A Guatemalan essential for sure. At least in my book.

What you need:

All the carrots from last week
A couple onions
Some greens (Great way to use half your manojo of spinach that you couldn't fit into anything else but is starting to wilt. Also parsley, hierba buena, or basil if you can find it).
Some garlic
A little olive oil
Seasoning stuff--salt, basil, oregano, whatever you like
Some milk (like, a cup. not from powder, please)

Chop those onions. Start sauteeing them. Shred all them carrots and add them in with the onions. They should be kind of seared/blackened. Add your spinach and some water. Steam those greens. Now, blend everything. Make sure it's good and blended or you'll get an icky texture Add some milk to that goodness. And all set.

I'm having trouble linking an image, so if you don't know what it is, just google it. It's basically this pot that has a twist-locking lid so that the vapor stays inside when it boils. It cooks everything so much faster.

• I can cook beans from dry (unsoaked) in under an hour (versus 2+ hours after soaking them).
• Meat turns out sooooooooo tender.
• Chili, stew, everything comes out like it was slowcooked for hours, but it's only been like 20 minutes.
  

The other day I made a rosemary potroast with a boatload of carrots. MMMmmm, first of all. Then I used the leftover meat and onions to make tacos at dinner. Complete with homemade blue corn tortillas. To die for.

Definitely the best investment I've made in Guatemala  (besides maybe my bed). Get one, even if you don't eat beans.

Just a warning: Don't make this if you only think you have self control. I've eaten about half a pound of it since this morning.

1 lb. oats (mosh actually works, but you have to be a little careful because it gets soggier easier. You can find avena integral in some stores. But it is kinda hard to find)
3 T oil or butter
2Q of sesame seeds
2Q of pepitoria/pumpkin seeds
3Q of raisins
1-2T of cinnamon
About an eight of a block of panela* or less. Chop it up as fine as you can. You can also use honey

Put oil in a saucepan and heat on low. Add oats. From this point mix constantly so it doesn't burn. After the oats are pretty toasted, add pepitoria. Then sesame seeds, raisins, cinnamon and panela. Keep stirring and keep on low until it starts to feel sticky. If it doesnt feel sticky, add more panela a little at a time. When it's sticky, it's done an it'll harden to the texture of granola, more or less. 

*Panela is unrefined sugar. It's dark in color and tastes somewhere in between brown sugar and molasses

September is pumpkin season. I give you 3 pumpkin recipes:

Pumpkin-Rosemary Soup
2 small onions
1/4-1/2 a guicoy chopped
2-3 garlics (why do I have so much trouble remembering what the little teethies are called. WAAHHH)
2-3 sprigs of rosemary
2 bay leaves (laurel)
Water
Salt to taste

Saute onions and garlic. Add guicoy and try to get some color on it for more flavor. Add rosemary and bay leaves. Add water and boil at least 15 minutes (you know why). Remove bay leaves. This would be better blended but I don't have a liquadora yet.


Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

1/8-1/4 a guicoy, peeled and chopped
1 tsp cinnamon
honey to taste
1/4 c oatmeal
Agua pura

Roast guicoy in a skillet. Just enough to get it some color. Add your agua to keep it from sticking to the pan. Get it nice and soft so you can machucar that pumpkin. Add cinnamon, honey, and oatmeal and cook until oatmeal is fully cooked. Add just a hint of salt if you think it needs it.

Pumpkin Mac and Cheesy

By now, you'll have 1/4 a guicoy left and you'll be trying to figure out what to do with it. Here's what. (God I wish I could find sage down here)

1/4 a guicoy, peeled and chopped
1 onion
thyme
Cheese (mozz or real cheese preferred but if you must, campo cheese is fine)
1 c Milk (Leche en polvo and agua pura)
1 bolsa of pasta

Make the pasta like normal. Roast the guicoy and mash it. Make the Sauce by heating the milk to a boil and adding thyme. Add cheese and try your hardest to get it to melt. Good luck. Add the mashed pumpkin and bring back to a boil Toss over pasta and garnish with more thyme.

Keep in mind I made all of these with Guatemala's closest relative to the pumpkin: the guicoy (below) 

Definitely having trouble uploading pics, but I will be sure to add once I find a way #cafeinternet #viruses.

Here's my recipe. Delicious and vegan.

1 Onion (or more if you feel like)
3 to 5 dientes de ajo
Enough oil to saute the two
3 tomatoes
A huge handful of spinach
3 to 5 sprigs of rosemary
1-2 lb of dried white beans (soaked overnight)
Salt and pepper (to taste)
Jalapeno (I used half a pepper) or red pepper flakes if you can find them

Chop and saute the onion and garlic at the bottom of the pan
Add tomatoes and roast just until they have a little color.
Add spinch and allow to deflate a little.
Add water, beans (previously soaked), jalapenos, and rosemary.
Boil about 1 hour or until the beans are soft. Finish with salt and pepper so as to not add too much.

Buen provecho!

I'm not sure if that's how you spell macadamia in English, but it's how you spell it in Spanish, so I'm going with it.

Really cool. This guy came to Guate in the 1970s from San Fran and just never left. He started this organic macadamia farm and invented the active ingredient in Nivea's anti-aging cream. And now he sells all his products but mostly just chills. 

His big initiative right now is donating macadamia trees to rural Guatemalan villages that struggle with nutrition. Because of macadamia's high fat (omega 3 and 6 wooo!) and protein content growing a tree in your home is a perfect way to make sure your kids are actually getting those nutrients in their diet if they can't find another way.

You best believe I'm getting trees for my site.

Beef strips in a an amazing sauce with green beans, potatoes and rice.

Recipe forthcoming

Basically stuffed tortillas. So good and cheap and easy to make. I'll make them for you. I promise.

Here's a recipe:

Stovetop carrot bread/cake. A lifesaver.

Ingredients

2 extra large (4 America-sized) carrots

1 pound flour (you’re gonna have to do the conversión on this. Sorry!)

1-2 tsp cinnamon (al gusto)

4 eggs

2 ½ cups of sugar (or less if you like to be a healthy, non-diabetic human)

½ tsp salt

1 ½ cups vegetable oil

Butter to grease the pan/pot if you’re using the stovetop

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

 Grease and flour two pans (or pots for stovetop). Make sure the pots have lids if you’re planning to do stovetop. Mix all the carrots, sugar, salt, baking powder and the remaining flour in a large bowl. Add the eggs, oil and cinnamon. Put half the mixture in each pot/pan.

 

If baking, bake at 375 F about 45 minutes or until done. If stove top pseudo-baking, cook over a very low fire for 45 minutes or until done.

Mmmm. Pepian is basically the national dish of Guate. It's really spicy and delishous, but not spicy in a hot way. It's like a brown soup with potatoes and chicken and carrots and this really yummy squashish thing called guisquil.

Anyway, I don't have pics, but .here's the recipe my host momma and I made together: