Hey Smarty Charlotte! I’m Maryanne and I’m almost 13. I have older triplet brothers which makes me the youngest of four. Social Distancing has been making me bored and just wanting something to do since I can’t hang out with my friends.
Earlier this week I was asking if we were going to have dessert. I felt like we needed a little something special since we were social distancing. My mom told me if I wanted to have dessert, I was going to have to make it from scratch and it had to be somewhat healthy. I thought why not, I’ve had plenty of time. Days were passing super slowly and I was excited to have something to do.
My mom and I make a lot of things from the website wellplated.com (which I love) so I started there to find a good recipe with basic ingredients. My first dessert was Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Walnut cookies – probably the best cookies I have ever made. It was really simple, and are now my go-to cookie recipe. In order to please my whole family I left out the walnuts and the recipe also called for espresso powder, which we didn’t have, so I left that out. I would love to make them again and use all the ingredients. My family thought they were great.
I found another good recipe on Instagram, @themealprepmanual – banana chocolate chip muffins. The only ingredients are bananas, honey, eggs, baking powder, peanut butter, vanilla extract and chocolate chips. So easy and fast. They are good for breakfast, too.
I made lemon bars today and got a little scared about making the crust but it turned out super well and wasn’t hard at all! The lemon bar recipe was also from wellplated.com and my brothers finished them off before they could even cool.
I love naan bread, not a dessert but so good so I searched online for a recipe that looked uncomplicated and that didn’t call for yeast. I found the website thekitchenpaper.com and I chose this recipe because there were very few ingredients. I cooked it on a hot skillet and used a pastry brush to add herbs and butter. It was fun and really easy. I found a lot of meals that look great on this website. They have recipes from all different cultures – tacos, Indian butter chicken, lasagna, salads…everything! I think the next thing I want to make from this site are vegan small batch cinnamon rolls, which would be nice for breakfast!
My mom wants me to make more normal food so I did make a great Caesar dressing from wellplated.com – greek yogurt, garlic, parmesan cheese, olive oil, lemon and mustard. I definitely enjoy salads with this dressing.
I hope everyone can find something to keep them busy during this weird time. I look forward to finding more easy and sort of healthy recipes to keep me busy during the long quarantine. Maybe the next thing I’ll make is my birthday cake!
Meet Maryanne!
Maryanne Is in middle school and loves to be creative in her free time…from painting, lettering, Pinterest-ing and cooking. She runs track and plays soccer and adores her sweet friends. We look forward to more of Maryanne’s cooking tips, she just couldn’t be any cuter!
