Well, it’s blazing hot outside.  If you’re like me, you try not to turn on the stove if you can help it.  Here are some tips to keep you out of the kitchen and keep your house cooler.

 1.  When it’s time to cook something that will freeze well (such as lasagnas, spaghetti sauce, casseroles, chili, etc.) make a double or triple batch for future meals.  These are also great for days when you’re in a hurry.  It will prevent you from spending money on eating out.  Check out my 25 freezing tips.

 2. Prepare larger quantities of meat in advance for future meals and freeze it.  I’ve done this before with hamburger.  When hamburger or ground chuck goes on sale, cook it and drain the fat, then freeze it into the portion sizes you need.  These will come in handy when making spaghetti, lasagna, tacos, shepherd’s pie, etc. 

 3.  Put the crock pot to use.  Toss the ingredients in the crock pot and come back in 6-8 hours for a nice hot meal.  Here are my favorite crock pot recipes or here’s a link to a carnival of crock pot recipes.

 4.  Try simple meals.  Eggs, omelets, cottage cheese with fruit, etc.  You don’t have to spend an hour cooking to enjoy dinner.

 5.  Turn on the grill (or get the charcoal started).  You can prepare your entire meal on the grill.  Grill chicken, potatoes, and vegetables all at once.  Here is the carnival of the recipes, grill edition that I hosted.  You’ll probably find some good recipe ideas there.  Sometimes I grill extra food for lunch the next day.  I also like to grill extra chicken so that we can have salads the next night.  Grilled chicken is yummy on salad! 

 6.  Take time to try new recipes for salads and sandwiches.  Salads and sandwiches don’t have to be boring.  Try this one for oriental ramen noodle salad.  It’s a great side dish and has been a top read at Thrifty Mommy for a while. 

 7.  Try canned foods.  Why spend hours cooking beans (and heating up your house) when you can buy them in a can?   

 8.  Look for frozen foods that you can use for meals.  Sometimes when I’m in a rush, I use the Delimex frozen taquitos.  Add some Mexican rice and canned refried beans and you have an easy meal that doesn’t heat up the house too much.

 9.  Share with friends.  When I lived in Virginia I had a really great friend to share with.  Sometimes she called me on the way home from work to see if I had anything good to eat.  I’d share my pot of chili or give her half a cake (we couldn’t eat it all, nor did we need to).  She would have us over for dinner regularly or she’d share with us.  Neither of us had children and it kept us from slaving over a stove and it was also a nice treat to try new things.

10.   Try convenience foods, within reason.  I’m not big on convenience foods because of the price, but sometimes they’re worth it.  This week I needed some cole slaw mix.  I decided it was worth paying $1.99 for the 1 lb package of pre-cut cole slaw rather than buying the cabbage and carrots and cutting it up.  It didn’t cost me much extra to buy it pre-cut.  Watch out for pre-cut produce or marinated meats.  They’re pretty costly.

11.  Enjoy fresh vegetables.  You can make a lot of different foods that don’t require much or any cooking.  Try making a pasta salad.  You just cook the rotini noodles and then you can add fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, and other fresh vegetables, then drizzle with Italian dressing.  Try sliced vegetables with a cold ranch dip.  Have a tomato sandwich to go with your pasta salad or add some ham if you need to have some meat.

12.  Try instant foods.  I use these very sparingly because of preservatives.  If you’re in a hurry though, you can open a can of spaghetti sauce, try some of the precooked rice, or mix up some Hamburger Helper.

13.  Cook your food at night.  It’s too hot during the day to try and cool my house while cooking.  Sometimes I will wait until the evening to do my baking.  Last week I waited until evening to make my husband’s birthday cake and the pasta salad and cucumber salad for his party.  It saved me some stress too!

14.  Try smoothies.  Just writing this makes me crave something cold and refreshing.  Take advantage of the fresh fruit we’re having and make a smoothie for breakfast or lunch.  Making smoothies also enables you to try fruits that maybe you normally wouldn’t buy.  Sounds like a great trick way for me to get my kids to eat their fruit!

15. Try using a toaster oven or small convection oven.  I grew up with my mom using a toaster oven and I love it!  I can use it to cook muffins, little pizzas, baked fries, chicken nuggets, and more.  Try these toaster oven recipes.  A great way to cook without turning on the stove.

I know I didn’t cover all the ways to keep from heating up the stove or working hard in the hot kitchen.  Please share your summer cooking tips in the comment section.  Thanks!

image from sxc.hu

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

 2.  Cool foods before placing them in the freezer.

 3.  Wrap foods well to prevent freezer burn.   Freezer burn is the dehydration of foods.

 4.  Pack foods in freezer and microwave safe containers.  This will save time when going to reheat the foods.

 5.  If you want to freeze something in glass, make sure you use glass that is tempered or specificially labeled freezer safe.  Mason jars are probably the best glass to use in the freezer.

 6.  Squeeze out as much air as possible.  If you are using glass, completely fill the container.  If you are freezing sauces, soups, or stews, leave a little room for expansion of the liquids when they freeze.

 7.  Do not stack food that has not been frozen. Wait until the food has been completely frozen before stacking it.

 8.  To prevent waste, keep track of the foods that you have.

 9.  Recipes with a condensed-soup base usually freeze well.

10.  Freeze casseroles unbaked or baked.  Allow additional baking time for frozen casseroles. 

11.  When cooking a casserole, use an instant read thermometer to check the center.  It should reach 160 degrees F.  If not hot enough, continue to bake the casserole and check it every 15 minutes.

12.  If a casserole recipe calls for cheese topping, freeze it without the cheese.  Add the cheese during the last 10 to 20 minutes of cooking.

13.  Store frozen meals at 0 degrees F, or colder. 

14.  For best quality, use foods within three months. 

15.  Label freezer packages with content, date, and cooking instructions.

16.  For quick, single-serving lunches, freeze foods in individual portions.

17.  Blanch or steam all vegetables and cool them quickly in ice water before freezing.  This will save the flavor and texture of the vegetables.

18.  You can freeze fruits with or without sugar, but freezing them with sugar will help retain the texture and color.  Use citric or absorbic acid on lightly colored fruits  such as apples and peaches, to keep them from discoloring.

19.  Repackage meats from the grocery store before freezing, or place the entire package in a freezer safe container or freezer bag.  The plastic wrap on the meats will allow oxygen to get to the meats and enable foods to become easily freezer burned.

20.  If you thaw meat, you should cook it before you refreeze it.

21.  To keep bacteria from growing, thaw foods in the refrigerator.

22.  Slice bread and half bagels before freezing so that you can easily remove the slices you need.  Slip the bagel halves in freezer bag back to back to prevent them from sticking together.

23.  Cool pancakes and waffles before freezing and put a sheet of wax paper inbetween each one.

24.  Another convenient way to freeze soups and broths is to use plastic ice cube trays.  Let the soup or broth cool and then fill the ice cube trays with the liquid.  After it is frozen, pop out the cubes and place in a freezer bag.  Later you can pull out as many as you need.

25.  If the power goes out, frozen food can remain frozen for a few days.  Keep the freezer closed and cover it with blankets, keeping the blankets away from the compressor.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy