So....I've kind of thrown my menu plan out the window this week. It's been so freakishly hot that we've been hiding in my basement and the thought of coming upstairs and turning anything on that makes heat, makes me gag. In fact, sitting here with my laptop burning a hole through my bare legs is creating even more sweat. My only solace is the cold shower I'm going to take before getting into bed tonight and the fact that in the recesses of my freezer I found a box of frozen ho-ho's.God is so very very good!
One dinner this week was cold cottage cheese, cold veggies and dip, and frozen blueberries with cold vanilla yogurt.
Notice the theme here?
Tonight....cold hard boiled eggs, more cold veggies and yogurt with fruit.
So what do you feed your family when it's too hot to cook?
29 comments:
We're eating cold potato salad and salsa with a spoon here in Olympia. And I've put washed grapes in the fridge. Thanks for the links to homemade AC. We're tying wet cleaning rags to the handles of our box fans to try to stay cool.
We are really enjoying all the fresh veggies coming from our garden and for the last three nights we have ate cold cucumber & onion salad, Pico de gallo (in a variety of ways), sliced tomatoes, bananas, cheese & crackers and ice cream for dessert. Monday night we grilled out hamburgers to go with these and tonight I pan fried hamburgers real quick to go with these.
I cook at night. After the baby is asleep, "fry" up some chicken for a salad the next day (bread and cook in olive oil and chicken stock or white wine). Never turn on my stove, just what I can do on the stove top or toaster oven. And lots of leftovers. Oh and BBQ.
We BBQ when it's hot here, and have it with salad and cold potatoes! Then eat outside in the hope it's cooler.
Wishing for the heat though, it's freezing here at the moment!
Salad, salad, salad! Plus some nice bread and some cold deli meat (I can get it very cheap from a factory shop in town).
Right now I'm into soups and stews and casseroles, as here in New Zealand, it's pretty COLD!
We've been known to lose our appetites when it gets too hot. It's been awhile, but I do remember eating lots of fruit popsicles, lettuce/veg salads, cheese cubes and crackers and sandwiches. Occasionally we'd grill out late in the evening -- mostly hot dogs and marshmallows.
eggs! genius! This is what we'll be eating tonight!
We eat a lot of chicken salad. You can put some chicken in a pot of water bring it to a boil, put the lid on and turn off the stove. Leave it for about 30 to 40 minutes and it's cooked. shred and add mayo, celery and apples or grapes.
I would not know what hot is! We have had unseasonably cool weather here in Michigan. So, cool in fact, that my garden will not grow! High today: 67 degrees.
When it's too hot to cook, we go out to eat. :) But, sometimes I cook the night before and just microwave when we're hungry.
It's not frugal, but yesterday when they were fixing my AC and it got up to 92 in here I gave in and ordered a pizza.
I try to serve as much salad as I can but it does get old after awhile. I do run the ac with my bill about 300 a month so far. I guess that is not too bad.
I've been hearing of your heat wave on the news. Typical summer weather where I live is 98 - 103. BUT I have a swamp cooler. In the summer I use my crockpot a lot, you can leave it outside to cook if that heats up your house too much. I also grill a lot. My husband is 6'4" and is a hearty eater. Salads for dinner don't cut it at my house. Hope it cools down soon for you.
Lots of sandwiches, I will keep a batch of chicken , egg , oo tuna salad on hand made up in the morning before the house gets hot . Than just have a veggie platter with dip or fruit !
I heard in your part of the country it's sweltering. It's kind of ironic. I don't know what kind of summers you usually have there. But I live in the East Tennessee Valley-where the wind doesn't blow...at all...and the humindidty hangs in the air on all the 90+ degree days we usually have... And we've had a gloriously wonderful summer with little humidity but plenty of rain and breezy spring-like days! It's a nice change! But I love to do main-dish salads or simple things like you've been having. Or else cook first thing in the morning when it's not so hot.
Homemade ice cream! That counts as dinner...right?
It's almost always hot here (in AZ)...in the summer anyway. We eat just like we usually do...only less soups. I cook in the crock-pot a lot...or on the stove top. I try not to turn on the oven.
Here the summers are brutal. 90-100+ and humid. You can cut the air with a knife some days. I guess we are used to it. We tend to hang out at the pool to stay cool or inside. My kids however do not care they are outside any chance they get. They come in all sweaty and hot. We eat lots of popcycles, lemonaide, fresh summer veggies, ice cold watermelon(nothing better on a hot day)chicken salad, anything grilled. I tend to keep it simple though. We bake and cook in the hot weather here if not you wouldn't cook for 5 months. Our electric bill does show that we love our air conditioner but with the humidity you HAVE TO use it a lot or it can be 88+ in your house in no time. Hope this heat wave ends for you, as I can imagine it isn't fun if you are not used to it. Here we will be at the pool cooling off.
Bjames
I am also in Michigan, and my tomatoes are crying for some heat and sun! But...when it is too hot to cook inside, we usually grill. Also, cold salads, cukes in vinegar, tomatoes with some goats cheese. And lots of popsicles!
With the heat wave going on right now my kitchen is definitely not getting much use, especially the stove. I agree with you, an ice bath would be good right now.
Breakfast is usually quick--not too much heat generated--so we do breakfast for dinner sometimes. Then, we look to the Mediterranean and Mexico for inspiration! Tacos, burritos, gyros--all of those are quick to throw together and topped with lots of cool/cold toppings.
We eat sandwiches and more sandwiches. We'll have deli sandwich meat, tuna sandwiches, raw veggies like tomatoe sandwiches with lettuce. My mother-in-law used to eat onion and cucumber sandwiches, but I don't know about the onion.
I have made BLT and did the bacon in the microwave between papertowels. 2 minutes on each side and check to make sure they're done. If now another minute or two.
To recap:
sandwiches: deli meat, tuna, and veggies, BLTs
I serve the Tex-Mex dip. Use smaller plates, put on the refried beans & sour cream, then let the family finish their own plates.
So easy, and great if you have toeat in shifts.
I just cook away. I live in the middle of the Heartland and all summer can be in the high 90's -100's or plus. My husband would trade me in if he didn't get a cooked meal. LOL!
Grill, grill, grill!!! When it gets too hot, I do a lot of grilling - you can cook so much that way - I haven't tried pizzas yet, but I hear you can. Anyway, you can fix a great meal by putting some meat on the grill, cutting some potatoes in half, tossing them in a little herbs and oil and placing them on the top rack of the grill, and making "packets" of veggies with foil. Everything cooks on the grill - super easy and you don't heat up your house.
When it's hot here, we do very little cooking - either grill, stovetop, or crockpot. My hubby won't eat veggies, so salads for dinner are out.
Unfortunately, right now you guys have our weather! This time of the year it's typically mid 90s to low 100s with high humidity - super high heat indexes. Today I think it was 83, which is unreal. It feels cold!! It's even too cold to swim, so I'd love to trade you back . . .
Gayle, our hearts go out to you. My husband and I are from Dallas, TX - and after spending the greater part of our lives in Texas, my husband and I retired to Fairbanks, AK. Right now we're having 80-90 degree weather - and we're complaining? After dinner this evening I cut a cold watermelon in half ( a personal size) and this is what we 'cooled' down with.
We have had a weird spring-like summer here in NW Ohio so we havent had this problem as much as normal. But we have had quite a few hot nights already...my favorite thing to serve on hot nights is cold fruit, cold veggies and sandwiches.
funny thing is, if you want to feel cooler you need to increase the heat in your body to equal the heat outside the body. We eat hot foods, spicy hot like Mexican or Tex Mex with icey tea( hey I am still a Yank) My grandparents always served hot soup with fresh bread baked in the early mornings and what ever veggies was coming in from the garden. Most the soups were beans or veggies or combo.Not much meat in the hot weather.
Luckily my husband and I live in a small apartment, so even though we live in a scorching desert, we can run the air all summer long!!! Then we just cook normal! ;]
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