When the temperature is boiling outside, we do not feel like heating up the kitchen in order to prepare dinner.
Luckily there are several ways that one can feed their family and still keep cool. The early morning meal of breakfast is definitely easy as yogurt, fresh fruit, granola, cereals and smoothies are yumminess to provide a healthy start to your day any time of year.
On the other hand, dinnertime can be a bit more of a challenge.
Here are some simple ideas:
Sandwich Night
Having a weekly sandwich night is a great way to both give Mom a break from cooking one night a week and it allows for not turning on the oven. Creativity is the name of the game. Put out favorite sandwich fixings and condiments and let everyone make their own creation. Someone might want peanut butter and jelly or tuna fish while someone else might want to make a lunch meat sub. Try offering alternatives to bread such as tortillas, to create wraps or panini, or pita pockets or even toasted English muffins.
Main Dish Salads
On a hot day, a cool, crunchy, crisp salad can be refreshing. During the summer, one's body requires additional water which can be found in a salad that is the main dish.
Sometimes it is preferred to have the salad as a meal. You can accomplish this by adding chicken which has been cooked and cooled, tuna, shrimp, beans, shredded cheese and chopped up hard boiled eggs which will provide additional protein.
Take It Outside
By firing up your grill, that is. By cooking your meat and vegetables on the grill outside, the heat is kept out of the kitchen. For dessert, serve a cold fruit salad. Delicious!
Use Smaller Appliances
If you use a smaller appliance, you can still have a hot meal if you desire one. The toaster oven or slow cooker definitely create less heat than the stove or oven. By cooking on your stove top, you can prepare meals that cook very quickly such as omelets, quesadillas and stir fries.
Eat it Cold
Have you thought about a cool or room temperature dish for dinner? Possible ideas would be sushi, chips and dips, hummus with pita and vegetables and even gazpacho. Perfect ideas for lunch or dinner.
Go Raw
The summertime is the perfect time for consuming more raw vegetables and fruits. If you are interested in pursuing a raw foods diet, short term or long term, there are raw food cookbooks with plenty of recipes that you can experiment with.