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Any one else avoiding the oven in this heat?
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tonight I did a black beans and rice w/ sausage – all in a skillet.
we also like to do pancakes for dinner (plug-in griddle). grits, eggs, and sausage are another bfast for dinner meal we like.
I know summer isn’t exactly soup weather, but we still like to do soup in the summer. The other night we cooked a phesant (only b/c we had one in the freezer that needed to be cooked, otherwise I would have done chicken), saved the broth – put the meat back in and tossed in some cheese tortellini.
I also like to do my faux ABC’s and 123’s/Spaghetti-Os: I puree tomatoes and whatever other veggies I have from the garden (usually squash) with some onion and a stalk of celery, add a can of tomato paste, some salt and pepper and some chicken bullion/broth – simmer for about 15 minutes and then toss in some alphabet noodles (I found them at Kroger) – they never know how good they’re eating 😉 And grilled cheese always goes well with that.
And another no-cook favorite around here is “snack lunch/supper”: we have a plate with yogurt, peanut butter and any other dip you like, apples, carrots, bananas, pretzels, graham crackers, Ritz crackers, cheese, meat, raisins (you get the picture) and you get to “create your own meal” they think it’s great. And popcorn is a good add-on to this as well.
off the top of my head – these are some of our favorite “no oven” meals 🙂 HTH (btw, we’re in GA too – feelin’ that heat right along with you, except we must live in a black hole b/c the rain that’s come through the last couple of weeks has missed us!)
I’ve been using the “Fix It & Forget It” Cookbook. All crockpot stuff. Its been pretty fun, and I’m not really into cooking
. My library had a copy and I liked it so much I bought one for myself!I guess that makes sense about the a/c not keeping up. I didn’t really know it wouldn’t feel cool enough….we don’t have a/c (not even a window unit), so I’m not sure how that works. I do have a friend who has a/c, and she keeps a thick curtain over her kitchen door opening and closes it when the oven is on….she says she does her prep work (chopping, etc.) in the dining room, then gets in and out of the kitchen as quickly as she can while the oven is on.
I am blessed because we live in NE Ohio, and while it is very humid on some days, we haven’t gotten up past 96, I think. And that’s only a week or so at a time. It cools down at night into the 70’s so at least we can sleep. I wish I could cook you something in the middle of the night & fly it down to you at dinner time!
Sue
My dh will not or REALLY protests to me using the oven if the AC is on. Cause it doesn’t want to shut off then.
We use the NewWave Oven and love it! Cooks about anything and doesn’t heat the house. Like an oven on the counter.
We like large salads with shredded chicken/turkey. Tacos are great. Crockpot – lasanga, enchilada’s, sloppy joes, soups, coconut chicken and rice. I will try and put anything in my crockpot! Loaded baked potatoes(that was lastnights dinner). Breakfast things for dinner – pancakes & sausages, eggs, toast, etc.
Woe is me! We just got our electric bill and it is just over $300! The sad thing is that I am still hot in my house! We keep it at 85 degrees in here and at night we don’t have it on..we use a window a/c! This is ridiculous!
Last yr and the yr before, we decided to go w/out air to save $$ except when it got above 90 something in the house. Then we would use it. I have health issues and was absolutely miserable those 2 summers! I said I would do it this summer,but my dh said he wanted me to be comfy and turned it on! Now we are definitely paying for it!! Oh, we live in Ga too!
Does servicing really help that much in cost?
I feel for you ours is @228 this past month. Ah, and I try and opne the windows every chance I get, but dh is a hard worker and has a very VERY physical job. When he’s done he says all he wants is a cool house! Can’t blame him.
You can also make hobo dinners on the grill. I just recently heard about these at a homeschool mom’s group. Just wrap veggies, meat, butter or olive oil and maybe cheese all in foil and cook it on the grill.
I also have directions for making pizza on the grill if you are interested.
Good luck! 🙂 Stay cool!
Alicia
I am making a lot of pasta salad type things. All I have to cook is the noodles on the stove which isn’t too bad in the kitchen. Everything else I add in is cold and there is alot of variation you can do with it. We’ve also done alot of sandwiches, hot dogs, easy things that can be made on the stove top. I’ve done a few crockpot meals, but all my crockpot recipes are heavier for fall and winter–don’t want those right now.
Well thank you so much for all of these wonderful ideas Ladies! I put my family’s favorite tortilla/spanish rice casserole in thecrockpot and everyone absolutely loved it! Last night I soaked some pintos and turned them on this morning to cook until after church and when we got home I mashed them and seasoned them…Voila! Refried Beans! We ate them for lunch and dinner! The grill would be wonderful, but we only have charcoal and I’m not the best with it. I tried to get some crockpot books at the library yesterday but they were all out, and I have a full library here. I guess everyone else has the same idea!
@Iamasahm: How do you do your enchiladas? Have a heated tortilla press and make our tortillas so I’d love to know how to turn them into crockpot enchiladas!
Here are some simple no cook menu ideas….
Blessings,
Melissa
Anyone else want to share some crockpot inspiration? Looking for some easy options to add to my collection.
I love using my crockpots! Yesterday morning before church, I baked fried a huge pack of chicken legs from Sam’s Club. When they were done, I put them in my large crockpot on “warm” and left them for about 3 1/2 hours. The chicken tasted like it had been smother-fried…without the grease! It was super moist and the seasoning had really soaked into the chicken. My husband said it tasted just like his grandma’s used to. High praise, indeed! :0) Having it cooked early gave the house time to cool down. I also cook rice in a crockpot. A few more favorites: Creamy Italian, Stupid Chicken Dinner, Roast with Cream Gravy, Rump Roast with Gravy, Coffee Roast(soooo good!), Chili Beans over Rice, Smothered Deer Steak, Beef Stew… A while back I splurged on the Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook that has 1400 recipes. It has been $30 well spent! I highly recommend it. We grill 1-2 times per week as well.
One thing we really like is a chili style dish I do. I use chopped cooked chicken, Mexican style chorizo, crushed tomatoes, onions , and season to taste. You can cook the chicken and then toss it all in the crockpot. I serve it with tortilla chips, sour cream, and green onions.
Chicken salad is also something you can make in the morning and serve either on lettuce or rolls with a big fruit salad.
Roasting a turkey breast in the crockpot is easy and you can repurpose the turkey for a couple days! We eat it with the vegetables I tossed in with it the first night. Then I use the leftovers in salads or a layered casserole in the crockpot.
Swiss steak is also good in the crockpot. Serve it with noodles or mashed potatoes and a veggie tray.
Quesadillas are also quick stovetop meals.
One little trick I have learned is when I do heat my kitchen up I take a window fan and turn it around so that it blows OUT and it kind of vents the kitchen and the heat goes out and it draws cool air into the kitchen. You can also do this up in your attic if you have one. Getting rid of that hot stuffy air up there helps get the AC moving and cooling better.
Tara
We have been doing the same thing…it is just too hot to use the oven at dinner time! Like you, I love using my crockpot for whole chickens. I cooked a large one the other night, and since my husband is gone right now and my daughter is too young for food, my son and I have gotten four dinners off of it, with different combinations/sides each night! I do all of our own baking (we are gluten-free and moving toward grain-free), but I have been trying to do it late at night. It works for me b/c I am a night owl. For lunch, we have been eating lots of fruit and cheese and salad. I also try (and this is just an energy-saving technique as well), to not use my burners or oven any more than absolutely necessary. Put the food in while the oven is preheating, and turn the oven off ten minutes before your food is done (the oven will hold the heat.) When I make mine and my son’s eggs in the morning, I make his first with the burner on, and then turn it off to make mine. There is still plenty of heat. HTH!
. My library had a copy and I liked it so much I bought one for myself!
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