black bean brownies

For sector specific training in the health field, my class made some health[ier] brownies & gave a charla (talk/informal presentation) about why they are better for you than regular brownies!

They taste very similar to normal brownies (I think they taste better), BUT the main ingredients in these brownies is BLACK BEANS.

Pretty legit, if I may say.

:

Ingredients

• 1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup white sugar [our class used panella -- less processed sugar]
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee (optional)
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (optional) 

1.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x8 square baking dish.

2.     Combine the black beans, eggs, oil, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla extract, sugar, and instant coffee in a blender; blend until smooth; pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top of the mixture [pour the chocolate chips on when the brownies are almost done baking].

3.     Bake in the preheated oven until the top is dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes.

a short glimpse into the beginning of my bridge year in ecuador.

(a short glimpse with a very long title)

http://vimeo.com/50474765

Next on my Ecuadorian adventure: I arrive in my new home of Puerto Quito!

a taxi driver.

Since getting robbed in Quito, I find myself a very paranoid person.

So, when my friend and I took a taxi together and, because it logistically worked better, dropped her off first, I was very proud of myself just for allowing myself to be alone in a taxi.

Very proud.

So, for me to, on top of just sitting in the car, to ask the cab driver: " ¿Usted le gusta vivir en Quito?" was a big deal [for me].

Because my spanish abilities are lacking I tend to (possibly foolishly) avoid talking with strangers.

From the first "Do you like living in Quito" -- probably in bad spanish grammar -- I talked with the cab driver the whole fifteen minutes from my friend's house to mine.

That was probably the first real, natural spanish conversation I have had since I've been here.

When I left the taxi, the driver told me "mucho gusto," which means "nice to meet you" and, uncharacteristically of taxi drivers in Quito, he waited for me to get inside my gate before driving away.

My spanish is coming along, slowly but surely. I can talk to more and more people without nerves and talk about more things. (My spanish is getting to a point where I still don't know a lot of words, but I know enough to talk around the word until the person I'm talk to can figure out what I'm talking about.. eventually..)

My Day In Photos (Quito):

Puerto Quito, Pichincha, Ecuador

This is what I will be doing for the next six months while I am in Ecuador:

Location: Puerto Quito [a small town -- it only has three stoplights -- in the rainforest of Ecuador]

Sector(s): health/education

Fellow's main responsibilites:

• Work in the subcentro with charlas to the waiting room as well as specialized events
• Help with hygiene, nutrition, reproductive health, and tropical disease with charlas in the community [charlas are lessons]
• Observe the working doctors
• (I will also be able to perform tasks in the health clinic that I'm trained to do as a CNA)

Structure: medium

Next on my Ecuadorian adventure: Quito

FALL TRAINING!

I decided to take a bridge year to learn things I can't possibly learn in a classroom. I want to learn about myself, other cultures and, ultimately, the world I feel that I am disconnected from.

So, I'm writing from Stanford University during Fall Training for my program Global Citizen Year.

For the first part of this adventure [aka FALL TRAINING], I am learning about leadership, storytelling, global diversity, mindfulness and MORE. I am learning from amazing people with amazing credentials.

I'm also meeting interesting, diverse, intelligent, and just plain awesome people that I am calling my peers.

(following the Stanford tradition of fountain hopping)

(got to tour Google!)

(my beautiful friend, Talia, with a Google bike)

(more beautiful friends -- Tsion, Fifi & Jojo)

I'll be keeping this blog up to date as I go on my bridge year adventure, so follow it/keep looking back! Also, check out [and follow] my Global Citizen Year website: globalcitizenyear.org/author/sydni-heron/.

One last note: Getting on the plane that took me to San Francisco was one of the scariest things I have ever done. I was sick to stomach with anxieties -- literally sick. 

But I BREATHED.

And I had faith that it would all work out.

And I didn't eat anything..

BUT I'M HERE, I'M HAPPY, AND I'M READY FOR THIS ADVENTURE.

follow this blog.

Next in my Ecuadorian adventure: I find out where (exactly) I'm going & what I'm doing in Ecuador