As our lives finally start to go back to normal, there are certain things that I will miss about lockdown. One of these will be having more time to make slightly more exciting meals while working from home. Although I am pleased to be working in the office again, I do miss the slower pace of the day that I had when my work station was in the room next to the fridge.
Don’t get me wrong, the quarantined lifestyle of the past year has been a roller-coaster of emotions for me, just as it has been for everyone else. It has been a very strange year and for every day that I’ve had the motivation to cook a nutritious meal, there have been plenty more days where I did nothing but sit on the sofa and eat chocolate biscuits all afternoon. There is no ‘bad food’ or ‘good food’, so please ignore the adverts in the media who want to make us feel shit ourselves in order to sell their products. We have survived a global pandemic so we should be very thankful towards our bodies for that!
I’m no brilliant cook, by any stretch of the imagination, but here are some of my favourite breakfast and lunch meals that I’ve made myself over the last year. If you’re still working from home, or want to make something nice to eat on your next day off work, enjoy.
- Porridge and stewed apple- I absolutely love porridge for breakfast as it’s so warm and filling but extremely simple to make, especially when using the Quaker Oats sachets. Recently I’ve been jazzing up my bowls of porridge by adding fruit and nuts in. My favourite thing to add is a stewed apples puree. It’s incredibly easy make; just chop up a couple of apples and boil in a pan on low heat with a couple of tablespoons of water, lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon. The sweet taste also compliments most of Quaker Oats’ various different flavoured porridge, especially the sweet cinnamon and blueberry and apple flavours.
2. Avocado and grilled halloumi on toast- Ah, avo on toast. The cliché, boujee snack that millennials are obsessed with and why the Daily Mail seems to think we can’t afford to get on the property ladder. I love it, as it tastes amazing with what is probably one of my favourite foods of all time- halloumi. You can never be gloomy when there’s halloumi, as far as I’m concerned. I’d say that smashed avocado and grilled halloumi on toasted bread is my favourite thing to eat for lunch, or a late breakfast. You can add so many healthy extras to it as well, such as tomatoes and spinach, but it still tastes delicious and indulgent.
3. Hummus and roasted tomatoes- In the last couple of years, I have made an effort to cut down on the amount of meat in my diet. As well as avocados, I also really like hummous and enjoy eating as both a spread and sandwich filler. During lockdown, a good friend of mine started a vegan cooking page on Instagram and posted a simple recipe for humous and roasted tomatoes on toast. She recommended sprinkling basil on both the hummus and the tomatoes (before drizzling olive oil on them) and I had to try it. It was absolutely delicious, and just as nice (if not better) than avocado. If humous on toast becomes the new must-have brunch food after the pandemic, I am 100% for it.
4. Buddha bowls- I discovered buddha bowls when my mum bought a packet of quinoa when it had been been reduced and neither of us had a clue on what to make with it. After a quick search on Google, I learnt about buddha bowls and decided to attempt to build my own. In essence, a buddha bowl is a vegetarian meal served in one bowl, and consists of various ingredients. It’s completely up to you what you want to put in your bowl, but they traditionally consist of a rice or grain base, a plant-based form of protein, plenty of vegetables and a dressing or sauce on top. Delicious!
Simone Reddington 
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