The weather has been almost perfect for the past week or so. It has been warm during the day and cooler during the night, ideal for fire pit therapy.

Since we’ve had less rain in recent weeks, photosynthesis has not been as effective for the grass and weeds, which is a big plus for me. I do not have green fingers, and cutting the grass is not a weekly occurrence. With the grass growing less, I only have to cut the lawn once or twice before we wrap up the sit-on mower for winter.

During the weekend, our beautiful daughter was officially confirmed into our church as she completed that last ceremony to pledge her faith in Jesus. The confirmation is also when the kids select a saint’s name.

Our daughter selected St. Anne (or Ann), the mother of the Virgin Mary. Ann became the patron saint of married women and childless couples.

The event was even more special as our oldest daughter flew home to sponsor her sister, see her through the ceremony, and confirm her new name.

It was a wonderful day. The sun was shining, reflecting a positive light on our daughter and the other kids going through their confirmation at our church. We were lucky that the Bhisop from the Bronx presided over the mass. His homely was almost an hour, but he was engaging, funny, and explained everything to the kids and attending adults.

Later in the afternoon, some close family friends came for dinner on the deck, and she invited a friend over, too. It was a wonderful afternoon and evening with great food (thank you to myself), many laughs, stories told, and music humming in the background.

For dinner, we ate super tender beef tenderloin, chicken thighs, smoked burned pork ends, homemade beans, pasta salad, creamy potatoes (avoid if you are lactose intolerant), and a variety of desserts made by my wife and daughter.

Of course, I started the fire pit so the kids could enjoy smores. I might have spent a little while around the firepit after the guests left to wind down.

Just Another Metalhead Gathering

Several months ago, I purchased a few tickets for the Megadeth concert as they were stopping by a nearby venue. I “forced” my friends to buy/pay for a ticket, making it a formal friends event. They, of course, accepted.

I’ve never seen Megadeth perform, so I was looking forward to a classic heavy metal evening with a bunch of weirdos and metalheads.

In the past, when attending rock concerts with bands that had been around for decades, you encountered people who maintained the classic rock look despite the passing of the ages. The most eye-opening are some women who believe their buddy is as firm and curvy as in the 70s or 80s, forgetting that our body changes over time. Some parts hang a little too loose now. But I applaud the effort and salute these metal chicks.

Anyway, the gang of friends left the safety of our homes mid-afternoon and started tailgating as soon as we arrived. I brought my Blackstone 17″ griddle and burgers. One guy brought chairs, and another a giant cooler with beer.

Thankfully, we had a dedicated driver so that we could enjoy several adult beverages.

Before Megadeth’s game on stage, we had to sit through two less-known metal bands: All That Remains and Mudvayne.

I might be old, but I know neither of them. After witnessing their music, I realized there’s a reason I do not follow or listen to them. It is not my style. I’m sure they are great amongst their followers, but it’s not my cup of tea.

In particular, Mudvayne is a band filled with anger issues and other disturbing mental issues. They dress up in weird shit, with the lead singer having makeup that looks like a bullet hole and other band members looking like horror movie characters.

The atmosphere changes as soon as Dave Mustaine and Friends come on stage. It suddenly became an awesome metal evening with excellent tunes, smoke, lights, and a lively audience.

I was positively surprised by Megadeth. There’s something special about rock bands that have been around for a long time. They know how to entertain and perform without fancy shit, and they have a loyal following. I respect that.

After the venue closed, we had a fantastic evening and completed the concert with a few rounds of beer in the parking lot. We took full advantage of the designated driver.

Week Thirty-eight Meals

We had a lot of great food, particularly meat, during the weekend, thanks to the dinner I prepared for the gathering of friends celebrating our beautiful daughter. We had plenty of leftovers for Sunday evening.

Despite a frustrating water leak from the upstairs shower unit through the kitchen ceiling, I managed to plan and prepare meals for the week. Nothing spoils my mood when it comes to meal prepping.

I’m keeping it simple this week and only making three main meals and only making lunches for our son.

School Lunches

Our daughter enjoyed some of the homemade lunches last week, but she can easily take advantage of the free school lunches because she attends varsity swim team training every day after school. She has plenty to carry around with her swim gear and school books and can’t fit a lunch box.

I’m trying to help my son manage his thyroid. He loves food and eats anything I serve him. However, I need to reduce his bread and cheese intake to help him manage his weight. Being slightly overweight is a trademark of boys with Down syndrome.

I will be impressing him with a few salads this week, dumplings, and chicken.

• Pasta salad
• Regular salad
• Steamed dumplings
• Egg sandwich
• Chicken with soy dip

Each lunch will be freshly made, and I’m confident he will enjoy them.

Dinner Time

Dinner is going to be exciting with only three options.

I have not changed the meal sizes to calculate for one less person to feed, so we have leftovers every week. It is not bad, but why make four dinners if we can suffice with three?

I’ve found a few delicious meal ideas for this week, and I will substitute cream with healthier options such as coconut cream or milk and reduce the amount of cheese we use.

We love creamy and cheesy dishes, but it’s time we adjusted our food intake to reduce our body weight. It is not only our son who needs a little adjusting. Too many cheat weekends and parties have made my belt less flexible.

Ingredients have been mainly sourced from farmers’ markets and our local butchers. I do pick up some produce from our supermarket.

Meal Plan

	Lunch	Dinner
Monday	Pasta salad with peppers, corn, and feta cheese	Italian ground-beef and potatoes
Tuesday	Steamed dumplings with soy dip	Mushroom, ham, and spinach pie
Wednesday	Chicken skewers with BBQ sauce	Chicken enchilada soup
Thursday	Bagel with egg salad	Leftover bonanza
Friday	Salad bowl with tomato, cucumber, olives, chicken, and feta	Relaxing BBQ … perhaps sushi take out

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.

Meal Prep Party Pictures

Here are a few mood pictures from the previous week since I did not prepare dishes this week.

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