Springtime Cooking for Summertime Play

Photo by Jessica To'oto'o on Unsplash

I love summer!

I love the blue skies, the sunshine, the warm breezes, and the bird song. I love the lazy days, the play outside, the lack of routines. I don't love heating up the house with cooking, however, so now is the time I start cooking ahead to make summer easier for us at meal times.

I realized today that we're well into summer weather already, and I'm fortunate to have had a jump start in freezer stocking, but it's never too late to start planning and executing some of these tips and tricks for yourself. Here's a short list on ways to get started planning for your own hot-weather meal ideas.

1. Make a list, brainstorming all the foods you like to eat in the summer
2. Separate that list into its cooking needs- grill, slow cooker, stovetop, oven, no cooking, etc.
3. Note what requires cooking, and research if (and how) it can be done ahead of time.

• Can it be partially made and frozen, then reconstructed when you want to eat it?
• Is it something that can be fully made and reheated in the microwave?
• Is there a ready-to-eat substitution you can budget for?

4. Start cooking and stocking your freezer.

• Double your usual meals (as applicable) and package the second half
• Plan on some days being less nice than others, so you can re-stock your favourite freezer foods
• Cook ahead pizza, burgers, meatballs, casseroles so they can be reheated when needed
• Small, individual sized meals reheat quicker than large ones, so consider miniaturizing your favourites- meatloaf muffins instead of meatloaf, for example.

5. Consider how to move your cooking outside.

• Grill
• Slow Cooker or Induction Stovetop on your deck
• Fire pit
• Other people's homes (pot luck meals, neighborhood progressive dinners, etc)

As a family we like to eat a lot of fresh fruit, vegetables, and sandwiches in the summer, but we also enjoy "bowl foods", such as chili and meat sauce and pasta.

Having lean proteins cooked and sliced in our freezer means sandwiches are easy to pull together, and by consciously doubling our chili, meat sauce, casseroles, and meatballs now means there's a supply of meals ready to pull out and reheat. I plan on roasting chicken this week as well as cooking a pork loin in the next week or so in order to put away extra cooked meat for summer. It also makes sense to batch cook rice and quinoa to keep in your freezer so your side dish is ready to serve or turn into something else, such as fried rice, filler for meatloaf, or a salad ingredient.

Recognizing that sometimes summer isn't hot in Alberta, there are also frozen portions of cooked soup ready to reheat on those dreary days or for quick lunches or dinners to serve with salad and sandwiches.

Did this jump start your ideas? I hope you have found some inspiration to keep summer happy and carefree. Cooking doesn't have to stress you out, and I'm happy to offer you custom-built solutions for your situation. Email me here to learn more about my pre-summer cooking mini session.

All the best today, friends!
Stacy
#seasons
#summerrecipe
#mealprepideas
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You may also like:
​Fish Taco Recipe
Cool Summer Meals
​Planning Meals in the Heat


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