Simple Summer Meals: The List

"What happened to this week?" asked my daughter. "It was totally empty, and now it is busy."

After twiddling my thumbs while staring at all my empty jars waiting for the craziness of August to begin, the craziness jumped out this week. I brought home a box of chicken to can on Tuesday while my children helped my parents with their huge potato harvest. On Wednesday I bought peaches to make fruit slush and got the call from the orchard that my canning peaches were ready to pick up on Thursday. On Friday a friend heard my green beans were not producing well and she blessed me with a whole bucket of beautiful beans.

So it has been busy. But good. I love filling jars with golden fruit and listening to the ping of sealing jars. The children have been a great help. It is SO much easier now than a few years ago. But I was glad to have a break today and have a chance to clean up the mounds that accumulate during canning season.

Thanks so much for all your ideas on simple summer meals. If you haven't checked out the comments yet, go get inspired.

I needed the inspiration this week because even if the canner has been bubbling non-stop, everyone still wants something to eat three times a day (or more.)

I have three tips for summer meal planning but since my time is limited today, I'll only give the first and save the others for next week.



Simple Summer Meals: The List

If I have a busy day, whether I've been canning, gardening, shopping, or just tackling the summer laundry pile, my brain can turn to mush when I think of meals. I tend to lose my appetite in hot weather and who wants to think of food when they are not hungry? I've already said that meal planning doesn't work well for me (or maybe I haven't tried hard enough) in the summer since our schedule varies and I want to use whatever garden produce I have.

So my alternative has been a short list of meals that are adaptable with lots of different veggies. These are meals that can be made quickly and are family favorites so I can make them again and again through out the summer.

I have to keep it simple when I have brain mush. A detailed meal plan or a long list is too much. A short list of five or six meal ideas on the fridge door is just perfect for me.

I'll want to share my list - but I'm out of computer time. How about making your own list (check the comments in the last post if you need some ideas), and we'll share our lists next week.