Meal Plan Mondays #8: Easy Recipes for Weeknight Meals

It's Meal Plan Monday #8 and this week I'm celebrating spring! I feel like the weather is finally starting to warm up and so I'm sharing some recipes perfect for both spring and Easter!

Speaking of spring, make sure to check out my blog next week for the beginning of #SpringSweetsWeek! There are 24 bloggers participating this year and we are sharing over 100 spring sweets recipes! Follow the hashtag on social media to find new sweets each week plus enter an amazing giveaway.

Before we get to this weeks meals I want to talk about cooking once and eating twice. This is one of my favorite tricks when it comes to meal planning. Since there are only 3 of us I often buy a larger piece of meat and then cook it in a way that we can eat it multiple times in multiple ways.

So what does that mean? One thing I like to do is make a big beef roast in either the slow cooker or Instant Pot. We will eat it one night over mashed potatoes or rice with a roll on the side. The next day I will shred the beef, put it on sub rolls with cheese, and serve it with au jus. That's two totally different dinners and I only had to cook once.

Beef Recipes to Cook Once and Eat Twice:

Instant Pot Mississippi Roast
Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Tacos (eat as tacos one night then serve over a salad or on sliders the next night!)
Beef Marsala Stew (eat as a stew one night then serve over rice or noodles the next night)
Beer and Lime Marinated Flanken Style Short Ribs (eat as ribs one night and make into soup the next night)

Another favorite is pulled pork. I will often make pulled pork in the slow cooker and serve it as sandwiches one night. Then the next night I'll put it over tortilla chips for pulled pork nachos. You could also serve it in soft tortilla for pulled pork tacos. I also like grilling a pork loin and we'll serve it as an entree with a potato and vegetable one night then put it in taco shells the next night.

Pork Recipes to Cook Once and Eat Twice:

Instant Pot Pulled Pork with Mustard BBQ Sauce (serve as a sandwich one night then on nachos the next night)
BBQ Pork Tacos (double the recipe and have tacos one night then serve with rice and vegetables the next night)
Grilled Pork Kabobs with Tzatziki (serve over rice one night then in pitas with feta the next night)

It's so easy to cook one and eat twice with a variety of proteins. You can also cook for dinner then repurpose the leftovers for your lunch the next day. I'll often put the protein over top of a salad or in a wrap for lunch the next day as an easy lunch to pack for myself.

Now on to this weeks recipes. For main entrees this week I am sharing my Mom's Tuna Loaf recipe. I have had this every year on Good Friday for as long as I remember. It's kid friendly and an easy meatless meal. I'm also sharing a roasted leg of lamb which would be the perfect Easter entree. I've also got an easy burger recipe and tasty weeknight stir fry.

As for side dishes I have a spring vegetable pasta salad which is great as a side for lunch or dinner, a broccoli and cauliflower cheese bake which would be fabulous at Easter, and Herbed Yorkshire Puddings which are great for Easter or with lamb or beef.

The bonus recipes and desserts are screaming spring! We have a decadent coconut cake, fresh strawberry lemon cupcakes, and copycat Starbucks Lemon Loaf. There's also an adorable Bunny Cinnamon Roll recipe perfect for Easter morning!

If you’ve tried any of the recipes from Meal Plan Mondays #8 or any other recipe on Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks please take a minute to rate the recipe and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. I love hearing from you! You can FOLLOW ME on: