Cheese Cake in a Bowl

So i don't think cheese cake needs any introduction. However, we all know how unhealthy it can be so i decided i needed to continue on my diet and i came up with this to definitely satisfy that craving. The traditional cream cheese has so much of fat and calories. I added a link for you to check up on the facts of cream cheese.What is cream cheese?
I will admit the first time i heard about cheese cake i thought it was cheddar cheese made into a cake.. yuck! Thank God it was not that.

Ingredients
1/3 cup ricotta cheese (if you want more just double the recipe)
2 chopped strawberries
2 teaspoons agave syrup
1 crumble digestive biscuit

Method
1. layer the ricotta cheese
2. add chopped strawberries
3. pour agave syrup
4. sprinkle crumbled biscuit

Sweet and Spicy Popcorn

Sitting doing some school work at a very late night, I needed to eat something that will not be unhealthy for me. Searching through the cupboard i came  across some popcorn, but its usually so plain i decided to give my popcorn a twist. i am eating this right now.. :)

Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup popcorn kernels
1 tsp butter (melted)
1/4 cup organic maple syrup
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch chili powder

Method
1. in a heavy pot heat the oil and add popcorn kernels
2.remove popped kernels from pot and put into large bowl
3. add all remaining ingredients  to popped kernels and mix thoroughly
4. enjoy... yummy!

Banana Dippers

This is a guarantee pick me up snack. So my coworker caught me sleeping at me desk and she said that I needed something to keep me up. So this was all the ingredients we had around and she whipped this together for me. All i can say is yum. I am not sure if this can be considered a snack or something you should keep in your medicine cabinet. Just kidding!

Ingredients
1 banana cut into chunks
3 tablespoons peanut butter ( dip bananas on one side)
3 tablespoon granola or anything you want to top them with. ( dip peanut butter side in mix)

Mixed Fruit Chow

So I decided to take it down to the very basic. Any Trinidadian loves a good chow and for this reason i needed to include this. It is not only healthy it is delicious. You get vitamin C from all the fruits.

Ingredients
4 cups of any type of fruits and some veggies of your choice
6 large shadow beni leaves minced finely
2-3 garlic cloves crushed
Hot pepper to taste
Salt and black pepper
1 lime juice

                                                       

                                                             Cut all fruits into pieces

                                         
                                                     

                                Mix in  shadow beni, salt, black pepper, hot pepper, lime juice and garlic

Tell me what type or fruits and veggies you have tried.. enjoy :)

Agave Nectar

This is the agave plant. Can you imagine that any thing that is sweet like honey can come for this. It looks scary!

The agave nectar is just as sweet as honey, many persons including myself use the agave nectar in my tea and especially my baking.
Agave nectar (sometimes called agave syrup) is most often produced from the Blue Agaves that thrive in the volcanic soils of Southern Mexico. Agaves are large, spikey plants that resemble cactus or yuccas in both form and habitat, but they are actually succulents similar to the familiar Aloe Vera.
allaboutagave 

Tell me about any natural sweeteners that you know about

Mango Sorbet

So we all know that we have mango season year round. At some point you may over hear someone saying they have mangoes in their tree. So my coworker has a huge mango tree, so she brought my a bag of a combination of mangoes. I felt bad that i didn't want them to waste so after a long debate i decided to make MANGO SORBET!!!

Ingredients
3 ripe mangoes ( i made a small amount but you can double the recipe for more)
juice of 1 lemon
simple syrup
pinch of salt

Method
1. To make the simple syrup add 1/4 cup of honey/agave nectar/ organic maple syrup and 1/4 cup water in a saucepan and bring to boil.
2.  Cut mangoes and remove skin and place into a blender. Add salt  and lemon juice, blend for 2 minutes until smooth
3. Push the puree in a bowl thru a fine sieve
4. Add simple syrup and mix it in and refrigerate overnight 
5. Place mixture into ice cream freezer
6.Serve right away or freeze to be firmer.
7. Enjoy

Tell me what other flavour sorbets you want to see.

Organic Maple Syrup

Many may wonder what is this organic maple syrup i continuously speak about and use in most of my recipes. Everyone knows maple syrup, and chances are you have fond memories of pouring it liberally over pancakes or waffles or French toast. But organic maple syrup may be a new concept to you. How does it differ from syrup that’s conventionally produced, and does maple syrup really need to be organic.

Organic production of anything involves more than just non-use of herbicides or pesticides, though that’s a good start. Organic production also involves specific practices such as the use of only permitted cleaners to clean equipment and the coding of syrup by batch for quality control purposes.

http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/nutri/matter/2006-08.asp

Tamarind Ball

I cannot start to tell you how much i have always loved tamarind ball. Ever since I was a child it was a comfort treat for me. But I realized that they are filled with so much of sugar that I needed to make this much healthier so that way I can eat lots more :) So hear is my new trick to a much healthier version.

Ingredrients
2 lbs tamarind
1/2 cup finely minced beets
1/4 tsp garlic
1/4 shadow beni (cilantro )
2 tbsp flour( optional)
2 tbsp honey
1/3 cup sugar ( to roll tamarind ball in)

I know you are all thinking i am crazy to add beets... but try it. i swear you will be surprised