42 Summer Recipes That Won't Heat Up Your Home

By Jami Leigh, Contributing Writer

As the long, hot, lazy days of summer drag on, I dread starting my oven at night to cook dinner. We have a nice swamp coolerin our house but once that oven gets going (especially to make a 40-minute dinner), our house heats up and it just gets too hot!

This summer I’ve been exploring ways to cut down on the heat from my oven and also cut down the time I spend in the kitchen. I want to enjoy my summer and spend time outside with my kids while it stays lighter later. I’ve been playing with a combination of freezer cooking and slow cooker meals to help me stay out of the kitchen more, keep the house cool, and still have yummy home-cooked meals most nights.

I’m keeping my meal planning strategy simple this summerand I invite you to take it easy too with these amazing slow cooker and freezer meal recipes.

Utilize Your Freezer

Freezer cooking is the single best thing I’ve done for gaining control of my kitchen. Freezer cooking allows me to plan better, save money, and always have meals ready to go! And during the summer, it helps to free up my time so I don’t have to sacrifice precious moments playing with kids.

In California, 5 p.m. is the hottest part of the day. The sun is blazing and our house is cooking. I’ve been utilizing freezer cooking so that even if I want to make meals that require the oven, I can make them on days that are cooler and at times when it won’t heat up the house as much (such as early morning and in cool evenings).

Invest in a Slow Cooker (or three)

I love having multiple slow cookers because you can use them for so much! You can make breakfast, lunch, dinner, sides, dessert, and even bread in the Crock-Pot! On days when it’s really hot, I’ll have things going in multiple slow cookers. Often I will have dinner and a side going, along with a yummy dessert baking away.

Making a plan beforehand and using my slow cooker(s) well, allows me to do prep work in the morning and by dinner time, my kitchen is clean and not too warm.

I’ve done the hard work for you … here are some amazing slow cooker and freezer cooking meals that you can add to your weekly meal plan so you can free up some time in the kitchen and keep your house cool!