Who can imagine summer without summer food? Steaming corn-on-the-cob, each kernel bursting with sweet flavor. Burgers and barbecue. Ice cream sundaes. The crisp red smile of a watermelon wedge, dripping with sweet juice.

There's a darker side to summer meals. Food budgets groan under the strain of substituting quick-cook steaks and chicken breasts for thrifty stove-top casseroles. Ravenous children make the refrigerator door thump-thump-thump like a dog's tail. Catch-as-catch-can mealtimes, eaten on the run, substitute convenience for nutritional value. What's a summer cook to do?

With creative meal planning strategies, summer doesn't have to bust the food budget, toss nutrition to the winds, or reduce the family chef to a melted, quivering puddle reminiscent of the Wicked Witch of the West. Try these suggestions for simpler, saner, cooler and more nutritious summer meals:

It's January. Standing in line at the supermarket check stand, nobody can deny that we're on the dreary downside of a new year. Tabloid headlines scream the weight-loss secrets of the stars, while traditional women's magazine covers sing siren songs of money-saving, belly-busting, speed-cleaning tips, tricks and techniques.

We ourselves? All those resolutions that looked so basic, so easy, so noble through the champagne haze of New Year's Eve have lost their rosy glow viewed in the stark light of a morning cup of coffee. With the children back to school and holiday decorations back in their attic boxes, our resolve for a better, thinner, healthier and wealthier year has once more washed up against the hard and niggling realities of daily life.

Be of good cheer! There's a tried-and-true boost for just about anybody's New Year's resolutions. [I'm talking garden-variety resolutions here: weight loss, financial prudence, better home or personal organization. If you've vowed that this is the year you read the Russians, my hat's off to you but you're on your own!]

I'm talking about cleaning the refrigerator. Spearing the Great White Whale.

Psst! One of our own is featured in the current issue of Woman's Day magazine.

Even if you make a list and check it twice, a few items can fall through the cracks during the holidays. What are the things you shouldn't forget as you prepare to celebrate the season?

Check the link for a Christmas checklist of often-overlooked holiday to-do items, from Cynthia Townley Ewer, editor of Organized Christmas:

Holiday Checklist - Woman's Day

Homeschooling mother of a large family, blogger Ladyofvirtue had specific requirements for her home binder: portable, practical, pretty and personalized.

See how well she succeeded with her binder tour:

Frugal and Compact Home Binder