Hot Days, Cool Dishes

These past weeks have been so hot, I was running out of cool ideas in the kitchen.  So here some ideas that made our meals more bearable.  Enjoy!

Black bean salad

1.  Great website for recipes:
Trader Joes has a great website with recipes that are easy to make and won't heat up the kitchen. 
My favorites were the Greek Quinoa Salad, Fire Roasted Yellow and Red Pepper Grilled Turkey Sandwich, and Some Enchanted Pizza.  The only one we tried, but didn't like was the Cucumber Soup.  It was edible for Mike and I, but the only child that ate it was my niece. 

2.  Crock pot dishes:
Today, I got out my crock pot to make refried beans.  It is keeping the kitchen cool.  I plan to serve it with guacamole, cheese, and tortilla chips. 
We also had Chicken cooked in the crock pot and then made into chicken salad, with 1/2 yogurt, 1/2 mayonnaise, salt, pepper, dill, and a dash of hot sauce.

3.  Garden Favorites:

Cucumber Salad:  sliced cucumbers, fresh dill, sour cream, and ground black pepper.

Tomato Sandwiches: tomato, celery salt, sliced red onions, mayonnaise  (You can't beat that!)

Hummus, Tomatoes, and Cucumbers in a pita

Blackbean Salad: blackbeans, corn, tomatoes, green peppers, cilantro or basil, olive oil, lemon or lime juice

4.  Meat and Eggs:

Venison Burgers

Chicken Sausages with pasta and veggies

Hardboiled eggs, easy and fast to have for a snack or make into egg salad sandwiches

5.  Picnic Outside or in an Air-Conditioned room!  We have done both of these all week because it was so so hot in our dining room!  It was festive, with a blanket in the kid's rooms.