As per tradition, we are wrapping up a week of celebrating our son’s 19th birthday. Every day is a party, or at least we turn it into a party as we spend a whole week celebrating when we have birthdays. We take the birthday party on the road, go to the cinema and theater, go out for dinner, and make the birthday person’s preferred meals.
We have celebrated our son for the past week with all his favorite lunches and dinners, and we wrapped up the weekend with his two favorite activities: cinema and Broadway.
While the girls attended a sold-out Hoizer concert at Bethel Woods, the boys headed to the cinema to catch the latest Dead Pool and Wolverine movie. We got some cool cups with miniature figurines, served with a supersized bucket of popcorn.
On Sunday morning, after mass, we headed to NYC, hitting Times Square at 11 a.m. We aimed to get relatively cheap tickets to a Broadway show from the TKTS store.
Broadway shows are by no means cheap, but most are fully booked. This is amazing, considering some shows start at $130 per ticket.
We scored “Back to the Future Musical” tickets at 40% off. Despite the significant discount, it was painful parting with the hard-earned dollars, but the smile on our son’s eyes as we stood on Times Square with all the lights and screens was worth it.
Walking around Times Square is an introvert’s nightmare. People are everywhere, a manic mix of tourists, residents, and panhandlers.
The panhandlers are a bloody nuisance as they attempt to rip you off at every opportunity. You quickly get surrounded by several versions of Mickey Mouse and Spiderman. Some are short, others are fat, and most have a foul body odor.
However, there’s one person in Times Square that I admire. He’s my spirit animal. It is the naked cowboy who, despite the weather, walks around Times Square dressed only in American flag speedos, boots, a cowboy hat, and his guitar.
I accidentally met him last year when he was getting off shift and walking to his car in a local parking garage. As we were in the same parking garage, I shouted, “Thank you, and have a great day, brother.” He smiled, gave me a fist bump, and handed me a signed postcard.
However, yesterday, I met him in Times Square and donated money to his endeavors. I briefly shared how we first met, and he insisted we took a selfie.
After lunch, we headed to the theater, much to our son’s delight. His eyes lit up when he realized we would see Back to the Future. He loves the movies and the characters, so this was a treat.
It was a typical unfilled Broadway show with a lot of dancing, singing, and storytelling. The sets are unique, especially in how they use modern technology to show scenes that would have been almost impossible using traditional sets.
He had a blast throughout the matinee show. He couldn’t stop laughing and uttering his happiness as he attempted to verbalize his enthusiasm.
Show = amazing
Son’s reaction = awesome
Parents’ popularity = priceless (well, it was bloody expensive but worth it)
Week Thirty-one Meals
Despite a busy weekend, I planned out all the meals for the coming week. However, I will not be able to cook all the meals during the weekend and will have to invest a few evenings in cooking the remaining meals.
I will focus on making snacks and bread from scratch. They might not look as awesome as the store-bought snacks and bread, but they tend to be healthier. We at least know what ingredients are used.
In addition, I also have to change the brakes on my daughter’s car and do an oil change before we ship her off to Florida next week when she starts college. She’s bringing her car to go grocery shopping, get to classes, and go to her job.
We are taking the car train from DC to Orlando, a 13-15 hour train ride.
It worries us that she will live independently but is old and mature enough. That said, I’ll buy her a Taser when we arrive in Florida. She needs something for self-defense, and I know she will attend gun safety classes, too.
School Lunches
Bread, glorious bread. I’m baking some German buns this week for school lunch, but I will also dazzle with a multiseed bread. Later in the week, I’ll make a fresh batch of pizza dough.
I’m experimenting with spam this week—not the emails and advertisements we get in the mail, but the canned meat. We probably cannot call it meat, as what is in it is unknown. Nevertheless, it can be glorious in a nice sandwich.
I grilled a large batch of chicken thighs for sandwiches and for my wife to eat during the week.
I have perfected egg muffins stuffed with peppers and spinach as a simple lunch. Three egg muffins are a perfect lunch.
Dinner Time
I’m pretty excited about the dinners this week, and I hope the family will appreciate the options.
We start the week by making carbonara on the Blackstone griddle. It should work, but you never know when you are cooking everything on a single griddle.
I baked a chicken meatloaf on the Traeger. Although looks can be deceiving, the aromas from the grill area while cooking were excellent.
During the week, I will make Thai shrimp curry using authentic Vietnamese red curry paste, which a friend brought home from Vietnam.
I finish the week with taco meatballs served with rice and tortilla chips.
All in all, there is a good variety of lunches and dinners. I’m already drooling!
Meal Prep Party Pictures
Here are some pictures from last week’s food adventures. Making food outside is enjoyable and “forces” us to have family dinners.
When we cook inside and heat 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 | Tomato & Mozzarella Sandwich | Betty’s Pasta Carbonara |
| Tuesday | Fried Spam, Onion, Cheese, and Spinach on a roll | Thai Shrimp Curry with Rice |
| Wednesday | Grilled chicken on multiseed bread | Chicken Cordon Bleu Meatloaf |
| Thursday | Egg muffins with peppers, mushrooms, and spinach | Taco Meat Balls |
| Friday | Personal pizza | 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 