April Week Three Meal Planner

Hi my friends, and welcome to our meal plan for the third week of April.  This week I am all about SPRING!

April 23^rd is National Picnic Day, and one of my favorite picnic treats is a recipe I call Shrimp In A Jar.  It’s an all in one combo of shrimp, veggies and chips that packs up neatly in a mason jar for easy picnic travel.

Meantime, I am making full use of all the spring veggies that are starting to pop up with a light and luscious Chicken With Spring Veggies and Gnocchi.

And, one of the Southern husband’s faves – seafood baked with veggies and pesto.  It all gets wrapped up in a parchment package so it steams itself perfectly, and is one of the easiest ways I know to cook almost any kind of seafood.

Our Light Meal suggestion this week is Ricotta Tartines, which is a fancy way of saying toasted French bread spread with ricotta and topped with peas and asparagus…SO GOOD.

Meantime, if you need a break from all the springy-ness, I have a no-bean chili that is super easy to whip up on a weeknight.  And you KNOW I would never leave out dessert, so take a look at this White Chocolate Lemon Tart…it’s like spring on a dessert plate!

As always, we will be sharing a new menu next Saturday morning, full of dinners that feature seasonal ideas and ingredients (and dessert!)

And usual, you’ll see that I’m not giving you a recipe for all seven days of the week, because I’m a firm believer in taking a day or two off from the kitchen. This will also give you the chance to work in some of your own faves – or just do takeout!

Second, I’m not assigning specific days of the week to the recipes. And you can always find our previous menus here, in case you want to mix things up!

Happy spring cooking!

Main Meal One

Chicken With Spring Veggies and Gnocchi

Chicken with spring vegetables and gnocchi taking the place of the usual dumplings makes a perfect spring supper. Healthy and flavorful!

Main Meal Two

Seafood Cooked In Parchment

Fish, vegetables and pesto cook up to tender perfection in this recipe for seafood and spring veggies in parchment packages.

Main Meal three

Shrimp in a Jar

This very easy, slightly spicy recipe for shrimp in a jar pairs tender shrimp with avocado, tortilla chips, tomato and spices for a fun and portable lunch!

Main Meal four

No Bean Chili

This flavorful easy no bean chili recipe is a snap to whip up, and cooks up all in one pot for super easy clean-up!

Light Meal

Spring Vegetable Tartines

A few spring vegetables, some ricotta and a little crusty bread are all you need to make these pretty spring vegetable and ricotta tartines!

What’s For Dessert?

White Chocolate Lemon Tart

Can’t decide between lemon and chocolate? Have both in this easy recipe for white chocolate lemon tart with raspberry sauce!