akeem..

My old fren kt uum dulu Mama Onie tempah 2set cribset utk Daris Akeem.. dia mintak 2quilt blanket n 2bedsheet.. but I made some prezzy for lil ensem guy that is 2 pillow matching the cribset respectively..

Set 1

I choose Ikea fabric.. made it simple as request by Mama Onie..

I hope lil Akeem love it..

Set 2

I use stripe fabric (japanese cotton) n mix with plain white cotton..

another simple cribset for Akeem..

ready to pack n post...