Tip of the Week: Summer Meals
Shrimp and Arugula Salad
Our house was a bit quieter last week– summer camp is in full force and our kids had gone to a residential camp. This was most noticeable at two points during the day: in the morning when my husband and I are usually hustling them to finish getting ready for the day and to eat breakfast, and in the evening, when we generally sit down together to eat dinner. We found ourselves with some additional time on our hands.
I have to confess, I get off lightly in the food preparation responsibility – my husband does almost all of the grocery shopping and cooking for our house! (I’m so spoiled, I know.) And, our kids are not particularly picky eaters, thank goodness. But cooking for just two of us is a bit different. Fortunately, many online recipes allow you to alter how many servings you are cooking. It is awfully hard to crack just 1.5 eggs! Even our grocery bill changed.
We ate more salads, partially due to the heat, but also because without those two growing girls gobbling everything in sight, we cooked less. I noticed that there was less dressing bottles on the table at dinner (not to mention less dressing used!) We also ate some meals that we wouldn’t usually prepare with the girls at home, like Shrimp and Arugula salad.
There were also fewer dishes to wash because for some reason, each of our daughters pulls a new cup out for every drink of water they consume. If this is a glimpse of what empty nesters experience when their kids first move out, I was excited early in the week, but I have to confess, I was a little lost by the end of it. Friday night they returned (with all of their camp laundry, too!) Yep, we’re back to those extra dirty glasses, but the giggles and silly songs were a welcome sound to the silence of last week’s meal times. Being away from each other for a week has definitely given us lots to talk about at the dinner table, as the girls share their adventures with us!
Frances Brooks
Director of Operations & Business Development and mother of two
The Family Table 