I’m going to try to do as little grocery shopping this week as possible, so the dinner menu might be a little odd.

Monday: Chicken, Swiss Chard cooked in butter and garlic (something new!), cooked carrots and brown rice.

Tuesday: Chili, gluten free corn bread, and a salad.

Wednesday: Leftover Chili on baked potatoes with broccoli, cheese and sour cream. Served with a side salad.

Thursday: Ham fried rice with vegetables and chicken-cucumber salad. The fried rice is made with a whole lot of cooked white and brown rice (the kids love leftovers for lunch). Put the rice in a very large skillet, and drizzle olive oil over it. Stir over medium heat until hot, then add about 1/2 package of diced ham (Bar S is gluten free and pre-diced). Then I put peas, carrots, onion, shredded red cabbage, water chestnuts, and sometimes finely chopped broccoli in with everything. In a bowl, beat together four eggs, about 1/2 cup of Gluten Free soy sauce (you may want more depending on how much rice you’re using…La Choy has a GF soy sauce, most have wheat so do check), a dash of ginger and a couple of dashes of sesame oil if you have it. Drizzle this over the rice and stir well, then let the rice cook for several minutes, stir, wait several minutes and stir again until the egg is completely cooked and distributed throughout the rice. I serve this with gluten free sweet chili sauce (A Taste of Thai brand is GF) on the side. The chicken-cucumber salad is 2 or 3 cucumbers cut into sticks, 2 small cold boiled chicken breasts cut into strips, green onion cut into strips all mixed with a peanut sauce. I make mine with about a cup of creamy organic peanut butter (no sugar added), a tablespoon of rice vinegar, 1/4 cup gluten free soy sauce, and 1/4 cup of sweet chili sauce. Stir it all up together, then add water a little bit at a time until you have the desired consistency. Toss with the cucumber and chicken mixture until it’s coated and serve chilled.

Friday: Tacos. I’ll cook a pound of ground beef with a chopped onion and a can of black beans and a can of corn, seasoned with 1/2 cup salsa and some chili powder, salt and pepper. Serve with crispy corn taco shells (many brands are gluten free!) and lettuce, onion, olives, tomato, avocado, salsa and non dairy sour cream. I usually put corn chips out and Hubby and I have a taco salad rather than regular tacos.

Saturday: Leftovers and Mexican Fritatta. I’ll put out whatever we’ve got left over, and for those who are interested (read: grown ups) we’ll do fritattas. I like to do mine in a large cast iron skillet. I use 4 eggs, beaten well with (and I know this sounds weird) a tablespoon or so of Lighthouse blue cheese dressing or Ranch and a little milk. If you’re dairy free, you can omit this and use soy or rice milk instead. I may add a dash of chili powder. Then, pour the egg mixture into the well-oiled skillet and drop leftover taco meat, tomatoes, onion and olives on top. You could sprinkle some cheese over it as well. Cook at 350 until the egg is set, then fold it over once and cut in half. Serve with salsa and avocado slices. This serves two adults as a dinner or could be sliced into wedges and eaten with other leftovers.

Sunday: Pork chops, cabbage, and potatoes. I very rarely eat pork, but we have several frozen chops that need to be eaten. I’ll slice them thinly, toss with a bit of olive oil and some garlic, and saute them. My family loves red cabbage, the kids think it’s wonderful! I slice a head of red cabbage into very thin strips, break the strips up, and toss them in a large skillet (I’ll use the same one I cooked the pork in, just put the pork in the oven on a low temp in a covered dish to keep it warm). Add a thinly sliced onion, and several cloves of minced garlic. Drizzle olive oil over everything and then cook, stirring constantly, until the cabbage is crisp-tender. Add sea salt and white pepper to taste. Serve with small baked potatoes.