Easy meals in this heat

[Redruby2020]

Temperature rising in parts of the country. And I only have a badly done kitchen and sitting room. The sun makes that room unbearable.
So in this weather I would rather not have the cooker on/for very long.
My DC will not just eat anything, like others I hope. Plus doesn't like things mixed together.
But yet will eat things in others houses etc 🤦‍♀️

Trying to eat healthily too.
Obviously this time of year is great for salads etc I know.

Also on a very tight budget.

Hoping someone will have some great ideas 🤞 thankyou.

BBQ food is good. Outdoors so keeps the heat from cooking out of the house.

Does it have to be ‘dinner’ food? Last night I made chicken Caesar salad wraps and had carrot, celery, crisps and dip on the side.

Night before was pesto pasta with grilled chicken and grated in broccoli and Parmesan

You could do a few homemade pizzas or flatbreads, just stick in oven. Lasagna, leave in oven.

We are having picnic teas or buffet teas a lot.

Basically amount to the same thing though - carrot and cucumber batons, boiled eggs, sandwiches, roast chicken legs and wings, pitta breads and houmous/ dips, tomato salad, chopped up fruit

Honestly, I'd drop the pressure for a cooked meal and serve up salad, cold meat or quiche, hard boiled eggs, rolls or bread and butter, a packet of crisps each and maybe a few pickles.

Tonight I've got leftover ham, so I'll do some new potatoes in the microwave, hard boil some eggs and add a salad of spinach, tomatoes, cucumber, pepper and apple with shop bought dressing.

Three quiches for £10 at M&S. I cook a bag of salad potatoes and have them sitting in the fridge. Same with chipolatas and eggs. Bowl of homemade coleslaw that I add to with chopped apple, raisins etc. Noodles are nice as a salad or with peanut butter & soy sauce dressing. Fruit salad with a tin of peaches in syrup plus whatever fresh fruit is on offer. Spaghetti with a no-cook sauce (I do chopped tomato, lemon juice, salt and oil) with parmesan on top.

My kitchen is like a furnace when it's hot. I really need to het an awning. We either bbq, or things from the fridge - charcuterie, cheese, hummous, olives, cucumber etc, which is my kids' favourite type of meal.

We had a lovely cold noodle salad earlier in the week. Very refreshing

drivemehungry.com/vietnamese-noodle-salad/

YOu don't say what kind of food your DC will eat which makes it more challenging.
Big picture view - this is often a situation where clever use of convenience food can be good. I like to buy a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket and serve that with salads and new potatoes which I just boil on the stove.

Or buy shop made quiches, if your family will eat them (can be hit and miss I find).

Rice noodles - which just need to be placed in hot water vs actually cooked can be a great option to add to salads or used as the base for a quick stir fry (if I'm adding them to a stir fry I roughly break them up while they're still hard/raw as I find they mix in with the stir fry better than if they're in a big clump).

We are also doing things on bread/wraps/tortillas a lot. So I'll BBQ (or cook on the stove very quickly ) steak or chicken breast or something, slice them up and lay them on/in flatbreads/pita breads (shop bought) with salad or a coleslaw or whatever.

home made coleslaw is very cheap and kids can help make it if you've got a food processor.

I'll also double up when cooking in the oven - so 2 trays of roasted veg to have with feta and couscous. Or cook them after we've had tea so it's ready for the following day.

Salads, wraps, pittas, tacos, picky tea, pasta, burgers/bbq food, homemade kebabs, nachos, noodles, cheese on toast / baguettes

Jacket potato with cheese, ham and salad. That's what I'm having tonight, it's way too hot for a hot dinner 🥵

Yum! Love a jacket potato.

Watermelon and feta salad with olive oil and mint.
Peaches (could he caramelized in a skillet) and burrito.

Nigella's noodle salad

Chilled soups such as pea & mint, vichyssoise, gazpacho or Greek egg and lemon. Serve with garlic bread warmed in the air fryer.

Hearty salads such as Russian potato salad with frankfurters or rollmops, Waldorf salad with smoked mackerel fillets, Salade Niçoise, mixed bean salad with baked ham or leftover roast meat, potato salad with slices of cold frittata.

Sorry lol I forgot to add we are first floor flat.

Mmm all sounds very nice.
No not for me unless it's freezing weather. I could eat things like you have mentioned or picky bits on a plate.

I have realised as time has gone on that we got so stuck on dinner must be made up of this or that! And NHS advice 🤦‍♀️😄

Sounds lovely.
Yes me and my DC had chicken sausages last night bread and butter and salad very nice.

Ploughman’s. There’s quite a few variations on it to suit most of the household

Sorry yes i realised after reading some of the replies.
DC will eat spaghetti Bol, chicken other meats, likes rigatoni particularly with a sauce and cheese grated in.
Burgers which I do at home shop bought burgers, and get the buns and chop salad up.
Pizza haven't made own though.
I do a full chicken sometimes and then serve with veg and roasties and gravy.
Sorry I have listed a few things just how they came to mind.

I second that! I love jacket potatoes. I eat them in the hot and cold weather with different things.

Very nice.
Yes my DC had poached egg on toast for tea. Ice cream weather at the moment so they are top of list lol.

I had a sausage sandwich very nice.

Sounds fantastic!

Mmm lovely! I just think of pickle when Ploughman's is mentioned 😁

Lots of tapas & antipasto

Last nights dinner - Turkish pull apart 6 min in oven (tescos), 2 types of crackers, cheese, deli platter from Aldi, pitta pockets plain for kids (2mins in toaster), satay and bbq chicken skewers from Aldi, fruit salad from Aldi, corn on the cob I did in oven as I like that way but can be done 5 mins in microwave, broccoli 2 mins in microwave dips & oils. Icepops, slushys or ice cream for desert.

Tonights dinner - more pitta pockets, giant omelette sliced up, chicken pieces from deli section, salad, grated cheese, fruit kebabs. More ice pops etc…

Tomorrow - more chicken skewers, salad, ham, totrtilla chips, baby cucumbers, more crackers & cheese, deli ham with olives, focaccia with mozzarella & sun dried tomatoes (from tescos 10 min in oven), dips. More fruit & freezer deserts.

Thats the last of the current stock. I will just keep buying similar and try and change it up enough to suit everyone. I was thinking doing a roast chicken later in the week but cook in the morning when the sun is not on the kitchen and let it cool down to serve that night .

I bought my DH a selection of oil dips for Father’s Day so they have come in handy this week.

Kids have loved the dinners last couple of nights, even pushing their boundaries on trying new stuff with no encouragement from us. They are already looking forward to tomorrow, but have requested I had churros to desert tomorrow night.