April Re-Make Recap

April has been our busiest month so far this year, and throughout the month I found myself relying on tried-and-true family favorites rather than trying a lot of new dishes. As a result, the recap this month is rather large, so bear with me! Hopefully you'll find something delicious that you missed the first time around!

These ranch chicken tacos are definitely one of my favorite quick meals. This recipe has come in handy a few times this month when we had a 6:00 soccer game during the week. When these are on the menu, dinner is literally ready in minutes.

This ravioli with bacon pesto mushroom cream sauce is another quick and easy weeknight meal, but you'd never know it by looking at it. It's definitely a bit more special than your average ravioli dish. I serve it with buttery cheesy garlic bread, which is easily adaptable with whatever Italian herbs or spices you have on hand.

We had a small party at our house to celebrate Joe's birthday at the beginning of the month, and I made broccoli salad and ranch macaroni and cheese (in addition to quite a few other dishes). I've sung the praises of the broccoli salad many times before, and this macaroni and cheese recipe is still one of my favorites. It's so deliciously different.

I made these BBQ chicken and cole slaw wraps on another busy night this month...I believe it was the night I registered Andrew for kindergarten (SOB...not ready to talk about it). Anyway, they're delicious and simple and a great meal for a warm evening.

Asparagus is definitely the spring vegetable I look most forward to, and this simple and flavorful shaved asparagus pizza is the perfect way to highlight it.

There's nothing like a meal you can just plop in a dish and toss in the oven and forget about for an hour, and this chicken, potato, and green bean one dish dinner is exactly that. A few notes about this one, though: In the past, I've had trouble getting my potatoes to cook through completely when I make this. To counter that, I always use baby red or yellow potatoes and slice them very thinly (differently than in the picture). I should also mention that Joe doesn't like the texture of the chicken when it's cooked this way, so if you have a weird-texture-person in your family, you can always saute the chicken off in a skillet separately and just cook the green beans and potatoes together. The green beans and potatoes are really delicious seasoned this way.

Oy, not the prettiest photo, I know. It definitely doesn't do justice to these pork loin chops with roasted garlic cream sauce. These pork chops are so simple, and I'm telling you: The sauce is amazing. You'll want to lick every single bit of it off your plate. I realize that isn't very ladylike, but there you have it.

This rosemary ranch chicken is the best chicken ever, and I should know: I eat a lot of chicken. It's so juicy and succulent, and the flavors of rosemary and ranch just work so well together. I serve it with grilled asparagus and some type of potato dish so I can pawn two-thirds of dinner preparation off on someone else -- namely, Joe, who is the grill master in our house.

I served fettuccine alfredo (minus the chicken) when I hosted my cooking club's Italian night earlier this month (along with a yummy chicken saltimbocca that I didn't photograph -- boo), and let me tell you: I am so happy to have this alfredo sauce in my life. It's perfect. Not grainy, not too thick, not too thin...just right. (Sorry to channel Goldilocks there, but seriously. This sauce is amazing.)

This "perfectly chocolate" chocolate cake was the third recipe I posted here (FIVE YEARS AGO! OMG! I just realized I missed my five-year anniversary!), and it has become one of the most beloved recipes in my family. I've made it for countless birthday celebrations, and it is definitively the best chocolate cake I've ever had. It's moist, fudgy and rich, and the frosting is simply to die for. Since posting the recipe, I have made one change to it, and that's to add some instant coffee granules (just a teaspoon or two) to the chocolate batter. The bitterness of the coffee brings out the flavor of the chocolate even more. I also make it in a 13 x 9 pan, since the layers tend to break apart because the cake is so moist. Whenever I eat a slice of this cake, I think of Bruce Bogtrotter, the little boy in Matilda who ate an entire chocolate cake. This cake is what I imagine the cake in the book tasted like.

We eat this Crock pot pork roast with potatoes and carrots at least once every couple of months. It's perfect for every season, and it comes out delicious every single time. Joe and Will love the pork, and Andrew and I prefer a larger helping of the potatoes and carrots, mashed with butter and salt. Everyone's happy.

When I first posted the recipe for these banana nut pancakes, I urged you to have them for breakfast or dinner that very day. Well, I'm going to tell you the same thing again. Have them for breakfast, then have them for dinner the same night! These pancakes are amazing. They don't taste like they start from a boxed mix, trust me. And that topping! To die for.