I decided to embrace my French heritage and prepare the dish Ratatouille. This is a comfort dish and in a time like this we can all use a little bit of comfort right now. I added extra cheese because as you might know I am a HUGE cheese gal. I hope when you recreate this dish you will find the same comfort and peace that I did while tasting it! 

Ingredients: 
- 4 large tomatoes      - 2 medium eggplant
- 2 yellow zucchini     - 2 green squash

Sauce:
- 1 large sweet onion diced            - 1 tsp of pepper
- 1 large red bell pepper diced       - 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp minced garlic                     - 1 1/2 crushed tomatoes
- 2 tbsp olive oil                               - 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp paprika                                   - 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 3/4 cup heavy cream

Topping:
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups of Parmesan cheese  

Instructions:
1. Preheat a large frying pan over medium heat and add olive oil. Once heated add diced pepper and onion. Saute the mixture for 4-5 minutes then add in the garlic.
2. Season the mixture with pepper, paprika and salt. Then add crushed tomatoes, sugar and balsamic vinegar. Cook the sauce over medium heat and let simmer for 5 minutes. Then stir in the cream and once fully combined remove from heat.
3. Preheat the oven to 375`F. Then prepare the vegetables. Cut all of the vegetables the same thickness about 1/8th of an inch. Create small stacks of the vegetables alternating the 4 kinds. The small stacks will help for assembly.
4. Spread 3/4 of the sauce into the bottom of a large oval casserole dish. Arrange the vegetable stacks in a ring around the edge and packing them tightly. Spoon the remaining sauce in between the vegetables and around the edges of the casserole dish.  
5. Next comes the topping. Use a pastry brush to gently brush the olive oil over the vegetables.
6. Cover the dish with tin foil and place into the oven. Bake for 50 minutes then remove the tin foil and add the Parmesan cheese and put it back into the oven for 10 minutes uncovered.
​7. Allow the dish to cool for 15-20 minutes before serving, enjoy! 

I found a lot of bananas in the house so I decided to try and make a banana bread. It turned out really good and whoever I shared it with said it is the best they've ever had, so I figured I would share my recipe with you all!
​
Bread:
- 1/3 cup of softened butter   - 1/4 cup of milk
- 1 cup granulated sugar         - 2 large eggs
- 6 ripe bananas (mashed)     - 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp of baking powder        - 1/2 tsp of baking soda
- 1 tablespoon of cinnamon    - 1/2 tsp salt
              * 1-2 cups of chocolate chips*
Topping:
- 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
- 1 tsp of cinnamon

​Instructions: Preheat oven to 350'F
1. In a large bowl combine butter, milk, & sugar
2. Add eggs and mashed bananas until combined
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon & salt
4. Pour dry mix slowly into wet mix and combine
5. Add chocolate chips to mixture
6. Pour mixture into a loaf pan
7. In a small bowl combine the sugar and cinnamon topping
8. Top the loaf with the sugar and cinnamon mix
​10. Bake for 60 min and enjoy!

​I decided to get creative and made some homemade Oreo Cheesecake Cookies! We are a family that loves Oreo cookies and these came out delicious! This recipe makes about 26 cookies!

What you will need: 
- 8oz cream cheese       - 1 stick of soft butter
- 1 1/2 cups of sugar       - 2 cups of chocolate chips
- 20 Oreo cookies          - 2 cups of flour
​crushed up (big pieces)

Instructions: Preheat oven to 350'F
1.  In a large bowl take the cream cheese, butter, and sugar and beat until smooth.
2. Slowly add in the flour. Once that is added in then take the Oreo cookie pieces and chocolate chips and fold those into the mixture. 
3. Place the mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes. 
4. Take the dough out and using a spoon scoop out the dough into small balls onto a cookie sheet. Then use the spoon to flatten them out a little. 
5. Bake for about 14-16 minutes and enjoy!