Anything that takes awhile in the oven, I do in the morning. Otherwise, while I don't mind turning on the oven, it's for short times unless I feel like sweating. And I have a well insulated and cooled house but still.

The heat saps my energy and desire to cook much though. I wish it would sap my desire to eat too!

Lately, for long cooked foods, the freezer supply of soups and frozen things has been wonderful. I still like a hot, home cooked meal in the summer.

Dad had home cooked frozen waffles, a fried egg and fresh blueberries for dinner. He loved it- anything that doesn't include green and is sweet is a huge plus.

I had a mixture of things that included frozen, homemade, chicken tortilla soup.

I don't have a/c, and I made bread on the weekend. The oven was on just long enough to bake the bread, so 1/2 hour.

I love using the crock pot as much in the summer as in the winter. We still like hot meals in the summer. We have an indoor electric grill/griddle that we use outside on the balcony. Love, love it for grilling meats and vegetables.

I made pasta primavera for dinner which calls for roasting the vegetables....i sauteed them instead and it was just as good.

Not a lot of extreme heat in Wisconsin but I did a cochinita pibil outdoors on the gas Weber rather than pump extra heat into the kitchen. We had several meals from the meat, easily reheated in the microwave and one meal of enchiladas that baked in the toaster oven on a cooler day. I've been known to tote a Nesco roaster oven out to the front porch to bake a cake when I lived in Oklahoma. That was before I had a toaster oven. Toaster ovens are easily portable so those can be taken out to a garage or covered porch, too. But mostly, if it's hot, I plan meals around the Weber and the microwave. Or things like cold chicken salads where I poach the chicken in the mornings while it's still cool and before I close up the house for the day.

It isn't often hot in Portland, but sometimes we do have weeks of >90F and it doesn't cool down at night. Most houses don't have air conditioning. I do but there is only so much that you can do with cooling a 100 year old house with tiny ducts and no insulation.

So during the heat waves I cope thus:

Don't use the main oven. Use the toaster oven if needed.

Pressure cook. One quarter the time on the burners.

Grill outside as much as possible. Use the side burner on the grill.

Lots of salads and other cold foods.

Eat more ice cream.

As an aside, my husband and I were just talking about how air-conditioning has changed neighborhood dynamics. Growing up we always knew what was going on with the neighbors (Johnny was in trouble, what kind of music, laughter, yelling, Johnny was in trouble again, etc:) because everyone's windows were open.

Even though we don't endure Southern summers here in Pittsburgh, there are some hot days. I find that our diet changes in the summer, and I don't necessarily want roasting/braising/simmering and enjoy more simple, fresh produce, actually lighter meals. My son actually just ate grilled corn and fresh tomatoes for dinner last night (although I think a sandwich was made later in the evening ... and ice cream.)

That said, when I do cook/bake it's in the morning (work permitting). Change oven temps/time if possible to double up and minimize oven use. Reheat for dinner with microwave or toaster oven.

Or I cook outdoors on our deck (slow/pressure cooker, grill, nesco) and sometimes imagine my neighbors' pups delight, sneaking up and then off with some bounty:) This is also why I'm STRONGLY considering getting an induction burner.

Basically, anything to keep the kitchen (which gets the late afternoon sun) from getting heated.

Cathy in SWPA

My summer cooking choices shift with the tomato harvest starting in early May about the same time the heat kicks in. Almost every night tomatoes are the featured attraction. Lots of fresh (uncooked) tomato sauces made with cherry tomatoes, burgers with sliced beefsteaks, mini frittatas, salads, slow roasted for sauces or quick sauteed to top pasta or veggies.

Now that the harvest has ended (last night was the final Smashed Sun Golds for the season) I’m in a cooking rut and looking for anything quick, easy, and relatively light. Happens every year. Even with central a/c have no desire to turn on the oven. Breville Smart Oven to the rescue.

Dh pitches in doing some grilling, but that’s pretty much year round. Still I appreciate it, because it simplifies things for me.

I am probably the master of low-energy cooking, and not just in the summer when we have temperatures over 100°F.

- LOTS of NO-Cooking, or almost no-cooking meals ;-). I'll also a place stir-fry in this category, which can be done quickly.

-I have 3 different Solar Ovens/Cookers I use all the time, not just in the summer.

-The induction burner is used almost exclusively to keep the heat out when a cooktop is necessary, as well as using the microwave. I have a number of microwave recipes I've collected over the years, including REAL quick breads.

-LOVE my little Redi-Set Go - indoor grills (I have the small and large one). I have a adapted it to a lot of quick meals using chicken tenderloins or boneless thighs, and the ever-popular 6-minute pizza using a corn tortilla for the crust.

-My microwave is also a convection oven, so it helps keep the heat out of the kitchen. Things bake in approx. 25% less time and you reduce the temperature by 25° - all in a small space. I can stack three 12-inch pizza pans and bake cookies in 5-8 minutes. It will bake 2 full-size loaves of yeast bread in 25-minutes (one loaf in 20-minutes) and NO pre-heating necessary. When checked with a Kill-A-Watt meter, the Sharp will bake 2 loaves of bread for 3-cents while the Zojirushi Bread Machines will bake 1 loaf for 2-cents. The Sharp does a better (and faster) job than a toaster oven, plus it has a larger capacity.

-Cooking in a Thermos - http://www.thermoscooking.com/ A great way to "cook" beans, rice, whole grains.....

-Thermal Cooker - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_cooking I use this for large cuts of meat and use my induction burner to bring the contents to a boil and heat for the necessary amount of time (usually 5-15-minutes, depending on what you are cooking) before placing it in the outside unit. The passive "slow cooker".

-I also made Wonder Ovens (http://prepared-housewives.com/alternative-cooking-wonder-oven-2/), which are another passive method for cooking. I've even made loaves of steamed bread in my Wonder Ovens.

Examples of Cooking Times using the Wonder Oven:

• Whole Chicken – boiling time 20 minutes and Wonder Oven time 5-6 hours
• Steamed Bread – boiling time 10 minutes and Wonder Oven time 2 hours
• Pinto Beans – boiling time 15-20 minutes and Wonder Oven time 5 hours
• Oatmeal – boiling time 10 minutes and Wonder Oven time 1 hour or overnight

-Not a big fan of the slow-cooker (Crock Pot), but I do use it occasionally. The biggest problem with using a slow-cooker is there may NOT be all that much savings in energy used. Check out this link if you want to know more: http://www.cookingmanager.com/slow-cookers-energy-efficient/

-Saladmaster Stainless Steel Cookware - These pans can be stacked so you cook everything on one burner. I can make a pot roast and vegetables in the Dutch Oven, and bake a cake in the top with the dome cover, and cook other things for that meal, or another entire meal, all at the same time on a very low heat.

-Grainlady

A small electric fan and a cold beer, all you need to cook on a hot summer day.

dcarch