China Shopping Tip: Taobao Thursday

How many of you are into coconut oil for all its various uses? This seller has some Hainan (supposedly) organic coconut oil that has worked great for me. Their prices are way more reasonable than imported options available on Taobao and Amazon.cn. I have been using it in several baking things (recipe coming soon!) and I also have been mixing it with essential oils in roller balls or as a salve (side note: this is not fractionated coconut oil so it is solid below a certain temperature).

Any of you have some fun finds? 

Recipe Remake: Gluten-Free Buckwheat Brownies

I try not to jump on food fad bandwagons. So we're not gluten free. We're not dairy free. We're not vegetarian or vegan. I know there are plenty of people that are these things for various reasons. For me, all these food lifestyles are difficult to adhere to--especially in China. My family doesn't have any medical reasons to cut out certain foods from our diet, so we don't. I have a general "everything in moderation" approach to our eating. I try to make healthy choices for us without depriving anyone of anything. We still eat bread, dessert, and pasta but we don't do it every day. I try to make things from scratch so I know what is in them, rather than eating lots of processed foods. I try to give my kids quasi-healthy, filling snack options. For me, trying to incorporate more whole grains has been a fun thing that has also brought added nutrition. I try to take out some of the bleached white flour in things we're eating and replace it with heartier, more nutritious whole grain flours. For the most part, all my experimenting has resulted in equally yummy results! Recently, though, I had a guest who couldn't tolerate gluten. So I tried my go-to brownie recipe with buckwheat--a gluten free grain. Everyone thought the brownies were still great and likely wouldn't have even known they didn't have regular flour. I would make these again whether I needed the gluten free version or not! 

Almost-as-Good-as Boxed Brownies -- with Buckwheat!
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups buckwheat flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder (I put 1 1/2 tsp but probably didn't have to)
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup oil
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips or chopped up chocolate bars (add more if you want)

Mix together dry ingredients. Add oil, eggs, and vanilla and mix until moistened. Finally, stir in chocolate chips. Pour into greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350F (180C) for 20-25 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Do not over bake or they will get dry!

China Shopping: Taobao Tuesday

Did you see the post last week for making your own lemon or orange extract? I thought I'd share a link to the little bottles I got off Taobao for mine. I bought the 250mL bottles for less than Y3 each and they were just the right size. This seller has lots of fun glass jars and things.

Also, someone asked me about the chalkboard labels. I'd bought these in the States for cheap, but I also recently found a Taobao seller that has them! Yeah!

Any fun finds recently? 

Make Your Own: Citrus Extracts

You all know how much I love making my own vanilla extract. And if you've done it, you know how good it is! Well, I started looking into other extracts I could make back this spring. Citrus ones seemed to be a no brainer. I love things made with lemon and orange isn't half bad either, so I decided to try it. A teaspoon or so of this added into breads or desserts made with lemon or orange really just helps to give it more depth of flavor. So, get yourself some little bottles, some lemons and oranges and some vodka and get started!

Make Your Own: Citrus Extracts

Lemon Extract
1 cup vodka
2-3 lemons

Orange Extract
1 cup vodka
1-2 oranges

Depending on how large your pieces of fruit are, you can use the smaller or larger suggested number. Begin by washing the outside of your fruit very well. Using a vegetable peeler, knife or some sort of zester, remove the outer part of the peel. A veggie peeler worked great for me to get large pieces the thickness I needed. Try not to get much of the white part underneath as its more bitter. Place the citrus peels in a clean bottle or jar. Fill with one cup of vodka. Seal well and allow to sit in a dark place for 5-6 weeks. Shake the bottle gently about once a week. After the 5-6 week wait time use as needed in recipes!

This is a wonderful addition to things like these Lemon or Orange Doughnut Muffins or these Lemon Poppyseed Muffins! 

Fruit and Nut Granola Bars

I know I'm kind of on a bar snack kick here on Market to Meal. But I have just been finding so many fun ones! I have been on a hunt for good granola bars for a long time. I'm kind of picky in that I want one that's nice and chewy. And I want it adaptable to what I have on hand. I think I have found THE recipe though via this website. Its pretty much a base idea that you can then adapt and create based on what flavor you want or what you have on hand. Change up the fat or the add ins. Choose your own adventure, if you will. I hope you'll enjoy it like we have! This fruit and nut variation is one I've put together and have liked a lot. Here is a recipe for an Almond, Coconut, and Chocolate Chip variation as well! Our favorite!

Fruit and Nut Granola Bars
1 2/3 cups quick cooking or rolled oats
1/3 cup honey
3-4 Tbs brown sugar, lightly filled
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c olive oil, melted butter, or coconut oil
1/3 cup each almonds
1/3 cup cashews
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup raisins
1/4 cup peanuts

Mix everything together and press into a parchment lined pan. I have found that 7x11 works okay or one slightly larger that allows you to get them slightly thinner. But a 9x13 is too big. Bake at 325F (160C) for about 25 minutes. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars. 

Notes: I've also done this with 1/4 cup dried cherries instead of the peanuts. Really its just kind of up to you! You're just going for about 1 1/2 cups of nuts, fruit, or even chocolate chips. I usually grind my own wheat flour. Sometimes in this I put part wheat flour and part wheat germ. It works fine, too. I think I've also used oat flour from the oat groats available locally (燕麦). I have found I like these granola bars best with coconut oil--but that's just me. It doesn't make them too coconut-y if you don't like that kind of thing. 

Kitchen Tip: Weighing Ingredients

So today I found myself without any accessible measuring cups because they were all in my dishwasher. Have I mentioned that my AMAZING husband got me a dishwasher? Don't hate me. Nearly 10 years in China and this is a first for me. I'm truly loving it. Anyway, back to my tip…all my measuring cups were in the dishwasher doing their thing, but I needed to take advantage of my time window on making some cinnamon rolls. So I found this great list of ingredients measured by weight. So whip out your kitchen scale (if you don't have one, you need one anyway) and use it next time you are without measuring cups. Yes, yes, I know most of us don't usually have that problem, but for what its worth, this was a fun find worth sharing. Real bakers and Europeans would say you should measure by weight anyway, right?

Ingredient Weight Chart by King Arthur Flour

Pizza Sauce

Tomato paste in China can be a little hit and miss on flavor. I'm currently living in a more remote mountain town for the summer and my choices here are even more limited. But even in the big city where tomato paste is better, I like a slightly fresher pizza sauce than one where you just open a can of tomato paste. Now sometimes I have some good marinara sauce left and that makes an excellent pizza sauce as well. But the following is what I've been doing for a good middle of the road compromise between the two that is still pretty quick to throw together. Its really adaptable to flavors you may prefer and makes a good pizza or dip for things like calzones or pizza bites or garlic knots.

Pizza Sauce
2 cups tomato puree

1/2 cup tomato paste

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

2 garlic cloves

Puree 3 or 4 fresh tomatoes using a blender or food processor to make approximately 2 cups. Put in a small pot with all the remaining ingredients and simmer on stovetop for about 10 minutes. Use for pizza or as a dip with other Italian-American favorites.

Notes: I don't bother to peel or de-seed the tomatoes in order to still make this quick but you can if you prefer. Ideally, this is best with a Tablespoon or so of chopped fresh basil in place of the dried basil and Italian seasoning. But I don't often have that on hand.