Lack of appetite

[runningwild]

Sooo, it's really hot.  My house is hotter than it is outside.  When I'm really hot, I don't like to eat much.  Plus, I like to cook even less.

I'm looking for ideas on quick and easy dinners that do not involve the stove.  My kids sure are getting sick of the same old things coming off the BBQ!  I've done chicken every way I can think of, plus lots of veggies, but was looking for some other ideas.

I'm an open minded eater, but my kids are a little leery of weird things.

The other thing is that my appetite is really low for me.  I'm normally a big food lover, but in this heat I cringe at the thought of too much in my tummy.  Should I force myself to eat even when I'm not hungry?  I'm worried my training will suffer because I'm certainly not eating as much as I  normally would.

Cheers,
  Stephanie

[Rhonda]

I bbq anything I can think of from the usual hot dogs, hamburgs, steak, chops and chicken. I've also done a pork loin roast on bbq with veggies. I think the brain stops working in the heat making it difficult to come up with new and fresh ideas. I know people have cooked a pizza on the bbq and it worked out well. We are in that rut also, trying to come up with new ideas. We have recently gone back to winter favourites and had soup and grilled cheese this week. Don't have any new ideas for you but feel your frustration.

[Kate]

We cook pizza on the BBQ ... Friday night is "pizza night" year round and I don't often feel like heating up the house in the summer by turning the oven on.

I am in the same rut, but sat down a few years ago and came up with ...

Monday is "Bun" day (if it goes on a bun, it works);  Tuesday is "Taco Tuesday" (but over the winter which stretched into summer, Tuesday has become "Soup" day); Wednesday is "Don't Be Chicken, Just Eat It" day; Thursday is "Pasta" night; Friday is "Pizza" night; Saturday is "Where's the Beef" night (which comes from when we were Belleville Bulls Season Ticket holders) and Sunday is well ... the only day of the week that doesn't have a theme.  But the "theme" thing sure helps with menu planning and grocery shopping.

 

[runningwild]

That's a cool idea!  It would make my fly by the seat of my pants menu planning and shopping a thing of the past!  I might just have to give that a try!

Thanks,
 Stephanie

[runforrestrun]

I have young children and they love pizza, and we do them on the bbq too.  I buy the already made dough and sauce, you get two crusts in a large, plastic bag (you can find them in the produce/bread section at Walmart, and the deli section in other grocery stores).  This gives us 4 pizzas which we then "custom make" to please all of the different tastes.  It's fun (the kids get to build their own pizza) and they are great on the bbq.  Heat your bbq up to the same temp your oven would need to be, then put the pizzas on the top rack of your bbq and turn burners down to LOW.  keep a very close eye on them though, as they cook a lot faster than in an oven.

[Craig]

Never tried doing them on the bbq but we've always done mini pizza's on english muffins. Put them in the toaster, let everyone dress them up as they see fit, pop them in the oven on a cookie sheet and broil for a few minutes and you're done.
Oven is only running for a few minutes.

[Kate]

We do ours on crusts like "runforrestrun".  Ziggy's thin crusts from Dewe's.  And they take about 10 minutes on the BBQ if it's pre heated.

Pita pockets work well for individual pan pizzas too!

[Newt]

I wish I had a little bit of "Lack of Appetite". 

Peace
Peter

[NancyR]

I really like the pizza on the BBQ idea, going to try it tonight. We like different items on our pizza's so this is perfect!

Nancy

[runforrestrun]

just remember to keep a close eye on them.  Like I said, preheat your bbq with the lid down (ours has a temp. gauge on the lid) and put the pizzas on the top rack.  My sister-in-law's bbq doesn't have one of the top racks so she turns the burner OFF under the pizza, and keeps the other burner on low and closes the lid.  But again,  you still have to really watch it.

[Kate]

Perhaps it is helpful to mention that I cook my pizzas on the BBQ on pizza stones (versus aluminum pan).  I think the stones tollerate the heat of the BBQ a bit better.

My BBQ doesn't have a top rack either, but I can light the BBQ, put the (pizzas on the stones) on, turn the heat to about medium and then leave them be.  I check on them after about 10 minutes, check the crust colour and determine if they are done usually by how much the cheese has melted.

[runningwild]

Love the idea of pizza done on the BBQ.  I'm going to have to try that.  Patti gave me another great idea this morning.  Cold cut night.  Buns, cold cuts, veggies and stuff, and let everyone custom make their own sandwich/sub of sorts.  Like that one too, and the kids would love it!

[Kate]

We do that and sometimes use wraps versus rolls.

[NancyR]

I get an email from Kraft, I've tried many of the recipes sent, often substituting items that I have on hand.

The latest is no cook summer recipes, some great looking easy stuff. The titles often catch my eye, stuff like 4 ingredient easy supper, my kinda recipes!

http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/holidays-and-entertaining/entertaining/summer-centre/EssentialSummerMenu/NoCookSummerEntertaining.aspx

[Jane]

You can also get their recipe books sent to you in the mail.  It is nice to get something that isn't bills.     And for some reason, I find it is more fun to sit and look through hard copy books when you're looking for new recipe ideas.  Although I do like their website where you can put in the ingredients that you have and it will pull up their recipes that have that combination.