The Best Recipes, Workouts And Other Hacks We Tried This Week (March 16-20)

There’s no “right” way to navigate this coronavirus pandemic; everyone lives and copes differently. That being said, fostering a sense of community may make getting through this time a little bit easier.

Enter this weekly guide. Every Sunday, we’ll bring you a short list of products, routines, workouts, recipes, apps or other things we tried the previous week that are making life easier during this universally stressful time. Take a look at this week’s suggestions below:

Words cannot begin to express how grateful I am for my therapist right now. You don’t need to be in crisis to benefit from talking to a mental health professional. Social distancing and quarantine will have emotional impacts on everyone. I’m so glad to have a space where I can freely talk about how all of this is affecting me (being a health editor in the time of coronavirus ― not easy!) and get solid advice. I’ve left my sessions feeling slightly lighter than when we started. ―Lindsay Holmes, senior wellness editor

Therapy has really helped prepare me for this. There was a time in my life where the thought of this much time alone with my own thoughts would have sent me into a tailspin, but as it stands I am comfortable and confident that I am enough, and the introspection can be looked at in a positive way. I have a ton of anxiety about my loved ones and about the people most vulnerable to the outbreak, but spinning my perspective has really helped me. ―Jamie Feldman, lifestyle and personal reporter

Making family time an appointment

My family is juggling this whole new reality of work-at-home and school-at-home and family time-at-home and everything-at-home, and all the lines are blurring together much more than usual. So I’m trying to set aside time where there’s no work, just me and my 5-year-old, when we can catch up and hear about what’s on each other’s minds. I’ve found that adding a 30- or 45-minute window in the middle of my workday and putting it on the calendar forces me to take a break and lets my colleagues know I’m busy, so I can step away from the computer and connect with my daughter. She needs me as much as work does now, after all. ―Kate Palmer, head of HuffPost Life

I read as soon as I get into bed. I feel like I’m on information overdrive all day, it’s nice to take a non-screen moment at the end of these long days. ―Kate Auletta, senior editor, Culture & Parenting

An easy morning smoothie with kitchen staples

Making smoothies with frozen fruit and oatmeal has been a great way for me to eat my fruit without worrying if they’re going to expire. One less anxiety! Here’s a quick recipe:

• 1/2 to 3/4 cup of frozen fruits of your choice. Frozen cherries taste amazing because they’re naturally sweet! I love them best, but have been making it work with frozen strawberries and blueberries.
• 1 cup of oatmeal. If you soak the oats overnight in water, the smoothie is smoother. But if you forget, like I often do, it will still taste good if you soak them for at least 10 minutes in water.
• 1 cup of oat milk. Any other kind of milk will work here too, or water (though it is creamier with some sort of plant or dairy milk).
• 1 banana. The days I don’t have a banana, my smoothie is less tasty — but I make do and you can too!
• 1 spoonful of peanut butter. Dates are another optional add-in for sweetness.

―Monica Torres, work/life reporter

A simple and soothing pasta dish

Interval training over FaceTime

This week I did a workout posted by a local gym with my friend on FaceTime. We set a timer for 20 minutes and did five squats and five burpees every minute, on the minute. I was SWEATING and we got to chat in between each set, which was fun. ―Jamie Feldman

An email that gives you a preview of your mail

This is a free service, but it’s worth a mention: The United States Postal Service has a program called Informed Delivery that sends you an email each morning with photos of the mail you’re going to receive later that day. I have to navigate long hallways, an elevator, a crowded lobby and a mailroom to retrieve my mail, which feels like a lot of possible exposure in this time of coronavirus. I love using Informed Delivery to know which days it’s worth the journey to the mailbox and which days I can skip the trip because there’s nothing but junk mail in my box. ―Janie Campbell, senior editor, Life

A seat cushion for your new remote workspace