New Vocabulary

I am instituting some new vocabulary around my house.  I do not ever want to hear the phrase stressed out again.  That's it.  I don't want to hear it.

My daughter is the queen bee of stressed out.  She goes to an all girl's high school, where they are apparently all stressed out all the time.  And of course, you know as well as I do, that one stressed out teenage girl leads to a lot of stressed out teenage girls and that's not a good thing.

So, I have informed my daughter that now that's it's a new school year, she needs to find a new way of expressing her anxiety.  She can feel internally wrought up or she can feel anxious, but she cannot call it stressed out.  I am hoping that by eliminating that phrase from her vocabulary that it will no longer be her go to response when I ask her how she is.

I'm doing this for a reason.  This, her senior year, is going to be inherently anxiety producing.  It will be that way for her, as well as for those of us who live with her.  There's all the school work, which will not diminish just because it's senior year.  There are the college applications, high school tennis team, the official college tennis visits, junior tennis (although not as much) and all the rest of the general teenage stuff that goes on.  It's a big year.

So we are instituting some changes around here.  We'll see how they go.  I'm hoping that they don't leave me feeling full of anxiety.

Here's a recipe for a delicious and easy salad that is anything but anxiety producing to prepare.  Just make sure you get yourself a nice juicy watermelon, some really crisp arugula, and the best feta cheese you can find.

Recipe:  Arugula, Watermelon and Feta Salad
(Ina Garten, 2009)

Ingredients:

For the vinaigrette:
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/4 cup minced shallots (1 large)
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup good olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the salad:
6 cups baby arugula, washed and spun dry
1/8th seedless watermelon, rind removed, and cut in 1-inch cubes
12 ounces good feta cheese, 1/2-inch diced
1 cup (4 ounces) whole fresh mint leaves, julienned

Directions:

Whisk together the orange juice, lemon juice, shallots, honey, salt, and pepper. Slowly pour in the olive oil, whisking constantly, to form an emulsion. If not using within an hour, store the vinaigrette covered in the refrigerator.

Place the arugula, watermelon, feta, and mint in a large bowl. Drizzle with enough vinaigrette to coat the greens lightly and toss well. Taste for seasonings and serve immediately.