Well, one way to begin is to dive in.

My husband comes home for lunch, almost everyday, at twelve thirty.  Sometimes friends come for lunch, grandparents, or siblings.  Mostly it's him and I and our two and a half year old.

Today I made gazpacho.  No cook, dirtied only the blender and a cutting board and knife, and it took less than 15 min.

I hacked a few chunks of the end of a loaf of stale white batard and soaked them in water in a small bowl.
Into the blender I tossed half of a roughly chopped white onion, a clove of garlic, half of a cucumber, again roughly chopped, a large tomato, some salt (just a little, so that I could add more to taste later), the bread, gently squeezed of it's excess water, and a splash of olive oil.
I blended it all smooth, added a splash of ume vinegar and one of rice vinegar (I would've used sherry vinegar, but didn't have any), some more salt and a small handful of hazelnuts, and blended it again.
I peeled the other half of the cucumber, diced the other half of the tomato finely, diced a green pepper, and mixed them into the soup.
Ta-da!
We had left over white beans and some salad greens along with it, and all was well, two year old and adults alike.
Picture to come!
xxo