Most of you probably thought that I had stopped writing posts. But the reality is that I took a break during the last year of 2023 to spend time with my sister and our families.

The last time we spent Christmas together was in 2010, the year my father passed away, and it was not a Christmas we wanted to remember. 

This Christmas would be different, and we made a fantastic family Christmas. 

Both families had time off, but we did not stress about going to see or try stuff. Instead, we stayed at the house, talked, and enjoyed spending time together. Granted, my sister and her family visited the tree at Rockefeller, visited a few malls, and went to West Point to experience the awesome museum.

We spent the rest of the days drinking coffee, eating Danish cheese, making food, drinking alcohol, playing games, eating more food, and enjoying several hours around the firepit. We might have consumed a large quantity of alcohol throughout their visit.

We dropped them off at the airport Friday afternoon with sadness, but we agreed to meet in Denmark for Christmas next time – assuming we have the funds and abilities to travel.

I’m very happy that I got to cook for my sister and her family. She hadn’t tried my food for decades, and my skills were limited then. It was important for me to show that her younger brother can actually cook.

As such, I prepared the Christmas duck, duck pot pie, Beef Wellington, and Quiche Fiesta. I even made some delicious steaks on the Breeo firepit, much to the amazement of my brother-in-law.

Budget Meals for 2024

I’m back making dinners for the week. But this year, I’ll be more conscious about the money we spend and the ingredients we use. I’m not planning on splashing out on expensive meat cuts, exotic seafood, and rare vegetables to cook some cool meals for the family.

I will continue to make meals from around the world using locally sourced ingredients and produce and adjust the dishes to accommodate our desire to consume less salt and other strange food additives.

Being on a budget is especially important as we are still experiencing a recession, despite what some political twats will have you believe, and you need to minimize your waste. By planning ahead and only using the ingredients and items you need for the week, you have less waste.

You can still enjoy delicious meals and be spontaneous when buying certain snacks or expensive food like sushi (which I love), but you must keep it within reason.

Week One Dinners

I’m starting 2024 with several simple and delicious meals. Yes, I cooked on the 1st of January 2024 and was helped by some awesome playlists on Spotify and a few large cups of smooth Black Rifle Coffee.

Many of us are exhausted from eating too much food during the holidays, and we might suffer from a lack of physical movement as we enjoy a few days off work. Returning to cooking meals for the upcoming week can be another hill to claim, especially as we recover from the New Year’s Eve party and perhaps too many adult beverages.

Within 30 minutes, I was fully into meal-prepping mode and had started all the kids’ school lunches. Thankfully, I only had to make four lunch options as Monday is off due to the New Year and it being the 1st of January.

I used premade croissant dough from the can for the pigs in blankets and pizza pockets. I rolled out the dough, stuffed it with sausages and cheese, and brushed it with egg wash.

While they were baking, I mixed the oatmeal and pumpkin mixture and fried the beef patties for the breakfast crumpets.

I’m premaking the artichoke and orzo for dinner and will fry the salmon when we eat it. The salmon will be fresh and not become a strange consistency when stored in the fridge for longer periods.

Once the orzo mixture was done, I switched to the Tuscan chicken. I used thighs with bone-in and skin on and gently fried the meat for 5 minutes on each side. Then I removed the chicken, made the sauce with sour cream instead of heavy cream, and added a few extra cups of spinach. I placed the chicken in the spinach mixture and slowly simmered the dish until the chicken was at the right internal temperature.

The last meal I made was the chicken drumstick lollipops. It is time-consuming to prepare each drumstick as a lollipop, spice them up, wrap them with bacon, and then place them on the Traeger at low temperature.

Low and slow is the best way to achieve tender and delicious chicken drumsticks.

The lollipops were in the belly of the Traeger for two hours, start to finish. The result was a flavor-packed and tender drumstick where the meat literally fell off the bone. I served oven fries and salad with the chicken.

Meal Prep Party Pictures

Meal Plan

	Lunch	Dinner
Monday	No School	Chicken Lollipops with Fries and Salad
Tuesday	Pumpkin Oatmeal Cupcakes	Salmon with Artichoke Orzo
Wednesday	Breakfast Crumpets	Creamy Tuscan Chicken
Thursday	Pigs in Blankets	Chuck Roast Dinner with Mash with a Twist
Friday	Pizza Pockets	Cajun Seafood and Sausage Pasta

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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