It is summertime here and boy it is hot! We’ve had hotter weather the last week or so than I remember having the past couple of years. Maybe I just didn’t notice??
So along with summer heat comes the desire to come up with other options than cooking in the kitchen and heating up house. Around here, the old cabin-style houses (called dog trot houses) had breezeways between the kitchen and the sleeping quarters. I totally get it.
Corn is one of my favorite summertime foods! I personally like white corn better than yellow but I’ll eat any of them. We grew up eating tomato sandwiches and chocolate milk with our corn-on-the-cob meals. That’s still one of my favorite summer meals!
Something else we use to eat in the summer was a cold strawberry soup. You chill milk and add a little sugar. Just before serving, tear bread into little chunks and add to milk. Add chopped fresh strawberries. Some folks like bananas too but me … not so much. We’d often having fried/baked chicken or something like that to eat with it.
Another fun thing to do is make an all-grilled supper. These pictures are from a few years back but are good inspiration for me.
Dice potatoes and toss with seasonings and make a foil pack. Takes about 10-15 min. on a hot grill.
Olive oil, seasonings and veggies! Yum!
Add your favorite marinated and grilled meat and you’ll have a complete meal.
This past weekend I made tin-foil meals on the grill. Butter tin foil or use a pie pan (or 2). Add a leaf or 2 of cabbage. Slice potatoes, carrots, onions and place over cabbage. Season with salt and pepper. Top with raw, seasoned hamburger, or marinated boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, add some sausage for good flavor. Seal with foil and grill on medium heat for 20-30 minutes. Add a little shredded cheese when you remove the foil.
I also get tired of water but am trying to stay away from soda and other sweetened drinks. One alternative that I like is buying club soda or sparkling water and add fruit concentrate. Pineapple is one of my favorites!
It’s a carbonated drink but with a (bit of a) healthier twist
If I do drink actual soda, my favorite is this brand:
What are your favorite light meals, or keep-the-kitchen-cool meals?
Hummus is a cool summer food we like at the Stanton home. You can start with canned or dried beans. I usually use garbonzo or black beans. If you use dried they can be cooked in the crock pot over night on low heat. Throw them in the blender/processor with the juice of a lemon and several garlic cloves until smooth. Add to a bowl with tahini (sesame paste), salt, ground cumin, and olive oil. Amounts of each depend on how strong you want the flavor. I am not good about measuring my ingredients. I just add to taste. You can add pimento peppers for a different taste too.
I forgot to mention that this dip can be used with fresh veggies or corn scoops…….
I love hummus! 🙂
I love corn on the cob! Um um!!
Strawberry shortcake with milk was a summertime in season food for us growing up, and I still love it!
Ruby
I’m listening too. Coming home from work and heating up the already-warm kitchen is usually the last thing I feel like doing, which begs the question, does cold cereal count as a meal? 🙂 Your food and drink ideas look amazing!
It does count as a meal. So does PB&J dunked in milk. 🙂 I don’t do it often but wonder why I forget about it.