In light of the coronavirus, many grocery stores have been running out of the essentials to make meals. Between having to convert to vegetarianism since meat is unavailable, to living off of limiting items, this pandemic has hit the food world by storm.
Since I have been cooking a lot of meals for my mom and me, as she still has to go to work every day, I have tried to compile a few recipes that I have made in the past weeks that takes very little supplies, and are vegetarian (as all the supermarkets in New Jersey are being wiped day by day).
- Easy Creamy Tomato Soup
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This recipe makes two big servings, so if you have a bigger family, I would double the recipe
Ingredients
4 tablespoons unsalted/salted butter
½ large onion, cut into large wedges
1 can of tomatoes (can be whole peeled or crushed)
1 ½ cups of water or stock (chicken or vegetable)
½ teaspoon of salt (add more to taste)
Directions
1. Melt butter over medium heat in a large saucepan
2. Add the onion wedges, water/stock, can of tomatoes with their juices, and ½ teaspoon of salt. Bring it to a simmer; cook uncovered for about 40 minutes. Stir occasionally and add additional salt, if needed.
3. Blend the soup (in a blender or hand immersion blender).
For immersion blender: you can make it as thick or as smooth as you want, it is up to your preference. It will go quicker if you have one of these.
For regular blender: blend the soup in batches and do not fill the blender as much as you would usually since the soup will be hot. Remove the center insert of the lid and cover it with a kitchen towel while you blend the soup because it helps create more steam which will help the lid stay on.
This recipe is amazing if you make grilled cheese with it!
- Creamy Crock Pot Mac & Cheese
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You can use any recipe, but this is the one that my mom taught me how to make.
Ingredients
Cooking spray
8 ounces elbow macaroni, cooked
1 ½ cups whole milk, or any milk you have
¼ cup (½ stick) of butter, melted
1 teaspoon of salt
Pepper (to taste)
2 large eggs, beaten
Two bricks of cheese (cheddar)
Paprika (to taste)
You can add cream cheese if you want but it is optional.
Directions
1. In a large 4-quart slow cooker, spray the cooking spray.
2. Add the macaroni, milk, butter, salt, pepper, eggs, and ½ a cup of the grated cheese.
3. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top of the mixture, and then add some paprika to the top.
4. Cook and cover the mac and cheese for 3 hours and 15 minutes.
5. When done, turn off the slow cooker, stir the mixture and serve.
If you do not have a Crock-Pot: you can grease a 9-by-13-by-2 inch pan with butter, add the same mixture, and bake it at 350 degrees F for 50 minutes in the oven.
Mac and Cheese is huge comfort food for me, so this recipe helps me make it easy.
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup brown sugar (you can use white sugar)
2 eggs
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Sift flour and brown sugar into a bowl, stir in eggs.
3. Mix butter into flour mixture until the dough is a creamy texture.
4. Fold in the chocolate chips, or whatever you decide to put in there, it can be any chocolate candy (I recently made these with Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs that I had leftover from Easter and some Cadbury Solid Milk Chocolate Eggs).
5. Spoon the cookie dough onto a baking sheet, keeping them 3 inches apart.
6. Bake in the oven until golden brown, which should take about 10-15 minutes.
7. Cool them and serve.
I hope you enjoy these recipes and have a little comfort at home that is most needed during this pandemic!