A Warm Weather Meal Plan

   Good morning everyone!

   It has been quite the weekend around the Welcoming House. We had company for the second weekend in a row, we have had enormous amounts of rain and hail, which pounded a lot of the more fragile plants right into the ground, the Handy Hubby tumbled down the front steps and almost broke his ankle (Thanks to God, he just sprained it--even the doctor was shocked it wasnt broken), and then we celebrated Memorial Day with family and friends around the campfire last night.......thinking of those we have loved and lost, praying for those still serving and their families.

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   It was a weekend full of ups and downs, and while all that was going on I was thinking about what I would be posting on next. I know there are a lot of you who have been asking about warm weather meal plans, so today and for the next week I am simply going to be giving updates around the "suburban homestead" and sharing our meal plan for the day with you.
   I am sure if you live in a warm area, you know some of these tips, but bear along with those who may not.
   If you need to do any baking or cooking, choose to do it the night before or right away in the morning. I grew up in the lovely orchard valley of Grand Junction, Colorado, where it can get seriously hot, and I can remember my mother doing all that so as not to heat up the house. I tend to bake things one day out of the week during the summer, and rely on cooler or easily made meals so as not to add to the heat of the house.
   If you can use your grill or an outdoor cooking place at all, take advantage of that source and keep the heat outside.
    We are blessed that the previous occupants of the house had a large, newly built fire pit out back, lined with bricks. We plan on adding a lot more to the sides, because in a pinch, you can actually use a brick lined firepit to bake in if you have the right materials---cast iron dutch ovens. We happen to have two as we have made the switch over the years to using cast iron for most of our cooking. So, although I have not done it yet this summer, I most certainly could bake bread out there and keep the house nice and cool. AND the way this summer is heating up, even here in the mostly frozen northland, I am sure I will be taking advantage of it.
   Also left with us was a very small round charcoal grill, the kind you can find at garage sales relatively often. The Handy Hubby, relegated to either sitting or gimping around a very small area, chose to use that grill and smoke a pork shoulder roast (which should be going on sale throughout the summer as it is a popular grilling meat) for dinner. All the heat and everything for our meal was outside.
   We had:

• Smoked Pork Shoulder Roast
• coleslaw
• a large salad with apples, raisins, and a handful of walnuts from a bulk buy, as well as about 1/4 of a block of cheddar diced really small
• home-canned green beans that were put into a foil package, sprinkled with butter and garlic salt, and placed for about 20 minutes on the grill.
• a "fruit salad", using one banana, one can of fruit cocktail, one package of coconut pudding, about 1/4 cup shredded coconut, and two sugar cookies that were crushed and sprinkled over the top. I also included any fruit we had used earlier int he weekend that was still waiting to be eaten (waste not, want not, right?)

   This meal was satisfying, completely filling, and fed nine people with plenty of leftovers. We made sandwiches with the pork, using home made bread, and everyone really enjoyed our meal. The other great part was we made a wonderful meal without going to the store and dropping a ridiculous amount of money on a single celebration meal as we would have done in the past.

   What did you do for the Memorial Day weekend?

Many Blessings to you and yours,

Heather

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