Cooking Together in Quarantine: 15 Meals for Two on a Budget by Caroline
Caroline and Zach have spent some time during quarantine cooking together. Marriage can be strengthened by trying new activities or doing the daily humdrum activities with one another. Here are 15 meals for two on a budget.
This is such an interesting time in our world right now. Quarantine is definitely different every day. Some days I’m so grateful my husband can work from home, and others I dream of the time he was gone from 9-5.
Seeing as we’ve only been apart for a few hours total in the last month, it shocks me that we’re not constantly fighting. I think it helps we’re both homebodies and have a 2-month-old that keeps us occupied.
One thing that has brought us together during this time and kept our relationship amicable is actually cooking together! Marriage, especially a happy and enjoyable one, is important to us, and we put time into it.
We both enjoy experimenting in the kitchen and this time of forced solitude has allowed for that even more. Together we’ve learned each other’s strengths and interests and utilize those in our weekly meals.
My husband really likes making anything involving flour so he’s always in charge of the pizza dough, rolls, pastries, and anything else he feels inspired by on The Great British Baking Show.
I love meal planning and grocery shopping. Having to shop once every 1-2 weeks is so difficult for me, but it’s been a fun challenge to make meals with what we have on hand.
If you’re not already meal planning I would highly suggest you start, especially now when it’s so important to go out as little as possible. I rounded up what we’ve been eating the last two weeks and hopefully it will inspire you so the words “what’s for dinner?” aren’t so scary this week.
If you are not used to cooking for your family don’t be worried! You don’t need to start with lengthy recipes with obscure ingredients.
Simple meals can be delicious! Involve everyone in the process and make cooking dinner a family event. Stores can be limited in areas right now so you may have to get creative and start using some of those pantry items.
Don’t be afraid to substitute things or experiment with flavors. Some of my favorite meals have come from trying new things!
Here’s what we’ve been eating the last few weeks:
Chicken nachos
Chips, shredded chicken,beans, salsa, guac, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, or any other combination you can come up with
Salmon sheet pan
Salmon with any vegetables you want. I’ve used potatoes, carrots, broccoli, green beans and they’ve all tasted great. Make a sauce with butter, lemon, honey, and S&P
Maple pork with pear, apple, and sweet potato
I followed this recipe but substituted the onion for pear and sweet potato
https://thebusybaker.ca/easy-one-pan-maple-glazed-pork-with-apples-and-onions/
Homemade pizza
Our favorites include BBQ chicken, veggie, and classic margarita with fresh basil and mozzarella
Fajita bowls
Another great fridge/pantry clean out meal. Bake chicken and bell peppers with fajita seasoning. Layer a tortilla, rice, beans, salsa, guacamole, lettuce, olives, and of course peppers and chicken. If you don’t have everything just use what you do. Make it into fajita nachos if you only have chips or just plain fajitas.
Pineapple chicken tacos
Mix rotisserie or shredded chicken with your favorite salsa and layer on a tortilla with refried beans, lettuce, and chopped fruit like pineapple or mango.
Stir fry
My favorite for using up vegetables. Cook chicken then add in peppers, carrots, green beans, broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms, etc. Any and all veggies are welcome. Make your own teriyaki sauce or use a premade one, Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki is my fav.
Beef roast with vegetables
We had a roast already in the freezer so I don’t know how accessible this meal is for everyone, but you could definitely use a whole chicken or pork loin instead. We cooked ours with carrots, potatoes, and onions and the vegetables were my favorite part!
Pancakes with sweet potato hash
This hash is a go to for breakfast or dinner. Chop up sweet potato, apple, and bacon (optional). Heat butter in a pan and cook for about 15 minutes. Add in some brown sugar and cinnamon. Everything caramelized and it’s so delicious!
Chili and cornbread
Another meal I pulled from the freezer. You could definitely heat up a can or two of chili and use a boxed cornbread mix. Easy dinner FTW! Or make your own chili in the morning and slow cook it all day.
Steak and vegetables
Most of our meals really are just basic meat and veggies. My husband cooks the steak how he wants with butter and herbs in a cast iron. Add whatever vegetables you have, we used peppers, broccoli, and potatoes, to a sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil and season with an italian mix.
Teriyaki salmon and fried rice
Use the same teriyaki sauce and marinate salmon for a few hours. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes. Serve with plain rice, fried rice, roasted broccoli, or asian noodles.
Chicken gyros
Homemade pita bread, chicken, tomatoes, avocado, red onion and tzatziki sauce. Make some blender hummus if you need a side or just want to use up the can of expired garbanzo beans in the pantry.
Sweet pork salad
Homemade Cafe Rio sweet pork is a favorite around here. One pork shoulder will make a ton so leftovers can last days. Serve it up differently (salad, burritos, nachos) every night and it will feel like a completely new meal.
Chicken, green beans, potatoes
Possibly the easiest meal ever. Chopped chicken, green beans (or broccoli), and potatoes go in a 9×13. Dice a couple tablespoons of butter over everything and season with dry italian dressing seasoning. Bake for 45-50 minutes at 350.
Hopefully one, or more, of our dinners will inspire you and help just a little with meal planning during this time of mandatory home cooking.
Have you and your spouse tried cooking together? Marriage requires work, and that work usually comes in the form of sacrificing time and energy for your spouse. Try working together to assemble these delicious meals for two on a budget.
