I was thinking I wouldn't need to break out any of my stay-cool strategies until summer, but since it decided to show up early, I've been putting together a list of my favorite ways to stave off melting. They need to be easy, natural living-friendly, and effective, and since I'm on an every-penny-pinched sort of budget, they need to be cost-effective as well. Here are seven of my favorite methods:
1. Cold-brew iced tea is my new vice, thanks to B who originally introduced me to it. This is great, because I have trouble getting psyched up to drink plain water, and if I get dehydrated, I get cranky and headachy (and eventually barfy). But iced tea almost always sounds good, especially if I have it on hand already.
I grew up with a pitcher of lemonade or iced tea always in the fridge from May through October, typically from a store-bought mix. As convenient as those are, they typically have more sugar than I want (my sweet tooth seems to have pretty much left in the last few years, with a few notable exceptions), and an organic or less sugary "natural" version can be pretty pricey. Hot brewing tea just seems out of the question in this weather, and I've also had some issues [ahem blonde moments ahem] in the past with forgetting about the tea and over steeping it, leading to bitter, tannic tea.
 |
| My super-complex cold brew apparatus |
Enter cold brewing. It does take some forethought, but it's very easy and cheap, plus the cold water doesn't draw out the tannins so it's never bitter. To cold brew tea, I fill up a teapot with cold water (the Interblag informs me that most people use a pitcher or glass jug, but since I have neither it's the teapot for me), add 3 tea bags since it's a small teapot (though you could use looseleaf tea if you have it!), cover it, and stick it in the fridge. Done. So easy! Green tea is ready after 3-4 hours, and black tea is ready after about 8-10. I think it's tasty by itself or with a little lemon, but you could sweeten it if you want. I've been drinking a pot every day or two, and I'll usually make another around bedtime so it's ready the next morning. And then I compost the tea bags, like the compost vulture I am. Can I get an "Aaaaahhhhh"? I love this stuff.
2. Closing the blinds in the morning is the single thing that makes the biggest difference in our indoor air temperature without turning on the AC. This one can be hard for me to stick to, since I love my natural light. However, on days when I do this, it's about 15º cooler in the apartment than outside. I grew up in a house without central air, which typically wasn't a big deal in Eastern Massachusetts--there might be about 3 days per summer when I wished we had it, but otherwise we got along just fine with fans. During a trip to the south of France in 2008, we learned the traditional method of keeping the old farmhouses cool, and threw that into the bag of tricks as well.
In the morning, you close the heavy wooden shutters and slant the blades upward so no sunlight can get it. It's stuffy in the house during the day, but if you have a fan to keep the air moving a little, it's not bad. The real difference is at night. When the sun goes down and the air outside becomes cooler than inside, you open everything up--all the shutters, all the doors with screens, everything. The cool air floods in, and you leave everything open while you sleep. Early the next morning, when you close everything up again, you've trapped some of the cool night air inside, and with no sunlight coming in, it can stay relatively cool (especially with the thick stone walls on some of those farmhouses). Easy, effective, and cheap, check!
3. Using fans instead of the AC has been a lifesaver as far as our electric bill goes. Roomie and I decided that we'd rather suck it up for the few days this heat wave is expected to last, and stave off a huge electric bill. While keeping fans running all the time can be less efficient temperature-wise than using the air conditioning intermittently, if you are okay with some temperature fluctuation fans can definitely work. I like to leave them off during the day, except one ceiling fan in the kitchen, when Roomie and I are at work, and then turn them on in the afternoon when I get home. When we open everything up for the night, I move the fans near the windows to draw in the cool air from outside.
4. Putting long hair up--whether it's a French braid (or a "freedom braid"? Anyone remember that?), a bun, or something else--is another easy way to make a little improvement. I hate the feeling of sweaty hair sticking to the back of my neck, so this is the first thing I do when it gets hot. Since I am hopelessly, impossibly bad at taking selfies, I found a picture on Pinterest of the sort of thing that I like to do. That picture on the left is more or less my hair today, only dirty blonde and with a black headband. It takes about 30 seconds, will stay in place all day, and gives me an excuse to wear some of my cute headbands. Yay! 5. My homemade deodorant is fantastic, even in this gross weather. I made the switch from conventional lavender scented gel deodorant to Tom's of Maine about a year ago, since I didn't like the idea of putting so much aluminum on highly permeable skin on a daily basis. But as much as I wanted to love it, I definitely smelled kind of crunchy granola by the time the day was over. Especially in hot weather. A few months ago, I found some recipes for homemade deodorant on a couple different blogs, smooshed them together, and made this wonderful stuff scented with essential oils (I can smell like lavender again!) that doesn't give up before they day is over. No more smelling like an armpit curry fire, even when it's hot and gross. I'll post the recipe soon.
6. Free pools are pretty great too. My apartment complex has a few, and it's sooooo nice to be able to take a cooling dip whenever I want. My days off are weekdays, so I can go in the morning before the after school rush. Many towns' rec centers or YMCAs also have a free hour or two sometime during the day, especially if it's very hot--my hometown actually had a few days during a heat wave last year when it was all free, all day, because there was a forecast for a heat index over 100º F.
7. Cold meals are just about the only thing I want to eat when it's this hot--less heating up the kitchen with cooking, and I just can't face a steaming plate of pasta when it's in the 90s indoors. Breakfast is easy--cereal or yogurt or a fruit smoothie! Some of my favorites for lunch and dinner are chilled noodle dishes like this vermicelli with chicken and nuoc cham or this noodle salad with peanut sauce, salade Niçoise, chicken salad in an avocado cup (made from leftovers of a bird roasted when it was less gross outside), a leftover rice or quinoa bowl with whatever I have on hand (one workday lunch this week featured kale, kalamata olives, feta cheese, walnuts, fresh oregano, and balsamic vinegar). I'm also planning on trying spring rolls, since they were giving away rice rolling papers at work--maybe with shrimp, shredded carrots, Napa cabbage, and mint? We'll see how it shakes out.
That's about all the news that's fit to print. Stay cool, everyone!
