5 No Electricity Meals

The past few days in Trinidad and Tobago has been quite rainy, windy and cold!

Unfortunately for the island, we are in our rainy season and over the weekend into Tuesday, there was a Tropical Storm warning. As such, many places suffered from loss of electricity and some damages to their homes.

When thinking about what to write for my weekly blog post, I thought about trying to come up with 5 recipes that did not require any electricity. Though power may be lost, some of us may still have access to gas stoves so while you may still be able to cook, these recipes happen to involve no cooking at all! 😊

1) No-cook Overnight Oatmeal

This method of preparation require oats to be combined with liquid, resting overnight and thus allowing the oats to soften enough to be consumed.

There are many variations of this recipe but my favorite is Peanut butter Banana Oatmeal. I find that the banana sweetens the oats perfectly while the peanut butter thickens the mixture and gives the oats a protein boost. My recipe is as follows:


- 1/2 cup of rolled oats
- 1/2 banana
- 1/2 cup milk/ water (almond or any preferred milk will work)
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Add all ingredients into an airtight container, stirring well until thoroughly combined. Leave overnight in a cool place for the oats to soften and absorb the liquid. You can always add more liquid as needed. If you have electricity, this can also be refrigerated overnight.

2) Tuna Salad 

This is one of my favorite mayo-based salads. Unlike Chicken salad, tuna comes already prepared. I usually buy the tuna in vegetables or jalapenos to make it a super easy mix-and-go meal but if you have a little more prep time, here is my recipe using tuna in water.

- 1 can of tuna in water, drained and rinsed
- 3 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tsp pepper sauce (to taste)
- 2 tbsp finely chopped onion
- 2 tbsp chopped pickles or relish (optional but so good!)
- 2 tbsp Sweet Thai Chili sauce (this is my favorite addition to my tuna salad)

Mix well to combine and serve with crackers or in a sandwich.

3) Bean Salad

One really important item to always keep in your cupboards are a can of beans. They are one of the most versatile and filling ready-to-go ingredient. This salad combines a few other canned and fresh ingredients to make a salad that needs no cooking or electricity.

You will need:
- 1 can of beans (black beans, red beans, black eyed peas, chickpeas), drained and rinsed
- 1 can whole kernel corn, drained
- 1/2 chopped onion
- 1 minced garlic clove
- 1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
- juice of 1 lime
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp chopped seasonings (Culantro or Shadon beni, as it is locally called, is my favorite)
- pepper sauce (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together. Let sit for 15 minutes and enjoy!

*You can also add many different types of beans in one salad and add spices such as chili powder and cumin for a Mexican twist!

4) Deli meat/ Cold cuts pinwheels

Most of us keep deli meats or cold cuts in our freezer as a go-to filler for sandwiches. While sandwiches are a great no-cook meal, take it one step further by making pinwheels. It's a different, fun way of transforming a sandwich.

You can use any deli meat you prefer and use bread or flour tortillas as the vessel.

If you are using bread, you should remove the crusts first and use a rolling pin to flatten it out as thin as the width of a tortilla. This ensures that your pinwheel would be rolled tighter thus securing all your meats inside.

After rolling out your slice of bread or if you are using a tortilla, simply paste on any condiments of choice and layer your meats and cheeses. I really like mayo and pepper sauce with turkey slices but you can try a combination of marinara sauce and pepperoni if you want a pizza pinwheel or even fancy it up with cream cheese and smoked salmon. The possibilities are endless!

This can be made vegetarian by using thinly sliced or julienned vegetables like cucumbers, lettuce, green peppers and carrots.

5) S'mores

For this dessert, you definitely need a gas stove but in a pinch, I am pretty sure roasting over a candle will work just fine! You may get a little more of a smoky taste but desperate times call for desperate measures!

There is no set recipe for S'mores as the quantities are dependent on how much you want to make.😊

S'mores usually require graham crackers but seeing that in some countries (including mine) they aren't readily available, you can use Digestive biscuits or any wholemeal or graham based cookie/ biscuit. (In a pinch, try pre-made Chocolate chip cookies!)

You can use any chocolate you have available including chocolate chips or instead of plain chocolate, you can try your favorite candies such as Reese's, Snickers or even Nutella!

Place the chocolate on one biscuit or cracker and roast a marshmallow over an open flame. Using another biscuit, sandwich the roasted marshmallow with the chocolate and allow it to melt the chocolate a little before consuming.

Honorable Mentions

Of course we cannot forget Cheese paste which has saved countless hungry lives in a pinch. Chicken salad is also a good one if you have pre-bought rotisserie chicken or even egg salad.

Canned soups, Mac and Cheese and Instant Ramen all come in handy during no electricity times but they require having a gas stove.

I hope these recipes help out in any situation and please feel free to leave some comments below letting us know what are your go-to no cook recipes or no electricity recipes so we can all have ideas and options!

Happy No-Cooking!
xx

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