The fire alarm sounds, the kitchen fills with smoke, and the culinary masterpiece that was supposed to emerge from the oven is now nothing more than a charcoal colored brick that will never separate from the surface of the non-stick pan meant to contain it. But as the saying goes, if at first you don’t succeed, try try again. Perhaps the problem lies in the recipe, or maybe there was no recipe to begin with. Here are five simple recipes ideas that won’t require an excessive amount of labor or talent.

1. Sarah Murad’s Strawberry Banana Pancakes

1 egg, 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of milk, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 banana and 5 strawberries is all it takes to make sophomore Sarah Murad’s favorite fluffy breakfast food. “I make them normally on Saturday mornings. I make them for my siblings because they can’t cook,” Murad said. Few things have been known to make a child happier than waking up on Saturday morning to pancakes covered in syrup, whipped cream and sprinkles, like Murad’s favorite topping.

2. Katie Brunell’s Nutella Paninis

“I got the idea for Nutella Paninis on Buzzfeed,” sophomore Katherine Brunell said about the discovery of her favorite self-prepared meal. Brunell uses her panini maker to create this special treat. To make this delicious dish,  Nutella, a tortilla, and powdered sugar, as well as a panini maker like Brunell uses or a grill are the only things required.

3. Maddie Flom-Staab’s Homestyle Chicken Curry

Although it may not be as authentic as traditional curry cooked in restaurants.  or curry found in other parts of the world, homestyle chicken curry is an easy fix. “It’s spicy and flavorful it also goes really well with rice,” senior Maddie Flom-Staab said. The only manual labor required for Flom-Staab’s relaxed approach to this dish is letting tiny pieces of chicken to sizzle in a pan and adding store bought curry sauce.

4. Lark Smith’s Edible Cookie Dough

Sometimes great things are the most unexpected. This was certainly the case for freshman Lark Smith’s edible cookie dough. “I was trying to make chocolate chip cookies,” Smith said, “but I messed up. “ Because the cookie dough contains no eggs, it can be eaten without the fear of salmonella poisoning. Smith doesn’t use a recipe, instead she chooses to taste test her concoction of butter, brown sugar, vanilla, flour, granulated sugar, sugar, salt and chocolate chips.

5. Jonah Mische’s Ice Cream Smoothies

For those who’ve had more than one or two bad experiences around kitchen appliances that emit flames, frozen foods might just be a safer option. Senior Jonah Mische reported making an Ice Cream Smoothie for breakfast nearly every three days. “I bring them to school or give them to people, or I just have them myself,” Mische said.  Mische mixes whatever fruits he can find with ice cream and a few choice ingredients. “The last one I made was strawberry, vanilla ice cream, banana, and then soy milk,” Mische said. While ice cream might not be high on the list of popular breakfast foods, it certainly is for this senior.

There are multiple recipes for every food, and every meal is open to interpretation. If you are interested in a more guided recipe for any of the concoctions above, check out our recipe library on Pinterest!