Today is my last day in my 40’s!
I’m not sure whether to be excited or perhaps concerned that my internal amber is starting to lose its oil to stay lit. No need to be too melancholic, but as my buddies over at MercyMe say, we are almost home.
A little morbid, but after each day, we edge towards the inevitable, which is to meet our maker and hang out with all the great people who have gone before us.
One day, not for many years, I will get to meet my beloved father again. Not yet as I have many more adventures and memories to create.
That said, I did spend the last few days reliving old Danish rock music by D:A:D, Kim Larsen, Shu-bi-dua, Magtens Korridor, Kashmir, TV2, and other great bands.
Part of this is my continued attempt to provide a proper rock education for my kids, but honestly, it’s because it is great shit-kickass music – and it allows me to remember the Danish language.
It is vital for me to retain the Danish language; written, spoken, and understood. Without this, I will lose my Danish heritage and become one of those ex-pats that I laugh at. We must retain the knowledge of our childhood language, otherwise, we have truly lost our roots.
Going for gold
Our oldest daughter is kicking some serious ass in recent years, which is culminating in her graduating high school with a 4.0 GPA, being accepted into several great colleges, and completing her Girl Scout Gold Award.
The Gold Award is the highest rank and achievement for girl scouts and is very similar to the Eagle Scout award. As they say on the Girl Scouts’ website, they are rock stars, role models, and real-life heroes.
We attended the graduation ceremony which quickly became an emotional rollercoaster for Mama Viking as tears ran down her face as she couldn’t hide how proud she is. It is an amazing achievement and our daughter had a superb project called the Wall of Hope.
In essence, The Wall of Hope is a chalkboard where you write positive words, and messages to combat bullying. It has been installed in eight (8) schools within our district, and all the boards have been very received. Kids write on the boards daily. Teachers and principals are so pleased with the impact the boards have had.
Simple Dinners with flavor
Sunday night grilling was Middle Eastern inspired. I’ve always been fascinated by the kebab on a vertical spit, then rotates and the meat is sliced off into a warm pita. So, I bought a small vertical spit that fits into my Traeger.
Cooking/roasting the thin chicken slices takes a lot longer than I anticipated, but it was worth the wait, especially as I made my own pita bread which is much better than the store-bought version.
We kick off the week with something the Italians might despise: chicken lasagne. I’m pretty sure the real lasagne inventor would turnover in their graves with the idea that beef was replaced by chicken.
The lasagne has been traced back to Napels (Italy) in the Middle Ages. There are still scholars who dsiputes the origin as some claim it was invented in Ancient Greek.
It turns out that some dudes from Ancient Greek travelled and settled in Naples, so I guess both lasagne camps win.
Mi’talia – read mor details on their site
I’m also testing a couple of one-pan rice dishes; one vegetarian and one with chicken.
Busy families need faster options for making midweek dinners, so I have a couple of options that I will share if they are successful. Both can be made, start to finish, within 40-45 minutes, including cutting, frying, and cooking.
My next posts will be with an older and wiser perspective as I officially will be an old bastard!
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.
| Lunch | Dinner | |
| Monday | Pesto Pasta salad with grilled chicken and sliced peppers | Chicken lasagne |
| Tuesday | Caesar salad with grilled chicken | Taco Tuesday; shrimp feast |
| Wednesday | Simple egg salad sandwich | Thai Curry Chicken with rice |
| Thursday | Homemade chicken nuggets | Coconut chickpea curry with rice |
| Friday | Sliders; beef/pork patty with cheese | Banh Mi burgers – this is going to be interesting |
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.
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