So, our AC completely died on us this weekend! Just so you know, we live in North Carolina and its June so we are full force into summer. The temps outside were in the 90’s and to say that our house was warm would be…well…the understatement of the year! Ugh…it was hot hot hot!!
Much to our surprise, we did make it through the weekend in tact, so I thought I would share a couple of tips we learned to deal with the oppressive heat without going completely crazy (although I did something today that makes me think I had lost my mind after all……)
1. Wrap a wet towel around your neck and run cold water over your wrists. Putting some cold on the right spots definitely counteracts the heat.
2. Face some fans blowing out on opposite ends of the house. This sucks the heat out of the house and creates a nice breeze (the AC guy recommended doing this so you know it works!)
3. Ask your neighbors for extra fans as you will probably need them..you might also get some invites to sleep in their “AC’d” house if you have great neighbors like we do!
4. Don’t think about it…We decided that a lot of dealing with the heat is mind over matter so just try not to obsess and it will be much easier to get through…I think this also helped the kiddos since Mommy and Daddy weren’t complaining:-)
5. Find lots of things to do outside of the house during the afternoon. We postponed our typical morning trip to the gym and the pool until after lunch.
6. Cook your meals in the AM when it is still cool and bearable. You won’t want to turn your stove on when its 90 degrees in your house in the afternoon.
All in all, what seemed like it would be a miserable weekend turned out to be a bit of an adventure and a fun family weekend that we survived together! (Not that I would want to do it again:-)
During one of our outings we stopped at a great little farm stand here in Apex, DJ’s Berry Patch. They had zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and green beans. The beans looked great so we picked some up. At one point while we were there we couldn’t find Taylor. After looking for a minute or two, we finally found her sitting outside the stand with a little dump truck digging in the dirt. I told her she could dig at home, but she let me know we didn’t have as good of dirt. Gotta love little kids on the farm!
I had some cherry tomatoes in the fridge that I hadn’t used so I thought I would try to find a recipe with fresh green beans and tomatoes. I love roasting vegetables – I think it brings out the sweetness and flavor in veggies (just don’t over-roast them.) I found this recipe and loved the simplicity and use of just a few ingredients that I have on hand. The sweetness of the tomatoes mixed with the meatiness of the roasted beans is great.
Roasted Green Beans and Tomatoes
From Food Network – Rachael Ray
Ingredients
- 1 pound trimmed green beans
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Heat the oven to 450 degrees F with an empty baking sheet on an upper rack.
Coat beans and tomatoes with olive oil and season them with salt and pepper. Pour the beans and tomatoes on the hot baking sheet and roast 22 to 25 minutes until caramelized. Serve as a side.
I’m off to bed to read my book …Light of the Moon by Luanne Rice….bought it this weekend at our neighborhood garage sale from the school librarian so I figured it would be a good read…so far its worth the money!
Becki's Whole Life 
