marmite et ponpon

Egg carton flowers – recycling crafts

Posted on April 6, 2016 | Leave a comment

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit” – Aristotle

Good habits lead to a successful life, the earlier you teach them to your children, the easier they are incorporated into daily life and routine.

One of those great habits is to teach your children about recycling, so that they grow up with an awareness about waste and an appreciation for preserving resources. Don’t we all want the world a better place for our children?

Arts and crafts help kids understand better what recycling is especially when being part of the process. So now before we throw anything my son asks me what can we do with it, he thinks i can turn absolutely anything into a piece of art. I like that 😉

Egg carton flowers is a cute recycling project, especially we are still in the mood of mothers day, Easter and spring. Follow this step by step tutorial to learn how we can transform a carton egg into a beautiful flower

Most of carton eggs come in white/beige colors which gives you more room for creativity to add colors and make it look like real flowers. Here (in doha) the cartons come in purple color. Not bad, it’s a beautiful fresh color too.

We attached a magnet behind to make it as a fridge magnet to attach nady’s drawings, as per his request. But you can simply add a green stem and make more of it for a beautiful vase.

The sky is the limit. You can use these flowers to decorate a frame picture, or make a greeting card, or simply a bouquet. It’s an awesome craft, won’t cost you anything but it will teach good habits to your kids and a love for arts.

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How to prank a 3 years old kid for april fool

Posted on April 1, 2016 | Leave a comment

kids love to laugh and have fun, they have an innate sense of humor and can differentiate what’s fun and what’s not. Some kids show interest for jokes telling even at early age.

Whether you are teaching your kids or encouraging their sense of humor, April fool is a good lesson to find the funny side of a dramatic situation, keeping in your mind the age of your child.

To give them an unforgettable April fool, keep it fun and add the surprise element. if they are too small (like my kid) don’t forget to treat them afterwards.

Nady is obsessed with kinder eggs surprise, he has a daily ritual, opening at least one egg to discover what’s inside. I decided to fool him with empty eggs surprise. I opened the side where there is usually the toy, took it out and glue it again. Then i joined the two parts as if they are intact.

I offered to him the pack of three. Here we go, watch these facial expressions!

And this one is just priceless!!!

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Spaghetti marinara

Posted on March 31, 2016 | 1 comment

Sometimes it is hard to find the right words to describe how tasty was a dish. In this case and particularly when talking about spaghetti marinara, one of my favorite dishes, all i can say it’s a kind of food where you like to close your eyes and create a mental image while you relish the deep flavors. It’s the dish that shouts “eat me”!

I am a pasta girl, i love all types of pastas and encourage the creativity for the sauces. A classic recipe is never enough for me, i always add my personal input and it comes most of the times bulls eye! This spaghetti marinara is not a conventional one, it has marmite et ponpon touch.

400g ground beef
1 big onion finely diced
6-8 garlic cloves sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp chili oil
500 ml tomato puree
1 tsp sugar
a handful celery coarsely chopped
a handful leek coarsely chopped
1 medium carrot shaved
1/2 cup white wine
salt to taste
parmesan or emmental cheese grated for garnish

Cook onion and garlic with olive oil and chili oil until fragrant. Add the beef and cook until it is browned. Pour the tomato puree, wine and sugar and cook for 10 minutes. Add celery, leek and carrots and simmer on a very low heat for an hour, until 3/4 of the liquid has evaporated.

It’s a nice technique to do the ragout, it enhances the flavors and gives it a deep and sharp taste. Anyways “ragout” means reviving the taste, can’t be better explained!

Meantime cook pasta as per pack instructions, ladle with the sauce and sprinkle with parmesan/emmental cheese and savor this must do version of marinara.

It’s not just a pleasure to the palate but to the eyes too. The colors were inviting me to practice my photography skills and the smell was telling me to hurry up and dig in!

If you like this post give it many likes and shares to spread the joy. Don’t forget to like marmite et ponpon facebook page and follow on twitter. More interesting posts are yet to come.

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Posted in main dish

Tagged cooking, food art, food blogger, food porn, how to do, italian food, jaymmy, lebanon, marinara, marinara with a twist, marmite et ponpon, qatar, recipe, spaghetti, spaghetti with beef, white wine

Smoked salmon and crab sandwich

Posted on March 29, 2016 | 1 comment

An utterly craveable sandwich, for a NO cook day, doesn’t require skills and the best part it’s ready in less than 10 mns. So if you feel like treating yourself effortlessly, enjoy this elegant sandwich.

To make 2 sandwiches you will need:

6 slices of bread (could be toasted)
150g thin slices smoked salmon
100g imitation crab meat, shredded
1 medium avocado pitted and mashed
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp capers
1 1/2 tbsp cream cheese
3-4 roman lettuce leaves

Start by spreading on the first layer of bread the mashed avocado and lemon, then a layer of the shredded crab. Cover with a second layer of bread, spread cream cheese, lay thin slices of smoked salmon, a layer of lettuce and sprinkle some capers. Top it with the third layer of bread and serve.

You can use toasted bread or simply sliced from the loaf. Personally i like it toasted, if you do then you need to let it cool before making the sandwich, if the bread is hot, it might change the taste of the ingredients.

If you like onion, you can add couple of rondelles, or maybe substitute lettuce with rocket leaves. It’s a versatile sandwich, you can add whatever you like to pair with crab and salmon.

I am sure only by looking at the pictures your mouth is already watering. Wait until you try it, you will fall for it.

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Posted in main dish

Tagged avocado, capers, crab, cream cheese, easy, fast, jaymmy, marmite et ponpon, recipe, sandwich, smoked salmon

Frogs Easter eggs – DIY

Posted on March 26, 2016 | 2 comments

This year is Joud’s first Easter. There was no way not to make for him exclusive eggs, cute just like him; frogs Easter eggs!

Start by coloring the hard boiled eggs with green color. If you have different shades of colors it will be perfect to make it more realistic, or simply leave some eggs in the dye for longer and shorter time to get different hues of green.

After the eggs are well dry, stick the frog’s cutout face, that you can download it if you click on frogs file.

To make it look realistic, put them on a glass tray with some pebbles, an artificial lily to look as if they are floating in a lake.

Aren’t cute and so real? i am in love with them and Joud is as well 🙂

He was so attracted to the colors, he even tasted them 🙂

Happy Easter to all المسيح قام حقاً قام

Wish you all happy holidays and lots of new beginnings and blessings and of course children. They make you look at the celebrations from a new perspective and give Easter a boost of joy.

If you like this post give it many likes and shares to spread the joy. Don’t forget to like marmite et ponpon facebook page and follow on twitter. More interesting posts are yet to come.