Supper Swap

Reading this post a few weeks ago got me motivated to create my own supper swap group. I immediately emailed a few of my friends who live in my neighborhood. Like me, these ladies work part time and are otherwise at home with their kids-perfect candidates for a cooking co-op. This was our first week trying it out and I must say, it was wildly successful!

On Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, three of my friends brought dinner to my family before 6pm and in return, I cooked for all of them on Tuesday. Dan was home Tuesday afternoon so I spent 2 hours cooking the recipe below for 16 people (that includes my family's dinner). We all live less than a mile away from each other so it only took 15 minutes to drop off the meals. It was a lot of work with the cooking, driving and cleaning up but completely worth it! I have three afternoons free to paint with Elijah and cuddle with Laz guilt free instead of putting Eli in front of a show with Laz in the sling while I frantically cook a last minute dinner. As well, because we decided to make 4 servings per family, there are plenty of leftovers for lunches or for dinner the next night! When Dan is working, Eli and I will just polish off a dish from a previous dinner.

We use Google Docs to keep track of dates. It's also where we post what's for dinner. We often use it to communicate with each other about preferences (two families are vegetarian) and have a column for feedback.

I have absolutely loved this week and all the extra time I've had with my kids since starting this group. From now on, I hope to post each Tuesday's dinner recipe that I will prepare for everyone. If this is at all possible for you to do, I strongly encourage starting a supper swap in your area.

Pasta with peas and lemon

serves 4

1 lb dry spaghetti or fettuccine 3 tblspoons olive oil

5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced/crushed 1/3 C fresh lemon juice

1 ½ C frozen peas, thawed 1-2 lemons zested

salt n pepper to taste 1/3 C grated parmesan cheese

1. Cook the pasta and set aside.

2. Heat 2 tblsp of the oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic, and lemon zest and cook until the garlic is golden but not browned, 4-5 minutes.

3. Add drained pasta to the skillet with the lemon juice, peas, salt pepper and remaining oil. Heat until warmed through, 3-4 minutes.

4. Transfer the pasta to serving plates and sprinkle with parmesan.