Too Hot to Cook?

[MisaLady]

What do you all do when it is too hot to cook (it's 10 pm, 77 degrees, and I'm in Seattle, where we have no AC and humidity up the wazzoo)?

My answer in the past has been go out to eat, but I'm trying to avoid that as it can get quite pricey. The only other thing I can really think of is salad.

Any ideas besides salad?

[frugalfranny]

It is a salad of sorts...but I will often just have cottage cheese with tomatoes (from the garden) or pineapple in it in the summer when it is hot.

Or.....tomato, and cuke, sandwich. With some avocado on it is even better but have lots of napkins handy.

Have even 'stooped' so low as to have cold cereal!

[HisDaisy]

When it gets hot, I usually make a salad or have leftovers. If I plan ahead I will make dinner in the crockpot. I also find that "breakfast foods" (i.e. eggs, pancakes, frenchtoast) make good hot night meals. They are quick and don't require an oven. I also have a George Forman grill and I toastover. Both of which I use in hot weather.

[madhen]

When I was a kid, we would occasionallly have strawberry shortcake for dinner, if it was REALLY hot outside.

Now, I tend to go with soymilk smoothies for dinner.

[Rangia]

Potato salad or pasta salad could all be made as a meal by adding chunks of salami or sausages or added to something like sandwiches.

We could do fruit salad here as well as a side or main.

We have been known to have veggies and veggie dip but if you need more than sliced veggies then add cubed ham, sausages, salami and perhaps some cheese cubes or pickles. Add crackers even. (Great grazing tray for a night playing boardgames with the family!)

Salads though can also be made from a variety of veggies. Such as Tomato Salad, Cucumber Salad, Carrot salad with yogurt dressing and etc.

Another thing we enjoy is making instant mash potatoes then added things like you are making a stuffed baked potato. I also hear you can make twice baked potatoes freeze them, then just heat in Microwave and add to them like a baked potato.

Smoothies for dinner is yummy.

[joyofsix]

I like pasta salad (usually make ahead, boil pasta while it's cool), rice salad, eggs&toast, fruit salad and cheese&crackers, and I'm a fan of sandwiches and wraps. Ham, brie and apple wrap. Yum! Spinach or lettuce, feta and olive, hummus in pita, beans in a tortilla (just zap in microwave). Sometimes I'll go against logic and eat a bowl of spicy ramen figuring the sweat will cool me off.

[JoJoBean8]

I feel your pain I am in Philly and it's really humid here too. Tonight for dinner I am making tuna melts on top of portabello mushrooms. Good for a hot night and healthy to boot. When it gets hot I either use the crock pot, have Hubby grill something, or we eat on the porch where it is always cooler.

[WV_mom_of2]

I do salads(chef, potato, macaroni) or sub sandwiches. I also have dh grill outside or use the crockpot.

How about cooking up some things on cooler days for the freezer? Then you could just pop it in the microwave to heat it up and have a nice meal?

[Ceashels]

When young, our hot night meals were chicken salad stuffed in tomatoes with pasta or potato salad on the side.

Can you cook some chicken in a crockpot outside of the house?

[Momto2Boyz]

When it gets really hot here (100+), we stop using any type of "cooking device" in the house except the microwave. Becuase even a fry pan or the crock pot heats up the house when it is that hot.

I normally buy regular bacon, but when it's really hot, I keep a package of pre-cooked bacon in the house and make BLT's. You can heat the bacon up in the microwave...or just even eat it at room temp!

If I use the crockpot, I set it up out on DH's workbench in the garage and let it cook out there all day. Then it isn't heating up the house!

Or we just stick to grilling foods. Hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken on the grill...things like that. Granted, someone gets the miserable job of standing next to the grill, but at least the house doesn't heat up!

[Shelli_wnj]

Some things I do were already stated - grill, sandwiches, crockpot. My mil gave me a microwave cookbook. I dont usually like cooking in the micro, but it comes in handy on those 90-100 degree days!

[tracyq]

You can do little pizzas in the toaster oven or on the grill. A simple Caprese Bruschetta (basil, fresh mozzerella and tomato makes up Caprese) would be yummy.

A recipe for Fusilli alla Caprese that looks very simple can be found here:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/e...ipe/index.html. It's good to read all of the comments after the recipe (can click the comments link) so you can see how you might change it. The comments are put there by people who have tried the recipe, and are extremely helpful!

Blessings,
Tracy Q.

[LynnLC]

Subs and some sort of cold salad.

[jlaporte]

i do all the above but i add the crock pot. i use it nearly 4 times aweek. make double batches so i just have to nuke left overs.

[MomToTwoBoys]

I cook everything on the grill, in the crockpot or in the rice cooker. I try to eat cold salads that I prepare early in the day when it doesn't get too hot and then I make enough to last two dinners. I also use my skillet, which is nice.