We love Latin food in my home and one of our favorite dishes is Guacamole. My husband created his own recipe based on one from one of your favorite eating spots. Enjoy it with the Plantain chip recipe we added in this post too.

Costa Rican (spicy) Guacamole

1 -2 large ripe Florida/Caribbean avocado, peeled, halved, and pitted
OR
4-5 California avocados, peeled, halved, and pitted
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/3 cup fresh diced tomatoes
3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
2-3 large serrano chilies seeded, chopped
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:

Mash Avocados until smooth. Add remaining ingredients, mix and chill or eat right away.

Plantain chips:

2 large green plantains (peeled)
vegetable oil
salt to taste

Mojo (garlic sauce):

1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup onion (finely chopped)
6 garlic gloves (minced)
1/2 cup lemon juice

Directions

Peel plantains, slice into 1/4″ chips and place in a bowl. In a frying pan or deep fryer, pour 1/4 inch of expeller pressed oil and heat at medium-high. Add enough chips at a time to leave a little space between them. When approaching golden brown in color, remove and place in bowl with double lining of paper towels. Lightly sprinkle with sea salt to taste.

Using a 2-quart bowl add onion, garlic, and lemon juice.. Heat olive oil over medium-high until frying hot (about 2 minutes), when hot, pour olive oil into bowl. Be certain to pour with one hand while holding a spatter screen between you and the bowl with the other. Whisk ingredients, then pour into single bowl or dipping cups. Some prefer to spoon the mojo over the chips while others prefer to dip. 6-10 chips per serving.

One bar that I overlooked in markets that I discovered has a wonderful taste is the  Organic Food Bar ™.  A simple name for a bar that is just tasty and full of good ingredients.

The Organic Food Bar comes in a variety of flavors and there are even bars for kids. My favorites were the Cranberry Bar and the  Active Greens ™. I must admit however, that, with the exception of the Fiber Chocolate Delight which was a little too chewy and like biting into old taffy, each flavor I tried was just good to me.

When I received the bars, I read the literature that they sent. I was amazed at what I learned about the bars. The Organic Food Bar is made fresh daily, is certified organic and kosher and a portion of the sales from the Organic Food Bar Kid’s bar goes to schools across America. Since I am a big proponent of having a focus, I found the focus of the Organic Food Bar simple yet profound. Their focus is on three simple aspects: “our people, our product, and our customers”.

I think that a focus like that is definitely the way to go.

The ingredients in the Organic Food Bar™ scream “HEALTHY!” and you will find many health benefits from consuming these tasty treats. Agave nectar, flax, broccoli, spirulina, wheat and barley grass are just a few of the organic ingredient in the bars. Because of the cold processing of the Organic Bar, the bars are full of enzymes. Your body needs enzymes for digestions and utilization of nutrients at the cellular level. And you can forget about bad carbs because with the Organic Food Bar you get only the good stuff. With the Organic Food Bar you are getting food that is live and that is what your body needs to really thrive. Cooked foods are just not good to eat on a regular basis.

I have to say that my body felt better after just two days of eating two of these bars per day and drinking plenty of water with them. They are so nutritious, I made them my meal for breakfast and dinner. Can I tell you I have not regretted it? It is a tasty way to supplement or replace a meal. I had energy, was full, and loved what I was eating.

Aside from the Original Bar which has organic honey in them, you will find that the majority of the bars are vegan friendly; and for those with allergies to soy, peanuts, and gluten, the Organic Food Bars are free of those irritating ingredients.

It’s just good food that is good for you, packaged in a delicious bar.

You can find these bars at the following stores: Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Wild Oats (now Whole Foods), Kroger, FredMeyer, King Soopers, The Vitamin Shoppe, Henry’s Marketplace, Vitamin Cottage Natural Grocerys, Mother’s Market & Kitchen, and Super Supplements (Seattle). You will also find them in 24 other countries

I was surfing vegan blogs one day and ran across The Urban Housewife’s blog. She was talking about a vegan cheese called Teese (only in mozzarella now) that actually melted (another issue I have with many vegan options for cheese). Reading her post led me to the Teese site and I was pleasantly surprised that it was made by the Chicago Soy Dairy. You see one of my favorite vegan ice creams, Temptations, is made by this company. After seeing that, I just had to get my hands on some. So I emailed the contact and asked for a coupon to try some and told him about Vegan Family Living. He emailed back asking for my address so that he could send me a sample.

I received the Teese about two days later and cooked with the next day. My first dish made with the Teese was  quick cream style corn. I took some nutritional yeast, Teese, a touch of soy milk, and Earth Balance butter and mixed it in with the corn. I stired it for about 3 to 5 minutes and then let it simmer on low for about 5 more minutes. Was it good? Yes it was and all the cheese really did melt and it was pretty good in the dish too.

From there I made potato dishes, and other creamy stuff just to test and see if it really did the job. It is great cut up on salads too.

It comes in a round block and is a little whiter than the dairy mozzarella cheese. It is easy to cut and chop into small pieces and really, like I said it does melt.

My husband and I both agree that by itself it is not the best but like many other vegan cheeses it will do. However for cooking it is really great, although it does melt more than the normal cheese. I also did a freezer test and the took it out the next day to see what it was like. It thawed perfectly and have even more of a sticky consistency like mozzarella does.

I see that the Chicago Soy Dairy is coming out with a cheddar version of Teese. I for one can’t wait.

Now when I was a little girl, I loved rice krispy treats. But I can’t eat them now because of the marshmallows. For the last few years I have been wondering if anyone would make a marshmallow treat that I could eat. And then I found Brown Rice Marshmallow Treats from Glennys and I was in heaven.

Talk about yummy!

These organic marshmallow treats are made with whole grain brown rice and not only vegan but gluten free as well. That is huge plus all the way around. And for those of you who are looking for kosher these treats are Certified OU Kosher Parve and if you want to know more about kosher listen to the Vegan Family Living Podcast where we did an interview with Sarah Zeldman who discusses kosher foods.

Glenny’s marshmallow treats come in Vanilla, Peanut Caramel, and Chocolate. That means that there is a flavor for everyone in the family.

I am a skeptic and it is hard to sell me on an item. I tend to approach things with a “show me” attitude and I ask a million and one questions.

When I first tried the dish detergent I was thrilled to see that it was really all natural. I read the directions because I think those are important. I noticed it said that for very greasy items you may need to add some more.

I ignore that and used the suggested amount.

As I am washing dishes I am pleased with the results. I always wash cups and flatware first because that is what touches your mouth and then I wash everything else. Once I got the pots I noticed a greasy film and I started getting a little upset because they weren’t coming clean.

Then I remembered…I had to use more!

So I did and it worked.

I have to admit I have a little issue with the fact that I had to use more. So I got smart and added a little lemon juice and it cut the grease well. The good thing is that they have a lemon liquid dish detergent. So maybe that one cuts the grease a little better.

So is it a good buy at $7.49. Well considering that it is very concentrated, I think it is. With lavender being a natural disinfectant I would definitely buy it again.

To find out more about the Watkins All Natural line visit my friend. Melody’s site . Melody is The Watkins Lady with a lot of style.