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Staying Cool When it's H-O-T

June 10th, 2008 at 12:48 am

We're in the middle of a heat wave and I sold my air conditioner a few weeks ago. What's a frugal gal to do?

Close all the windows and doors and draw the blinds. I'm surprised by how many people don't know this trick! As the temperature starts to rise, you want to trap the cool air in your house and keep the heat from seeping in. I've actually had people come into my house during hot weather and assume I have central air conditioning because the house is so much cooler than the outdoors. I don't have central air, but I do have I have an indoor/outdoor thermometer. Once I see the temperature outside is cooler than inside (probably around 9pm) I'll open everything up to let the cool air in. For safety reasons, I sleep with everything closed, but when I'm up in the morning I'll open everything up again until the temperature in the house starts to rise.

Break out the Crock Pot. No cook meals like salads are a great idea when the weather is hot, but I'm moving in a week and trying to eat down my pantry and avoid going to the store. Crock Pots are great for hot weather because unlike your oven or stove top, they contain most of their heat. Furthermore, if you have a porch, garage or basement you can let the Crock Pot work it's magic outside the living quarters to further prevent additional heat in the house.

Last night I found this unique recipe for

Text is
Slow-cooker Chicken in Spicy Peanut sauce and Link is http://blogs.scripps.com/abil/brye/archives/2008/05/slowcooker_chic.html

Slow-cooker Chicken in Spicy Peanut sauce
. I was thrilled because I could use 2 cans of tomatoes AND the remainder of my peanut butter plus the 2 chicken breasts that have been in the freezer for GodKnowsHowLong. I threw the ingredients in the Crock Pot and plugged it in in the basement before I went to work. When I got home, I put some rice in the rice cooker and plugged it in on the front porch. Before long, I had a hot meal and a cool house!

4 Responses to “Staying Cool When it's H-O-T”

  1. Cents and Sensibilities Says:
    1213065110

    During the summer, I lightly spray my bedsheets with cold water - a couple of squirts from any sprayer with water in it - makes it cool and yummy to get into bed and in the summer the water evaporates quickly and doesn't leave the bedsheets wet or sticky either. And if you have a fan on, the couple of squirts can really really refresh you. Good luck with emptying the pantry!

  2. Petunia Says:
    1213102411

    I thought I was the only one who put my crockpot on the patio in summer. Smile

  3. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    1213108217

    I hate turning on the stove or oven when it's hot.

  4. koppur Says:
    1213110333

    We're doing crockpot cooking tongiht! Smile

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