minor update to the title and paragraphs
My sincere apology for not sharing a meal plan for last week, 14-18 March. I left the family as I traveled to Orlando, Florida, on business. I took one for the family team and left them with their own food survival. It is important that challenge the family’s food-making skills randomly throughout the year, ensuring they can survive without my involvement.
The proof is in the pudding. Can they survive a week of cooking their own meals?
In fairness, I prepared a huge portion of my “famous’ Viking lentil stew, in my Dutch oven, which would last for several days. I also showed them some meals we have in the freezer, in case they want variation, and created breakfast sandwiches for our son.
All in all, it should be a fairly straightforward meal plan for the family.
The biggest challenge for the girls in our family (wife and two daughters) is that the day starts around 5.30-5.40 am, when my son and I normally wake up.
Women from South America are beautiful, but many are not great at waking up early. Attempting to wake up early is like assuming a car is nice and warm on a winter morning. Just not realistic.
These Southern beauties don’t really function until the sun hits mid-morning and they smell a large freshly brewed cup of Black Rifle Coffee.
Travling Viking
As I mentioned, I took one for the team as I traveled to Orlando, Florida, leaving the family at home with 3 inches of snow.
The weather forecast for Orlando was around 26-32 degrees Celcius, whereas upstate NY was closer to 8-10 degrees Celcius.
Being of a pale Nordic complexion, I brought two full cans of sunscreen, t-shirts, and of course, sunglasses.
The latter was a rather optimistic item considering that this is an indoor event with many events and after-conference activities. There was a high chance of not spending time in the sun.
I attended the HIMSS 2022 conference which is an opportunity for people working in the health ecosystem to connect on important topics such as education, innovation, and collaboration, as we try to reimagine health and wellness for our patients.
In my role as Chief Technology and Cybersecurity Officer, I wanted to explore ways to enhance our patients’ experience using technologies, as well as review the latest cybersecurity approaches – and connect with existing vendors.
I met many great people, interacted with new technologies, and learned some valuable approaches for managing information and patient experiences.
Attendings HIMSS comes with many advantages, especially as they organize great events in the evenings. I got to attend VIP evenings at both Universal Studios and Disney Hollywood Studios. Awesome experience.
In regards to food – I was rather surprised how unhealthy food is that is being served at these large events. Especially as this is a health conference, I would’ve expected healthier options, and not just removing the cheese from the burger. Most lunches and snacks were pizza, fried foods, pastry, and sodas … some places did have salads.
Keeping the week simple
There’s absolutely nothing exotic about this week’s meal plan. It is comprised of left-over meals, a little rice, some pasta, and wrapping up the week with some proper Traeger grilled food.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day
Being part Irish, it is important that we celebrate important holidays, especially St. Patrick’s Day. It is perhaps one of the biggest days of the year, and is celebrated across the globe by all Irish descendants – and it is amazing how many people identify as Irish on that day.
It was fantastic being back celebrating the day in person, seeing the parade, laughing with good friends, as we munched on corned beef and cabbage – downing a few pints of the black gold – Guinness.
Fire up the Traeger. Ready your Dutch oven. Go shopping, and let’s start cooking—another Sunday in the Kitchen with music on the magical Demerbox and wonderful aromas filling the room.
| Weekday | Lunch | Dinner |
| Monday | Bagels with salami and boiled eggs | Left-over; meatballs in curry, with egg noodles |
| Tuesday | Pastrami cheese melt on a bagel | Stirfried noodles with slices of steaks |
| Wednesday | Half-day at school – no lunch | Left-over; lasagna |
| Thursday | Stuffed croissants; some ham & cheese, and some chocolate | White bean and pulled pork chili |
| Friday | Dumplings with “soy” dipping sauce and homemade granola bar | Something good on the Traeger – throw a shrimp on the barbie |
One day, I might get so organized that I will link the meals below to my recipes. We can only live in hope!
Have a fantastic week, my friends. I hope you enjoy these meal plans. It is so much easier to make food in advance, although you need to invest several hours in preparing the meals during the weekend.
Stay in touch with me through social media!