Pandemic Comfort Food * River City Belle

I’ve been in quarantine for eleven days, and in some ways, it feels like an eternity! I’ve been cooking up a storm of pandemic comfort food and trying out a ton of my Pinterest pins. There have been some delicious, some good, come disasters, but all in all, I’m enjoying this time to reconnect to my kitchen.

We’ll be in this quarantine for a while, so let’s make the most of it. I’m a bit of a pro at this quarantine thing. Four years ago, I spent six months on bed rest and that time really helped me reset my life and prepared me for quarantine! During bed rest, I dreamed up RCB, learned to knit, and made a brand new list of life goals. This quarantine, I’m staying busy by learning to telework (that’s been an experience!), cooking up a storm, reading on the deck, walking Clark, reorganizing spaces in my house, and working on a special home project.

In the meantime, I’m breaking down the three recipes I’ve made this week. And, maybe I’ll save you some heartburn because some of these should never be made again.

Tater Tot Bake

We rarely eat tater tots, but I found a hot dog tater tot casserole online that I thought would be delicious! And, then I ordered the wrong groceries so I rebounded and decided to make this tater tot bake. I’m not sure if it was the cream of mushroom soup or the fact that I used ground chicken. But, something went terribly wrong. Terribly wrong.

It looked beautiful, smelled great, but was most definitely not a repeat! We didn’t even eat the leftovers, and we’ve been trying to limit our food waste during this crisis. But this day, we wasted food…. I did use the leftover tater tots the next morning for breakfast.

Easy Baked Tortellini

I love good Italian-themed pasta and saved this recipe as soon as Pinterest suggested it to me. This recipe was easy to make and delicious! I will make this recipe again for sure.

Homemade Hamburger Helper

I’ve always loved hamburger helper, but it’s not always the healthiest option. I’ve been making a variation of this recipe regularly, I premake the seasoning and keep it in the kitchen at all times.

This time, I decided to try the Six Sisters Stuff variation and their cheese sauce really pushed this dinner over the top. I didn’t add the tomatoes to the recipe, because I didn’t have them. I love this recipe, and I will likely make it again.

Blackberry Pie

I’ve been wanting to try this blackberry pie for a few months. Literally, I’ve had the frozen blackberries in the fridge for a few months and I finally had time to try it. It tasted fabulous, but it wasn’t pretty. Topping it with ice cream made it almost perfection!