A Jeanne in the Kitchen

Rows of coconut trees. Coconuts and coconut trees are all over the island, from the little fledgling trees to the full grown trees. Coconuts are used for everything and are found in a lot of Belizan recipes.

Micah and Asher are not vegan, though they do eat a lot of plant based foods. They put in a request for some vegan desserts, and vegan desserts were what me made. One of the requests was for a vegan cheesecake. Well, to be honest, I have never made a cheesecake. I hate cheesecake. So that wasn’t on the menu. Instead, we made some vegan chocolate pudding and a vegan strawberry cake.

I didn’t take any pictures except at the very end. We were busy in the kitchen and we were on a timeline because they boys had another lesson closely following ours. Time was of the essence.

Vegan Chocolate Pudding

This is super easy to make, and unless you are vegan or have made this before, you are going to be really surprised that the main ingredient is Avocado. Yep, you read that right, avocado.

2 avocados

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup vegan milk

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Put everything into a food processor and blend together until smooth and creamy, then refrigerate until ready to eat. I did not take my food processor with me, so we just did it the old fashioned way and put some muscle into it. We mashed the avocados with a masher then mixed everything together by hand.

Our other vegan recipe for the day was a strawberry cake. Originally it was going to be a banana cake, but I found out that one of the boys was allergic to bananas. No problem. We substituted strawberries for the bananas and all was good.

Vegan Strawberry Cake

Preheat the oven to 375* F or 190* C.

Spray a 9×13 cake pan with cooking spray.

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup strawberry yogurt

1- 1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries

2 TBSP vegan butter

the equivalent of 2 eggs of vegan egg substitute

1 tsp vanilla

If using bananas, use 1 cup or 1 large mashed banana and 1 6-oz container of banana custard yogurt.

Just like any cake, mix all the dry ingredients together and set aside. Mix all the wet ingredients together and then carefully and slowly start incorporating the dry ingredients and mix together with a mixer. Mix until just blended. Do not over mix. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for about 30 minutes, or until it is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle. When the cake is completely cooled, add the frosting and top with extra sliced strawberries if you like.

Powdered Sugar Frosting

1-1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 TBSP vegan milk

2 TBSP melted vegan butter

Mix everything together until it is smooth and creamy. Then frost your cake once it is completely cooled.

You don’t have to be vegan to enjoy these desserts. they are good for everyone. So many people are afraid of vegan cooking, but it really is not difficult at all. You just have to know what to substitute.

Life is short. Make sure you make time to enjoy the desserts along the way. Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

Some more brightly colored flowers from Belize to help brighten your day.

We have been home from Belize for a little over a week now. We hit the ground running almost as soon as we got off the plane. I have been busy sharing the Belizian life with you, but all along, I was still busy cooking at home again too.

We came home on Saturday night. Sunday morning, I still did the church coffee cart, much to everyone’s surprise. I did not bake anything, but instead brought home some Belizian treats to share with everyone. Before going to the airport, we asked our cab driver to give us a little tour of Belize City and told him our plan. He took us to a small bakery that he knew. We brought back some cookies and some cinnamon bread. Again, it was a win/win. We helped a small local business and we shared something different and unique with the church.

We also prepared a big Super Bowl spread for our church just a couple of days ago for Super Bowl Sunday. I made some big fruit platters and Larry was in charge of making breakfast burritos for the congregation. I had to leave and set everything up while he stayed home and made the burritos, which he later brought with him. Larry did not want to make as many as I had asked him too, thinking, there would be a lot left, though reluctantly, he did. He was WRONG! They all disappeared immediately. He really needs to start listening to me more often. When it comes to food, I think I know what I am talking about. 🙂

I also taught cooking classes for all three of my boys, in two different sessions, and I have another session again today. Noah made some chicken Caccitore with garlic bread.

Asher and Micah decided they wanted to try some vegan cooking, and we made some vegan desserts. We did a vegan strawberry cake and some vegan chocolate pudding (I will provide the recipes later). I think they liked it based on their smiles. 🙂

And of course, we have had to eat as well. Again, I will post the recipes at a later time. And then yesterday, being Valentine’s Day, I made something special as well. I made a Tuscan steak with crab cakes. You have seen all these before, just maybe not all put together like this, so I will not give you the recipes again, since you should have them, especially if you have been following me for awhile. 🙂

The components.

And the finished product.

So just because I have not been posting my own cooking and dishes for this last week does not mean I have been out of the kitchen. As you can see, I still have been very busy, cooking up a storm. 🙂

Stay safe and stay well Everyone. Happy belated Valentine’s Day. Til next time.

Belize not only has a wide array of beautiful and brightly colored flowers, but there is also a wide array of beautiful brightly colored tropical plants as well.

These fronds were HUGE!

Never loose you curiosity or your sense of awe. You will be amazed at the beauty that is all around if only you allow yourself to see it.

Just a little something bright and orange to help brighten your day.

It was a non-diving day, not by choice, but because Mother Nature was having a little fit over the seas. The winds and currents were not safe to go out, so the dive shop cancelled all the diving for the day. At first I was disappointed, but what can you do, right?! But our disappointment quickly turned around and we had a great, fun day in town. We did a local food tour that showcased local restaurants and foods. It was call the Belize Food Tour. We had a blast.

The Belize Food Tour is a walking tour that began at the central park in town. Melva was our tour guide. She was definitely the hostess with the mostest. She had the perfect personality for this tour. We went to seven different places that were small, local, family owned businesses that we might have over looked otherwise. Most of these places were so small that our group barely fit inside. They may have been small in size, but they were huge in great foods and hospitality. This is a win/win for everyone. It exposed people to small little local businesses that we might have missed AND it helps and supports the local businesses. Our group was Melva, Larry and I and 8 other people. We got to sample food at all our stops. Melva warned us from the beginning to pace ourselves because we would be sampling A LOT of really good food.

Let’s get this tour started.

1. Our first stop was the Fry Jack House. A fry jack is similar to a sopapilla, and can be either sweet or savory. They let us try both versions, along with something cool and refreshing to drink. They were delicious.

The menu is simple, but everything is simply delicious.

Melva told Roberta, the momma and main cheffe, that I was a chef and the ladies let me go into the kitchen for a behind-the-scenes look at how they work their magic. Roberta has this down pat. I think she may have done this a time or two.

Once she flattens the dough, she fries it in hot vegetable oil at about 350* F for just a couple of minutes. Once the fry jack has puffed up and is ready, she drained off all the excess oil for a couple of minutes. Then she passed it on to the rest of the crew, who were her daughter and daughter-in-law, and they added the toppings.

This was every bit as good as it looks too. Larry and I enjoyed them so much we went back two more times before leaving the island.

2. The next stop was a tiny little shop where we sampled some sweet corn tamales.

Once again, we were in for a tasty treat.

3. Our third stop was the oldest ice cream shop on the island, Manelly’s. Manelly’s has been in business, serving homemade ice creams and fun since 1985.

It was a hot and sunny day and we were out walking around in the heat, so it was very cool and refreshing when we stopped in for some delicious homemade ice cream. We could either have ice cream or one of their ice cream sticks.

I chose blueberry ice cream, which was perfect.

Larry opted for a strawberry cheesecake ice cream stick.

There was even a little merry-go-round for the kids as they enjoyed their ice creams.

4. Number four on the list was Briana’s, where we had some local rice, beans and chicken. They even offered a cold local brew or lime water to help wet our whistles. Larry took the beer and I chose the cool and refreshing lime water.

Once again, our group took up most of the little restaurant.

The people in our group were very nice and we all had a fun, delicious time together.

And this is supposed to be the “sample plate”. We were already getting full. Most of us did not heed Melva’s sound advice about pacing ourselves until it was to late. But we all still kept eating everything, as full as we were. 🙂

5. Number five on the list was Saul’s Cigars and Coffee Cafe. We had some decadently delicious rum creams here. Walking around and taking a little break from the foods gave our tummies a chance to settle down a bit after all the fantastic food. Saul’s made us feel like we were in the Mayan temples.

Saul had us try three different varieties of their specialty rum creams. All were very good. We were all thinking up new and creative ways of how we would use them too.

Saul Sr. and Saul Jr. by the big coffee roaster.

Larry and I are not smokers, but for those who are, these cigars are all top quality.

Are you full yet? We’re not done. We still have two more stops to go.

6. Number six on the list was El Fogon’s, which means the fire hearth. A lot of the local cooking is done on these big fire hearths. It is the traditional way of cooking on the island.

El fogon, the fire hearth.

We started off with a round of rum punches, followed by some local appetizers. We had two different appetizers, but of course, I forgot to take pictures of them. We sampled the chicken salbutes and the salpicon. Both were very good.

Larry and I enjoyed El Fogon’s so much that we went back again for our last dinner on the island. These salpicons were one of the appetizers we tried while on our food tour.

We shared the salpicon, ceviche and a fish platter. Once again, everything was fabulous.

7. And our tour comes to an end. Our last stop was the Belize Chocolate Company. All the chocolates are locally made on the mainland and then brought over daily to San Pedro. We ended our fabulous food tour on a very sweet note indeed. None of us ate dinner this day. This was definitely a one-and-done type of day for foods, at least for us.

Coffee and chocolate are some of the main crops and exports of Belize.

Cacao beans in the table.

Larry ended his tour with a brownie and I ended mine with a lime chocolate truffle. Delicioso!

Our fabulous leader and guide, Melva, and the rest of our fun group. I highly recommend taking the Belize Food Tour to everyone https://www.facebook.com/belizefoodtours/ . We got to see and sample so many different local foods that we may have walked right on past otherwise and we learned a lot about the Belizian history as well. Melva was perfect. She was so much fun and really made our experience a memory to treasure. It also helped that our group was so much fun as well. I enjoyed this tour so much, I am seriously trying to figure out how to start doing this on my own, here at home. It works best as a walking tour, but we are very spread out here, so I have to really put on my thinking cap to figure out how I can do this and make it work.

And thus concludes not only our fabulous Belize Food Tour, but also all of our foods of Belize for this trip. I hope you enjoyed all the fabulous foods of Belize as much as we did. Til next time. 🙂

It was The Pirate’s meal for us. ARRRRR!!!! After driving up to Secret Beach and the northern part of the island, we stayed up north for dinner before driving back south to where we were staying. We stopped in at the Pirate’s Bar and Grill. Once the sun started to set, the place was hopping. We arrived at the in between times, but fortunately, that got us a great seat at the bar, so we could see all the action once it started.

While we were waiting for our meal, we met some American ex-pats who now call Belize home. They were a lot of fun. We told them we had been looking for crocodiles, and they said there is one that camps out in the back of the restaurant. But again, we did not see him. Though we did not see any crocodiles, again, we did see a distant cousin of theirs who was also there for a good meal.

We started off with a Pirate’s Rum. With drinks like this one, it is no wonder that Captain Jack Sparrow had to ask “why is the rum always gone?” It was loaded with rum and packed quite a punch. One was more than enough, but it was very good indeed.

When our meal arrived, we shared it once again. We love doing this, if we can agree on what to eat, which isn’t always the case. We shared another delicious version of Belizian ceviche as well as some fish with coconut rice and plantains.

With full tummies and being full of rum, we decided to hang out in the hammocks for a bit. As with all the other restaurants we dined at, Pirates‘ had delicious food and was full of fun personality and charm.

Thank you for yet another deliciously fun time. We will most probably see you again the next time we are in Belize. Save some rum for us. 🙂

Here are some beautiful, fragrant while plumerias sitting up high in the tree, getting as much sunshine as they can.

We were in Belize for a week, and we had to eat during the week. As always, we enjoyed all of our culinary finds. We did not have a single bad meal at all. We enjoyed so much good food and a wide variety of foods too. Everything we ate was so fabulous.

One such culinary treasure was the Garifuna Restaurant. Garifuna specializes in traditional West Caribbean/African food. The Garifuna are the Afro-Caribbean people who originated with the arrival of West African slaves who washed ashore on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent around 1635 while likely on their way to New World mines and plantations.  Garifuna communities along the Caribbean Sea live mostly in coastal towns and villages in the Central American countries of Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. The West African transplants were either ship-wrecked or escaped from the Caribbean islands of Barbados, St. Lucia and Grenada, depending on the source.  They intermarried with local populations of Arawaks and Carib Indians (Caribs), immigrants from South America, to become known as Garifunas or Black Caribs.

Originally we stopped for lunch, but decided it was more of a dinner place for us, so we went back again later that evening. So glad we did too. As with all the other places we visited, it was full of personality and charm with lots of delicious food.

This is the little hut we dined in. I call it the turtle hut. We dined on both seafood and ceviche, just like the sign says to do.

We went back later in the evening with a much bigger appetite so we could fully appreciate the meal. Once again though, we chose to share a meal and we still walked out very full and very satisfied. We made a meal of ceviche and hudut, a traditional seafood and conch stew.

Our waiter was very attentive, polite and friendly. He took very good care of us. He was dressed in traditional Garifuna attire.

The hudut came with cassava bread, mashed plantains and coconut rice.

We tried ceviche at a number of different restaurants. They were all very good and all very different. I think this was one of my favorites. It was very limey and I love limes.

Be adventurous wherever you are, be it at home or on vacation. Life is short. Do it all and experience as much as you can. That’s what makes life fun and interesting.