Does anyone else get food amnesia? I have been feeding a family for almost 12 years and yet I always feel like I am starting from scratch. It is finally warming up here so now I am aflood, mentally with stews, casseroles, soups, all sorts of tasty wintery foods. I have no idea what we eat in the summer.
Help help! Three children and one very large man (6’6″, quite svelte) are looking to me and I’m plum out of ideas. I am at that state where I would prefer to drive by Meijer and just throw money into the parking lot. Was very brave tonight and shopped to get us through the middle of the week.
No dietary restrictions to consider as I have given up all food rules(more later).
Come on people, in the words of a prayer my son offers in desperation, “We nee sum help!”
I’m doing the same thing. All I can think of is a big pot of chili these days.
Let’s see, summer meal parameters…
-can’t take too much time to prepare when you want to be outside enjoying the sunshine
-can’t run the oven too long or you’ll heat up the house–unless you have AC, but we don’t
-can’t be too heavy, yet at the same time must adequately fill up increasingly active bodies
Ideas…
-Grill something outdoors, plus a big salad and fruit kabobs
Hmmm…that’s about all that I can think of. Fortunately, there could be endless variation within that one basic formula. I think I could do it every night of the summer. Must remember to ALWAYS have something in a zip-lock, marinating and NEVER run out of propane–or charcoal or whatever.
We are off to camp tomorrow, so I won’t have to face the “What am I going to make for dinner?” puzzle for a whole week! Yee-hah!
Hope your other readers prove more helpful.
Home-made ice cream – although you might not want that for your main course.
Oriental chicken salad; chicken stir-fry; pork chops; pizza; hamburger patties made just like meat loaf but cooked under the broiler instead (much faster) with macaroni & cheese; spaghetti; tacos or burritos or fajitas with Spanish rice; “hero” sandwiches (lots of deli meats and cheeses, lettuce & tomatoes, green peppers, onions, etc.; sloppy joes. Many of these are “hot” meals but not “heavy” meals. Use potato salad instead of hot potatoes. Add jello fruit salad to any meal for a nice cool, yummy treat! Sometimes use fresh vegies instead of hot vegies. There ya go–should get ya thru the summer!
Mrs. D.,
Thank you! I just get into ruts. This day in day out, year after year cooking thing can begin to feel heavy.
Hope you are well.
Hey Alison I made a really tasty Macaroni and Cheese Casserole that everyone here loved! It was SUPER easy and reheats beautifully!
It is “Macaroni and Cheese III” off Allrecipes. I added two minced garlic bulbs and about a cup more cheese and put it under the broiler at the end just to get the top brown, but if you don’t than it is an ovenless meal. Just stovetop.
Oh, and I made a TASTY dessert last night too! I’ll tell you about it later.
Love,
Torey
We always use the BBQ in the summer because I hate to turn the oven on. Our favorite is beer can chicken, but you can use any type of dark soda (dr pepper works well, as does cherry coke) Have you done this? You take a can, pour out half of the drink, and then add whatever spices you want. Then you stick a whole chicken over the can and stand it up on the grill. You can rub the bird with olive oil and put some pepper and any spices you like on top – even lemon juice is good. Then put him on the grill on indirect heat for about an hour or until the meat therm. says he’s done. The great part is that you can use the leftover chicken for Mrs.D’s chinese chicken salad the next night! And, there is nothing like cooking a big piece of meat that tells your family that you love them – at least it works for me.
Torey,
Look at you commenting away and with recipes!
Good talking with you today. Can’t wait to see you all.
Sheila,
Just today a friend recommended the can cooking. I had not done it but will try. Paul is the griller in our family but I decided to learn this summer. Thanks so much for posting.
As you can see from my pathetic fridge pics, I am not one to give advice. We eat “items” and not meals. Ho-hum. It always reminds me of the scene from Mermaids where Cher’s character only knows how to fix hor’d’oeuvres for dinner, no meals. Tiny quiches, anyone?