I marinate about any meats and grill them. I also use our gas grill as I would an oven, using indirect heat to roast chickens,and pork roasts...have done a beef tenderloin too come to think of it. To use a gas grill, run one side on med-med high, and use the bun rack on the other side to put your meat on. Alot of times I put a foil pan of water in the middle to to difuse some of the heat and add moisture.
I use my crockpot alot when it's hot too....
tonight, it's 80 here but a nice breeze, so it's sloppy joes and salad!
Lisa

My DH and I have recently found a great newly-opened Mexican supermarket (El Tigre) a few miles from us, and we loooove their made-on-site corn tortillas. We often mash up some canned beans (one of our favorites being Goya brand black beans) with salt, pepper, olive oil, and chopped cilantro, (chopped onion, too, if we aren't going out to tutor anyone that day). We toast the tortillas in a regular toaster and spread them with the bean mixture. The corn and beans are a perfect combination for good protein, and you can add a salad and maybe some canned soup on the side for a fairly filling meal, no real cooking, and not much preparation at all.

(By the way, if anyone else is as crazy about fresh cilantro as we are, if there is a Mexican supermarket near you, it is probably far cheaper than it is in the regular chains. At El Tigre, I can buy 4 times as much for the same price, and it keeps quite a while in the fridge in a jar with an inch or two of water and a plastic bag over it. (Disclaimer: I am not Hispanic and have no connection with El Tigre, other than being a very satisfied customer (along with DH!).

Spaghetti is always easy, too, if you want hot food. I pour boiling water over a cup of textured vegetable protein (made from soybeans and also called TVP) and mix that with some sauteed chopped onion and a jar of spaghetti sauce and I heat the sauce in a covered bowl in the microwave, since everything in it is already cooked. So the only "standing over a hot stove" that you do is when doing the onions; of course you can stand away from it when boiling the spaghetti, lol.

We only eat light carbs once or twice a week, so our main meals are mostly protiens (cooked on the grill)with a salad side. I make differnt salads and keep them ready in the fridge (mixed greens with veggies, or tomatoes and cukes in oil/vinegar, or 3 bean salad)

When it's really hot, we have breakfast for supper. We cook it all in one big skillet. We scramble eggs and add portabella mushrooms, green onions, and asiago cheese and sometimes tomatoes. If we want carbs, we'll cut tiny cubes of potatoes, cook them first in the skillet then add the other things and mix it all together. Simple, easy and only one pan to clean up.

Since it's just the two of us, I don't have to worry about preparing food too much. He doesn't care if I cook or not. Loves it when I do and is fine with it if I don't. If it's really hot, we'll go out (sometimes it's too hot for that, too!).....or have a bowl of cereal.....oatmeal topped with ice cream can't be beat! I usually have meals (and pancakes, DH likes to make PB sandwiches with them) prepared in the freezer that can be heated up. Also keep turkey, tuna, boiled eggs and string cheese on hand for salads, sandwiches and snacking. The few pepper and tomato plants we planted are starting to produce so it's nice to have fresh veggies. I made a salad yesterday of green and banana peppers (had an abundance of them), onions, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and sprinkled it with balsamic vinegar and a little EVOO. YUM!

Woodsy, We do the scrambled egg thing, too.

Jan, I want to try your black bean recipe. I've gotten into the habit of using a lot of bean recipes and I like to try new things.

Sorry for being so wordy today...food does that to me. @:)

SharonG/FL

We do a lot on the grill. I cook my veggies there too. My family really likes broccoli with lemon pepper seasoning on it. I cook it in a foil bag on the grill.

Sometimes if it is going to be really hot we will cook up several pounds of hamburgers and some hot dogs and put in the freezer on the weekend. Then we eat off of that for a few days. I also make different kinds of pasta salad and potato salads in the fridge to go with them.

We have three young boys that can be picky about meat and since they don't really want to eat much when it is so hot anyway, this works out well.

We also use sugar free pudding and make our own jello pops in the freezer for deserts.

Lynette

Same here, in the summers I mainly marinate inside and then grill outdoors on the BBQ. In the summer heat, the only times I really use the oven inside is for baking pizzas (which are delicious by the way - totally worth the extra indoor heat!)

We do a lot of stuff on the grill - marinated chicken and veggies (tomatoes, mushrooms, green peppers and onions) on the grill; corn on the grill, stuffed chicken on the grill, stuff like that.

Lately, I've been making a lot of pasta salads. All recipes come complete with commentary! ;-)

My favorite is tuna salad:

3 C uncooked noodles (I like shell, my mom likes macaroni)
2 C frozen peas, thawed
1/2 C whipping cream, whipped into peaks (but NOT into butter, silly boyfriend...)
about 1 C mayo (I use miracle whip, light. you can use more mayo and ignore the whipping cream, but to me, it makes it a little heavy)
2 cans tuna (lately, I've been using 4)
1/2 C onions (sweet, walla walla are my favorite)

Cook noodles until tender. Chill. Mix tuna, onions, noodles and peas. Fold mayo into whipping cream. Gently stir all together until everything is coated.

Japanese Chicken Salad

4-5 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed (honestly, until I looked up the recipe, I had no idea this normally has chicken in it. We usually leave it out)
1 small head cabbage
shredded carrots (in lieu of cabbage and shredded carrots, 1 bag of the 'coleslaw mix' - it's sooo much easier!)
1 package ramen (chicken flavor) broken up
4 green onions, chopped
1/4 c sesame seeds (I usually use sunflower seeds)

Dressing:
1 package seasoning from noodles
2 Tbsp sugar
1 C oil (recipe says olive, I always use canola, and no one can tell the difference)
1 tsp pepper
1/4 C + 2 Tbsp white vinegar

Blend dressing. Combine all ingredients. Toss with dressing.

Italian Style Pasta Salad

1 can (14.5 oz) pitite-cut tomatoes with onions and garlic, undrained (really, don't drain it. the time I thought 'oh, let's drain it!' the salad ended up a little dry)
1 can (6 oz) black olives, drained
3 oz pepperoni, cut into halves or fourths
shredded Parmesan
12 oz (uncooked) tri-color rotini
8 oz Italian-Caesar dressing (I always have this on hand, but don't actually put it IN the salad, because my family is allergic to a lot of the ingredients. You may want to try it without, and then add later. I put it on mine.)

Cook pasta, chill. Combine all except pasta, mix. Add pasta, mix. Gently coat with dressing.

Not a main dish, but one of my favorite summertime things... Pickle Roll-ups, and not an exact science.

whole pickles
ham or corned beef (I like them better with the beef, my cousins won't eat them with it... go figure)
plain cream cheese

GENTLY spread cream cheese on corned beef, thinly. Roll up pickle. Chop into approx 1/2 inch pieces. Sometimes, you'll need to put a little extra cream cheese on the edges once you roll it up to kind of glue the piece together.

Happy eating,

~ Kit

Sharon: Those canned white cannellini beans are good done the same way. In fact, most unflavored-except-for-salt canned beans are good treated this way; we even like kidney beans. We don't eat much meat except for occasional chicken or canned salmon or sardines, so we do eat plenty of beans!

Biwako, I am going to try some of your bean dishes. I don't like meat very much in hot weather and I would rather go hungry than eat hot dogs!
Jean

In the summer I like to marinade chicken(already cut for placing on skewers) in a satay sauce made with teriaki sauce,peanutbutter, ginger & lime, then skewer & BBQ.
I know this is horrible but Trader Joes sell precooked rice in the freezer, just microwave! Very nice summery meal.