Warm weather is upon us, so I thought a thread about what we like to make and eat in the summer would be fun.
I especially like to do sandwiches and crock pot foods and things that don't need to heat the whole house up. I have both a George foreman grill and a sandwich maker along with two crockpots. They get a real workout in the summer. We don't have a grill that works so I don't grill.
One of our favorite quick things is to do grilled cheese in the sandwich maker. Lots of the time we do a healthier sort of grilled cheese by making toast and then putting slices of american cheese on them and microwaving them for a few minutes. Really cuts down on the grease and fat, esp with lower fat cheese.
But with the sandwich maker I use a thin smear of cream cheese, sliced american or sharp american (from the deli), and then spray the cooking surfaces with cooking oil spray. I do NOT butter the bread or spray it directly. It gets some oil from the spray and that is enough to make it yummy.
If we have it, this is yummy with a bit of good ham or crispy bacon. The kids like to dip the sandwiches in ranch as they eat.
I also do a great salad of diced roma tomatoes, burpless cucumber, thin sliced red onion and some chopped fresh basil in a dressing of olive or grapeseed oil, vinegar and a little bit of sugar. I let this sit for a few hours up to a day (never lasts longer than that) and the flavors blend super well.
Years ago husband and the kids fell in love with the Tuna Skroodle at Souper Salads. It is a pasta salad with tuna in it, served cold. I mix shaped pasta like rotini or farfalle with a can of tuna, ranch, mayo, chopped cucumber and shredded carrot, sometimes even a big handful of shredded broccoli stems (TONS of nutrients, fiber, fairly neutral flavor, good texture for us) and chopped eggs.
My absolute FAVORITE summer dessert is frozen lemonade pie. I fell in LOVE with this when I worked at Bob Evans. Thankfully as a manager I was able to learn their recipes for stuff they made in the store like this and their ice cream pies.
Lemonade pie has a graham cracker crust. Mix 1/2 of a container of lemonade concentrate (thawed) with 1 can of sweetened condensed milk (like Eagle milk but any brand will work). If you want to add yellow food color you should do this at this point, just a couple of drops. I don't use it. Then I whip 2 cups of whipping cream (aka heavy cream) with 2 teaspoons of cornstarch. You can use a small container of cool whip type topping if you want. You can put 1/4 cup of sugar in the cream as you whip it if you want, though we like it a bit tarter so we leave it out. Fold the cream and lemonade concentrate mixture together just until mixed. Put into the crust and freeze at least 3-4 hours. You can sprinkle the top with colored sugar or other sprinkles if desired. Serve frozen. YUM!!
The cornstarch in the whipped cream will stabilize it and keep it from deflating. This can be done in most any recipe calling for whipped cream. There is a company called Oetker or Dr. Oetker, forget which, that sells packets of stuff called stabilizer for whipped cream. It is basically corn starch and stuff to keep it from caking. The genreal rule is 1 tsp cornstarch for every cup of cream. Put it in the cream when you start to whip it and then whip as normal. It can make a big difference in how well a dessert holds up if you serve it in a hot room or if you whip the cream ahead of time.
I hope you all enjoy the recipes. I cannot wait to see and try some of your favorite summer recipes!!! Also if anyone has recipes using crescent rolls (from the tubes in the dairy section) I would love to have them. Walmart now makes a generic version that is just as good so they are a lot mroe affordable for us.
I especially like to do sandwiches and crock pot foods and things that don't need to heat the whole house up. I have both a George foreman grill and a sandwich maker along with two crockpots. They get a real workout in the summer. We don't have a grill that works so I don't grill.
One of our favorite quick things is to do grilled cheese in the sandwich maker. Lots of the time we do a healthier sort of grilled cheese by making toast and then putting slices of american cheese on them and microwaving them for a few minutes. Really cuts down on the grease and fat, esp with lower fat cheese.
But with the sandwich maker I use a thin smear of cream cheese, sliced american or sharp american (from the deli), and then spray the cooking surfaces with cooking oil spray. I do NOT butter the bread or spray it directly. It gets some oil from the spray and that is enough to make it yummy.
If we have it, this is yummy with a bit of good ham or crispy bacon. The kids like to dip the sandwiches in ranch as they eat.
I also do a great salad of diced roma tomatoes, burpless cucumber, thin sliced red onion and some chopped fresh basil in a dressing of olive or grapeseed oil, vinegar and a little bit of sugar. I let this sit for a few hours up to a day (never lasts longer than that) and the flavors blend super well.
Years ago husband and the kids fell in love with the Tuna Skroodle at Souper Salads. It is a pasta salad with tuna in it, served cold. I mix shaped pasta like rotini or farfalle with a can of tuna, ranch, mayo, chopped cucumber and shredded carrot, sometimes even a big handful of shredded broccoli stems (TONS of nutrients, fiber, fairly neutral flavor, good texture for us) and chopped eggs.
My absolute FAVORITE summer dessert is frozen lemonade pie. I fell in LOVE with this when I worked at Bob Evans. Thankfully as a manager I was able to learn their recipes for stuff they made in the store like this and their ice cream pies.
Lemonade pie has a graham cracker crust. Mix 1/2 of a container of lemonade concentrate (thawed) with 1 can of sweetened condensed milk (like Eagle milk but any brand will work). If you want to add yellow food color you should do this at this point, just a couple of drops. I don't use it. Then I whip 2 cups of whipping cream (aka heavy cream) with 2 teaspoons of cornstarch. You can use a small container of cool whip type topping if you want. You can put 1/4 cup of sugar in the cream as you whip it if you want, though we like it a bit tarter so we leave it out. Fold the cream and lemonade concentrate mixture together just until mixed. Put into the crust and freeze at least 3-4 hours. You can sprinkle the top with colored sugar or other sprinkles if desired. Serve frozen. YUM!!
The cornstarch in the whipped cream will stabilize it and keep it from deflating. This can be done in most any recipe calling for whipped cream. There is a company called Oetker or Dr. Oetker, forget which, that sells packets of stuff called stabilizer for whipped cream. It is basically corn starch and stuff to keep it from caking. The genreal rule is 1 tsp cornstarch for every cup of cream. Put it in the cream when you start to whip it and then whip as normal. It can make a big difference in how well a dessert holds up if you serve it in a hot room or if you whip the cream ahead of time.
I hope you all enjoy the recipes. I cannot wait to see and try some of your favorite summer recipes!!! Also if anyone has recipes using crescent rolls (from the tubes in the dairy section) I would love to have them. Walmart now makes a generic version that is just as good so they are a lot mroe affordable for us.
