Now that we are here in Utah and we have taken care of the unpacking and the installation of our patriotic goose guard, it’s time to make a menu and shopping list.

Patriotic goose guard to keep the Canadian geese from pooping all over our patio

I like to make a menu for a couple of reasons. First of all it insures that I will buy what I need at the grocery store and secondly, it kind of makes sure that I actually make dinner and do not give in to “let’s call for pizza.” Also, if I know what we are eating tonight in the morning, I can get a jump on the prep early.

Weekly menu

I have to admit that this is a pretty tasty looking menu with lots of variety. Since many of these entrees could be on the high calorie side, I need to watch the portion sizes carefully.

On Sunday night we had chickpea stew with ditalini or salad macaroni and Lacinto kale. Usually I just go with a package of spinach but I am trying to be careful with the produce since there has been an e.coli outbreak recently. This is an easy omnivore, vegetarian, or vegan dish. It just depends on what type of stock you use and if you put parmesan cheese on top.

Chickpea stew with ditalini and Lacinato kale

There is nothing tricky about this stew-just chop up the vegetables, sauté them, add the stock, and put the greens in at the end. Once the chopping is done, it takes about 20 minutes. Colorful and delicious!