For the past 4-5 years, my wife and I have stepped up our date nights. It helps when your kids get older and can stay home without adult supervision. This becomes more important when you do not have family nearby who can stop by and look after your kids. Suddenly, you can go to the theater, out for dinner, kayaking, hiking, or attending a concert.
We are lucky to live relatively close to the original Woodstock venue, which has been fully renovated and a large stage built. The amenities are excellent, and they offer great services. They host many great names throughout the year.
We attend 5-7 concerts at Bethel Woods per year and happily sit on the lawn. There’s no need to spend a lot of money on benches, and I have no need to get too close to the stage. As long as we can see and hear the music under the blue sky, then we are happy.
Bethel Woods is not the only venue we visit. We have plenty of access to all the NYC venues, and although they are more expensive, we can see many great big names.
We drag our kids along for some concerts, as they need to get a proper rock education and develop their music library. We take rock education seriously, so seeing bands like Guns n Roses, John Fogerty, Santana, ZZ Top, Pitbull, and Chris Stapleton is critical to graduating from the school of rock.
My wife and I are attending Foo Fighters at Citi Field and Santana (with Counting Crows) at Bethel Woods this week. It is going to be an epic week. I wanted to bring my son to see the Foo Fighters, as he loves their energy and sound. Unfortunately, I can’t bring him as it is a corporate event with business presentations and meetings, but perhaps next time.
Week Twenty-nine Meals
Because we are attending two concerts this week, we will defrost a few meals for the kids. Reheating already-made food is easy for the kids and much healthier than buying premade meals from the local supermarket or Domino Pizza.
Talking About Healthy Eating
We often wonder why many Americans are morbidly obese or severely overweight and why many Europeans who move to the US strangely move closer to the overweight category within a short timeframe of living in the US. We are no exception.
Granted, you have too easy access to fast food and many more unhealthy choices in the supermarket, which also offers an excessive assortment of sugar options.
Many supermarkets offer a wide variety of premade meals and a frozen food selection to impress anyone. The choices of snacks, sodas, cereals, cakes, bread, and frozen meals a shopper has in the US are staggering.
We even gain by eating bread, cheese, and vegetables—things that Europeans eat in great quantities when visiting Italy, Greece, and Spain.
Europeans appear to be much skinnier. This is likely due to a healthier lifestyle where bicycles are promoted and can be safely used. People walk and bike more. Being a pedestrian in many cities in Denmark means having a high risk of being hit by a bicycle.
I’m convinced that it has to do with all the additives and other nonsense being added to US food—the same additives that are banned in Europe—and for good reasons.
It is clear that these additives hurt how bodies absorb and break down food, and they cause a series of health-related concerns such as obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, etc.
The healthcare industry does not do enough, and many doctors will prescribe drugs or weight-slimming injections. Wall-e comes to mind when I think of how our bodies are changing for the worse.
While we can encourage better access to bicycle paths within cities, increase fitness routines, and introduce a healthier eating mindset, we still have to change legislation to eliminate all the additives that the food industry pumps into our food.
At home, we can attempt to change our food behaviors, which I do weekly by making food from scratch and using healthier options. I bake bread, pickle vegetables, and even make beef broth. But it is not enough.
When analyzing the milk, cereals, cheese, yogurts, meat, and other items we buy in the supermarket, it is clear that every product contains many unhealthy additives to enhance shelf life and flavors.
The fight continues and intensifies to make healthier food. Remember, portion size control is an important part of a healthier lifestyle.
However, I recently made pickled golden and red beets and a large batch of beef broth.
School Lunches
Our son is attending an extended school year until mid-August, and our youngest daughter started her four-week Girl Scout camp yesterday. Unless it rains, she will be outside most of the day and participate in various healthy activities.
Her teenage mindset conveys a message to us parents that Girl Scout camp is boring and a waste of her time. However, we can tell by her smile and happiness when she returns in the late afternoon that she has a fantastic time. It is not cool to go to camp, especially when her friends don’t do anything over the summer except sleep in, watch movies, and increase their social media addiction.
Because of their active schedules, I have to make some healthier, protein-filled lunches to get them through the day. Most lunch options include meat. And, I have to make lunches easy to eat while outside, so no soups.
Dinner Time
We will only prepare two dinners this week. The rest will be the kids defrosting a couple of dinners while the parents attend concerts. Someone has to enjoy life!
Where possible, I continue using the outdoor kitchen to prepare the dinners. I’m still planning the meals, but there’s no meal prepping on Sundays except for perhaps preparing the cut vegetables or marinating meat.
Meal Prep Party Pictures
Here are some pictures from last week’s food adventures. Making food outside is very enjoyable, and it “forces” us to have family dinners outside, too.
When we cook inside and heat up premade meals, we are often inclined to serve ourselves and eat around the kitchen, living room, or dining room. This ruins the family dinner experience.
Meal Plan
| Lunch | Dinner | |
| Monday | Roastbeef and melted cheese sandwich | Sweet and Sour Pork with Noodles |
| Tuesday | Caesar salad with grilled chicken | Shrimp Creole and Rice |
| Wednesday | Chicken and Noodles | Concert – left-overs for the kids |
| Thursday | Salami and Mozzarella Melt | Concert – left-overs for the kids |
| Friday | Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich | Over-the-fire cooking |
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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The Viking Heart Within 