Do Any of You Regularly Serve "Cold" Suppers, or Eat in Other Low-Effort Ways for the Evening?

[bolt.]

As a North American, I was raised with the cultural norm that 'supper' (the early evening meal) is a large-ish prepared meal, generally involving meat. I know this is cultural, and that many other countries have entirely different eating patterns and meal expectations.

 

I'm trying to think outside the box: If any of you have been raised or exposed to a different eating pattern, please share. Also, if any of you successfully and frequently serve suppers that are no-cook or low effort affairs, I want to hear about that too.

[Kareni]

Every so often in the summer, we have an evening where we eat a fruit salad, hummus, some cheese, and crackers. 

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Susan in TN]

My lowest effort dinner is soup and bread. The soup is either cooked ahead and frozen or from a can. We have that at least once a week. We also sometimes have chef salad which may include diced ham, but usually hard boiled eggs (cooked a day or two ahead), various veggies, cheese, and a couple choices of salad dressing.

[Murphy101]

Oh my yes.

 

Some of our favorite...

 

lunner. Skip lunch and have an early dinner. One meal. Lunner. Like brunch for the second half of the day.

 

Popcorn night. Yep. Rent a movie. Eat popcorn. And that's it.

 

Double bang pizza. Order enough pizza for dinner that there's enough for breakfast too.

 

Sandwiches and chips and or soup.

 

Empty the cabinet and frig buffet night. Basicly pull out all the "not enough for a full family meal" and or "gotta eat this before it goes bad" items from the pantry and frig and serve buffet style.

 

Salad night. There may or may not be meat. But there is always boiled eggs. Served as huge bowl of cut greens and a buffet of toppings.

[Julie Smith]

Yup. Often.

 

Since Dh is the only non-vegetarian in the house meat is also not a given.

[SparklyUnicorn]

My husband was, but we don't tend to follow it.  It really doesn't work out because of his work schedule.  That said I have no problem with calling a cold sandwich or salad dinner.  Sometimes I make a bowl of coleslaw and call that dinner.  Sometimes raw veggies and dip with a block of cheese.  Whatever. 

I also tend to make large quantities so I have leftovers and don't have to cook all the time.  We eat that for lunch and dinner sometimes for a few days in a row. 

 

 

[EKS]

Low effort here means we have "own dinners", that is, everyone makes their own dinner. So I suppose that means it is low effort for me and more effort for the people who normally get dinner handed to them (everyone else).

[Stacia]

As already mentioned, we sometimes do...

 

sandwich night (put out breads, cold cuts, cheeses, boiled eggs, jams, nutella, maybe some fruit or raw veggies & everyone fixes their own sandwiches)

 

leftover night (put out all the various bits & pieces of leftovers & each person can assemble & heat a plate of what he/she wants)

[regentrude]

Yes.

We eat the warm cooked meal at mid day. The evening meal is sandwiches and maybe salad. That is traditional in my home country, and we continued eating like this when we came here.

[JumpyTheFrog]

I want to switch to this.

[Rachel]

Sunday nights we have cereal. As a kid we had popcorn and apples on Sunday nights.

[Rosie_0801]

It's pretty much all cold meals here in the summer.

[TammyinTN]

Lots of evening meals will consist of cold cuts, cheese, olives, sour dough bread  and wine. 

 

[MeghansMom]

I am considering switching our dinners to lunch and our lunches to dinner.

 

My DH works 11:30am till 8:30pm most nights and quite often does not get home until after 9pm, sometimes 10pm.

 

We try to hold off dinner until he gets home, but a "noon" dinner might work better and then just have lunch when we get hungry in the evening.

 

Cold meals are usually during the summer such as a cold pasta salad with some protein like shrimp, tuna, chicken, etc.

A chef's salad, taco or Asian salad, again with cold protein.

[Guest]

I do a mix of leftovers, hot meals, and simple things like popcorn, cheese spread, finger foods, etc. Some nights of the week a hot meal is just too much to pull off.

[umsami]

We'll do sandwiches.....so PB&J, PB&honey, cheese and tomato (especially if awesome summer tomatoes), etc.

 

Cold pasta salad..... taco salad, etc.

 

Love breakfast for dinner, which is usually pretty low effort.

 

My kids love having tzatziki and naan or pita bread for dinner.  I might throw in some hummus...or not.  

 

We've done halloumi cheese on a grill, and the above as well.

[DawnM]

During busy season for DH, I often have cereal nights.....shhh......don't tell.

[Mimm]

In summer we regular have sandwich and salad nights. We grow lettuce in the garden so we have a ton of it on hand for a while, and sandwiches are an easy thing to make. Sometimes we have nights where I don't cook and everyone just feeds themselves.

[FloridaLisa]

We often have breakfast for dinner which I consider fairly low key. If I'm working, we now and again have a fend-for-yourself leftover night and the olders help the youngers if needed. And very regularly we have cereal for dinner on Sunday nights because we have a hot Sunday lunch after church. 

[marbel]

Lots of evening meals will consist of cold cuts, cheese, olives, sour dough bread  and wine. 

 

We don't do this often enough but I love it.  This is one of my favorite types of meals. 

 

I know breakfast for dinner is popular but I can't stand it. The closest to that I can manage is quiche.   (I think it's just too carby for me at night.)

[OnTheBrink]

We often have a "snack dinner" which could be anything. DD is partial to cottage cheese and fritos, or cheese and crackers. I like popcorn, cheese and crackers, hummus and pita chips, baby carrots wrapped in ham. Whatever happens to be around. We've not had the traditional "family hot dinner" in years. 

[Jackie]

I was raised with the American meal standards. About six months ago, we switched to lunch being our main meal of the day. Dinner is often leftovers, pre-made frozen meals such as soups, scrounging from the fridge, a salad, steamed veggies, or similar. It works better for us *and* I've lost 10 pounds with no other changes to diet or lifestyle.

[Reefgazer]

I'm run of the mill North American also. Occasionally, we have Subway subs, soup and salad, sandwiches, or pizza. DH wants his main meal at night because in his job he eats a very quick and non relaxing lunch and that is our extended family meal together.

[unsinkable]

Ideally:

 

Weekends are Luppers...a biggish late lunch/early dinner. People can make whatever they want in the evening Sat and Sun. And I tried to make meals on Thursday or Friday that have a lot of leftovers. So for those four days, (Thurs - Sun) we have a combo of "fresh" meals and leftovers.

 

Most of us have a "go to" easy meal that we'll eat when we're all going every which way. Peanut butter or scrambled eggs or grilled cheese.

 

Broiled chicken on salad and/or other veggies can be hot or cold.

[Miss Tick]

Monday night is salad or soup (summer/winter)

 

Sometimes when dh grills dinner I will have him do extra vegetables and chicken breast, which I can use in meals later that week. Makes it seem easy when that meal comes around.

 

Once in a while I will make a big Italian-bread sandwich. It is better if it sits for a while or over night, so that one seems easier, too.

[alisoncooks]

We often do a plate of cold cuts, veggies, fruit, cheese, crackers, pickles or olives.

Or add in hummus with crackers & veggies.

[gingersmom]

It's called takeout in my house.

[Tammi K]

KORD - Klean Out the Refrigerator for Dinner,  otherwise known as 'Find something for yourself'

[PrairieSong]

We usually eat our main meal in the evening, but sometimes that's leftovers and sometimes it's a chef salad, seafood salad, or something else cold. Cold suppers are especially nice in the summer! Sometimes I do an easy meal like scrambled eggs with veggies and maybe cheese, and toast on the side. On Sundays the big meal is around noon and supper is popcorn and possibly fruit/cheese. Anyone is welcome to warm up leftovers from the noon meal. I'm carrying on my mom's tradition.

[medawyn]

I just love that other people on this thread have weekend "luppers". We have "linners" :-)

[DragonFaerie]

I don't cook.  My kids have been preparing their own meals for at least a couple of years now.  "What's for dinner?"  "Whatever you make."  They can cook things like hot dogs, eggs, omelets, pancakes, and pizza.  There are plenty of microwave options and standard stuff like sandwiches and cereal.  And we get fast food from time to time, too.  They have milk and fruit with every meal and take daily vitamins, so I'm calling it good.  

 

That said, we are moving in with my mom next week, and she would like to have sit-down dinners twice a week.  That's fine with me so long as I don't have to cook it. :D

 

 

ETA:  These meals are called Yo-yo.  You're on your own. 

[marbel]

KORD - Klean Out the Refrigerator for Dinner,  otherwise known as 'Find something for yourself'

 

We call this "leftover extravaganza."  I usually try to facilitate, though, so things I want used up get moved to the front.  It's also, uh, how I find things that are past their prime and need to get tossed.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Lots of evening meals will consist of cold cuts, cheese, olives, sour dough bread  and wine. 

 

What no beer?!

[SparklyUnicorn]

I don't cook.  My kids have been preparing their own meals for at least a couple of years now.  "What's for dinner?"  "Whatever you make."  They can cook things like hot dogs, eggs, omelets, pancakes, and pizza.  There are plenty of microwave options and standard stuff like sandwiches and cereal.  And we get fast food from time to time, too.  They have milk and fruit with every meal and take daily vitamins, so I'm calling it good.  

 

That said, we are moving in with my mom next week, and she would like to have sit-down dinners twice a week.  That's fine with me so long as I don't have to cook it. :D

 

 

ETA:  These meals are called Yo-yo.  You're on your own. 

 

One of mine cooks all his own food.  He had to figure it out quickly because he is so picky. 

[Wabi Sabi]

We often have some bread, cheese, olives, some good salami or a couple cans of sardines, whatever fresh fruit and veggies we have on hand that need to be used are sliced up,  etc. as a meal when no one wants to cook. 

 

[Kareni]

I just love that other people on this thread have weekend "luppers". We have "linners" :-)

 

And we call it "lunner"!

 

Regards,

Kareni

[applethyme]

If we have a big meal for lunch then often dinner is cheese and crackers with some fruit or sandwiches. 

[Lady Florida.]

I do a lot of cold suppers or simple suppers in the summer. Even with the a/c running the kitchen heats up quickly. We do sandwiches, veggies and dip, salads, and as Martha said, I pull out leftovers and everyone finds something. I try to make sure there's a bit of protein, some fat, and fruits or vegetables. That doesn't mean everything has to be cooked, or we have to have meat, a starch, and a vegetable.

[Cinder]

Fridge Forage--our version of help yourself to whatever, dubbed by dd

 

Then there's popcorn, as in this recent conversation. Dc: Mom, what's for dinner? Me: Popcorn. Dc: But mom, we had that last night! :p

 

 

[Junie]

So many great ideas here.

 

We had this problem tonight.  We were on our way home around dinner time and the dc wanted to know what we were going to eat.  I had no idea.  When we got home, I looked in the fridge and saw a package of bacon that I was saving to make BLT's next week.

 

I told dh, "Next week is tonight."

 

And so, we had bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches.  Driveway to dinner in about 15 minutes!

[jenn-]

A large dinner salad is frequently on the menu.  On occasion DH will brown some taco meat to put on it, but for the meat eaters, it is usually bacon bits (made with real bacon).  I've even gone so far as to open a can of refried beans and just building "cold" bean burritos for us. 

[Deb in NZ]

2-3 times a week we have salads for dinner.  This started when I changed how I was eating & everyone seemed to want what I was eating.  It isn't less work for me as it takes me just as much time to fix salads for everyone as it does to make a "meat & 5 veg" meal, but it is a nice way to get in plenty of fresh veg & use up those odd & sodds in the fridge.  I find that the more expensive foods (like meat & cheese) is stretched painlessly without any feeling of having less.  

 

Tonight we'll have taco salads as I want the pot of chili-con-carne to last a few days.  By making tortilla bowls & using those for taco salads for dinner tonight, there will be plenty of chili left for wraps, nachos, etc. over the next few days.

 

[Amy in NH]

Yep, probably 2-4x/month.

[MBM]

Breakfast is usually our big meal. Protein, veggies and a slice of bread. Maybe some fruit. Lunch is smaller. Now that all the kids are almost gone, dh and I will probably not eat dinner unless we go to a restaurant. I am rarely hungry at dinner anyway and am looking forward to not having to make it.

[Truscifi]

We sometimes do cold dinners - sandwiches/wraps and fruit or green smoothie mostly. Also I generally cook a meat of some sort during the day while we are home anyway, then after our evening activities we reheat or just serve cold. This has made dinner much easier for us.

[Kareni]

 

Tonight we'll have taco salads as I want the pot of child-con-carne to last a few days.  By making tortilla bowls & using those for taco salads for dinner tonight, there will be plenty of child left for wraps, nachos, etc. over the next few days.

 

I have to admit that this typo made me chuckle!  (I'm assuming you haven't suddenly become a cannibal!)

 

Regards,

Kareni

[SparklyUnicorn]

mmm I love child con carne

 

hahaha...does not take much to make me laugh

 

 

[Catwoman]

Ideally:

 

Weekends are Luppers...a biggish late lunch/early dinner. People can make whatever they want in the evening Sat and Sun. And I tried to make meals on Thursday or Friday that have a lot of leftovers. So for those four days, (Thurs - Sun) we have a combo of "fresh" meals and leftovers.

 

Most of us have a "go to" easy meal that we'll eat when we're all going every which way. Peanut butter or scrambled eggs or grilled cheese.

 

Broiled chicken on salad and/or other veggies can be hot or cold.

I first read that as "peanut butter on scrambled eggs" and I did this... :ack2:

 

Although I guess it still sounds pretty good compared to that child con carne mentioned earlier. ;)

 

Sorry.

 

Carry on.

[HSmomof2]

In the summer we often have salads or sandwiches. Usually an easy meal once a week like soup and bread during the winter, too. I personally would eat a light dinner every day. I always tell dh that when I'm old and alone someday, I will never cook dinner again. I'd be happy with a salad, sandwich or bowl of cereal. 😊

[abba12]

As an Aussie, and a Queenslander at that (one of the northern states), there is just no way hot food is appealing when it's been 100-110F outside all day. So, middle of summer is generally salad with cold meat, or some sort of simple roasted chicken (marinated, winglets, whatever) or eggs, or I do have this really yummy salad with pork belly fried in a pan that takes all of 15 minutes. It's not that the kitchen heats up, our house is very open, it's just that our appetites are non-existent after a 110F day, generally with high humidity.  For the same reason, a hot lunch just wouldn't work, it would actually make me nauseous to try eat a hot meal in the heat (we have air-con in the main living area, but it only does so much, this house wasn't built for air conditioning and we only use it on the worst days anyway.). Honestly, on the hottest days of summer I try give the kids a good breakfast, wholemeal or protein with yogurt and some veg if I can sneak it in there, and we eat very little the rest of the day except fruit, veggie sticks and lots of fluids. (a queensland summer is great for weight loss!)

 

In the winter, we have a fairly standard menu, though I am trying to incorporate hot lunches and smaller dinners. We still have our simple meals, on a busy night omlettes is the go-to around here. My mum used to do pancakes for dinner when I was a kid, we don't do that but my husband has been known to do waffles with bacon for dinner. My mums go-to meal for busy nights used to be sausages, eggs, baked beans and chips, though again that is not a tradition I continued.