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Urbanista Girl

Recipes I’ve Made During Shelter in Place

Food· Lifestyle

17 Apr

what to cook while in quaranteen

This is somewhat of a follow up for my semi-grim, semi-uplifting, and very honest post that went out a few weeks ago on What I’ve Been up to While in Self-Isolation.

I don’t really have any hobbies that are inside. Heck, I can barley get into a TV show (unless its Bravo!) I usually spend my time at fitness studios, restaurants, traveling or volunteering. Those aren’t options right now, so I’ve been really into cooking and baking! Here’s what I’ve made..

Lo Bosworth’s Turmeric Vegan Detox Tomato Soup 

This has been a staple in our house since I discovered it a few years ago. I’ve been making a big batch of this for lunches and enjoying with a side salad or piece of sprouted toast. You’ll be SO surprised there isn’t dairy in this, its super smooth and creamy. Plus, I love Lo – she’s an awesome entrepreneur and chef! PSA: This will stain your blender. 🙂 Recipe here

Sheet Pan Sweet Pepper “Nachos” 

This one is especially good on the weekend, when you feel like having somewhat of an indulgent dinner while watching a movie. Cut in half mini bell peppers and scoop out the seeds, then top with any nacho toppings you have on hand — grassfed beef, cheese, onions, pico de gallo! Last time we did half nachos with Siete Tortilla Chips and bell peppers.

sheet pan sweet bell pepper nachos

Cauliflower Rice Bowls with Chopped Veggies and Thai Peanut Sauce Chicken 

I kind of make up this recipe as I go every time I make it. This is a great recipe to make while isolating as you can really use whatever you have in the fridge/freezer and swap the cauliflower rice with regular brown rice if you want. I sauté my cauliflower rice on the stove top for a few minutes and add coconut aminos, soy sauce, and a scrambled egg. Once thats done, I add in cooked veggies – I like snap peas, peppers, onions and broccoli for this. I then top with grilled or baked teriyaki chicken and top the whole thing with peanut sauce. Top with cilantro and crush peanuts/cashews!

My First Roasted Chicken! 

This was a goal of mine while sheltering in place, I’m so glad I went for it last weekend! It was a delicious weekend meal, and surprisingly easy with minimal clean up. I used this recipe 

roasted chicken recipe during isolation shelter in place

Chicken Parmesan with Pasta

This was a “weekend” meal we made — AKA a carb and cheese heavy dish that totally hit the spot, and made my worries go away (momentarily.) Add a glass of wine to this combo and you have yourself the best night. I used this recipe, but mixed panko and almond flour together instead of regular breading.

the best chicken Parmesan to make while in isolation

Hello Adams Family Weeknight Turkey Meatballs with Spaghetti Squash 

I love these meatballs and they’re even better the day after for lunch! I’m a huge pesto lover so even more bonus points that pesto is an ingredient. I place them on top of spaghetti squash, which is great staple to have on hand since they last for multiple weeks before they’re cut open/baked. Add a little pasta sauce and you have a great low-carb, healthy Italian dinner. Recipe here

Omelette Covered GG’s

This one is simple! I usually eat sweet things for breakfast, so sometimes I’ll eat a savory “breakfast” for lunch. I make a two egg omelette with any roasted veggies I have in the fridge and an avocado on GG crackers.

GG cracker recipes

Kitchen Sink Lunch Salads

I used to eat a salad every day when I worked in an office (I miss you, HQ!) For lunch at home, I’ve been dumping all the veggies I have in a bowl and mixing them with arugula (my favorite green) and my “signature” dressing, which isn’t anything special — EVOO, balsamic, S+P, lemon, parmesan, and crushed pecans! Its funny, because whenever I use this at my parents or serve to friends, people always ask for it the day after. So simple! Sometimes I have a side of Trader Joe’s Scandinavian crisp cracker with avocado with the salad. Yum!

loaded arugula salad. shelter in place lunch ideas

F-Factor Chicken Tenders with Broccoli 

I somewhat follow the mentality behind F-Factor, the famous high-fiber diet, but as I’ve posted before, I don’t follow any strict diet, but I do follow the 80/20 mindset. These baked tenders are the perfect fried chicken replacement and so flavorful! I use GG crackers to coat them, and bake broccoli with EVOO and salt + pepper to eat with them. Recipe here 

Lemon Stripes Chicken Tortilla Soup 

Julia of the blog Lemon Stripes posts the best recipes. I also love her buffalo chicken and can’t wait to try her easy homemade pasta. This soup is delicious — I top with avocado and cilantro. It’s even better the next day as a WFH lunch option. This is probably one of the yummiest recipes I make regularly, I never tire of it. Recipe here

the best chicken tortilla soup

Mexican Lentil Stuffed Peppers 

If you know Kyle personally, you know how much he loves lentils, so our cabinets are always brimming with them. He seriously thinks alien’s will invade and steal all his lentils. Well, I’m trying to use them up (shhhh!) and also had a bell pepper that was about to go bad. I cooked the lentils and combined them with Mexican seasoning, cooked onions, corn, cherry tomatoes, and stuffed the mixture into each half of a bell pepper, then topped with shredded cheese. After, I popped them in the oven set to 375 for about 12 minutes. I served with baked sweet potato fries (sweet potatoes cut into wedges and coated with EVOO and salt & pepper, baked at 450 for 40 minutes) and cooked broccoli. It came out surprisingly tasty! We had the rest of the lentil “filling” for lunch topped with salsa!

stuffed peppers with lentils

Banzo Chickpea Pasta with Mushrooms and Steak 

I don’t eat a lot of red meat, although I do love a good burger. Since we were in LA earlier in quarantine, they had an air-fryer so we easily cooked the steak perfectly in that! I served it with “healthy” chickpea pasta and sautéed mushrooms. The pasta sauce was simple — about 1/2 tablespoon of grass-fed butter, EVOO, salt + pepper, one crushed garlic clove, and, my secret ingredient, a few splashes of left over pasta water.

Warm Chickpea Bowls with Lemony Yogurt 

This was our favorite meal so far. I was a bit worried since I thought the yogurt might over power the dish, but it was so delicious and flavorful! I added avocado, chicken, and oven baked tortillas to this recipe.

Warm Chickpea Bowls with Lemony Yogurt

Healthy Quesadilla’s

These are an obvious make-it-up as you go recipe. I like to make a “healthier” version by using Siete Almond Flour Tortillas and tons of veggies and beans to fill mine. I also broke out my panini press for these, which I hadn’t used since college. So good!

healthy quesadilla recipe

Banana “Ice Cream” 

I always stock my freezer with bananas for smoothies and such. When we came home from LA, we had about 11 bananas that were about to go bad, since we left thinking we’d be home in 3 days, yet we ended up staying 13. I make this healthy ice cream all the time and have been especially loving it — comfort food is everything these days, right?! This recipe is SUPER simple. I bend 1 frozen banana with a splash of nut milk (usually almond), splash of vanilla, and a few dashes of cinnamon. Blend in your food processor or blender. Be sure not to add too much nut milk as you won’t want it runny.

Lemoncello 

I mentioned this in my last post, but Kyle (my fiancé) made lemoncello! We won’t be able to drink it until we’re out of quarantine (LOL) but we spent half of our self-isolation time in LA and his parents backyard was filled with lemons! All you need is sugar, vodka, lemons, and a pretty bottle.

Almond Banana Bread Cookies 

Brunch on Chestnut — a San Francisco based blog posted these a few months ago and I’ve made them once a week ever since! I also found the same recipe posted here. Kyle told me he will die a happy man if I continue to make these each week, ha! They’re healthy enough to eat with a side of yogurt and berries for breakfast, or add chocolate chips to half the batter for a sweet post dinner treat.

Sara Haven’s Peanut Butter Banana Flourless Blender Muffins 

I’ve made these a few times and love how healthy they are! I usually eat with a side of berries and Siggi’s yogurt.  Recipe here 

Snack Platter Lunch 

Then we have this. A medley of snacks for lunch, bringing us back to when we were six ;). My mom used to make the BEST snack platters.

snack platter with cheese and apple

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About Alexis Taylor

Hi! I'm Alexis, the self-proclaimed Urbanista Girl. My blog features chronicles of my travel destinations, weekend escapes from city life, and San Francisco lifestyle. I'm a born and raised New Englander turned West Coast girl, currently living in the best 7x7 city ever, San Francisco. I'm so excited that you stopped by!

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About Me

Hi! I'm Alexis, and the self-proclaimed Urbanista Girl. My blog features chronicles of my travel destinations, weekend escapes from city life, and San Francisco lifestyle. I'm a born and raised New Englander turned West Coast girl, currently living in the best 7x7 city ever, San Francisco. I'm so excited that you stopped by!

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