Simple Quarantine Recipes I've Made

I'm in the middle of week two at my apartment in Madison. I decided to come back about a week and a half ago just for a change of pace and to get some things from my apartment, but now I'm kind of loving this test run of living alone and creating a routine for myself, by myself. One of my goals for 2020 was to take a little bit more charge of my own life and make more decisions for myself! Even though this is small, it's been kind of fun to make simple recipes for myself and get creative. Here are some things I've made during quarantine!

First of all, grilled cheese is SO underrated. My mom whipped me up this simple grilled cheese a few weeks ago using bocconcini balls, sliced tomato, sea salt and pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil on the pan with fresh bread. She's fancy like that, but literally, any random cheese in your fridge or bread in your house will make a delicious grilled cheese (obviously).

Let's get into the recipes!

Shakshuka

So, Elizabeth was here with me last week (lol, so I've actually only been alone for like four days now) and we wanted to make brunch together one morning. We had a few cans of tomatoes in our cabinets, so she whipped up a simple and delicious shakshuka for us!! It's soooo easy, healthy, and really delicious. She recently started a food instagram (a new quarantine hobby!) and shared the recipe here. You really only need tomatoes, eggs, an onion, and spices!

A similar recipe I want to try: this 3-ingredient frittata

Banana Oat Bars

I shared this on my Instagram story a couple of weeks ago, but I made simple, healthy breakfast bars that I found on Instagram here! They're so easy to make and don't require any obscure healthy ingredients... you probably have everything at home already! They are delish and I loved having them for breakfast or a little sweet snack in the afternoon. I think I'm going to make them again!

Bowls

Making a bowl of random stuff is such a go-to for me! Mexican bowls, breakfast hash bowls, quinoa bowls... whatever vibe you are in the mood for, you probably already have all of the ingredients to make it!

My favorite combos are as follows (but love all of these ideas in this article):

Mexican bowl
base: romaine + rice + cubed sweet potatoes + black beans + (meat if you have/want it)
toppings: salsa, hot sauce, avocado, cilantro, lime

Mediterranean bowl
base: quinoa + sauteed mushrooms + tomatoes + steamed spinach
toppings: lemon juice, feta, olives, cucumber

Breakfast Hash
base: diced sweet potato + chopped onions + chopped tomatoes + sauteed kale
toppings: fried eggs, sriracha, salsa verde

Chickpea Blondies

I made these on Monday and they turned out so well!!! The ingredients are so simple, you probably have all of them in your pantry. I was inspired to make these when I found a random can of chickpeas in my cabinet. The chickpeas make the consistency really fudgy and more brownie-like. Highly recommend this simple recipe!

This recipe for peanut butter chickpea muffins looks so simple and delicious-- might be next on my to-bake list!

Lemon Orzo

I was looking through my cabinets last night and found a ton of orzo from when I made my favorite avgolemono soup a couple of months ago. I also always have lemons and parmesan cheese in my fridge, and peas in the freezer, so I might make this lemon orzo recipe with peas and parmesan for dinner one night soon!

...and last but not least!!!!!

Banana Scone Bread
It feels like everyone is talking about and baking banana bread right now! I woke up really early this morning and banana bread just sounded so good, so I spontaneously decided to make some! I posted a photo of it on my Instagram Story, so I had to update this post with the recipe.

WARNING: This turned out basically like a scone in loaf form. If you're in the mood for regular banana bread, this probably isn't the recipe for you. However, I looove scones and was pleasantly surprised that this turned out this way. I don't know why this happened (I am no baker!) but I actually love how it came out. Maybe it has something to do with the mini loaf pans I used?

This is the recipe I used, which I modified a bit. I used this one because it was the closest recipe I could find with the ingredients I had on hand!
My modifications: I didn't add any sugar -- no maple syrup or brown sugar at all. Instead, I used a whole single-serve container (this one -- my FAVE!) of coconut greek yogurt because it's sweeter. The batter was pretty thick when I was mixing it so I added a splash of almond milk, and I also added 1/2 cup chocolate chips!

Very simple, easy... tastes so good and is a little healthy-ish!

Have you made anything fun since being home?
xoxo