Merry Christmas, my friends. There are only 20 (21) days until Christmas, and we are preparing the house for our celebrations. I cannot wait until my sister arrives with her family. It’ll make Christmas more special. It is all about family.

We usually decorate the house on the first Sunday of Advent, which includes the ensuing battle of getting the natural Christmas tree installed and secured in the tree stand. The latter takes time and patience, and you hope your pets do not get too close to the tree to nudge it over gently.

For a long time, we give the kids small presents every Sunday in Advent. Nothing fancy or expensive, just a little countdown to the most crucial day in a Christian household.

Advent – the Second Coming

In Western Christianity, advent (the coming) signifies two different events.

1. Leading up to and celebrating the birth of Jesus
2. The anticipated 2nd coming of Jesus

Either is equally essential for the Christmas celebrations. We must remember why we celebrate Christmas, the birth, and the anticipation that he is coming back.

Advent typically starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, which falls on 3 December this year.

Each Sunday in Advent represents specific themes, and during mass, the readings will encompass these themes. Each theme is given a colored candle. Many families use the same color candles in the Advent decorations and will light a candle each Sunday.

The main themes of Advent are:

• Hope: we celebrate the beginning of a new liturgical season
• Peace: the light shone from Bethlehem to signify Mary and Joseph’s journey
• Joy: the joyful anticipation of the shepherds who traveled to see Jesus
• Love: signals the ultimate love of God that He is sending His only Son to save us

Stews and Soups

We have to eat light in the weeks leading up to Christmas, so we have enough space in our systems for the impressive Christmas dinner. Especially this year when we are celebrating Christmas with my sister and her family. We will indulge in a traditional Danish Christmas dinner while sampling more American options like the Pecan Pie.

Anyway, for this week, I’m focusing on some new stews and soups.

We started Advent with Danish pancakes, sausages, mushrooms, and fried eggs.

While my wife and oldest daughter went to the city on Saturday evening to party at Stephen Sanchez‘s concert, I prepared food for the week. The two remaining kids watched movies and played Xbox games anyway, so I might as well do something useful. Meal planning party in the kitchen!

I cracked open a few cans of my favorite spiked iced tea, Hoop Tea, inserted my AirPods and continued listening to the Gray Man series through Audible.

I spent about four hours preparing food in the kitchen, and the Traeger (outdoor), and most dishes were cooked in the Le Creuset pots and trays I own.

How’s that for a bunch of ads? LOL

I’m very excited to sample the pork stew that I found made by Dennis the Prescott, an extraordinary young chef who makes some excellent dishes – but he enjoys salt a bit too much, so I adjust recipes based on my diet.

As I often do when researching meals, I often stumble across simple recipes on Instagram. This week, I’m making a fast chicken cobbler using only a handful of ingredients, and I grilled a whole chicken (beer-can style) on the Traeger for the base.

We need seafood regularly, so I made a rich, creamy New England Fish Chowder with a large cod filet and two freshly caught blackfish filets. The latter was donated by a good friend who caught blackish early last week. I’m a little concerned about the simplicity of the chowder as it relies heavily on heavy cream, milk, and butter for the soup. It might be overpowering, but fingers crossed.

Last but not least, I prepared a simple sausage (chorizo) and orzo “soup” and added some baby spinach and a few quartered mushrooms.

I’m making light sandwiches for school lunches using potato salad, roast beef, tuna salad, and cucumber salad. I’m heating a few store-bought dumplings with sesame soy and spicy chili oil sauce.

Meal Prep Party Pictures

Meal Plan

	Lunch	Dinner
Monday	Potato Salad and Roastbeef Sandwich	New England Fish Chowder
Tuesday	Dumplings with Soy Sauce	Chicken Cobbler
Wednesday	Cucumber Bagel	Pork, Cranberry, and Cider Stew
Thursday	Stuff Pita with Tuna Salad	Sausage (Chorizo) and Orzo Soup
Friday	Fabulous Pizza Friday	Surprise BBQ Family Event

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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