Social distancing may just be the excuse you need to brush up on your cooking creativity. Chances are you purchased some variation of beans, rice, oatmeal, flour, and pasta, and your freezer is full of vegetables, fruit, and meat.
So how do you put all these things to good use? These pantry-friendly recipes give you options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and will help you create recipes your family will actually want to eat. Let’s enjoy this quarantine time while cooking some of these interesting recipes.
Popcorn Balls
- Pop your popcorn. Pour it out into a big bowl so you can get rid of the kernels and burned bits at the bottom. Popping the corn on the stove while microwaving the other ingredients cut your time down to a cool three minutes.
- Melt your butter in a large bowl in the microwave (took about 50 seconds). Add marshmallows, and microwave for two minutes, stirring after one. (three minutes!)
- Fold popcorn into mixture and form into balls (ok, this can take a few extra minutes, but it’s crazy fun, so who cares!)
Tip: grease your hands well before forming popcorn balls, and be sure to get in between those fingers!
Banana Oat Smoothie
- Add rolled oats to a blender and blend until the oats are the size of a fine crumb.
- Add the banana and milk and blend well.
- Pour in a glass and add nuts to garnish.
- Enjoy!
Chocolate hazelnut mug cake
-
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together ¾ cup (225 g) chocolate hazelnut spread and the eggs.
- Fold in the flour.
- Evenly distribute into two mugs.
- Microwave each mug for 2 minutes.
- Cool for 5 minutes.
- Frost with remaining chocolate hazelnut spread and serve warm.
- Enjoy!
Butter parmesan corn
- Preheat oven to 375ºF (190ºC).
- Coat each ear of corn in a thin layer of butter and roll in the parmesan cheese to coat.
- Place corn in a square baking dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Bake for 25 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Egg roll mozzarella sticks
- Slice the egg roll wrappers in half.
- Place a stick of string cheese on the edge of the egg roll wrapper, then fold the sides of the wrapper over the ends of the cheese.
- Wet the other edge of the wrapper with water, then roll it up tightly, pressing the edge to make sure it’s sealed.
- Repeat with the remaining wrappers and cheese.
- Heat oil in a pot.
- Fry the sticks until golden brown, then drain on a paper towel.
- Serve with marinara.
- Enjoy!
Chocolate avocado shake
- Add avocado, banana, and chocolate milk to blender and blend until smooth.
- Pour into a glass, and enjoy!
Mac and cheese
- In a large pot, pour the milk to boil.
- Add the pasta and stir constantly until the pasta is cooked, about 10 minutes.
- Turn off the heat, then add the cheddar. Stir until the cheese is melted and the pasta is evenly coated.
- Enjoy!
Breakfast cookies
- Preheat oven to 350˚F (180˚C).
- In a large mixing bowl combine the oats and banana and mash banana and mix until well incorporated.
- Add additional ingredients that you desire.
- Bake for 12 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Yummy pancakes
- Take banana, sugar, eggs and milk in a blener and blend it to smooth.
- In a bowl, take wheat flour(maida), pinch of baking soda and the mixture and mix it well.
- Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add a spoonful of batter and cook for 3-4 minutes, then flip and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes.
- Serve with maple syrup or honey.
- Enjoy!
Honey roasted carrots
- Preheat oven to 400ºF (200ºC).
- In a medium casserole dish, evenly coat the carrots in butter, honey, salt, and pepper.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Cookie and cream mousse
- Separate the cream from the chocolate sandwich cookies. Place the cookies in a plastic bag and the cream in a small bowl.
- Using a rolling pin, crush the cookies until they are finely ground.
- Microwave the cream from the chocolate sandwich cookies for 2 minutes.
- In a chilled medium bowl, beat the heavy cream using a hand mixer until thick and frothy.
- Add the cream from the cookies and the powdered sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form.
- Fold in the chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs, saving some as topping for later.
- Spoon into a piping bag or plastic bag with a piping tip. Pipe into serving bowls or glasses.
- Top with remaining chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs and half of a chocolate sandwich cookie, if desired.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Enjoy!
Peanut butter cookies
- Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC).
- In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, sugar, flour and egg.
- Scoop out a spoonful of dough and roll it into a ball. Place the cookie balls onto a nonstick baking sheet.
- For extra decoration and to make them cook more evenly, flatten the cookie balls by pressing a fork down on top of them, then press it down again at a 90º angle to make a criss-cross pattern.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the bottom of the cookies are golden brown.
- Remove from baking sheet and cool.
- Enjoy!
Cloud bread
- Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C).
- Separate the eggs into two bowls.
- Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites and whip into stiff peaks.
- Add the cream cheese or yogurt into the yolks and mix until combined.
- Fold half of the egg whites into the yolks until just combined. Add the rest and fold again until incorporated.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place six dollops of the mixture on the tray.
- Spread out the circles with a spatula to about ½ inch (1 cm) thick.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until golden.
- Allow to cool for at least 1 hour.
- Enjoy!
Chocolate walnut fudge
- In a mixing bowl, combine chocolate with sweetened condensed milk and melt in the microwave in 15-second increments.
- Once the chocolate is fully melted add in chopped walnuts and stir until combined.
- Pour chocolate mixture into a parchment paper-lined 8×8 inch (20×20 cm) baking tin.
- Chill for 2 hours or until the fudge is firm.
- Cut into bite-sized pieces.
- Enjoy!
Cookies and cream ice cream
- Separate cookies and cream filling into two different bowls.
- Pour the cookies into a plastic bag and smash with a rolling pin until they are crumbs.
- Combine crumbs and condensed milk in a bowl, mix together and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whip your heavy cream with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form.
- Fold the cookie mix into the whipped cream and transfer to a deep baking dish. Top with additional cookie crumbs and cream.
- Freeze for 4 hours.
- Enjoy!