Food ideas for very hot days?

[RhubarbFool]

It's 35 degrees here and I'm struggling to think of things to feed my children (16 mo, 5yo). No one's got much of an appetite, I don't really want to have the oven on more than I have to, and the boys aren't great salad eaters.

Any ideas? Please?!

we're doing lots of picnic teas

sandwiches or breadsticks/rice cakes and humous
tomatoes and cucumber
olives
raw carrots

mine would happily eat that for every meal lol

or beans on toast

This makes sense - and is doable with little ones! I'm always on my own in the week, as dh works late, so it's hard to do anything complicated with db hanging off my legs/running off into danger.

Thank you, think we will do a lot of this too.

Yesterday I roasted a chicken then let it get luke warm. Served with garden veg - new pots, carrots, courgettes, beans etc also luke warm.

In the evening we had raw carrot/pepper/celery/breadsticks with cream cheese dip and a few squares of cheese and crackers plus home grown raspberries

plus ice lollies

on the menu for this week are dippy eggs and soldiers, homemade pizza, chicken souvlaki in pitta, tuna pasta , pancetta and pea pasta and a gorgeous ricotta al forno dish I've just discovered with crusty bread and raw crudities. we tend to veer away from red meat in the heat.

Thanks taffeta - could you give me your ricotta al forno recipe?!

sure

ricotta al forno - serves 6

knob of butter
150g parmeasn freshly grated plus extar to line tin
2 handfuls fresh basil
handful mint
handful flat leaf parsley
500g fresh ricotta
120ml double cream
2 eggs
salt and black pepper
optional - 100 pine nuts dry fried
opytional - 12 black olives, stoned and chopped

preheat oven 190c/gas 5. Grease a 30cm springform cake tin with butter then coat with grated parmesan, shake off any excess. Put herbs in food processor with half the ricotta and half the cream, blitz until bright green. Add remaining ricotta and cream and with machine running add eggs one by one. Transfer to a large bowl and season with salt and pepper, add pine nuts if using and fold in grated parmesan. Sppon mix into prepared tin and spread olives if using over the top. Bake for 20-30 mins until risen slightly, a brown crust round the edges and centre still soft. Serve immediately. Although I have had it warm and cold and its still yum. Is v rich yet light, don't need much.

Baked camembert with crusty bread, celery, radishes, carrot sticks for dipping?

Pitta pizzas, with cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks etc?

Wraps of some sort?

Pitta bread with falafel, yoghurt and mint dip, salad (or just grated carrot if they won't eat leafy salad)?

Thank you Taffeta for the recipe - can't wait to try it!

And thank you janeite for some good ideas.