Welcome to another week, which happens to be the last week of January.

January went quickly, not because of exciting house projects or exotic holiday destinations. No. We have enjoyed a steady stream of regular work and school activities that made the time fly by.

It baffles me at times that life can go so fast. We wake up early Monday morning to get the kids ready for another school week, and suddenly, it is Friday, and I’m meal planning for the coming week—no wonder I need a bourbon now and then.

I cannot believe Christmas is only 11 months away, but let’s not dwell on that. LOL

The weather in January has been a mix of extreme cold, moisture, heavy rain, wild winds, and a few days of clear blue skies. It’s a perfect mixture for the various illnesses to flourish … and I’m not even going to mention yet another strain of the infamous COVID-19. We must accept that it is here to stay, so there is no longer a need to make a big fuss about it.

Many decades ago, we suffered from either severe colds or the flu, but nowadays, we were (by some stupid fecking scientists) introduced to COVID-19. I have many thoughts and views but will breathe calmly and focus on meals.

That said, I caught the man flu due to the fluctuating weather, from cold to warm to wet.

Man Flu Myth of Fact

But what is the man flu? 

According to Oxford, the man flu is “a cold or similar minor ailment as experienced by a man who is regarded as exaggerating the severity of the symptoms.’“

I can certainly relate to being slightly pathetic when I have any illness, especially when I look at what my dear wife seems to be able to survive and fight off. She can go through a challenging round of COVID-19 requiring Paxlovid, high fever, sore throat almost closing her airways, and UTI, and still do home gym, help kids with homework, work online, and study for her MBA.

No wonder we refer to women as Wonder Woman. However, messing with her emotions is her kryptonite, and that is where the man comes in to support our women.

I do not think I suffered a case of the man flu. Instead, I had a severe head cold that knocked my energy levels down, and the recharge batteries sign came on. My throat was sore and dry, causing a heartfelt cough every few minutes.

I drowned my sorrows with Theraflu hot powder mixtures, cough syrup, my Viking home remedy, headache tablets, Netflix, Audible, and several hours of sleep. 

The man-flu lasted for about 30 hours, knocking me out most of the weekend. I typically get sick over the weekend and not on company time.

I was back up and running by midday Sunday, just in time to cook a few meals for the coming week.

I got to go to a friend’s house Saturday morning to progress on my dining room lamp project. We need to construct a small box to hide the light fixtures.

Week Five Meals

Because of my recent case of man-flu, I decided to focus on kids’ school lunches and only prepare one meal for the week. In all honesty, we have several leftover meals in the freezer we need to clear out.

While most modern freezers can cool down and store food for long periods, I would still not recommend storing homemade meals in the freezer for over 90 days.

You can store meat cuts for longer, but the old-school mind of mine believes that meals can still spoil if stored in the freezer – and if not stored correctly, of course.

Every so often, I make a meal plan that consists of several frozen leftovers, which happens to coincide with the weekend I encountered the man flu.

However, I still wanted to make at least one meal, so I made a potato soup. Initially, I planned on a potato and leek soup, but since leeks are out of season, I changed and used onions instead.

I roasted about 3lbs of whole potatoes (5 garlic gloves) for about 40 minutes at 350F, seasoned with secret herbs. When the potatoes were done, I let them cool off while I saute the onions. The potatoes were cut into 1-inch chunks and added to the onions.

Please note that I do not peel the potatoes but wash them well. A lot of the healthy stuff is in the skin, adding to the overall flavor.

I slowly add 8 cups of chicken broth (about two liters) and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes. I then used my immersion blender to turn the mixture into a nice thick soup and added a can of cream of mushrooms and some freshly cut parsley.

I made an Instagram pizza muffin recipe for the kids using a can of premade buttermilk biscuit dough. Very simple. Cut the biscuit into 1-inch pieces and hand mix in a bowl with grated cheese, cilantro, and olive oil. Then, bake it at 350F for about 15 minutes. Simple!

Meal Prep Party Pictures

Meal Plan

	Lunch	Dinner
Monday	Salami and Mozzarella Bagels	Mushroom Cauliflower soup, with dumplings
Tuesday	Panini Roastbeef Cheese Melt	Potato and Onion Soup
Wednesday	Pizza Muffins	Mushroom Quiona Chicken
Thursday	Breakfast sandwich: egg, bacon and cheese	Chicken Soup – good for the soul
Friday	Pizza Friday	Oldest Daughter Cooking

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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