April 2016 Cooking

Wow, I am way behind on my monthly recaps - I had great plans to get one blog post out each week and then I fell behind! If at first you don't succeed, try, try again, right? 

We had a great month of new recipes in April as we inherited my neighbor's crock pot meals from her freezer when she moved and as I dug deeper into a few of my cookbooks. The results of both were very yummy! 

We actually did have one new recipe in March that I forgot about - it is one of those Facebook recipes that seem to be all over my feed these days - this one looked like a good fit for our family, so we made it and we really enjoyed it. It is called Tuscan Chicken Pasta
Next up are the couple crock pot meals - several months ago, my neighbor made the 40 meals in an afternoon where you prep, bag, and freeze the ingredients for a ton of meals. She purchased her recipes from this website. The first one we made was Cheeseburger Soup and it cooked up like more of a stew than a soup. You pour a cup of rice in late in the recipe to thicken it up and it went a little too far. I think I'd sub pasta for the rice if we make this one again. The taste was okay but nothing to write home about, and it really didn't look attractive on the plate either! 
Next up was Slow cooker Chicken Cacciatore. This smelled really good when we walked in the house and the flavor was good. The balance of onions to chicken was a little off - too many onions for our preference - and the flavor was okay, but a little on the bland side. I don't think we will go out of our way to make this one again. 
 The first cookbook I took another pass at is my trust Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. This one is my go-to when I need to find a classic meal. We tried three recipes, but I only got pictures of two. The first (no picture) recipe is Crispy Oven-Fried Fish. Honestly, I didn't even remember we made this until I pulled my weekly menu plans to write this post! It must have been okay but not so good that it is seared in my mind! 

Next up was Marinated Pork Chops. I think we cooked these a little long because they turned out kind of tough and dry. The marinade was okay, but not good enough that we will be clamoring to make them again. 
The third meal from this cookbook is a keeper - Baked Cavatelli, You can't go wrong in our house with a baked pasta and cheese dish, and this one didn't disappoint! 
The next cookbook deep dive was into my Mary Englebreit cookbook and we tried Hot Chicken Salad, which was great! The kids were lukewarm on it, but Mike and I really enjoyed it. Again with the cheese, and this one had potato chips on top too! 
Next up was Steak Fajitas from Mr. Food. These were tasty, but I'd buy more meat next time! We wound up with enough for only one fajita each, which you know isn't enough!  
Last up are a couple recipes from the Fix it and Enjoy it Cookbook - Asian Beef and Noodles, a simple dish made with ground beef and ramen noodles. This was a quick weeknight meal and we all liked it. 
 And finally, Key Lime Pie from the same cookbook. Miss Jenna requested this for her birthday celebration, and it was a great choice! We are all fans of key lime pie in our house and this one didn't disappoint!  

 Hope you enjoyed the recap and got some inspiration for your meals this week! Let me know if you have any must-try recipes to share with me! 






Comments

Carol said…
I always enjoy your monthly recipe round-ups, Jennifer... You are so good about trying new things. I remember being in a real rut back when I was raising my sons--they still complain about the fish sticks that I fed them weekly :) Of course, back then there was no internet to get these great recipes. I just did whatever was quick and easy to get them off to their various practices in time!

We are big Key Lime Pie lovers here, too--that is such a refreshing flavor. Happy Belated Birthday to you daughter!