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Veggie spaghetti with shrimps in olives and tomato sauce

Posted on September 9, 2019 | Leave a comment

Oh to those Back to school mixed feelings! Speaking my mind, i don’t know who is being more anxious; me or my kids! I guess i am more nervous. Thinking of them how they will face school related issues (as new teachers, meeting new friends or missing old ones, fitting in, being away from me…..) sparks a upswing in inquietude for me. But thank God seeing them coping easily every year and being happy kids vanish all these exaggerated (only in my head) feelings of unease! Welcome to moms world!

Today after dropping off my 4 year old boy, i head directly to my kitchen to do what i mostly like to do. I wanted to keep my mind busy and stop it from creating scenarios until i pick him up. (Please read the message at the end of the post)

Joud loves spaghetti, shrimps and prefers red sauce than white. So let’s go for this veggie spaghetti with shrimps in red sauce!

When i saw this type of wholesome spaghetti, felt like i found a hidden gem. Made of 25% puree from real zucchini and spinach!

Cook as per pack instructions, drain and leave aside.

Cook 500g of shrimps, peel, devein and keep aside to prepare this easy and delicious sauce:

1 medium onion finely diced
1 garlic clove minced
1 tbs celery chopped
2 cups of tomato puree
2 tbsp olive oil
a handful black or green olive pitted
salt to taste

Cook onion, garlic and celery in the olive oil until fragrant and translucent

Add tomato puree and cook all together until it starts boiling then add the olive and shrimps to cook all together for 5 minutes.

Can’t wait to have my happy soul back to see if he will like this dish!

There was a message circulating that says:

Special request to all you kids returning to school; if you see someone who is struggling to make friends or being bullied because he/she doesn’t have many friends or because they are shy or not as pretty or not dressed in the most “in” cloths, PLEASE step up, say hi or at least smile at them in the hallway. You never know what that person might be facing outside school. Your kindness might just make a big difference in someone’s life!

PLEASE do ❤

If you like this post give it some likes and shares to spread the joy. Don’t forget to like marmite et ponpon facebook page and follow on twitter. More posts yet to come, stay tuned. Happy cooking!

Spanish rice and shrimps

Posted on September 24, 2018 | Leave a comment

This is my new lunchtime invention! I heart cooking with shrimps and pairing it with a side filling dish. Today the Spanish rice is the awesome amigo.

If you are fan of the Spanish flavors, i encourage you to give it a try. Vamos to this flavorful quick, easy and foolproof recipe. I am sure you will end up with a staple recipe in your cooking book. I got lots of compliments 🙂

To serve two big portions you will need:

400g cooked shrimps (oven baked or boiled) and deveined. Divided in 2x200g portions
1 cup rice
2 cups chicken broth
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp garlic salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion finely diced

How to prepare the rice?

Heat the olive oil and cook the onion until fragrant and translucent. Add the rice and pour the chicken broth. If you prefer vegetable broth go ahead, it will still be as delicious. Mix all and add the remaining ingredients, tomato paste, paprika and garlic salt. Put 200g of the shrimps and keep the other 200g to serve it along with the rice for a nice presentation. When it starts boiling, cover your pot with the lid and let it cook on a very slow flame about 20-25 minutes or until all the liquid is gone.

This rice is a basic one for more other inventions, next time i will try it with beans or chicken. I will keep you posted. Happy cooking 🙂

If you like this post give it some 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.

Lace doily Santa claus craft

Posted on December 16, 2017 | Leave a comment

8 days until Santa departs. Yeyyyyy!!!

Dear Santa, our lists are ready and sent. Don’t have high expectations on being good all year long (get real!) but we are counting on your generosity.

Like every year we craft our decoration, after the handprint and footprint keepsake we prepared first, here is our lace doily Santa garland. Very easy craft for tiny hands, and the outcome is so beautiful! Garlands are our favorite item in crafts, they add a festive mood to the house.

You will need:

white lace doily paper medium size
white/beige cardboard
red cardboard
wiggling eyes
red pompoms (small) or simply cut small circles out of the red cardboards
cotton balls
and a black marker to draw moustache and mouth

If you like this post give it some 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. Ho Ho Ho!

Handprints and footprints for Christmas keepsakes

Posted on December 14, 2017 | 5 comments

Before having kids, Christmas was that glamorous night full of festivities and gifts, delicious food and lots of booze, and back home for the family gathering.

Now, with my boys (nady 5 and joud 2) are here, Christmas is not just that night, it is 24 days and 24 nights to it. Beautiful decorations can’t be those expensive intact objects, they are keepsakes done with tiny hands and big love. Red or green are not just ordinary colors. Santa becomes mom’s best friend and chocolate can replace a meal . . . Yes i turn into an elf to be able to communicate with santa and change the letters (toys) many times!

Christmas is more than just this night or day, it’s the anticipation to it that makes you live the season beaming with excitement and joy. Against all odds, my Christmas is not a classic one, the star is not anymore on top of the tree, it fell from the summit to spark in their eyes and Jesus left his crib to be born in their heart. My Christmas is THEM!

Christmas Keepsakes, kids will love doing their footprint and handprint as christmas tree, snowman, santa and rudolph.

Very easy and fun project to keep for the life. We spent a joyful time together doing them. Wish you lots of laughters as much and more than we had. And let the magic of the season start!

If you like this post give it some 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. Ho Ho Ho!

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Posted in design, DIY, way to play

Tagged blog, blogger, christmas, christmas tree, colors, craft, creative kids, creativity, footprint, handmade, handprint, jaymmy, keepsake, kids activity, lebanon, marmite et ponpon, qatar, rudolph, santa, snowman, way to play

Spinach lasagna roll ups

Posted on October 11, 2017 | 1 comment

If you never tried these delicious lasagna roll ups, put this meal on top of your must make list! You will fall in love with it, as much as i did. The combination of flavors are soooo good you will be tempted to eat right out of the baking dish.

This irresistible meatless dish is worth a try. You will need to make it:

8 lasagna noodles, cooked as per box instructions

for the tomato sauce:

1 medium onion finely diced
1 tbsp olive oil
500 ml crushed tomato
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tbsp dried basil
salt to taste

Heat the olive oil over medium heat, add the onions and saute until translucent. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, garlic salt, dried basil and salt. Cover and allow the sauce to simmer for at least 20 minutes over low heat.

For the filling:

2 cups spinach, i used fresh but you can use thawed frozen too
1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded and 3/4 cup slices for garnish
1/2 cup emmental cheese shredded
1 egg
1 cup greek yogurt
salt to taste

to be all mixed in a bowl.

Once the noodles have cooled to touch, lay them down on a working surface, spread ¼ cup of the cheese filling evenly along length of the noodles. Roll the noodles to the opposite end. Pour 1 cup of tomato sauce into the bottom of a baking dish. Place the lasagna roll ups into the baking dish, seam side down. Add remaining tomato sauce on and place the mozzarella slices on top.

Loose cover with foil, make sure it doesn’t touch the cheese or it will stick. Bake for 30 minutes in preheated oven to 200ºC.

One great thing about making these roll up style instead of layered lasagna is that they don’t seem like too much of a splurge because they can help with portion control.

If you’ve tried this or any other recipe on the blog please let me know the result, I love hearing from you!

And if you like this post give it some 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.