Summer Ideas

[leighbra]

I just found MDC and have been on it for 5 days straight.  So much good info.  It may be hard for some to believe, but in SW Florida it is HOT! I am talking 90 degrees plus brutal humidity. Anyone have any ideas they would like to share for summer dinners.  We already grill out a lot and I am getting sick of the same old stuff.  I have just started to feed my freezer and I stumpted when trying to come up with ideas for my menu this week.

[Chicky2]

I live in Texas, so I also know hot.  I do not use my freezer for meal planning much in the summer, except to have meal starts.  I don't cook in the house too much in the summer if I can help it!    I will keep muffin size meatloafs, meatballs, frozen burritos, taco meat, already-baked muffins, mini quiche cups (bake in muffin tin), etc..ready for a quick reheat if we need it.  We eat alot of different kinds of salads in the summer, or grill, or cook over the fire pit (fajitas, etc.).  I'm experimenting more w/a solar cooker this summer, too. Might as well take advantage of that relentless sun!  Wraps get eaten alot here in the summer, too.  Oh, I do keep a huge amount of home made popsicles in the freezer, starting about a month ago here, lol.  I bought a ton of molds and keep the kids well hydrated like that!

BTW,

[seaheroine]

It's hot here, too.  Summer favorites for us usually utilize our garden -- lots of fresh veggies and salsa!  We have tostadas, fajitas, soft fish tacos, salads, stuffed peppers, grilled vegetables.  I love cold tuna salad, too -- we'll eat it plain or on lettuce, in wraps or sandwiches.  I usually use the crockpot for meat so the kitchen doesn't become unbearably hot.

Welcome to MDC!

[Lisoula]

I came looking for the same thing....we are experiencing an unusual heat wave (90 degrees in Ohio in May???) and it's too hot to cook in my kitchen.  DH & I could live on salads, but my kiddos aren't into them at all.  Any more too-hot-to-cook ideas for some extremely picky eaters?

[Chicky2]

Well, it's not no-cook, but I'm making pizzas on the grill tonight.  One will be bbq brisket and cheddar, and the other will be cold w/cold grilled veggies (brocolli, bell peppers, onion,) and it will have sliced cucumbers. I'll spread it w/cream cheese, sprinkle w/garlic powder and call it good.  Oh, and I might make one w/cream cheese and strawberries, drizzled w/raw honey from our bees.  :o)

[Chicky2]

What about spring rolls?  Even kids who aren't salad eaters will usually eat it wrapped up in a wrapper and dipped in peanut sauce.  You can add cold shrimp or chicken.

[marimara]

Central coastal florida here.  I've been doing lots of grill like you said. So far I've grilled steak, shish kabobs (chicken) with peanut satay sauce, grilled sweet potatoes slices, quesadillas, and hot dogs 

On the cold front:

salads-standard romaine type, chicken salads, egg salad, tuna salad, pasta salad, greek salad, taboulleh salad, potato salad. ( I will boil the stuff for the salads either in the morning before it gets hot or on the grill in a cast iron pot).

deviled egs

spring rolls like someone said are goot

brown rice w/fruit n nuts and almond milk, my lunch most days.

lots of fresh fruit

fridge pickles (cucumbers in vinegar and sugar salt and pepper)

smoothies for breakfast

[Honey693]

My new favorite grill meals is teriyaki marinated chicken breasts grilled and grilled pineapple on whole wheat buns.

[amnesiac]

We're in Texas & use the grill as much as possible during the summer too. Last night we made a few different types of flatbreads on the grill. We're eating out tonight but then the rest of the week we're having a few other meals from the grill: chicken fajitas, orange-rosemary chicken legs with salad, burgers with grilled veggies & corn on the cob. Tomorrow I'm making chicken tortilla soup which works well because doing it low & slow on my stovetop doesn't seem to heat up the house & leftovers are yummy for a couple of days - I think it would freeze well too. We're pretty into frittatas & salad right now too.

[nolansmummy]

We have also been doing a ton of grilling. We've made salmon, shrimp, burgers, sausages and grilled veggies. I've been pairing these things with pasta/potato salads, green salads, fresh  watermelon and cantaloupe. Also, Things cooked on the stovetop don't seem to heat up the house as much as the oven so we've  been having fajitas, tacos, and stir fry's quite a bit as well.

[Delilah83]

I've been doing a lot of cold pasta dishes, like orzo with tomatoes, garlic, spring onions and feta cheese. Or cold sesame noodles with lots of fresh veggies.

Also I;ve found that you can cook food in the crockpot doesn't heat the whole house up.