Living, Loving, Learning

11 Easy Meals to Cook while Working From Home

Hey Friends!

Welcome back to the blog. We’ve been on a 24-Hour lockdown for the last two weeks or so and I believe it’ll probably continue like this for awhile. In the beginning, I know we were all joking about trying not to finish our quarantine snacks but let’s be honest there’s only so much a snack can do. I’ve found myself eating twice as much since I’ve been working from home/on lockdown and with the help of my sister we’ve whipped up a few tasty meals.

Today, I simply want to share with you guys what I’ve been eating and hopefully it inspires you to whip up a few meals of your own. These meals are meant to be quick fixes in order for you to be efficient while working from home. We also tried our best to make them filling and nutritional (some at least). I’ve taken the opportunity to divide these meal recipes into Breakfast, Lunch/Dinner and Snack/Dessert to serve you better.

BREAKFAST

The most important meal of the day! Also, how you start your day sets the tone for its outcome.
These are all customary dishes that you can play around with.

Blueberry Pancakes

Who doesn’t love pancakes? Usually, this breakfast item would be reserved for the weekend. However, since we’re home 24/7 it’s the perfect opportunity for lots of pancakes.

Recipe

  • Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix (use any brand or make from scratch)
  • Frozen Blueberries (Fresh ones were EXPENSIVE! Wow)
  • Baking powder (extra fluffiness!)

If you’re using frozen blueberries, be sure to let them thaw before use. Mix the batter as you would then add blueberries and pour into a heated pan.

Avocado Toast w/ Egg

A millennial’s fave, how could I not? To be honest, this was my first time making avocado toast! I’ve usually seen them paired with egg so I decided on a boiled egg. By the way, is it still ‘toast’ if I used a bagel?

Recipe

  • Bagel of your choice (I used plain)
  • Avocado
  • Black Pepper
  • Hard boiled egg

In a small bowl, smash the avocado using a fork; once a creamy consistency is achieved, spread on toasted bagel. Boil an egg to your desired preference, peel and cut it into 4 slices. Place egg slices on bagel and sprinkle with black pepper. Enjoy!

Breakfast Wraps

This is an option you can definitely play around with; we settled on ham, eggs and cheese. I actually made this based on a TikTok video *lol*. Basically, everything was cooked in one pan without doing the most. First we prepared the omelet in the frying pan and before flipping it, placed the tortilla on it. After flipping (so the tortilla is now in the pan), place cheese and ham on the egg then fold in the sides of the tortilla. Continue heating in pan until desired crispiness!

Bakes/Fried Dumplings

Last in the breakfast category is a local fave! This can probably be used for a snack as well and involves fried dumplings, locally know as bakes. It can be paired with saltfish (header picture), cheese or corned beef.

Recipe

  • 4 Cups Flour
  • 1/2 Cup Sugar
  • 2 tbsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 cup milk
  • Oil for frying

Mix together your dry ingredients then add butter (make sure it’s cold). Once crumbly in texture add milk until it forms a dough. Pull apart pieces and roll into a ball, flattening them a little. Place in heated oil and fry evenly on both sides until golden brown.

P.S I got this recipe from CWABB and altered it until the batter was a good texture for us.

LUNCH

My favourite meal of the day, lol. I’m not usually a breakfast person (it really depends on my mood), but I’m all for lunch. In this section we focus on quick meals as well as having an opportunity for leftovers.
Funny enough, all these meals are pasta dishes. 😮

Lasagna

A cheesy meat-lovers dream. Snuck some spinach into it and paired with a green salad, so it wasn’t that unhealthy.

Recipe

  • Lasagna
  • Ground meat (I used chicken)
  • Prego / Tomato Sauce
  • Seasonings (onion, garlic, sweet peppers, black pepper, salt, Italian seasoning)
  • Mushrooms
  • Spinach
  • Cheese (Ricotta, Cottage, Mozzarella, Cheddar)

Cook ground meat while pasta is boiling. I added mushrooms, spinach and a little wine to the meat sauce. Combine all listed cheeses in a bowl with Italian seasoning and set aside. Once everything was done, the layers began with sauce, pasta, meat sauce, cheese, pasta then repeat.

Shrimp Ramen Noodles

One of my easiest and quickest things to do. This time I added some vegetable stock and more veggies to the mix. I only used half of the shrimp ramen seasoning packet. I think this one is easy for you guys to figure out just substitute water for stock.

Veggie Pesto Pasta w/ Meatballs

Here’s where we got a little creative seeing as we were craving something different. Normally, we’d simply have meat sauce and spaghetti but this time we switched it up. This was also my first time having pesto pasta and it was good!

Recipe

  • Ground Chicken
  • Seasonings (onion, garlic, sweet peppers, black pepper, salt, all-purpose seasoning)
  • Breadcrumbs
  • Grated parmesan cheese
  • Veggies (broccoli, cherry tomatoes)
  • Pesto Sauce packet
  • Choice of pasta (Linguine)
  • White wine*

Defrost ground chicken, season, add breadcrumbs and cheese; mix together then form into desired size. Place on baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes on 350. Roast broccoli and tomato on a baking sheet while meatballs are cooking. Boil pasta, strain and set aside. In a large pan, make sauce following directions on packet adding a bit of white wine. Add pasta, broccoli, tomatoes and mix evenly. Serve with meatballs on the top.

Pizza

Easy to do with a ready-made crust purchased from the supermarket.

Recipe

  • Ready-made pizza crust
  • Prego sauce
  • Pepperoni
  • Chicken
  • Cherry Tomato
  • Green & Red Sweet peppers
  • Onions
  • Cheese

Brush olive oil onto crust then top with sauce and complete with toppings of choice. Bake for 7-10 minutes at 400.

SNACK/DESSERT

Blueberry Muffins

Okay, so we just discovered blueberries *lol*. You can have these for breakfast or as a snack between meals.

Recipe

  • 1/2 cup softened butter
  • 1 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 cups blueberries, thawed if frozen
  • 3 tsp sugar to sprinkle on the top

Preheat oven at 400. Mix butter and sugar until light and soft. Add eggs one at a time then vanilla; sift in dry ingredients alternating with milk. Fold in blueberries. Line baking pan, fill compartments and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 30-35 mins at 375.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Who doesn’t love cookies? Especially a classic such as chocolate chip.

Recipe

  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsps vanilla extracts
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream together butter, white sugar and brown sugar; beat in eggs one at a time and then mix in vanilla extract. In separate bowl mix together flour, baking powder and salt then beat it in thirds into the batter. Fold in chocolate chips into cookie dough. Scoop balls of dough on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

Dalgona Coffee

Just a little something extra. Followed the new trend and enjoyed some whipped coffee.

Recipe

  • Instant Coffee
  • Sugar
  • Hot Water
  • Milk (used almond milk)

Whip equal amounts of coffee, sugar and hot water in a mixing bowl. Soon, it will become a light, fluffy texture. Scoop coffee mixture over a cold/warm glass of milk. We topped ours with powdered sugar and cinnamon.

What are some meals that you have prepared during this lockdown?

Will you be willing to try anything from the list above? Let me know in the comments below!

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11 responses to “11 Easy Meals to Cook while Working From Home”

  1. This list is so good. Make my mouth water. The funny thing is I’ve made every single thing on this list during the quarantine except lasagna. I’m definitely going to make it now. Going to use your quick recipe. Great post!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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