31.12.2009 iHerb, youTree? A $50 shopping spree giveaway.

While I’ve become less and less interested in doing reviews due to time restriction, and because I’ve never wanted this site to be plastered with ads, I also know most of us are strapped for cash now more than ever and couldn’t pass the offer Abby (of iHerb.com) presented me, and you, dear Reader, with.

The deal: I had to register to and order $50 worth of items from the site, get reimbursed and write a review if pleased with the outcome.
If you leave a comment here, you might get randomly chosen, have to register to iHerb.com, then choose your $50 worth of items, email Abby (I’ll hook you up) and she’ll take care of sending your products for free, including shipping and handling.

Go ahead, play, and use the following Coupon Code > BUY123 to get an additional $5 off your initial order. Only caveat is, I’m told this giveaway is for US residents only.
You have until January 4 at noon (PST) to enter.

Onto the positives of the site:

1. A baker’s paradise: whole wheat pastry flour, brown rice syrup, barley malt sweetener, date sugar, palm sugar, guar gum, xanthan gum, almond flour, etc…
2. Fast and ship cheaping, I mean, cheap shipping:
International – as low as $4.00 as long as the order is under $80.00 and under 3 lbs.
Domestic – UPS Ground prices > $4.00 for orders from $40.00 to $49.99, spend over $50 > free shipping.
3. Products, which also include lots of organic and cruelty-free cosmetics, vegan-friendly herbal supplements, and vitamins, range from 10% up to 50% off suggested retail prices.

For now, a recipe that uses several of the ingredients I ordered from there. These apples are wicked sweet and good and you lose all the healthfulness of the fruit, but it’s not 2010 every day. Uhm…
Happy New Year, everyone!

Caramel Baked Apples:

For the caramel:
1/4 cup (48 g) Sucanat
1/4 cup (56 g) nondairy butter
1/4 cup (84 g) brown rice syrup or (84 g) light or dark agave nectar

For the filling:
1 tablespoon (3 g) barley malt sweetener or 1 tablespoon (12 g) Sucanat
1 tablespoon (6 g) almond flour
2 tablespoons (18 g) raisins
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash rum extract
Dash pure almond extract
1 1/2 teaspoons nondairy milk

2 large baking apples, such as Granny Smith, cored
1/4 cup (30 g) dry roasted unsalted whole almonds, coarsely chopped

To make the caramel: Combine Sucanat, butter, and syrup or nectar in medium saucepan. On medium-high heat, let the butter melt. Lower the temperature to medium, and boil gently for precisely 1 minute, stirring constantly, removing the saucepan from the heat if it gets too intense. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4). Have an 8 x 4-inch (20 x 10-cm) loaf pan handy.

To make the filling: Combine sweetener, flour, raisins, and extracts in a small bowl. Stir in milk until combined.

Place apples in the center of a piece of foil large enough to wrap them into. Divide filling between both apples, pushing it down into where the core used to be. Wrap foil around apples. Place foiled apples in loaf pan.
Bake for 30 minutes. Unwrap carefully, using gloves. Cover with half of the caramel. Wrap again, bake for another 30 minutes.
Unwrap, cover with the rest of the syrup and chopped almonds. Bake for another 15 minutes, with the foil protecting the bottom of the pan but not covering the apples. Pour the rest of the caramel that will have gone to the bottom of the foil and pan on top of the apples.
Let stand a few minutes before enjoying, so as not to burn your mouth.

Yield: 2 baked apples