Cool Cooking
My house is no longer vibrating. Once again I have sent the "kids" to grandma's in Colorado. I usually spend the first day just enjoying the novelty of a peaceful house. Oh I know they don't live with me any more but with the phone calls and them popping in it keeps me busy. Of course I wouldn't have it any other way but like any mom (even if my darlings are in their 30's) it's nice to have a break. I won't be too lonely though because David (my son) lives within walking distant so I still have a few kids and grandkids around.
I'm in the cool basement with the grand dog trying to get some work done and a break from the heat. I got to thinking about all the questions we get this time of year from our readers on how to "cook cool". I have spent most of my summers in 100 degree weather with no a/c so I had to learn quick on how to "cook cool". I don't have room to tell you everything I have learned today but I can give you a few hints.
Some of these things may seem like no brainers but if you're like me I need to be reminded of the basics sometimes. First in the cool of the morning I clean a large supply of carrot sticks and celery sticks and keep them in water in the fridge. I then boil up a dozen or so eggs to store. I make sure I always have lettuce and grated cheese (I buy my cheese already grated because the grated cost just the same as block cheese. I believe in doing a lot of things from scratch but not in killing myself over grating cheese. Besides I don't care how careful I am I almost always grate a knuckle so I have to really psychic myself up to do it.)
Anyway if you have a few things like this plus some lunch meat you can fix some fast and easy meals on a very hot tiring day. I usually would have chef salads at least twice a week in the summer. Just chop up some of your cleaned carrot and celery sticks, slice your hard boiled eggs, sliver some of you lunch meat and you have a chef salad. You can add any other veggies you want too. The point is if everything is cleaned it makes cooking in a hot kitchen so much easier and faster. Don't forget the cheese.
You can use those same eggs to make up egg salad sandwiches or add them to tuna, serve on lettuce for a tuna salad. You can use the cleaned celery to add to the tuna salad too.
Keep it simple. Some of the best summer meals I would have was when I went to my grandma's in Iowa. She would slice up some tomatoes. Put sliced cucumbers in salt and vinegar water and set out some cottage cheese. For an extra hearty meal she would add some soft bread with butter and apple butter. It was delicious.
Tawra was born in July and after many long hard hours of labor they brought me for my first meal, a fruit platter with all kinds of fresh fruit and crackers and cheese. If you ask me what one of the top 5 meals of my life was it would be one of them. Simple, cool and refreshing. You can do the same for your family.
There are some families that have very hearty eaters with teenage boys etc. and you have to actually cook. If you do than bring out the crock pot. There really isn't as much mystery to using a crock pot as you think. You can cook almost anything in them. A couple of things to remember though is that the low setting is equal to 250 degrees in the oven and the high is 350 degrees. That may help with how to and how long to cook your "regular" recipes in a crock pot. It also helps to layer things in order of how long it takes them to cook plus things that take almost no cooking time should be added last. I sometimes add things like sour cream and cheese the very last few minutes of cooking too.
If you do need to heat up the oven, I would usually cook things at 250 degrees. It took longer but didn't seem to heat up the kitchen as much. It is a little late this year but next year you might think about stocking your freezer in May to help tie you through the first couple of months of summer. You could do things like cook some roasts to have for bar b que beef sandwiches or just a good old fashion roast beef sandwich with mayo and lettuce. You could have a couple of chickens cooked and deboned to use for chicken salad, sprinkled on salads or sandwiches. All you need to do is grab it out of the freezer, thaw and you are ready to go.
You could also stock up on a few things like muffins and banana bread that keep well in the freezer.
Well like I said I couldn't cover as much as I would like but hope this helps give you some ideas for the coming hot days. Have a super great day everyone. Jill
I'm in the cool basement with the grand dog trying to get some work done and a break from the heat. I got to thinking about all the questions we get this time of year from our readers on how to "cook cool". I have spent most of my summers in 100 degree weather with no a/c so I had to learn quick on how to "cook cool". I don't have room to tell you everything I have learned today but I can give you a few hints.
Some of these things may seem like no brainers but if you're like me I need to be reminded of the basics sometimes. First in the cool of the morning I clean a large supply of carrot sticks and celery sticks and keep them in water in the fridge. I then boil up a dozen or so eggs to store. I make sure I always have lettuce and grated cheese (I buy my cheese already grated because the grated cost just the same as block cheese. I believe in doing a lot of things from scratch but not in killing myself over grating cheese. Besides I don't care how careful I am I almost always grate a knuckle so I have to really psychic myself up to do it.)
Anyway if you have a few things like this plus some lunch meat you can fix some fast and easy meals on a very hot tiring day. I usually would have chef salads at least twice a week in the summer. Just chop up some of your cleaned carrot and celery sticks, slice your hard boiled eggs, sliver some of you lunch meat and you have a chef salad. You can add any other veggies you want too. The point is if everything is cleaned it makes cooking in a hot kitchen so much easier and faster. Don't forget the cheese.
You can use those same eggs to make up egg salad sandwiches or add them to tuna, serve on lettuce for a tuna salad. You can use the cleaned celery to add to the tuna salad too.
Keep it simple. Some of the best summer meals I would have was when I went to my grandma's in Iowa. She would slice up some tomatoes. Put sliced cucumbers in salt and vinegar water and set out some cottage cheese. For an extra hearty meal she would add some soft bread with butter and apple butter. It was delicious.
Tawra was born in July and after many long hard hours of labor they brought me for my first meal, a fruit platter with all kinds of fresh fruit and crackers and cheese. If you ask me what one of the top 5 meals of my life was it would be one of them. Simple, cool and refreshing. You can do the same for your family.
There are some families that have very hearty eaters with teenage boys etc. and you have to actually cook. If you do than bring out the crock pot. There really isn't as much mystery to using a crock pot as you think. You can cook almost anything in them. A couple of things to remember though is that the low setting is equal to 250 degrees in the oven and the high is 350 degrees. That may help with how to and how long to cook your "regular" recipes in a crock pot. It also helps to layer things in order of how long it takes them to cook plus things that take almost no cooking time should be added last. I sometimes add things like sour cream and cheese the very last few minutes of cooking too.
If you do need to heat up the oven, I would usually cook things at 250 degrees. It took longer but didn't seem to heat up the kitchen as much. It is a little late this year but next year you might think about stocking your freezer in May to help tie you through the first couple of months of summer. You could do things like cook some roasts to have for bar b que beef sandwiches or just a good old fashion roast beef sandwich with mayo and lettuce. You could have a couple of chickens cooked and deboned to use for chicken salad, sprinkled on salads or sandwiches. All you need to do is grab it out of the freezer, thaw and you are ready to go.
You could also stock up on a few things like muffins and banana bread that keep well in the freezer.
Well like I said I couldn't cover as much as I would like but hope this helps give you some ideas for the coming hot days. Have a super great day everyone. Jill
posted by Tawra Jean at 10:49 AM
11 Comments:
One thing I forgot to mention when cooking "cool" is cookies. We know of most of the cool desserts like ice cream but years ago I found out it was just too hot to bake cookies. Store bought cookies cost way more then than they do now. I know that blows everyones theory that prices are so much higher now but that is the truth. My kids loved cookies so I started just making up the cookie dough and let them eat that instead of baking it. They loved that more than the baked cookies. What do you know 25 plus years later some brilliant guy came up with this idea to sell cookie dough in everything and is making millions. He probably got the idea from his hot mom who didn't have a/c. Just think I could have been a millionaire if I had just thought to sell my "dough". :) :) OK I know bad pun. :) Jill
Ladies I recently found this website http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/
I haven't used any of her recipes yet, but they look very good.
Thanks Heather, I checked it out and they do have some good looking recipes. Don't forget that you can take your own basic recipes and using ideas from this website adapt them. Jill
When I cook "cool" I also use those morning hours to cook some type of starch. (In addition to Jill's excellent suggestions like hard-boiled eggs, etc.) This is the time to cook a batch of pasta or rice, or boil potatoes. Cool briefly, then keep in the refrigerator until the evening. Then you can make a quick potato salad, (add some of those eggs!) or a pasta or rice salad with chopped veggies and an oil and vinegar-type dressing. The possibilities are endless, and you're not adding the steam from the boiling pot to the kitchen during the hottest time.
thanks for sharing jill, tawra and heather....
i was just looking for some crock pot recipes too... thanks for posting this website...
i appreciate it... :D
Duh. How could I have forgotten potato salad and cooking the potatoes ahead of time. You see what I mean about having to be reminded of things too. Great tip. I was hoping you guys would give us more ideas. Thanks, Jill
Hi Jill. I have never made the connection until now that the low temp is similar to 250 and the high is similar to 350. I always use the low setting on everything because I prepare the ingredients in the morning and forget it until dinner time. Thanks for pointing that out to me! I guess I just never thought about it.
I just put my roast in the crockpot for tonight's dinner and was so happy that it was already marinated and ready to go because I took care of the seasonings before I froze it. When I prepare my meats for the freezer (because I am usually dividing them from larger packages) I line everything up and season it. I love it, because when I am popping it in the oven or crockpot or on the grill, the flavor has already been added and soaking in for some time. The least I have to do at the last minute, the better.
I label the flavor of seasoning on the package so I am not surprised. It is so much easier to do everything at one time when the seasonings are out. It helps me get a little creative too.
I do this with everything except hamburger meat.
Just another last minute time saver that has helped me so much especially during the summer when I would rather be somewhere else than in the kitchen.
Robin
Robin this is another great idea. I never thought of seasoning the meat before you freeze it. Not only would this be a great time saver but I bet because the seasonings have time to "gel" with the meat that the flavor is even better.
I bake gingerbread men at Christmas each year and because I do so many I make the dough up in Sept., vacuum seal and freeze. One year I ran out of dough and had to mix more of it to use that same day. The cookies weren't near as good as usual and almost tasted flat. I finally figured out that letting them freeze for awhile blended the flavors. I imagine the same thing happens with your meat. I will try this idea. Thanks, Jill
Living in SW Florida where it's almost always too hot to cook inside (kidding, usually just April - October) I use my slow cooker in my screen room. Keeps the heat outside and it's safe. Bellen
Well my husband isn't much for sandwiches for dinner (more of a meat and potatoes kind of guy) so the summer is when he likes to cook outdoors, since I refuse to heat up the kitchen indoors. I usually grocery shop on Saturday and when I come home he takes the meat out and starts marinading it for his Sunday cookout. After church and lunch on Sunday he fires up the grill and cooks most of the meat for the week, usually chicken breast, a few steaks or hamburgers. He sits outside grilling, drinking diet coke, reading and lets our 5 year old play in his pool. Mommy then has free time to finish the house work and take a nap and all are happy. After all the meat is cooked we place it in Ziplocs and just reheat using the microwave during the week. Which make dinner much simpler when you just need to fix a salad, veggie and a starch.
i never even thought of seasoning the meat ahead of time and then freezing it. i think i'll give this a try after my next shopping trip. i'm betting it will be a great time saver and make the meats extra yummy.
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