To me, cooking has always been something I was “afraid” of. I always viewed it as more of a chore than a fun part of my day. If you relate to that, fear not! Since living off-campus, I have stepped out of my comfort zone and found three recipes that I live by. These meals are totally customizable to any allergies or restrictions and are very tasty.
1. Southwest Baked Potato
Inspired by one of my favorite food bloggers, HotForFood aka Lauren Toyota, it inspired me to make this “lazy” but oh-so-flavorful meal. When I make this meal I use a sweet potato, black beans, shredded cheese, avocado, chunky salsa and sour cream! All of these ingredients can be bought at your local grocery store! Get the full recipe here.
2. Sweet & Sour Grain Bowl
One of my go-to dinners is a rice bowl with sweet and sour chicken and edamame. I got inspiration for this meal from the blog 95Divine. The chicken I use is a vegan meat substitute, but you can use any protein and sweet and sour sauce that you like! I use Trader Joe’s jasmine rice and edamame, but any grain like quinoa or brown rice will do just the trick! If edamame is not your thing, I also like adding broccoli florets to the bowl. Assembling the bowl is simple, I like to put my rice on the bottom, then my veggies and lastly the “chicken”. I pour any leftover sauce from the pan on top to coat the bowl!
3. Chia Pudding
A great way to prep for breakfast is to make it the night before. I always used to find myself skipping breakfast because I felt like I had no time to make it and would rather sleep in. However, I found a great way to actually enjoy breakfast and get that extra five minutes of sleep by making chia pudding! I got the idea for this recipe from my friend Cara’s blog, The Hungry Gal! Her recipe makes a matcha chia pudding, which is one of my favorite things ever! You can follow the recipe here. However, if matcha is not your thing, feel free to skip that step and add vanilla extract or any other sweetener. Chia pudding is super customizable and something I definitely look forward to waking up for!
Happy eating!