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Unmatched Love for Matcha Love

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Benjamin Franklin once said that the only certain things in life were death and taxes. I think if he were around today he’d have to add “oh, and at some point today Emily will drink matcha”. When I say I’m obsessed…it’s a big deal. Especially because of my semi-addiction to iced matcha lattes. Put some matcha powder in a shaker and add some form of milk and ice and I’ll forget my own name. BUT, we have a problem, Houston, when the venti iced matcha latte from Starbucks (the only place in my area that makes them and the only size that even comes close to satisfying me) runs over $5. So my daily fix costs me around $35 a week, which *gulp* runs around $140 a month.

Yeah, I can’t be doing that.

Enter the wonderful product above. Each packet can be mixed with milk and thrown over ice and voila, homemade iced matcha latte. Here’s the fun part (what am I saying, it’s green tea, it’s ALL the fun part): I can get a can of 15 packets from Meijer for usually around $10. Thus (do people still say thus? I’m bringing it back.), for the cost of 2 Starbucks lattes, I can make 15 at home.

Now sometimes I’m away from the house all day and need my fix to go. Or sometimes I want to browse Target while getting my fix. And I don’t mind making an exception every now and then. But discovering this delicious and cost-efficient product will *literally* save me hundreds of dollars this year.

And that’s pretty darn precious.

Review: The Healthy Matcha Cookbook

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The Healthy Matcha Cookbook
The Healthy Matcha Cookbook
I was recently sent a copy of a beautiful cookbook, The Healthy Matcha Cookbook by Miryam Quinn-Doblas, MS, RD (creator of EatGood4Life), to review on Crazy Tea Chick. As someone who collects cookbooks, writes tons of cookbook reviews on her food blog, and happens to be obsessed with tea – this book and I are getting along famously.

In addition to outstanding recipes, which we’ll get to in a moment, the author includes a lot of wonderful information, including:

  • The history of Green Tea.
  • Matcha health benefits.
  • Matcha basics and “grades.”
  • Menu Plans
  • Resources
  • Ingredients that pair beautifully with matcha. There’s even a section on gluten free flours which, as someone who has to eat gluten free, I really appreciate.

The section on which ingredients pair best with matcha is as fascinating as it is extensive.

From the Inside Cover:

A Beautiful Collection of Recipes Featuring One of the World’s Most Popular and Powerful Superfoods

In The Healthy Matcha Cookbook, food blogger and registered dietitian Miryam Quinn-Doblas explores the various ways matcha powder—a main component of green tea—can be incorporated into everyday recipes to give your immune system the boost it needs to keep you healthy.

The health benefits of matcha powder far exceed those of green tea in drink form. The more than sixty recipes in this cookbook are easy to prepare and feature fresh, high-quality ingredients that aim to incorporate matcha powder, a powerful antioxidant, into the diet.

If you want to feel better, have more energy, and decrease the amount of toxins in your body, The Healthy Matcha Cookbook is a great resource that will help you restore and strengthen your mental and physical health. This is a beautiful guide that offers home cooks of all levels the chance to transform meals into satisfying, wholesome, healthy food using one of the world’s most popular superfoods.

Recipes Include:

  • Granola
  • Overnight Oats
  • Green Smoothie Bowl
  • Cream Cheese Spread (the picture in the cookbook has this beauty spread on bagels and it looks delicious!)
  • No Bake Breakfast Bars
  • Energy Bars
  • Quinoa Burgers with Matcha Habanero Mayo
  • Oven-Roasted Chicken Fajitas
  • Mac and Cheese
  • Spinach Mushroom Pasta
  • Tofu Stir Fry
  • Blueberry Crisp
  • Flourless Brownies (gluten free!)
  • Frozen Popsicles
  • No-Bake Cashew Banana Pie (gluten free!)
  • White Chocolate Mousse
  • And many more that’ll blow your mind!

I love the recipes to distraction, the information is priceless, and the book, itself, is gorgeous.  What I love most may be the fact that the author took the extra time to label her recipes “gluten free, dairy-free, and vegan.”  When you either choose to or have to follow a particular diet, you come to LOVE cookbook authors who go out of their way to help you in an area that, quite frankly, can be pretty tough.

Throughout the cookbook, gluten free options and tips are provided and, again, I greatly appreciate it a lot.

Make no mistake about it, however, you will love The Healthy Matcha Cookbook whether you have to follow a specific diet or not. These are off the chart healthy and delicious recipes and the book is a must have for all foodies and tea lovers.

The Healthy Matcha Cookbook would make a perfect gift idea for any and all tea lovers in your life – just be sure to grab a copy for yourself.  You’re going to love this cookbook!

If you order from Amazon soon, you can have copies of the book before Christmas. Click any of the links above or the image below!

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Reviews of Other Tea Books I Love:

Moroccan Tea Mints – With Matcha, Peppermint, and Spearmint

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Moroccan Tea Mints
The delicious Teavana Moroccan Mint Green Tea Breath Mints, pictured above, are blended with real matcha tea.  The peppermint and spearmint oils leave you with minty breath that smells as good as the mints taste.

These mints are exclusive to Teavana and come in a beautiful container sporting the wonderful Teavana logo.

Click through for more information!

Green PolkaDot Box

Matcha: Great for Hot Tea and Even Green Tea Frappuccinos

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Matcha

I’ve been a tea lover for many years – in fact, there’s little doubt in my mind that I had sweet tea in my “sippy cups” when I was a toddler. It’s the Southern way, you know.  I fell in love with green tea when it hit the scene years ago, too. I prefer mine sweetened with a little honey or Truvia and never object to a little mint in my green tea.

In addition to my favorite teas (black, green, chai..), I’ve made Matcha (think of it as the strongest Japanese Green Tea you ever met) part of my daily life. My afternoon or evening cup of hot Matcha tea with honey is something I very much look forward to each day.

Like a lot of people, I began drinking Matcha because of its AMAZING health benefits but I continue drinking Matcha because I love it.

DoMatcha DoMatcha Organic 2nd Harvest Matcha, 2.82-Ounce (pictured above) is just one of the many Matchas you’ll find on Amazon. DoMatcha Organic 2nd Harvest Matcha is 100% authentic Japanese Matcha, directly from the Uji region in Japan where matcha originated 800 years ago.

Unfortunately, Matcha is really difficult to find in stores (impossible has been my experience). However shopping for it online couldn’t be any easier – especially when you use Amazon.

One suggestion I would make, however, is to buy Matcha in a reusable tin (like the one shown here). You want to keep it as fresh and protected as possible.

To make a cup of hot Matcha tea, simply put 1/2 t- 1 tsp of DoMatcha Organic 2nd Harvest Matcha in a Matcha bowl or cup.  Add 1 oz. of hot water and stir to make a smooth paste. Then add more hot water and whisk to a froth, or add milk for a Matcha Latte!  As I said, I like to add honey to mine, but you may enjoy it without any sweetener at all – OR you may want to go with sugar or Stevia.  If you Do add sweetener to your Matcha, don’t feel like you’ve broken any unwritten code of ethic for tea drinkers. Matcha has, shall we say, a VERY strong personality and distinct disposition.

Frankly, I think it requires a little “softening” with sweetener, but I’ll let you make your own mind up.

How to make a Green Tea Frappucino….

1 tsp Matcha powder
2 tsps. Sugar or 2 pkts Truvia or Stevia (I use 2 pkts of Truvia and LOVE the results)
1 Cup of Milk (whole or 2%)
A little Cool Whip for the top.

Optional: You can add a splash of vanilla syrup (found in most coffee and tea aisles) along with the other ingredients if you want it to be a little sweeter.  I read somewhere that Starbucks (in their HEAVENLY Green Tea frappes) uses a “Melon” syrup. I’ve never seen one in stores… if I ever do, I’ll be buying it by the gallons.

Directions: Put a cup of ice into your blender. In order, add the Matcha powder,  sugar, vanilla syrup (if using), and milk.

*** I’ve made these frappes with sugar, Stevia, and Truvia and… for reasons that I couldn’t even begin to explain… using two packets of Truvia is my favorite way to go.

Green Tea Frappuccino

 

 

Experimenting with a Knock-off of Smoothie King’s Green Tea Tango

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Hey, don’t hate on my Quagmire glass. Inside is my knock-off version of Smoothie King’s to-die-for Green Tea Tango smoothie, which turned out very, very close to the original. I think I get extra points for having no matcha on hand to use…and no clue what I was doing.

So the other night I decided that nothing would make me happier at that exact moment in time than a green tea smoothie. However my Smoothie King is on the other side of town, it was late at night, and I was in my pajamas. And lazy. I really wanted to make my own version, but at first thought that seemed impossible since I don’t currently have any Matcha powder. Then (*brainstorm!*), I decided to brew up 2 cups of green tea and experiment. I didn’t write down my steps or measurements as I went along because, quite frankly, I didn’t expect it to be even close to edible, so I’ll try my best to remember exactly how I made the smoothie. I used 2 green tea bags and brewed them in one of my largest mugs. I then poured the tea in a blender and added 4-5 ice cubes.  I know that yogurt is a staple of any good smoothie recipe, so I added about 1/4 cup of plain fat-free yogurt, then added a little bit of soy milk. Technically, you probably shouldn’t even mess with the soy milk, because once I made my drink I instantly decided to add between 1/3-1/2 cup 2% dairy milk, so just stick with that: about a cup of dairy milk. The ice cubes I had added melted almost instantly due to the hot tea, so I had to add 3-4 more ice cubes. The drink was close to perfect, but was just too bitter, so I added sugar. How much you add is up to you, and I really didn’t want to add any because I hate sugar in my drinks, but trust me – this concoction is way too bitter without sugar. I added about 1/4 cup, and since this all brewed up between 2-3 actual smoothie servings, your per-cup sugar serving isn’t THAT bad. Not bodybuilder-healthy, but not horrendous. Now, I’ve tried the Smoothie King Green Tea Tango with fruit added (like the company recommends), and I was very disappointed to realize that all you taste is the fruit – no hint of matcha at all. Now when I order my smoothie, I tell the worker that I don’t want fruit because I want to only taste the matcha/yogurt, and they’re always VERY friendly and happy to oblige – they just usually add a little extra powder to make the texture just right or whatever. Anyway, if you like fruit in your smoothie, feel free to throw that in the blender too, and I’m sure it will taste fine.

Final verdict: Although my mixture isn’t all that green (due to the lack of actual matcha), and it took some tweaking and experimenting to get it right, it was actually DELICIOUS and tasted almost identical to the Smoothie King version. Next time I get a late-night smoothie urge – or feel too lazy to drive 15 minutes – I’ll be doing this again. Yum! 🙂