Coconut Banana Macaroons

In México you can find some amazing coconut macaroons, which are of course loaded with sugar and sometimes milk. I thought to myself, how can I make this healthier? Solution: Add banana. I can't say that this is totally an original idea, as a while back a came across a recipe for 2 ingredient oatmeal cookies, which, as you may have guessed, contain oatmeal and bananas.
This recipe can be as simple as just mashing a banana and adding enough coconut to make a cookie-type dough, but I prefer to kick it up a notch and add a couple more health and flavor boosting ingredients.

Plus these little nuggets are also vegan \ gluten-free \ grain-free.

Coconut Banana Macaroons
1 medium banana, mashed
75 grams finely shredded, unsweetened coconut
1 tsp real maple syrup (or agave or honey)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp chia seed
1 tbsp coconut oil
pinch of sea salt

Pre-heat oven 400°. Grease cookie sheet (I used coconut oil). Combine ingredients thoroughly. This should have a consistency of cookie dough. If it is too runny, add more coconut. Too dry and crumbly, add a tiny bit of water. Make little balls and lightly press them onto your greased baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes (check after 10 minutes). The macaroons will be slightly golden.  Let cool and enjoy! Makes around 12 macaroons.

Vegetarian Ceviche

I love ceviche. Even as a child, when fish usually grossed me out, ceviche was always the exception. My mom would make it once in a while and hers was my favorite. Now in Puebla, I get cravings for ceviche every once in a while, but I just cannot find my moms original flavor. I've since learned that in the south of Mexico, mariscos (seafood) are prepared differently than in the north of Mexico (where both sides of my family hails from). For example a seafood cocktail in the south is a lot sweeter and has a lot of ketchup. Where a cocktail in the north has more lemon and cucumber. Honestly, I prefer the way seafood is prepared in the north.

Refreshing Guava Drink

 All around Mexico, at almost any restaurant you can order agua fresca, which literally translates to "fresh water". However, this "fresh water" actually contains fresh fruit. And one of my favorite agua fresca variations is made with guava. I just love guavas (guayabas in Spanish). The smell of guava is so fresh and invigorating, that they wake you right up.

Here in Mexico, you can buy guavas at almost any corner store, super market, or municipal market. Not to mention that they are also very economical, two pounds sets you back about $1.25 USD. In the U.S., when in season, they are a little pricier, but they are worth it! Fresh, uncooked guavas are  loaded with Vitamin C. They also contain Vitamin A, Folate, Potassium, Copper and Manganese and are a very good source of Dietary Fiber and Enzymes.¹

This recipe makes a gallon, which is officially about 16 servings, but I find it difficult to drink just 8 ounces. Of course we have to add sugar. At many economical kitchens, cocinas económicas, a type of low-price restaurant found all around Mexico, they serve up delicious drink. But unfortunately, you tend to get more sugar than fruit. Fortunately, you can control how much sugar you add. For those of you concerned with sugar, I did some digging around and found that 1 gallon of orange juice has almost two cups of sugar in it.² That made me feel so much better about my recipe.

Gelatina de Manzana

Porciones: 8 a 10

Mi bisabuela es la mejor cocinera. Cualquier cosa que hace, le sale delicioso. Creo que forzosamente tuvo que ser así por tantos hijos a los que tenía que darles de comer. De ella aprendí esta receta, una gelatina, con fruta fresca, sin colorantes, fácil y con pocos ingredientes. En cuanto lo saludable, la receta original ahora resulta ser un poco dulce para mi paladar (cuando eres niño/adolecente, no lo notas). Esta gelatina no queda super firme. Tendrás que servirla directo del refractario. Si quieres desmoldearla, añade un sobre más de grenetina.

Piñatas, un viaje de la jícama al pulparindo

Por Christina Cota y Marco V Rodríguez



Las costumbres y tradiciones de México tienen un poder asombroso. De pronto son algo que puede transportar al pasado y si uno pone suficiente atención, también nos pueden llevar al futuro. En apariencia, nada cambia, todo permanece quieto, estable, respetuoso e intocable. En verdad, todo se mueve muy muy despacio, tan despacio que parece que nada se mueve. En general, México me da esa impresión de solemne quietud o de extraña pasividad. Hay un dicho muy conocido en esta tierra que todo mundo dice entre veras y bromas: “en este pueblo no pasa nada”.

Cantona, Puebla

One day, while looking for interesting places for us to visit, in or nearby the city of Puebla, I came across a fascinating looking place named Cantona. As it turns out, Cantona was an important trading hub between Mexico City and Veracruz. Though what struck me most about Cantona, was its size. The surface area of Cantona is about 4.6 miles² (12 km²). To give you a better idea, it's about 2,240 football fields. Speaking about sports, Cantona also has 24 ball game courts that have been discovered (more than any other mesoamerican site).

Spelling Cards

Click on post to download PDF

Is a child that you know having trouble spelling and switching letters around?

I developed these spelling cards for my daughters, particularly so they can spell words with those pesky letters: p,q,b,d... On those letters, I added a small illustration reminding them of a word that begins with that letter. That way if they have to spell "door" they know that "dice and "door" begin with the same sound therefore, that letter is correct to use. For P, B, & D,  I used words that have the same beginning sound in both English and Spanish (baby/bebé, dice/dado, pizza/pizza).