10 Things To Do While Stuck At Home

As you all know, the world is a bit chaotic right now. With Coronavirus spreading, the most important thing to do right now is stay home. I know, it can get so boring but it's the best thing we can do to be safe and help stop this illness from infecting more people. My introverted self is kind of loving this stay at home order though. Duncan is the more extroverted one in the relationship so we're constantly trying to find stuff to do. 

We've compiled a list of things we've done to keep our minds and bodies occupied. Hopefully this helps you from going stir-crazy. We're in this together guys so let's make the most of it.

1. Bake

It seems like the only thing to do these days is sleep and eat so why not make it fun? I've never been much of a baker but I love to follow recipes and I have a bit of a sweet tooth. We've tried making chocolate chip cookies from scratch (didn't work out) and this banana bread pictured above. I got the recipe from Chrissy Teigen (One of my favorite people to follow) and it's SO DELICIOUS. 

You can find the recipe here. I follow everything step by step except for the part about adding chocolate and shredded coconut. I'm sure it's just as tasty with those ingredients but I don't like my dessert to be overly sweet. The key to Chrissy Teigen's banana bread recipe is the instant pudding mix. It keeps the bread so moist. It's seriously so delicious. What I love about baking is that all you have to do is get all of the ingredients and measurements right and your oven does the rest.

2. Try a new recipe

Like I said, all we do is eat and sleep. We've been trying so many new recipes with this time off and most of them have been pretty successful. Usually Duncan is at work and I do the cooking by myself, but since he's been forced to stay home we do it together. It's great bonding time when you're not at each others throats for missing an ingredient, almost burning something, or adding a little too much salt. The kitchen can be a little stressful sometimes but overall we have a good time making our dinner together. We've gotten so creative with our dishes that I'm pretty sure I'll be an iron chef by the time this is over.

3. Make green smoothies/juice

Green smoothies are a combination of some of the best foods like leafy greens and all kinds of nutritious fruit. Keeping your immune system healthy is the most important thing at this moment with COVID-19 virus going around. Even if there was no virus, it should be something we practice on a regular basis. Learn ways to incorporate more greens into your diet by finding recipes that are as simple as they are tasty. Natalie and I will be doing our best to drink a cup everyday and you should too.
Here are some recipes from a book we own called "Green Smoothies":

Fat Burner: (Metabolism boost) (Muscle & bone building) (Immunization)

• 3 carrots
• Handful of kale
• 1/2 lemon juice 
• 2 thumbs of ginger

Summer Fresh: (Alkalizing) (Immunizing) (skin enhancing)

• ​2 sprigs basil
• 2 springs mint
• 2 handfuls spinach
• 1/2 lemon juice
• 1/2 lime juice
• a thumb of ginger
• red apple (optional)

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4. Grow your own plants

We live in an apartment so we can't have a full garden, but we've been buying small plants we can grow in a limited space. We have a tomato plant, a house plant, and some small cacti. It's exciting to see new growth on your plants. We're patiently waiting for our tomato plant to produce some fruit that we can enjoy. I'd love to have a full backyard garden someday but for now this keeps us occupied and excited to see what our little plants become. 

5. Paint

I'm also not much of an artist but when you have this much time on your hands why not just pick up a new craft? We already had the paint brushes and acrylic paint from when we decorated pumpkins for Halloween, so all we needed were the canvases. We don't like going out unless it's for groceries so luckily Michaels is doing curbside pickup now! All you have to do is order online, wait for them to process your order, go to your local Michaels, and then call them when you get there. They bring it out to you so you don't have to worry about going out for something non-essential.

6. Become a gamer

Naty hates it but I love it. One of the best ways to keep your mind distracted is by playing any kind of game. I'm not usually a gamer since I have no time due to my usual work life, but since my lay off I've had no option but to find ways to stay busy and keep my mind off of all the negative stuff happening around me. Now, for an hour or two a day I play online games with some of my friends. This way I get to interact while I keep my social distance. 

7. Create at home gym

With all this time off, there's no excuse as to why we can't workout. We usually go to our apartment gym but since it's closed we have had to improvise. Since the weather has been so beautiful lately, we start the workout off with running outside. Then, we come back home and transform our living room into a small gym. We usually do some workouts that don't require weights but if we do need some weights, we find heavy stuff we have laying around the house. We have a bin filled with books that's perfect to use for squats or some arm workouts. You can also find tons of workout ideas on Instagram. Just get creative with what you have.

8. Become a bartender

I know I said all there is to do is eat and sleep, but we add drinking to the mix every now and then. We were gifted with so many bottles of alcohol for Christmas so now is the perfect time to play bartender and experiment with making different cocktails. We've made some pretty good drinks with vodka and tequila. Our favorite was the Rosemary and Lemon Vodka Cocktail. If you want to see how to make it check out our video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXTwv1gLETc&t=9s

9. Create a photo album 

Nowadays printing pictures isn't so common. Everything is either on our phones or Instagram, but what if you lost all of that? I love seeing our pictures printed on paper. To this day I still go through old photo albums my parents and grandparents have collected throughout the years. Photos are memories you can hold onto forever. It's so special to take out old photo albums years from now and share them with future generations.

With so much time on our hands, it's the perfect chance to look through all of your pictures and print the ones you want to remember forever. We like to use Chatbooks. They can print your Instagram photos and turn them into a photo book. You can choose a custom cover and size. The prices aren't bad either. For $10-$15 you can have your own little photo album!

10. Redecorate your home

Your home is your sanctuary. If you don't feel at peace when you walk through the door, then it's time to change things up. We're constantly redecorating and adding things to our space to make it into a home we feel comfortable living in. It's not easy making an apartment feel like home but little by little we've made this space our own. It's the best time to reorganize and decorate your home the way you want it.

Since we live in a smaller space, we get creative with what we have. Duncan has managed to turn a shoe storage and mounted hat rack into a bar, we spruced up our balcony with new flooring and furniture, and we reuse alcohol bottles to decorate our coffee table and store snacks. You don't have to have a ton of money to create something you love, you just have to think creatively.