Spring is not here! I’m just putting it out there in case anybody was wondering!

Last week, we enjoyed warmer weather with warm sunny days, although with freezing temperatures at night. It almost felt like the onset of spring, and some people made bold statements that winter had passed and spring was here. The smiles and excitement from people are short-lived in my humble Viking mind.

I calmly (with a wise grin) addressed the crowd and answered their wishes for spring while quashing their hopes, “No, ye of little faith! We will get more snow in the coming weeks.”

And much to my amazement, my prediction for snow came through. We expect 8-11 inches of snow Monday night and perhaps more during the week.

The fact of the matter is that we are still cruising around the winter months, so thinking that spring is here already is not a wise assumption.

Swifty Bowl

We’ve been in the US since 2011 and have attempted to adopt as many American traditions as possible. We love our new home and country, and to fully integrate, we must participate in various events and traditions. It is our home; we can only feel at home if we participate in the new culture.

Thanksgiving, the 4th of July, Memorial Day, and Labor Day are some of the days (events) we enjoy participating in, especially as they all involve some level of BBQ and food, including some awesome patriotic tunes.

However, we struggle with supporting (and perhaps understanding) baseball and American football. Baseball is, for us, a painful sport to be a spectator, but we appreciate that many families love watching nine innings of a 0-0 game. It’s a bunch of dudes chewing sunflower seeds, scratching the groins, perhaps hitting the ball, and then running to different bases.

Ok, I have overly simplified the game and probably insulted a few millions, but we didn’t grow up with baseball. I’m sure many Americans find badminton or handball equally as confusing and boring.

As for American football (NFL), this is just a girly version of rugby, interrupted by too many timeouts, commercial breaks, and too much protection (pads, guards, and helmets). 

We never watch an NFL game on TV, but we attempt to watch the Super Bowl every year.

We mainly participate in the Super Bowl because of the halftime show and the opportunity to overeat junk food: sliders, burgers, wings, loaded potatoes, queso, chips, beer, soda, more beer, and more food. 

This year marked the first time since 2011 we participated in a Super Bowl party with friends. Other years, we partied alone.

It is ridiculous to consider that they host the Super Bowl on a Sunday, and people must go to work the next day with hangovers. Why don’t they play the game on a Saturday?

We had a blast watching two teams we did not know play for the trophy. We only knew that Taylor Swift supported one team as her boyfriend played for Kansas City, so our logic was that her team would win. She’s a winner!

We did not watch the game, and not many people at the Super Bowl party did. Most people spent more time chatting, eating food, and drinking beer—an excellent way to hang out with friends.

I made a few dishes for the party:

• Sloppy Joe sliders
• Buffalo chicken sliders
• Super unhealthy queso
• Chicken wings

Others had brought food, too, so we had every opportunity to indulge in less healthy food while drinking a few cold drinks.

Week Seven Meals

My dear wife has been increasing her fitness levels for the past 3-4 months and has done a phenomenal job losing weight and toning up. She is exploring ways to help her boost her toning and muscle growth and needs to consume protein-rich meals according to her fitness plan.

For the past many months, I have been making dishes that do not focus on proteins but on sampling dishes from around the world. 

This week, I will attempt to make dishes to support her protein needs.

School Lunches

I’m not making protein-rich school lunches for the kids. It is easier to prepare salads and sandwiches, and the kids seem to enjoy the simple lunches.

Lunch starts with a simple tuna salad with pesto, mayo, parmesan, and a few cans of tuna. I heat up a few buns with yellow American cheese and a scoop of tuna salad, then wrapped in tinfoil.

Instead of a chicken fajita bowl, I made a chicken fajita wrap.

I purchased a few cans of crescent dough, created a protein wheel with meat, spinach, and cheese, and made pigs in blankets using the second can.

Lastly, I made a stuffed croissant with sliced chicken, ham, and melted American yellow cheese. I used a panini maker in the past, but it flattened the croissant too much, so Now I’m heating up the sandwich in the oven until the cheese has melted.

Dinner Time

I jumped on any opportunity I could to grill some meat, so when my wife asked for a protein-rich dinner, I happily obliged.

I grilled four large breasts and a couple of thighs to make enough chicken for school lunch, my wife’s lunch, and dinner. The Traeger was full of delicious chicken.

While the chicken was on the grill, I sliced six peppers (red, green, and yellow), mixed some taco spices, sprinkled olive oil, and placed them in a large tray. Once the chicken was done, I threw the vegetables on the Traeger.

I made the Tuscan shrimp on the stove. It’s a 30-minute dish. The only downside is that it contains cream or hal-half and parmesan cheese. But it contains spinach, which we enjoy eating.

Lastly, I grilled a 2lbs chuck steak until the internal temperature hit 145F. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have made the steak. Steak is better fresh off the grill and does not need much time on high heat. And I’m grilling the vegetables when we will eat the steak.

It’s a lot of meat for the week, but it’ll be awesome!

Meal Prep Party Pictures

Meal Plan

	Lunch	Dinner
Monday	Tuna melt sandwich	Chicken gnocchi pasta (freezer meal)
Tuesday	Grilled chicken wrap	Chicken fajita burrito bowl
Wednesday	Stuffed croissant with ham, chicken and cheese	Tuscan shrimp and cheese stuffed ravioli
Thursday	Pigs in blankets	Grilled chuck steak with roasted vegetables
Friday	Pizza Friday	Friday night fire pit wonders

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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