hot – in thriver words

If You Can’t Stand The Heat, Get Out Of The Kitchen or Use the Microwave

bf casserole For the past two weeks, it’s felt like 108ª outside and all I can think over and over again is: if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen! Once we hit the middle of summer, it’s always hot in my kitchen, but this year the sweltering started a couple of months early. recipe While my west facing kitchen may hold more heat than some, at these temps everyone’s kitchen seems hot.

To avoid the heat, some of my friends grill out, some eat salads, and some flee to the lake. Another summer option is to cook in the microwave. If you’re like me, you only think to use the microwave for a cup of hot tea, heating up left overs, or cooking frozen edamame, but the microwave can be used to cook a variety of casseroles, quick breads, and steamed vegetables. Microwave cooking is also great for dorm rooms or for seniors who no longer trust themselves to remember to turn off the stove.

Of course you can also get out of the kitchen by grabbing a burger on your way home from work. We do this at a burger joint that gives us unlimited French fries. That means I always go home with meat and fries. For years I wondered what to do with those left over fries. Now that I’ve commandeered the microwave for actual cooking, I have a solution that won’t heat up the kitchen. Give this left over French fry breakfast casserole a try. It’s hearty enough for an evening meal. Bon appétit!

Summer is For Ice Cream

There’s no doubt about it, summer is for ice cream! It’s barely summer and we’ve already had heat warnings because it feels 108º outside. To me this means it is important to stay cool. That means lots of icy beverages and a steady diet of cold food.

I love ice cold honeydew, watermelon, steamed asparagus, and gazpacho, but there are days when I think I could eat nothing but ice cream all summer. Of course ice cream comes in many forms with vastly different quality, taste, and calorie counts. My favorite flavors always seem to have the most fat and calories so I’ve been looking for ways to enjoy the cold, but cut the fat and calories.

For instance, I like Häagen-Dazs® Chocolate Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. One half cup serving has 300 calories, 19g of fat and 22g of sugar. I also like Talenti® Sea Salt Caramel Gelato. It’s a better calorie choice with 11g of fat and 240 calories per half cup serving, but it contains even more sugar – a whopping 36 grams.

This is a common problem in American convenience foods. Fat is often replaced with additional sugar. While weight loss diets may measure the desirability of a food based on calories, fewer calories doesn’t necessarily mean healthier. The lower fat gelato also contains gum and natural flavors which I prefer to avoid.

Does this mean there are no good choices other than making my own sorbet or freezing a banana? I hate frozen bananas and I don’t want to make sorbet. I just want to grab something cold that’s waiting for me in the freezer when I happen to be hot and hungry.

I’m in luck! I have frozen yogurt bars in my freezer. They’re not perfect. They contain gum and natural flavors, but they’re only 90 calories with 2 grams of fat, 11 grams of sugar and active probiotic cultures.

There are many brands of frozen yogurt bars. My current favorite is Blueberry Outshine® Simply Yogurt Bars. Yasso® offers a similar blueberry bar with no fat content, 80 calories and 13 grams of sugar. There are additional gluten-free flavors available in the Outshine and Yasso brands, and a variety made by Stonyfield, Yoplait® and Häagen-Dazs®.

And I’m sure there are more depending on where you buy your groceries. You can choose your best match by reading the ingredient and nutrition profile then sampling the product. Hmmm, sounds a lot like dating these days, but I digress.

I suppose there are other options, but since the obsolescence of Banana Fudgecicles, I really prefer ice cream as my summer staple. On the other hand, I hate feeling guilty about consuming all those calories. I’m thrilled that Greek yogurt bars limit my portion size, provide probiotics, reduce calories, fat, and sugar, and still have the soft satisfying feel of ice cream. It’s my 2016 summer bonus!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

http://www.outshinesnacks.com/products/bars/

http://www.yasso.com/

http://www.stonyfield.com/products/frozen-yogurt

https://www.generalmills.com/Brands/yogurt/Yoplait/brand-product-list

https://www.haagendazs.us/Products/frozen-yogurt/

An Eye Opening Cold Shower

I took a cold shower this morning, literally, an eye opening COLD shower.
shower

Okay, for those of you who must go there…no, not for that reason. My air conditioners aren’t working. Two air conditioners, both less than 3 years old, two…not working…AT THE SAME TIME! It’s 99º outside, feels like 106, and who knows inside? My thermostat only registers 90º and it’s been maxed for two days straight. I’m in line for a repair, but the line is LONG. I’ve now left for a coffee house with free wifi so I can hopefully smell better and think straight.

As with all unexpected, and even unwelcome, obstacles, having to do things differently lets me see things differently. Each and every time, I learn all over again that some of my assumptions are just wrong.

I live in an old two story house with the master bedroom upstairs and guest bedroom downstairs. I would assume that it would be cooler to sleep downstairs under the ceiling fan, but for some odd reason, it’s not. Without the air on, downstairs is staying hotter than upstairs once the sun retreats.

So, if downstairs under the ceiling fan is not the coolest sleeping environment, it stands to reason that between the open windows on either side of the upstairs would be my next best choice, right? Last night, I opened the windows and with a pillow, sheet, & cold wash cloth in hand gave sleeping on the padded bench by the window a try.
window
I was sweaty, uncomfortable, and aware of every loud rap song that streamed out of the windows of passing cars. I was NOT asleep. I finally decided that being right by the window was doing me no favors and slipped into my bed hoping exhaustion from the heat would keep me from tossing and turning the night away.

This morning, it was cool outside when I grabbed the paper off the porch. Cruelly, cool. Ironically cool. Relaxing cool that had failed to permeate the wide open windows upstairs where I slept. I should have slept in a tent in the back yard. Or, as I discovered when I grabbed my clothes after that cold shower, in the closet. My closet was cool – inexplicably cool. The coolest place in my house. How can this be? It’s directly under the roof. It’s enclosed so no air moves around, and yet it is cooler than my cross-ventilated bedroom.
closet

The air repair won’t happen until tomorrow at the earliest. Tonight, as is the case with all unfortunate circumstances, I will have the chance to make a different choice based on the new information that has been forced upon me. I didn’t ask for this. When I was literally wilting at my computer yesterday, I didn’t exactly welcome the opportunity to learn any of these facts, but today I recognize that I really only have two choices: 1)Do the same thing and be miserably hot, or 2)Take what I’ve learned and make a more informed, and hopefully more comfortable, decision.

That makes it an easy decision! I’ll be a quick learner. Does that mean I’ll sleep in the closet? Maaaaybe.

Here’s what I’m taking from this situation: When you find yourself in an unfortunate circumstance, the things you have the opportunity to learn can change your day or your life if you show up with an open heart, an open mind, and a willingness to let go of your assumptions. And you may not even have to take a cold shower to see the possibilities!