Food and lockdown: Baking more, snacking constantly and trying new things

It’s been six weeks in lockdown now, but it still doesn’t feel real. I regularly find myself thinking ‘oh it’s just a bad dream’, but it’s not, it’s the new normal.

As a very sociable person, originally I wasn’t sure how I would cope with being stuck in the house all day long. I’m used to going to work, the gym, seeing my friends and family and regularly going out for dinner and drinks – I barely ever spent a consecutive few days at home.

But surprisingly, I’m actually quite not minding lockdown. I think I’m one of the only people in this country right now that is saying that. I’m working from home 9-5, so that’s keeping me busy and it’s nice to be able to spend more time with my family.

One of the main things I’m enjoying about lockdown is doing things that I never normally get a chance to do. The main thing is baking. I’ve always loved baking – but I just never seem to have much time to bake and before lockdown, it had been a while since I had got in the kitchen with my apron on.

Since lockdown, I have been baking constantly. We’ve been in lockdown for six weeks but I’ve already made nine different things! Cakes, brownies, blondies, shortbread, cinnamon buns (a blog post will be coming soon with recipes if these sound appealing to you), I’ll make one thing and a few days later when it’s all been scoffed, I’ll be on to the next. It’s probably not a great idea for the waistline (I might need to calm down soon) but I’m definitely improving my baking skills and my family certainly aren’t complaining when I offer them my latest treat.

Many people will say that they’re not good at baking, but the more you try, the better you will get. And baking doesn’t have to be hard. Obviously some things are more challenging than others, but you can find really easy recipes online that only use a handful of ingredients so you can’t really go wrong. Not only is baking a good idea if you’re bored and want to kill some time, you are also left with something delicious to share with your family. It’s a win-win!

But to try and stop myself from eating ridiculous amounts of bakes, I have also been delivering some to my elderly neighbours. It is such a small gesture, that I don’t even think much of when I do it, but seeing their faces light up when I deliver them a small treat is priceless. Not only are you making someone else smile, it can also really boost your mood and I would definitely urge others to do this. It doesn’t have to be elderly neighbours of course, why not bake a big batch of brownies and drop a couple round to each of the houses in your road? Depending on how many houses are in your road you may not be able to get enough flour from the supermarket but good luck!

Has anyone else found that they have been snacking loads more than they normally would? Normally at work, I rarely snack, but at home, I’ve been snacking for England. And it’s around the same time every day. 3pm, a couple of hours after lunch and a few hours before dinner, I always crave a cup of tea and something sweet. Whether it’s one of my bakes, a bit of chocolate, a cereal bar, or even a sausage roll (homemade obviously) my stomach grumbles for it. I'm going to have to start swapping my sweet treats for fruit at some point soon though - otherwise I'll be rolling out of the house when lockdown is over.

I’ve also been trying to make and eat lots of new things during this lockdown period. Normally, I'm up at 6:30am, wolfing down my breakfast before I leave for work – predominately it’s the same old, same old – golden syrup porridge with banana. It’s quick and easy to make, it tastes quite nice and keeps me full.

When it comes to lunch, it’s normally whatever takes my fancy in the work canteen – either a salad, a panini, a wrap or pasta often go down a treat.

For dinner, I’m sure all families have their favourite meals they often turn to when they want something comforting and easy to make. I’m a big fan of fajitas, lasagne, spaghetti bolognaise and stir fry. Although we do normally have different things each week, when you get home from work at 6pm and are starving, it’s quite easy to just stick to simple dishes that you can cook in no time.

But now that I am at home 24/7, I’ve been trying to make new things and add a bit more variety into my diet.

For breakfast, I’ve been converted to smoothie bowls (see my recent blog post if you’re interested in some recipe ideas) and more recently I’ve been having honey and nut granola with banana, strawberries and raspberries.

When it comes to lunch, I’ve been having a range of different things. Depending on the day and what I fancy, I’ve been making soups, avocado on toast (a favourite of mine), eggs on toast (scrambled, poached or fried), pasta salads, sandwiches (if I’m feeling lazy), bagels – whatever I can find in the cupboards really.

Now we have lots more time at home, my family and I are trying to experiment with new recipes and introduce some different meals into our diets rather than sticking with the same old dinners. Homemade pies, fish dishes, stews, different pastas – we’ve have our heads in the cookbooks and been eating good recently!

It’s been really nice to cook and try different types of food that I normally I wouldn’t have the time to make.

If you’re feeling a bit bored or down, I would really recommend getting in the kitchen and making yourself something. You don’t realise the small things that can make a big difference to your mood when it comes to food. Although I love food and am always up for eating, sometimes it can seem like a bit of a chore to eat, especially when your food looks boring and you haven’t put much effort into making it.

Try and introduce some new things into your diet - especially now that you will most likely have more time to do so. It's quite easy to get into the trap of making the same/similar things every day, but introducing new things to your diet can really lift your mood.

Hang on in there everyone, hopefully this will all be over soon. But for the mean time, get in the kitchen!