Written By: Miraya Jain
What exactly are you doing right now? If I can take a guess, there’s a 50 percent chance that you’re sitting on your sofa with your computer. Well, at least that’s exactly what I’m doing.
Obviously, these days we have a LOT of time on our hands. And that means: boredom. However, to help cure some of your boredom, I’ve come up with a list of activities to do and some recipes to try out that could definitely keep you busy and not bored!
Here are some activities that you could either have you up and exercising, or some relaxing things to do when you’re too lazy to even get up!
Cook/bake something. This is probably one of the best (and rewarding!) thing that you can pick up right now. You can start easy and make some pita bread pizza or maybe try baking some banana bread! In the recipes section I will be including how to make these along with many other recipes.
Do some exercise. There are literally SO MANY easy workouts on Youtube that you could do just to get in a little exercise. If you don’t want to do at home exercise, you could go on a bike ride or a run in a nearby park or trail, but just remember to wear your mask!
Clean something. Even though this is something that not too many people really want to do, just take an hour out of your day to clean up your room, your closet, or just anything that you feel like you could clean!
Play board/card games. There are so many fun board and card games that you could play with your family. Some of my personal favorite board games are Blokus, Scrabble, and Battleship and a few of my favorite card games are Uno, Bluff, 3-2-5, Trash, and Speed. There are youtube tutorials of every single game if you want to quickly learn how to play.
Set up camp. One thing that I’ve done recently is set up a tent in my backyard and had a whole campout with my family entirely in the backyard! You could even take it a step further and set up a projector to project a movie outside and watch from your tent.
Redecorate your room. This is definitely something that a lot of people have done recently. You could make small changes like moving your bed a different direction, hanging up posters, maybe adding LED lights, or you could completely redo your whole room and paint it a different color, swap or add furniture, etc.
Movie night. This is something that is super quick to set up but really fun to do with your family! Just take a bunch of pillows and blankets, make some popcorn, even order some pizza, and play a movie or two and enjoy a fun movie night with your family!
Online movie night. If you want to have a movie night with your friends online, just Netflix Party something with them or even have a Zoom call where one person shares their screen and everyone watches the movie from there, so that you could also actually talk while watching.
Go on a sunset/sunrise walk. This was probably one of the most fun things that I’ve done; wake up at 4:30 and go out on a walk while the sunrise is happening. If you don’t want to wake up that early, just go on a sunset walk. Trust me, you’ll enjoy it a lot!
Start a new show. Sometimes the highlight of your day is just binge-watching 12 episodes of your favorite show (this may or may not be a true story). Some great Netflix shows that you should watch if you haven’t already are: Greenhouse Academy, Anne with an E, Stranger Things, and Free Rein. If you’re more of a Disney person, then you should watch HSMTMTS, Liv and Maddie, Jessie, Austin and Ally, the Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and basically any other show on Disney +.
Pick up a new hobby. There’s a lot of Youtube videos and free courses online of many different skills and hobbies that you could learn from. Try picking up knitting, or maybe cricket, just try something new!
Make a craft. Check out some easy tutorials on how to make easy crafts with only a few materials. You could make a mask out of an old shirt and a couple rubber bands, or you could fix up some old clothes and make them look all nice and new.
One really fun thing to do when you’re bored is to cook! I have included recipes of savory dishes, desserts, and also recipes for summer drinks. Enjoy!
Savory
PITA BREAD
Recipe by Sweet Chef
Brush a little olive oil on the pita bread.
Spread sauce of your choice on top of the pita bread.
Sprinkle on the shredded cheese.
Sprinkle on pinches of desired herbs and spices, and add any toppings you'd like.
Place on a baking sheet, bake for 5-7 minutes at 400°, or until cheese is melted (times may vary).
Slice with a pizza cutter and enjoy!
VEGETARIAN NACHOS
Recipe by A Pinch Of Healthy
Preparation
Shred some cheese of your choice.
Saute garlic, onions, bell peppers and black beans.
Directions
Top a skillet filled with tortilla chips with the sauteed vegetables.
Sprinkle the cheese on top.
Bake in the oven until the cheese is completely melted.
Once you take it out, top with some fresh diced tomatoes and avocado.
Enjoy!
Desserts
BANANA BREAD
Recipe by AllRecipes
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas
Directions
Mash the bananas in a separate bowl.
In another bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda.
In the bowl with the bananas, add in the butter and brown sugar.
Combine all ingredients together and fill into a pre lined bread tray.
Bake in a preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Recipe by JoyFoodSunshine
Ingredients
1 cup salted butter* softened
1 cup white (granulated) sugar
1 cup light brown sugar packed
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt***
2 cups chocolate chips (or chunks, or chopped chocolate)
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
In a separate bowl mix flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder. Set aside.
Cream together butter and sugars until combined.
Beat in eggs and vanilla until fluffy.
Mix in the dry ingredients until combined.
Add 12 oz package of chocolate chips and mix well.
Roll 2-3 TBS (depending on how large you like your cookies) of dough at a time into balls and place them evenly spaced on your prepared cookie sheets. (alternately, use a small cookie scoop to make your cookies).
Bake in a preheated oven for approximately 8-10 minutes. Take them out when they are just BARELY starting to turn brown.
Let them sit on the baking pan for 2 minutes before removing to cooling rack.
Drinks
STRAWBERRY LEMONADE
Recipe by AllRecipes
Ingredients
8 large strawberries, halved
2 tablespoons white sugar
7 cups water, divided
1 cup white sugar
2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice
Directions
Place strawberries in a blender; top with 2 tablespoons sugar. Pour 1 cup water over sugared strawberries. Blend until strawberry chunks transform into juice.
Combine strawberry juice, 6 cups water, 1 cup sugar, and lemon juice in a large pitcher; stir until blended. Chill before serving.
RASPBERRY BANANA SMOOTHIE
Recipe by GoodHouseKeeping
Ingredients
1/2 c. low-fat milk
1/2 c. nonfat Greek yogurt
2 c. frozen raspberries
2 bananas, peeled and cut into pieces
Blend all the ingredients in a blender, pour into a cup, and enjoy!
Anyway, I hope that all these different activity suggestions and recipes will keep you entertained and hopefully you won’t get bored as often now. Bye!
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