Weekly Meal Plan {Week 33}

I’m so excited about this new weekly meal plan format!  There are going to be recipes from lots of different food bloggers, {are you a food blogger?  Would you like to be featured?  e-mail me!} These will be woven in with my own recipes; I’m going to be growing this weekly meal plan to include sides, leftover suggestions, and even eventually…. a printable!  But for now, baby steps, y’all.

I love meals that look impressive, but are easy to make, appealing to all, and get the kids helping out in the kitchen.  This Spinach and Goat Cheese Stuffed Tenderloin definitely meets all those requirements! Get the kids involved in the kitchen by helping you to stuff the tenderloin, and they can help you hold it together while you tie it up.

Spinach and Goat Cheese Stuffed Pork Tenderloin from All She Cooks

Tuesdays are our busiest night.  Between baseball & cheer bootcamp, there’s very little time in the kitchen, so I can choose the drive-thru… or I can whip up a one pot dinner like this protein and deliciousness packed Skillet Beans & Rice with Kielbasa from Belly Full.

bonus leftover tip – if you have some bell peppers, the leftovers will make for scrumptious stuffed peppers when baked and topped with a slice of swiss or mozzarella!

It’s hump day! Give yourself the night off! If your fridge is like mine, there are bits and pieces from previous dinners, breakfasts, lunches, and more that need to be finished, and Leftover night/Clean Out The Fridge Night/YOYO night is the perfect night for this!  Use your imagination, place everything out buffet style and let everyone make their own plates.  Not only does this clean out the fridge, it helps you to see everyone’s style, food preferences, flavor profiles, and lets everyone in the family be a little creative and have fun with their meals.

Slow Cookers are one of the best kitchen tools out there, in my opinion, because you can make virtually anything in them.  I personally am head over heels for this scrumptious, flavor packed Slow Cooker Caldo de Pollo from Hola de Jalapeno.  It’s chock full of flavor, light, spicy, and perfect for March’s rainy weather. 

Friday nights are off nights for us in the Spring – we don’t have baseball, cheer practice is on hold, and the weather is gorgeous, so we love grilling, sauteing, and cooking outside.  We have a cast iron propane wok on the patio and it makes the most incredible stir-fry for our family, or our crowd.   This Spicy Ginger Beef and Veggie Stir Fry is one of our favorite easy and delicious meals to toss in the wok.  I can make it in a huge batch, remove some for the kids, and then add in some more chili-garlic paste for the heat lovers. 

Sweet Potatoes used to be something we only ate topped with marshmallows, cinnamon, sugar, and butter at a certain peanut-littered restaurant, however, we’ve recently come around to sweet potato fries, chipotle roasted sweet potato mash, and I just sampled the most incredible chicken, sweet potato, coleslaw bbq bake at this week’s staff lunch (recipe to be found and recreated soon!)  Which is one reason that this Baked Sweet Potato and Red Chard Brown Rice recipe from Life is But a Dish jumped out at me, add in her gorgeous photos and description, and this was a must for this week’s menu plan.

St. Patricks Day is next week, and I was browsing through the recipes that were shared with me by some incredible food bloggers when I stumbled across this recipe for Corned Beef Hashbrown Waffles – the idea of these intrigued me, and then I actually laughed out loud at her family’s aghast – “you’re making meat waffles’!!  If you’re looking for a unique recipe to test out for St. Patricks Day or just something fun and unique to make for Sunday brunch, check out these Corned Beef Hashbrown Waffles from Farm Fresh Feasts

I don’t have a major sweet tooth, but I definitely enjoy a scrumptious sweet treat occasionally, and this Chocolate Popcorn Pretzel Bark from The Bitter Side of Sweet is absolutely intriguing!  I love the sweet, crispy, crunchy, salty deliciousness of it.  Imagine the fun you can have with different popcorns and seasonal candies!!!! 

What are your meal planning struggles?  What can I do to help you get through the week?  What kinds of meals do you want to see on A Southern Fairytale, and in these weekly meal plan posts?

Share your struggles, comments, wins, loves, needs, and favorite recipes in the comments!  If you’re a food blogger and you’d like to have your recipes considered for the Weekly Meal Plans please e-mail me ASouthernFairytale@gmail.com

 

Hope you enjoy this week’s featured recipes!  Click the link to see more Weekly Meal Plans