Twenty-two years ago, the world experienced an unnecessary loss of lives when senseless idiots intentionally crashed planes into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. Tragic attack on the US has resulted in wars and further deaths due to the fumes at the crash sites.
Our responsibility is to honor the fallen every year and remind generations that we cannot tolerate such senseless attacks.
We participate in local events to remember and honor the victims every year. Families affected by the tragic event are reminded daily.
Some months ago, we visited the 9-11 memorial and museum, which has a substantial impact on the visitors as it shows graphic pictures and debris, as well as audio/video giving visitors a grim view into the horrors of the day.
Happy Wife = Happy Life
On Friday night, the knuckleheads held an impromptu tethering to provide less helpful advice to our youngest member, who is getting married this week. It can be daunting to ask for advice but equally humbling to share and guide friends in substantial life decisions.
It is tempting to scare the soon-to-be couple with all kinds of mean jokes and pretend being married is horrible. But we know our marriages are going well and do not regret our decisions.
While I want to share valuable knowledge with the younger generation, it often comes down to your partnership with your future husband or wife. Each relationship is different, but I can offer one crucial advice.
A happy wife = happy life
I have been happily married to a beautiful woman for over 20 years, and we have been together for 26 years since we first met in an excellent pub in Ireland. We have been through many incredible adventures and misadventures, but our relationship gets stronger and deeper as we age.
My love for my wife gets stronger with the years we spend together. We support each other in all aspects of our lives, which helps to make better decisions for us.
Wonders of Baking Bread
I’m not saying gluten intolerance is a pretend disease, but it is man-made. Since we started mass-producing bread and adding many unnecessary ingredients, it has negatively impacted our bodies.
We wanted to make the bread taste nicer with imaginary additives, prolong the shelf life, throw in some vitamins and other strange stuff, and reduce flour quality. Indeed, it cannot be healthy; our bodies become gluten intolerant.
The result is a piece of spongy bread that has limited resemblance to proper homemade bread or bread from an artisan bakery.
My wife suffers from mild gluten intolerance but has no issues when I bake bread. It is something added to the bread that causes her problems.
This week, I embarked on a prolonged bread-making adventure, hoping to eliminate the need to buy bread for the family. It is beautiful to create something from scratch, and the family loves the smell of freshly baked bread, not to mention the flavor. Nothing beats a nice warm slice of bread with Danish cheese.
I made four kinds of bread: toast bread, sourdough bread, Danish rye bread, and baguette.
I started baguette and sourdough mixtures Saturday afternoon, as I needed to let the dough rise for at least 18 hours to get the right amount of bubbles.
The cool thing is that homemade bread mainly consists of three core ingredients: flour, water, and yeast. You might add olive oil, honey, or butter to different recipes, but making bread is simple.
That said, making Danish rye bread is a much longer process, given you have to soak the various seeds, mix flours, and let it rise. But we LOVE Danish rye bread.
Lunch and Dinner Delights
Time to prepare and cook some cool shit!
With all the bread I made, it is obvious that some of the lunch options will contain bread. In fact, I’m making two simple sandwiches using the smaller baguettes and filling them with a fresh cucumber salad and another with turkey and apple slices.
Contrary to my food religion, I bought some hummus in the store to create a light hummus snack pack with some raw vegetables.
Lastly, I’ll be making stuffed quesadillas with peppers, and on Friday, the kids will get a treat of small personal pizza slices.
Dinners are going to be more adventurous, with different meats this week. We will sample poultry, pork, beef, and seafood. A nice variety of meals with light sides.
We are starting with a creamy salmon, shrimp, and spinach dish with cauliflower spaghetti. Super delicious, and I’m using half-half instead of full cream.
I marinated pork loins using some nice spices and beer and slow-cooked it on the stove for a few hours until tender. I’m cheating with storebought tortillas, but I made the slaw myself.
Midweek we are enjoying a few tenderloin beef steaks with a tasty mushroom and cauliflower side. I made the side in advance but will grill the steaks the evening of the dinner.
Later in the week, we will indulge in chicken pitas with slaw and homemade pita bread.
We’ll wrap up the week with a seafood feast on the Traeger or Breeo, and then We prepare for a busy concert weekend to kick off my wife’s birthday week; Peter Gabriel and John Fogerty.
Meal Plan
| Lunch | Dinner | |
| Monday | Cucumber Sandwich | Creamy Salmon and Shrimp with Cauliflower Pasta and Spinach |
| Tuesday | Stuffed Quesadilla | Pork Loin Tacos (carnitas) with homemade slaw |
| Wednesday | Turkey & Peach Sandwich | Steak with Mushroom and Cauliflower Skillet |
| Thursday | Hummus Snack Box – celery, carrot, and pepper | Sriracha Chicken and Slaw Pita |
| Friday | Personal Pizza | Friday Night BBQ Adventures (seafood) |
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 much easier to make food in advance, although you must invest several hours preparing meals during the weekend.
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