Summertime Cooking Swap – 2014

Confession: This is definitely the week in the summer when everything goes downhill as far as planning, cooking, and general attitude. This is the week when I realize that I am accomplishing roughly half of what I intended, my garden is weedy again, and nobody knows any Spanish yet. This is the week when everyone says “Mom, I’m hungry” all.the.time, in every language they can think of (English, American Sign Language, Whine-n-Pout, Thievery, Pantomime, Deafening Bellow, and Swahili). This is the week when the Back to School sales start lookin prit-ty good…

(I knew I would feel guilty for saying that.)

Please tell me what to cook! I’m bored to tears with my planned menus.

Last year this time we did an idea swap, remember? Still some great ideas over there for anyone who wants to browse through them. Let’s do it again, shall we? What do you like to cook in the summer?

This summer we’ve loved

  • Homemade pizza

pizza

  • Strawberry shortcake

(Here’s our new favorite recipe—I add an egg and go easy on the salt)

shortcake

  • Grilled burgers

(Gina has two winner recipes I keep using over and over: BBQ Burgers and Chili Burgers)

hamburgers

  • and Barbecued chicken salad.

salad

That’s greens, tomato, avocado, beans, corn, and cheese—topped with baked or rotisserie chicken, deboned and brushed with your favorite barbecue sauce.

Your turn! What do you like to cook eat?
Keep it relatively simple. Include a recipe or a link as you wish.

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Wendy
9 years ago

Oh, oh, I am listening. I have been floundering in this dept. and suddenly, I have to feed a work crew too. Ugg! Today was pulled chicken sandwiches and coleslaw.

Also if you want to add a wonderful spin to your pizza, use bacon instead of pepperoni. We love it! Add some fried jalapeno’s and pineapple and it is super yummy. Also melt a few tablespoons of butter and mix in some garlic powder, brush on crush of pizza right when it comes out of the oven.

Now I am waiting for more inspiration! 🙂

Wendy
9 years ago
Reply to  Wendy

I thought of a recipe I should add. Chalupa Grande http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/chalupa-grande. I have always made it with a roasting chicken, instead of the pork, but it is wonderful any way you serve it. We like it over rice, in tortilla’s , for taco salad, etc.

9 years ago

Exactly a year ago, I turned out a recipe with…wait for it… zucchini! I like it just as well this summer as I did then. 🙂 http://wocketinmypocket.com/2013/07/26/the-most-generous-veg-of-all/

9 years ago

Something I do alot in the summer is thaw bone-in chicken overnight. In the morning, I grill it lightly, seasoning it with whatever strikes my fancy. Then it goes in the crockpot, and I pour a bit of BBQ sauce over each piece. Put a bunch of sliced onions on top. Turn on low and let it cook all day. By supper time, it’s falling off the bone and yummy! Serve with aside of rice and a salad or fresh veggies from the garden. For a full course meal, add bread! Its’s super simple, super yummy, and doesn’t heat up your house! You can try a variety of sauces – I buy anything on sale that sounds good, or pour several mostly empty bottles together, add a little water to make it reach, and call it good. I have yet to have a dish turn out less-than-yummy!

9 years ago

Where did that chili burger recipe come from? I completely forgot it! How can a favorite recipe be so off my mind to not be made for a couple years?

Thanks for the reminder!
Gina

Shaunda
9 years ago

uh………ummmmmmmmmmmm…………

watermelon
fresh fruit smoothies
Domino’s Pizza
BLT Sandwiches (with a sliced hard boiled egg)
cold cereal
haystacks
fresh raw veggies
soft pretzel sandwiches

Christa
9 years ago

Our family loves BLT Pizza !! Use a bre-baked (16 in.) or your own homemade pizza crust. Stir together 1/2 c. mayo, 2 tsp. dried basil, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder & 1/8 tsp. onion powder. Spread this over crust, and add mozzarella cheese, and cooked, crumbled bacon. Bake @ 425 for 8-12 minutes. Serve w/ sliced tomatoes and lettuce. Absolutely fantastic !!!!! We can easily eat this once a week all summer.

Janelle
9 years ago

I’ve been doing lots of stuffed peppers – instant Uncle Ben’s Rice mixture, stuffed inside a whole (but de-seeded) red or yellow pepper, wrapped in tinfoil and bbq’d at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, alongside salmon fillet or chicken breast or chicken fingers. Other than that, I’m serving lots of Shaunda’s menu suggestions.

Marlene
9 years ago

I’m inspired to use the fresh fruits and vegetables from the season and not much else. Meanwhile, how to use meat is about to get the best of me. I’m more inclined to eat meatless at this time of year.

We like Newfoundland Boiled Dinner (More with Less cookbook), really more like a New England boil. I’m adding the fresh vegetables current in the garden rather than all the root vegetables. Stir fry and gumbo with rice are two other favorites. When they’re ripe, we’ll be doing tomato sandwiches, and pepper/potato/sausage bakes.

9 years ago

My best marriage of tasty, decently healthy, easy, and rock bottom cheap is this: new potatoes cooked in ham broth, with a few chunks of ham and handfuls of fresh kale added toward the end of the boiling. Fried corncakes or baked cornbread with butter and honey make a lovely side. Jolynn

Donna
9 years ago

we love rice pizza with veggies and cheese. 2 cups cooked rice, 2 eggs, 1/3 cup cottage cheese and spices make up the crust. pizza sauce, sautéed zuchinni, onions, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, oregano, parsley, and pepperoni make up the toppings. or vary it. chicken and peppers, sausage and mushrooms etc.

Mama Zook
9 years ago

We enjoyed so much good cooking at your house this weekend, Shari, and I loved all the fresh blueberries…I found myself walking through the kitchen and picking up a handful of those delicious orbs and tossing them into my mouth!! Thanks for the ones that are now in my freezer!!!

ljh
9 years ago

Chicken Fajitas and Taco Salad are main staples at our house. We also love fish with a side of “burnt broccoli” (as my sons put it) and baked beans. If you like broccoli you should try baked broccoli. Smear florets in oil making sure each piece is well coated. Then generously sprinkle garlic salt over it all and bake at 400 for about 20-25 minutes-just until it starts to “burn”. If you like the burnt taste do it a little longer. There is grabs for the most burnt ones around here. 🙂

Colleen
9 years ago

A summer favourite of mine is to cook our whole dinner in a foil pack on the BBQ. It’s easy clean-up and doesn’t heat up the kitchen on an already warm day. Butter a large piece of heavy duty foil. Cut sausage into short links. Place on foil. Add as many or few veggies as you desire. Tonight I did, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, yellow zucchini, onions. Green beans are also good. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper as you add each layer. Dot with butter. Wrap securely with a couple more layers of foil. Toss on BBQ for 30-40 min. Slide pack on to cookie sheet to serve. A green salad would round off this meal nicely. This meal tastes best served outside on your deck or patio. :).

Shari
9 years ago

A friend just emailed me this recipe… and says another friend shared it with her first… 🙂 Yum!

Crock Pot Chicken w/ Black Beans & Cream Cheese

4-5 boneless chicken breasts
1 – (15.5 oz.) can black beans
1 (15 oz) can corn
1 (15 oz.) jar salsa – any kind
1 (8 oz.) cream cheese

Directions:
1. Take 4-5 frozen (yes frozen) boneless chicken breasts and put in crockpot
2. Add drained black beans, salsa, and drained corn (or use your own frozen corn & don’t drain).
3. Keep in crock pot on high for about 4-5 hours or until chicken is done
4. Add 1 pkg. cream cheese (just throw it on top) and let sit for about 30 min.

Tasty served over rice.

9 years ago
Reply to  Shari

We had this for lunch today. My salsa skeptics turned up their noses until they tasted it, then they were asking for seconds. 🙂 I will definitely make it again.

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