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How low can you go...

When the heat and humidity (oh god, the humidity) really start to crank up, my willpower to cook goes down. Way, way down.

I am seriously considering serving watermelon, cheese and crackers for dinner. The logical part of my brain says there is nothing wrong with this, as it includes protien (the cheese), a fruit and a starch. I've also done "cold plate dinner" which involves veggies, dip, chips or cut up pitas and rolled up lunch meat.

How low can you go? Can you go an entire day without cooking and still feed everyone? If so, what is your menu?

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Permalink Reply by sockiboo on June 14, 2010 at 4:55pm

yay to cold cuts! and also caprese salad: tomatoes, basil and mozzarella drizzled with olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper. also, buying the already-cooked shrimp frozen at trader joe's and eating them thawed with cocktail sauce (or, frankly, plain with a little salt). or my favorite picnic: salami, olives, bread, apples, wine. i put some baby carrots in a bowl on the table if i'm feeling guilty about the lack of vegetables.

if i'm by myself, i'll occasionally have breakfast cereal. i don't think it gets much lower than that.

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Permalink Reply by Kathleen on June 14, 2010 at 7:41pm

I love to to have cereal for breakfast. Or cold sandwiches, things like that. We actually just found a recipe that is 5 minute white rice, pesto, cut up cherry tomatoes & it's optional to add chicken. So good! It can be heated up or eaten cold.

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Permalink Reply by Mamawho on June 15, 2010 at 6:05am

Our favorite thing around here is what GirlWho calls "snack dinner." It's usually salami or proscuitto, a few cheeses, fruit, cut veggies, crackers, and whatever else is lurking around. Sometimes I make a tapenade. I also make a fruit dressing, and will eat a bowl of fruit with it for lunch. It's yogurt, a little rice vinegar or lemon juice, a little sugar, and poppy seeds or chopped mint.

Also, my family will happily eat hardcooked eggs every day, so an egg and some fruit and some crackers is a successful lunch.

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Permalink Reply by The Oracle on June 15, 2010 at 9:43am

sockiboo said:

if i'm by myself, i'll occasionally have breakfast cereal. i don't think it gets much lower than that.

Ha! Me too. Especially when pregnant. God. I could not get enough Cheerios when I was pregnant.

I don't think there's anything wrong with not cooking your food. Cooking it doesn't automatically make it healthier. In fact there's a whole food movement that says just the opposite..

This morning I had apple slices and goat cheese for breakfast. For lunch I'll probably have a salad. And for dinner, the in-laws are taking us out! No cooking! Ha! But there's plenty of times we eat dinner at home that I don't actually cook. Sandwiches, salads, "snack dinner" (I love it! I think the Italians call that antipasto, no? At least that's what I call it here. Makes it sound fancy!), sides of fresh fruit and veggies, cheeses, nuts ... For snacks: smoothies, cheese and crackers, celery and peanut butter. Not that I eat celery, because yuck, but if I really didn't want to cook I suppose I could.

You really don't have to cook if you don't want to. Ever.

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Permalink Reply by Mamawho on June 15, 2010 at 11:58am

GirlWho went through a phase where she wouldn't eat at meals, but she'd devour her snacks. So "snack dinner" was born. It's also what she has when I make something she doesn't much like or is too spicy for her.

The Oracle said:

sockiboo said:
if i'm by myself, i'll occasionally have breakfast cereal. i don't think it gets much lower than that.

Ha! Me too. Especially when pregnant. God. I could not get enough Cheerios when I was pregnant.

I don't think there's anything wrong with not cooking your food. Cooking it doesn't automatically make it healthier. In fact there's a whole food movement that says just the opposite..

This morning I had apple slices and goat cheese for breakfast. For lunch I'll probably have a salad. And for dinner, the in-laws are taking us out! No cooking! Ha! But there's plenty of times we eat dinner at home that I don't actually cook. Sandwiches, salads, "snack dinner" (I love it! I think the Italians call that antipasto, no? At least that's what I call it here. Makes it sound fancy!), sides of fresh fruit and veggies, cheeses, nuts ... For snacks: smoothies, cheese and crackers, celery and peanut butter. Not that I eat celery, because yuck, but if I really didn't want to cook I suppose I could.

You really don't have to cook if you don't want to. Ever.

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Permalink Reply by Gumbo Momma on June 18, 2010 at 6:21pm

I think that sounds like an awesome dinner. We are already hitting temperatures in the high nineties and summer is just barely getting started. Plus, my kitchen faces the west and hot afternoon sun comes sizzling through the windows so cooking ANYTHING over a hot stove or oven is almost nauseating. We do lots of cold plate dinners or use the grill during the hot months. Just reading over the comments on this post has me drooling over thoughts of watermelon and fresh cantalope!! YUM!