Oatmeal Banana Breakfast

Breakfast for one.

You will need:

1 cup of milk

1/2 cup of oatmeal

1 banana

1 teaspoon of brown sugar (Optional)

Steps:

1. Get a breakfast bowl.

2. Add the Oatmeal and sugar(sugar is optional, because banana will be sweet enough)

3. Pour milk.

4. Open the banana and get a knife.

5. Slice the banana into the bowl and with a spoon smash them a bit.

5. It should look like this.

Enjoy!!

Love, Mari.

Cheesy Polenta

Ingredients

9 cups of water
Salt and pepper to taste
2 1/2 cups Yellow cornmeal or Polenta (I used Presto Pronta, bought in an Argentine store, Grazianos)
1 1/2 cups of any Cheese you like best (I added Yellow cheddar and swiss cheese)
1 1/2 cups of Milk
10 tablespoons of your favorite butter
1/3 cup of Parsley, chopped
More cheese and/or Parmesan cheese for topping, optional.

 Instructions

Bring 9 cups of water to a Boil. Then, Gradually add the 2 1/2 cups of Italian Polenta

Add salt. Gradually whisk Polenta. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring often, until polenta is tender. Be very careful not to burn yourself.

Remove pot from heat. Add in the cheese, milk, butter and parsley.

Blend well, until cheese and butter have thoroughly melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer to a serving dish.

Top it with more cheese.

Enjoy! add parmesan cheese if desired.

Love, Mari

Spring Pasta Salad

Ingredients
1/2 lb.(or about 1 1/2 cups) Mini Farfalle
1 cup of Cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
15-20 Asparagus, cooked and chopped in thirds(I used Belle Solé)
3-5 Bay leaves, chopped
Feta cheese, to taste.
Salt and pepper to taste
2-3 handfuls of Baby spinach, washed and chopped
1/2 a of a lemon juice
Olive oil to desire

Instructions

First, add pasta in boiling water with some salt, lower heat from high to medium, let it simmer for about 10 minutes or until pasta is tender to desire. 

Grab asparagus.

Place Asparagus in a pot with water, bring water to a boil and then remove from heat, cover and let it sit for about 5 minutes. This is so the Asparagus isn't so spicy, but if you like them the way they come then you can just skip this part of the process.

Meanwhile, chop the bay leaves.

Add to the tomatoes and sprinkle some salt.

Add the Asparagus sliced in thirds.

Wash the baby spinach.

Chop and add it to dish along with the drained pasta.

Add olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Then mix well. Lastly, sprinkle Feta cheese.

Enjoy!

Love, Mari.

Sesame Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

3/4 softened butter or margarine

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups quick or old-fashioned oats

Sixlets chocolate (optional, as much as you want)

about 1/4 cup of sesame seeds

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350 Degrees Fahrenheit.

Have everything ready.

Combine butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, milk, egg and vanilla.

Beat until light and fluffy.

Add in the Flour, Cinnamon, Baking soda and salt like so.

Mix.

Until well blended.

Add the oats

Fold them in.

Then the sesame seeds.

and for last the sixlets.

Stir in.

Then on a non-stick cookie sheet drop Tablespoonfuls.

Bake 12-15 minutes. Remove from baking sheet. As they cool they will harden.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Enjoy 1!

or 2..

Maybe 3..

They're addicting so eat as many as you'd like. :)

Love, Mari

Yellow Split Peas Puree

Ingredients

14 oz (397g) of Yellow split peas

4 cups of chicken broth or 3 cups of water + 1 cube of chicken bouillon

1/3 cup of Olive Oil

2 and a half lemons (1/2 cup of lemon juice)

1 Onion, chopped

1 Garlic glove, chopped

Parsley and Thyme to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Wash Peas throughly with plenty of water, then rinse well. Set aside.

In a saucepan add 3 cups of water and the cube on medium-high heat.

mix once in a while so cube wont stick to the bottom of the pan

cover, keep mixing every so often

Bring to a boil

then set a side once the cube has dissolved

Now, in a large saucepan or casserole, heat 3 Tablespoons of the olive oil on medium heat.

chop onion

add to oil

add thyme

chop garlic

chop parsley

Add along with salt and pepper

Cook and mix until onions are transparent

Add peas

mix

add warm chicken broth

mix

add the remaining oil

mix

turn heat to medium high

cover to cook for 45 minutes and mix every 5 minutes, just to make sure that peas don't burn or stick to bottom of pan.

meanwhile, cut 2 lemons in half

juice them, make sure seeds don't get in the juice

add half a cup of lemon juice to the peas

keep cooking until 45 minutes end.

then, add cooked peas into a food processor or blender

If mixture is too solid add the half of lemon, juiced and the last cup of water

After mixture has blended well, serve on a bowl, you should be left with about 6 cups of puree.

Enjoy!!

Love, Mari