By: Sarah Waddington

As the clock ticks down to dinner, your anxiety heightens, your stomach grumbles and your mood worsens as you try to find something to eat. In especially desperate hours, you waste $20 on food delivery or put on the water to boil for pasta… again. For me, it’s all about getting the proper inspiration.

Enter TikTok, with its food accounts ranging from Men with a Pot who cook everything over a fire in the woods to Tasting TJs, which is dedicated solely to making meals using ingredients from Trader Joe’s. In 60 seconds you get the ingredients, a tutorial, and a visual of the finished product-- no scrolling past the essay that food bloggers seem so intent on putting before every recipe. It’s cooking, simplified.

In a year where pretty much the only thing I can control is what I eat for dinner, I decided to put some of these recipes to the test in my own kitchen.

Trader Joe’s Shawarma Chicken with Pita

This recipe is a college student’s dream: flavorful, easy, and done in 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and unload your Shawarma chicken thighs onto an oiled pan. Cook it for 20 minutes then broil for two minutes. While that is cooking, slice up a cucumber into rounds and then half them and also cut up a tomato and red onion. You can also heat up your pita pocket at this point too, just throw it on a pan over medium heat for two minutes on each side. After the chicken is out of the oven, slice it up and combine everything in the pita pocket. Top with Trader Joe’s Avocado Tzatziki Dip and lemon. After I ran out of pita but still had some chicken, I combined all the ingredients in a bowl with brown rice and it was just as good.

Trader Joe’s Garlic and Herb Pizza

Contrary to popular belief, you do not need to go to Temple Rome to get a fresh, homemade pizza. Using Trader Joe’s garlic and herb dough, I did it right in my kitchen while using up leftovers. While the dough was rising for 20 minutes, I caramelized some leftover red onion over medium heat on the stovetop until they were golden brown. I spread some flour on a cutting board and then rolled out the dough until it was a rectangular shape. I topped it with red sauce, mozzarella cheese, and the caramelized onions and cooked it in the oven for seven minutes at 450 degrees. The best part is you can use whatever toppings you have sitting in your fridge. Making homemade pizza was a lot easier than I thought, and can make for a fun Saturday night in quarantine however, I can’t promise you won’t make a mess.

Teriyaki Salmon

As someone who eats salmon at least once a week, this recipe challenged me to add more flavor beyond the basic seasoning I normally do. To make this sauce you combine the ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and brown sugar on the stovetop and let it simmer. On the side, combine water with the cornstarch and then add that in to thicken the sauce. After it simmers for a bit, add some pineapple juice and then top it on the salmon once the sauce coats the back of your spoon. The pineapple juice in this sauce adds sweetness to the normal flavors of soy sauce, ginger, and garlic. I rounded out this meal with brown rice and roasted broccoli, which paired nicely with the teriyaki sauce.

Strawberry Oats

I have been a lover of oats since my freshman year dorm experience, where the extent of our “kitchen” was a microwave and mini-fridge. Tracesoats on Tik Tok has hundreds of posts showing you how to elevate this digestive-friendly breakfast staple, so I decided to give the strawberry oats a go. In a medium-low heated pot, you add ⅔ cup of oats, 1 cup of frozen strawberries, 1 cup of water, and ¼ cup of oat milk, maple syrup, and a little vanilla. Stir occasionally for 7-10 minutes. He topped it with cut-up strawberries, peanut butter, and chocolate chips. This was a fun mix-up (especially for my huge sweet tooth), but I think I will stick to my cinnamon brown sugar oats that take no longer than two minutes in the microwave.

Not Your Average Shrimp Tacos

When another “What I eat in a day” video showed up on my page, I almost kept scrolling. But, the fish tacos at the end caught my eye. I decided to skip my typical chicken tacos and try out this shrimp recipe in taco boats. To make these, you season your shrimp with lemon pepper and southwest chipotle, then just fill the taco boats with brown rice, shrimp, feta, sour cream, and lime. The feta on tacos is a game-changer and paired with chips and salsa this meal is *chef’s kiss*.

THE Feta Pasta

Finally, this list would not be complete without the feta cheese pasta that was all the rage a few weeks ago. My friends and I made it on a snowy weekend in and it made for a delicious (and cheesy!) shared meal. To make this pasta you simply add tomatoes, olive oil, salt, and pepper to a pan and put a block of feta cheese directly in the middle. We also added spinach but this is optional. Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes and while this is in the oven you can make your pasta. When the tomatoes and pasta are done add some fresh garlic, basil, and give it all a stir (the best part). Then you add the cooked pasta right on top and give it a mix again. This recipe is delicious and feels very fancy, yet is super simple to make.

When you’re about to overpay to have Chipotle delivered or you're about to have buttered noodles for the third night in a row, resist the urge and get creative. Hopefully, these recipes sparked some inspiration to bring food from your FYP into your own kitchen.

The Cooking Inspiration You Need from TikTok