Eating Well - Quarantine Edition

It’s easy to get in the habit of binge-eating and snacking when cooped up in the house, whether it’s because of the cold winter weather, home recovering from major surgery, or in this case the COVID-19 Pandemic “shelter-in-place” mandate. Regardless, it’s important for us mentally and physically to remember to nourish our bodies, and try to prevent binge-eating and snacking.

I am absolutely a victim of binge-eating and snacking since being home full-time for over a year. When I started to see nausea relief post-operatively and got my sense of taste and appetite back I started to enjoy more foods that I love, both good and bad. When I started working from home full-time as part of an ADA accommodation last spring, I noticed that my eating habits changed, and were a lot worse than when I used to work in the office.

For starters, I am in a job that is high-functioning and high-stress. It’s an Inside Sales job, I work with several field sales reps, managing thousands of accounts, pushing new products, marketing campaigns, and assisting with customer and sales team requests as they came in. Not only that, but I was also trying to get my feet back under me after being out of work for 6 months and needing to adapt to the new changes and metrics that were implemented while I was gone. I noticed that I was not moving from my desk for almost the full 8 hours I was working and that I would bring a hoard of snacks with me into the office to munch on throughout the day. My water intake decreased and my fatigue worsened. When I started moving more I was making more frequent trips to the kitchen pantry or the fridge to get a snack, like many of us are now under new full-time work from home conditions and quarantine.

So I have taken to Pinterest to find some quick, easy, and healthy recipes to make so I could have bulk meals that I can freeze or store in the fridge and eat throughout the week. Some of the key things I was looking for were meals or snacks that would be filling and nutritious. Soups are simple, easy to make, and can be stored in the freezer. I also like protein shakes and smoothies, because you can incorporate protein, veggies, fruits, and get a good dose of calcium as well. I’ve also been a huge fan of protein bites. I have a recipe that I love to follow and I’ve learned to add my own twist to it so it has even more flavor. Below I’ve shared my favorite meals and snacks that are helping me stay healthy and full during this quarantine and stave off binge-snacking!

PB Oat Protein Bites: These are quick and easy to make and you can keep them in the freezer for well over a week to preserve them. Below is my favorite recipe that I follow which only requires 4 ingredients: oats, peanut butter, maple syrup, and dark chocolate chips. This recipe calls for maple syrup, but I use honey which works just as well! I also add in a dash of vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg to taste to give them a bit more flavor.

Chicken Noodle Soup: I was craving my nana’s homemade chicken noodle soup one day, since I don’t have her soup in the house, I decided to scour the house for what we might have for ingredients to make my own. I didn’t truly follow a recipe when I made this, but I did use it as a guide. Here’s what I included in the two different soups that I made.

Soup #1:

• Chicken - boiled and shredded (I used tenders because it’s all I had, but chicken breasts work best)

• Carrots

• Celery

• Red Onion

• Fresh Baby Spinach

• Minced Garlic

• Salt

• Pepper

• Ground Whole Clove

In two separate pots boil both your chicken and start cooking your pasta. The chicken will be a white color when it’s done and should only take a few minutes. Shred the chicken and set it aside. Chop the carrots, celery, and onion. I didn’t measure the veggies out I eyeballed what I thought was a sufficient amount based on how much soup I was going to make. I put the veggies in a pan with olive oil to soften them following the instructions from the recipe. However, my nana recommends just cooking them in boiling water with the pasta which is likely what I’ll do next time. Once the pasta was done I drained about 3/4 of the pasta water and emptied in a carton of chicken stock into the pot, added salt, pepper, minced garlic, and a dash of ground whole clove seasoning to the pot. Moving forward I’ll likely keep more pasta water because there was definitely more content than broth at the end.

Soup #2:

• Chicken Breast - boiled and shredded

• Pasta of your choice

• Carrots

• Celery

• Red Onion

• Fresh Baby Spinach

• Mushrooms

• Minced Garlic

• Salt

• Pepper

• Ground Whole Clove

Just like with the first soup I boiled the chicken in one pot and started boiling my pasta in another pot. Instead of using spaghetti, as I did with the first soup, I used a smaller pasta which I think works better for soup regardless. Once the chicken breasts were boiled I shredded them and set them aside to be added to the broth once ready and chopped up the carrots, celery, and onion. Once the pasta was mostly cooked I drained about half of the pot of pasta water, left the remaining half, added in an entire carton of chicken stock, and a chicken bouillon packet. Next, I added ground whole clove, minced garlic, salt, pepper, and dried parsley followed by the chicken and veggies. Let cook for another 10 or so minutes make sure the pasta is fully cooked (not too hard, not too soft) and then remove from the heat. Store excess in the fridge for about a week or freezer for greater lengths of time.

Iced Coffee Protein Shake: This has been a personal favorite of mine. I love coffee but you cannot just have a cup in the morning and call it a day. When I’m driving to work, I usually don’t give myself enough time to eat prior to hitting the road. Working from home, I needed to change up what I was eating. We have tons of protein powder and obviously I like to drink coffee so when I came across this on Pinterest I had to try it. I saw a wide variety of recipes, most following the same portions of ice, protein powder, milk/almond milk/coconut milk, coffee, and flavoring. To be honest I found that I needed to modify it a little. I used less ice and I really just eyeballed the amount of milk and coffee I wanted.

Homemade Rice Krispy Treats: I have a sweet tooth and it’s easy to binge on tons of sweet treats like ice cream, chocolate, candy, or whatever else you can probably get your hands on at the store. Plus pre-packaged food is so much easier than trying to bake something yourself, especially if you are not a fan of the kitchen. HOWEVER, this Homemade Rice Krispy Treat recipe is so easy to make and takes no time at all, plus you can doctor it up and add whatever other mix-in’s you want if you decide to get creative.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread: This is my favorite chocolate zucchini bread recipe! As I’ve mentioned before i have a sweet tooth and I really enjoy chocolate, so this is a great “healthy” alternative to regular cake or other sugary treats. It’s pretty easy to make and you can certainly adjust how much chocolate you add to the bread. You won’t regret making this if you too have a sweet tooth and you do NOT taste any zucchini in this recipe.

Smoothies: Smoothies are such a great option when you want something fairly simple or easy to make, plus you get a lot of nutrients out of them too. Honestly, you do not need to follow a recipe to make a smoothie, I really just eyeball amounts, always starting with less and adding more as needed. However, if you have never done smoothies at home or you want some more intricate and flavorful recipes I’ve attached a link below with several smoothie recipes! Personally I love to make a smoothie with a fruit base like berries or melons, add in baby spinach, some green vanilla yogurt, crushed ice, and either milk/almond milk/coconut milk to make it creamy.

Muffins: Muffins are always a great option because you have it as a snack, part of your breakfast, or make some sweeter ones to use as a dessert. I like muffins of all kinds of flavors, but particularly I am a fan of Blueberry Muffins. I’ve linked a blueberry muffin recipe for you below, but explore the internet and Pinterest for muffin recipes and you’ll get a ton of hits and lots of options!

This is just a small list of some of my favorite recipes for cooking, especially during quarantine. There are so many more options out there and you can really get creative. The best thing to do is if you are craving something and you are preparing to do your once a week/biweekly grocery run, pull up a recipe you want to make or multiple recipes and round-up the ingredients. It’s always good if you have recipes that require a lot of the same ingredients so that you aren’t spending a ton of money on a bunch of separate little ingredients.

Have some recipes you’ve been whipping up since you’ve been in quarantine? Drop a comment or link the recipe below!