THIS SUMMER ENJOY EATING FRESH HEALTHY MEALS OUTDOORS

 

Something happens in the CBB kitchen between the months of May-September and that is we don’t often turn the stove or oven on unless we really need to. No one wants to be slaving over a hot cooker when the sun is shining which is why most of what we cook is outdoors on the grill.

Once the deck is outfitted with our table and chairs, swing and all the other deck accessories opening up the big umbrella and grilling is the best and easiest way to enjoy eating outside during the hot days of summer. It’s almost impossible to get us to sit around the kitchen table when we could be listening to birds chirping, children playing and the smells of BBQ in the air.

We want to be outside especially after being cooped up all winter wishing we could open the windows and let the fresh air in. I’m not one to take summer for granted that’s for certain. Even in the morning now we sit out on the front porch with our coffee and just listen to nature and watch the creatures of the night dig into our herbs (YES, we see you).

Eating a raw diet over the summer with added protein is not only simple to do but requires little prep-work especially if you target it as soon as you get home from the farm or grocery store. You don’t have to succumb to eating just salad either because there are SO MANY cold supper ideas that you might not have considered and I’m going to share a few of our favourite recipes with you today.

While standing in the kitchen last week Mrs. CBB and I were cleaning out the crisper to use up any bits of vegetables we had left when she said, we eat tonnes of salads during the summer months. She’s right we do and we also get into this auto-mode of cooking and prep-work for our meals without much thought.

There are things we do each week that are a must for us to get dinner done and on the table fast so we aren’t fussing over anything complicated. Sounds like the perfect summer to me and it should be especially when we’d rather be outside gardening or doing things with our son.

 

Cold Supper Ideas and Recipes

 

There are a few things we must do for our weekly menu plan during the summer to fall into place. Most days are filled with activities with our son or renovations around the house. Some days we are all just too sick or tired to cook and these cold suppers come in handy.

I know some people who batch cook their protein so it’s ready to go in the refrigerator for the entire week. If grilling every night is not timely for you then go ahead and prep your meat, fish and eggs as well.

After we get home from grocery shopping cleaning and chopping our vegetables are a must just to make sure they get eaten. We find that vegetables and fruit become far more affordable when they are in season and it’s easy to buy more than you need so if you don’t prep you risk your produce going off.

We also always have a pot of hard-boiled eggs peeled and ready to eat whether to snack on or to add to our salads. We have been fortunate to source a local farmer who sells eggs by the flat for only $6 which is awesome!! The same goes for their bacon at under $3lb which we pre-cook on the BBQ.

The gardening pots around our property are filled with organic herbs that we started to grow back in May and those are the fresh flavours we like to add to our food.

It’s not often you won’t find fresh mint, parsley, basil, chives or fennel mixed in any of our cold suppers during the summer. The greenery adds flavour and the makes the supper more inviting, at least for us.

Load your baskets with fresh lemons and limes as well because these two beauties will splash a freshness over just about every cold supper you make or even just to add colour and beauty to your table.

Another tip for cold suppers is to pre-soak and cook your beans in advance so it’s easy to make chick-pea salads, hummus or to add black, white or kidney beans to your cold supper salads and recipes.

Bacon Tomato Salad

It’s that easy and opening a can of beans seems easy enough but if you are on the frugal side like we are then you know that buying dry beans in bulk is the way to go. A quick tip for rehydrating your dry beans is to use the crock-pot and in a few short hours you’ll have delicious beans waiting to be eaten.

• Clean and chop vegetables
• Prepare legumes/beans in advance
• Hard-boiled eggs
• Cold-Salads
• Cold Summer Soups

We are huge fans of avocados and can eat one almost every day but the problem is you have to make sure you have a ripe one to eat otherwise you must wait. When we buy a bag from Costco or the grocery store we store them in the refrigerator and take out what we want and leave them on the counter.

In about two days time the avocado is ready to eat so keep in mind how many you can eat or need each day. If you plan to make salads with avocado then it’s always advised to prep in advance what you will need for the week so you have them ripe and ready.

Over at Wild Greens and Sardines they have this Chilled corn soup recipe that is colourful and packed with flavours which makes it the perfect cold supper soup. I’m a huge fan of corn so why not prepare this soup in advance and away you go for the week.

Below are some of my favourite cold supper recipes that I’d like to try just because they look amazing and that the ingredients are vibrant, fresh and affordable.

Avocado Seafood Salad

 

Easy Spanish Gazpacho- Cold Tomato Soup

 

Cold Sesame Noodles With Crunchy Vegetables

 

Zucchini Noodle Salad with Bacon and Cherry Tomatoes (Low-Carb, Paleo)

 

Cucumber Noodle Watermelon Salad with Feta

 

Mexican Coleslaw

 

Rice Noodles with Shrimp and Coconut Lime Dressing

 

Roasted Summer Vegetable Quinoa Bowls

 

Santa Fe Chicken Salad Wraps

 

Creamy German Cucumber Salad

 

Crab and Avocado Rolls

 

Discussion: What are some of your favourite cold supper dishes to make during the summer months? Share your comments and recipes below.

P.S- If you find a broken recipe link or any link please let me know. 🙂

 

June Grocery Game Challenge

 

Join the 2018 Grocery Game Challenge (GGC) but before you do you must read The Grocery Game Challenge Rules and Print the 2018 Schedule which includes new prizes!

• Last shop May- How to successfully return food to the grocery store
• 10 Best Foods To Bulk Bulk When On Sale – June GGC #1
• The Ultimate Guide To Portion Sizes– June GGC #2
• The Ultimate Guide To Making Vegetables More Appealing– June GGC #3

 

 

 

2018 Grocery Shop Results

 

Yearly grocery budget for two + 1 Toddler 2018: $3600 or $300/month (The above total does not include the stockpile budget of $300/year or $25/month.

Points Overview (add any other sections you need to show us your savings or that you would like to track on your own)

• Total Grocery Budget for this Month: $300
  
• Total Grocery Budget with any carry-overs $300-$13.63=$286.37
  
• Total Gift Cards used to date: $0
• Total Rewards Points redeemed this week: $0
• Total Rewards Points used to date: $0
• PC Optimum Points to Spend: 3,200,000
  
• Scanning Code of Practice (SCOP) to date $0
  

Coupon Apps (add any other apps you use to save money)

• Zweet -$0
  
• Checkout51- $1.50
  

 

Our Grocery Shop This Week

 

Food Basics

• 3 x cucumbers $3
• Radicchio $3
• Milk $4.27
• Romaine Lettuce $1.99
• Red Cabbage $3.89
• Red Onion $1.45
• Cherry Tomatoes $1.99

Total Out-of-Pocket $19.59

Farm

• 3 flats of brown eggs $18
• 10lbs bacon $27.50
• 3 lbs breakfast sausage $9

Total Out-of-Pocket $54.50

Picked Strawberries $14.50 (more to come on this adventure)

Note: All totals below already have tax factored into them.

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