Ana's Peanut butter/banana cheesecake

3 cups of cookie crumbs.  (I used Marias, Mexican cookies.  1 roll=1 cup)
1 1/2 stick of butter. (not margarine)
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 bricks of cream cheese
3 eggs  separated or not, however you wish.
1 can sweet condensed milk
I suggest you add about half cup sugar, mine didn't come out too sweet.
It was ok, I don't like too much sugar, but it could use a bit more sweetness.

I used 2 ripe plantains.  I suggest one more.
Butter for frying them, a
2 tsp corn starch
1/2 cup brown sugar
a hand-full of chocolate chips (I used white ones)
a squirt of vanilla

Bake at 375 degrees for about an hour.  check at 45 minutes.
I used a 9 inch spring form pan.

Do I need to explain the cookie crumb situation?  You know what to do with those..

You should have left the cream cheese and butter out at room temp for a while (You don't want them hard).  If you are like me, you forgot to leave them out, cheat.  Put the butter in the microwave for a few seconds to soften.  (common sense, I know)
Now mix all cheesecake ingredients, then use beater until they are all smoothed out.
There shouldn't be lumps.

Pour mix into the prepared pan with the crumbs.  Put foil around the outside edges of the pan, and place on a cookie sheet and then into the preheated oven.

Have something to eat; once you smell it baking, you will be hangry.

Once you had a snack, slice the plantains and fry carefully in the butter, flip them individually so they don't break, do not crowd them in the pan!  Plantains do not like crowding.  I had to fry them in groups, placing all done plantains in a container on the side.  Once all done, put a dab of butter in the pan, lower the heat.  Add brown sugar and about half cup water, mix well.  Mix the corn starch with about 1/4 cup water, and mix carefully in the brown sugar so it doesn't clump.  Clumps are for cat litter, not for food.  Add vanilla, and melt in the chocolate chips in mixing constantly.   You don't want to scorch at the bottom.  Once it is all creamy, add plantains and simmer on low heat for a bit.  Let them cool.

Taste plantains to make sure they are good..  add water as needed to make it just right, they may be too thick.  Taste another plantain..  Just in case.  Leave them on the stove, so they cool only a bit.

When the cheesecake comes out, let it cool a bit.  then top with the plantains cover loosely with foil and place in the fridge.

New age lentils

This was a recipe that started as something else.  it transformed as I went along.

1 1/2 pink or red lentils
4 1/2 cups water (I used 5 and it came out too watery)
1 small yellow onion
4 garlic cloves
1 tsp minced or grated ginger
1 fresh chile serrano.
1 1/2 TBSP salt  (you use salt to taste)
Lemon
1/2 brick of cream cheese
Pepper
Basil

Clean and rinse lentils, put in a pot, with water, onion, garlic, salt, ginger and chile (thin sliced) and a tsp salt.  (I suggest you add the cream cheese after it started boiling)
When the lentils boil, and start to soften, balance out the water and start adding salt, pepper and basil to taste.
Once they are done, you can serve it and add lemon to taste.
It is spicy, very spicy, but the cream cheese makes it smooth to taste. The red lentils boiled fast!  I mean the green ones take forever to boil.  The thing with the red ones is they became mushy fast, but it didn't matter, they taste great.
This makes approximately 6 servings of half a bowl.  Maybe a little more.

Pizza

This recipe makes 2 medium pizzas.  The crust is light and delicate, not heavy.  No worries, it didn't come out crunchy like a tostada either.


Crust Ingredients:


1 package dry yeast
2 tsps. sugar
1 cup warm water (hot off the tap)
1/4 cup lard (I used Crisco) It's about 2 heaping tsps.
3 cups of flour plus one for dusting
Olive oil


In a large bowl, combine the warm water, yeast, sugar and Crisco.  Mix and mix as best as you can.  Add 3 cups of flour and mix, leave one cup of flour on the side.  Once mixed kind of well, dust a surface with flour, and place the dough on that surface.  Knead well, slamming down the dough a couple of times. 

Use some olive oil to lightly coat a large bowl.  Place the dough in the bowl and cover loosely.  let it rise for about an hour.
In the meantime you can chop up your toppings.
In addition to the toppings, you will need

1 pound of shredded Mozzarella cheese
crushed garlic (optional)
Oregano
One can tomato paste
2 small cans of tomato sauce with or without spices.

Prepare the sauce.  Put all the tomato paste and sauce in a container and mix well, add some crushed garlic to taste, oregano and salt.  Taste test the sauce.  When ready, put aside with the toppings.

When the dough has risen, plop it onto the flour dusted surface by turning the bowl upside down.  Cut the ball in half and knead.  Make two balls and let them sit on the counter for about 10-15 minutes.  

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

After the balls sat there getting a bit puffy, then grab one, and smash it flat with your hand.  then squish it flat.  Then you can use a rolling pin to stretch it to the size of your pizza pan.  Coat the pizza pan with a light coat of oil.  Place the dough, which now should look like a large tortilla, on it.  

Make the edges look like a tiny curb, as if you wanted to keep the ingredients from sliding off.  then spread the sauce carefully onto the dough with a rubber spatula.  (or your hand if you like, just be gentle.

Add a light sprinkle of cheese, then arrange toppings evenly.  I added about 2 handfuls of each topping, then more cheese.  I liked adding oregano sprinkles on top of all that.  Then carefully paint some olive oil on the edges, and sprinkle the whole thing with garlic salt.

Place in the oven and keep a close eye, it cooks very quick.  Mine took about 10-12 minutes and it was golden.

Now do the same with the next pizza, and enjoy..

If 2 medium pizzas is too much for you, you can always take the second dough ball, cover it with a little bit of olive oil.  Put it in a freezer bag, press all the air out and seal.  Then you can freeze it. 

When you are ready to use it, leave in the fridge overnight.  Then take it out and let it become room temperature before using it.  I just made both, and one  is all gone now, they go fast!

Ana's Crustless Spinach Quiche

*All ingredients are an approximation, please don't stress over being exact

3 cups fresh chopped spinach
4 eggs
1 small can of sliced black olives
one onion, chopped
chopped garlic to taste (I used about half tsp)
1 cup milk
1 package of cream cheese
About half a cup of Parmesan cheese
some shredded jack and cheddar cheeses (I used about half a cup
If possible some chopped cooked bacon. (I used 2 strips)


Separate eggs in 2 different bowls, one with the whites and one with the yolks.
Put the chopped onion and garlic in a hot pan with a little olive oil, once cooked a little, add the spinach and the olives, let it cook in low heat while you heat the oven to 350 degrees and go back to the eggs.
Beat the egg whites until they are very thick and form peaks, then set aside.
Beat the yolks, the milk, cream cheese and Parmesan cheese with a mixer.
Use spices both in the pan and in the bowl.  I used Basil (about one teaspoon) some fresh thyme, about 4 leaves chopped, some salt and pepper and some Mediterranean spices (McCormick) to even it out.

Once the spinach is soft let it cool a little.  Then quickly mix it into the yolk mixture, add the bacon bits and then add the egg whites and fold them in carefully but quickly.

Place in a large pie pan (or a pyrex).   Top with the shredded cheese and bake in the oven for about 30 to 40 minutes.  I also put sliced tomatoes on top to make it pretty.  Keep an eye on it !
When the top is golden and you move it a bit and it doesn't wobble much anymore, it's ready.

When it's done let it set for about 15 minutes.

Juice

Here by popular request are my recipes for vegetable juices.
I used this juice because I wanted to clean out my system, I was bloated and felt huge.
I also don't eat many veggies, so this is great, I have never eaten so many veggies!
This juice has helped me get rid of a lot of the bloating.  It gave me a little gas at first but if that happens, take some baking soda with a  little water.

I use a small juicer, nothing fancy.

Green fuzzy Caterpillar drink
4 celery stalks
1 cucumber
2 apples
a bunch of kale
or a couple hand fulls of collard greens
2 carrots
add a squirt of lemon juice to taste
and sprinkle with some bottled hot sauce to taste

Vampire drink
1 large apple
2 carrots
1 large beet (I used 2 small ones)
2 celery stalks
1 bunch of spinach

I peel the apples because I don't know what kind of waxes and things they may have on the peel.  I also peel the cucumber, I am paranoid about what's on it.
Wash the celery stalks and carrots and greenery. 
Cut everything so all veggies fit your juicer. 

Juice everything, add ice and drink up.

Carrot Loaf

I have been juicing lots of fruits and veggies.  I had pulp leftover from carrots I juiced.  Here is what I did with it.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup regular flour
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
about 1/2 cup carrot pulp
vanilla
orange juice
1tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
handful or raisins

topped with Sugar in the raw sprinkled and some cinnamon


Just blend the ingredients with a handheld blender (minus the raisins)
add the orange juice until the mix is smooth and a little watery
mix in raisins and place in a loaf pan (spray it with PAM).
Sprinkle some Sugar in the Raw and cinnamon over it and bake at 350 degrees until golden brown and a knife comes out clean.
(about 40 minutes or so)

This is a very light tasting loaf, you can taste the orange and a little of the carrot.  It is light and fluffy not heavy and not too sweet. 

Try to get unbleached flour, and natural orange juice with no additives. 

Gorditas

You will need:

Maseca (flour to make corn tortillas)
water for the tortilla dough (masa)
leftover ground beef
leftover beans or canned beans
cheese
a little chorizo (optional)



Start by mixing some tortilla dough.  Pour the tortilla flour into a large bowl.  pour some warm water in it and start kneading with your hand until it has the consistency of play dough.

Then form some little patties about as thick as a burger patty.  To save time, I placed several in the oven to bake for about 20-30 minutes.  But you can cook them in a pan with some cooking spray.

Take the beans and put in blender with a little water so it has the consistency of a creamy soup.  Add spices to your liking.  I used leftover beans made from scratch, they already had spices.

Place the patties on a Pyrex and cover with the beans mix.  Then top with the ground beef, if you had chorizo, (just a little bit) you can add it and cook it mixed in with the meat before hand.
Top the meats with some cheese and bake for about 20 minutes or until hot.

Serve and top with some nice salsa.

I used meats, my family never used meat in this, I did because my husband likes meat, but you can always make them without.  You could also top with shredded lettuce, a dab of sour cream and salsa, and even add avocado and radish slices.