Tag Archives: Ragu

What Crazy, Silly, or Sneaky Thing Have You Done To Get Your Child To Eat? (#Giveaway: Win $50 AmEx Card)

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Ragu Asks $50 Gift Card Giveaway
I don't force my kids to eat something they don't like but I do ask that they clear their plate of 'yummy' food before enjoying desert.

 

 

Parenthood is filled with rewards.  Parents are awarded with beautiful ballet recitals, Boy Scout badges that parent and child have both worked  hard to receive, report cards with straight As (maybe a B or two), and decent manners.
Most parents would agree however, that one of the biggest challenges is getting our kids to eat well. Most parents will do whatever it takes to triumph in a suppertime scuffle.  Most of my regular readers know that I am not one to make my kids clear their plates or eat something they absolutely despise.  They won’t get desert if they don’t clear their plate though.

Crazy things I’ve done to get my kids to eat their dinner:

  • I admit to letting my daughter eat inside her playhouse while the rest of us ate at the table.
  • One thing that I’ve been able to pull of with my 5 year old is that I tell her that there isn’t any ice cream in the freezer but if she eats all of her yummy food, I might be able to pull something off.  I have to hide the ice cream on the top shelf of the refrigerator, in the way back so she can’t see it before I pull that trick.  I’ve only done that twice.. really.

 

Ragú,via the new Ragú Asks campaign is asking parents to tell their stories on Facebook.com/Ragúsauce.

Watch this hilarious video of a mom letting her kids eat braided sphaghetti (with Ragú sauce) off her head. A little over the top, I know, but it’s pretty funny!

 

To keep things saucy here on TheMommyInside.com, I am going to randomly offer one TheMommyInsider.com reader a $50 AmEx card!

How would you like to win a $50 AmEx giftcard?

To enter to win tell me something crazy, sneaky, or silly that you did to get your child to eat, in the comments below.

Earn two extra entries per action:

Entries accepted through 11:59pm March  20th 2012.
Winner will be chosen via random.org
Winner must respond within 24 hours or a new winner will be drawn.
Open to U.S. residents, 18+.  No P.O. Boxes.

Alicia Hagan, Editor

Disclosure: Ragu is providing the gift card for prizing only. I am not being compensated for sharing this with you.

Liven Up Your Holiday Menu With Ragu and Win a $200 AmEx Gift Card! #Giveaway

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RaguThe holiday season is often the busiest time of the year, and when friends and family come to visit, the last thing I wants is to be stuck in the kitchen preparing time-consuming holiday meals. By having a couple of quick and easy recipes in my recipe book, I can have festive holiday meals on the table and join the party too.

RECIPE IDEA: An easy recipe that requires only a few minutes of preparation is a pasta bake. It’s also a sneaky way to get the kids to eat their vegetables, since Old World Style Traditional Ragu Sauce packs in 2 servings of vegetables in every 1/2 cup of pasta sauce.

HOW TO: Just cook a favorite pasta, such as rotini or fusilli, layer it in with sauce and generously top with Parmesan, and bake, it’s that simple!

RECIPE IDEA: Another fun holiday pasta recipe is Penne Pasta with Sausage.

HOW TO: Brown spicy Italian sausage in light oil with onion, add the sausage to the pasta sauce, and toss them together with the cooked penne. Sprinkle generously with Parmesan and enjoy. You can even please your picky child with a homemade pizza with Ragu Homemade Style Pizza Sauce, (my very picky 5 year old loves these!) allowing your child to top their own section with their favorite toppings.

Serving pizza and pasta dishes are quick and easy ways to feed a crowd, and satisfy even the pickiest or heartiest appetites. By adding these festive dishes to the holiday table, the host and hostess can save time and toil in the kitchen and enjoy the holidays with the family.

$200 AmEx Gift Card Giveaway!

We are giving a lucky reader a $200 AmEx gift card thanks to Ragu!

Mandatory entry:
To enter to win, tell us in the comments below how you would liven up your holiday menu with Ragu sauces or in general.

Get extra entries for doing each or all of the following:
Leave a comment for each thing you do so we can count all of your entries. 

Entries accepted through 11:59pm December 26th.  Open to U.S. residents, 18+.  No P.O. Boxes.

Connect with Ragu

Read my previous Ragu “Moms The Word on Dinner” posts here:

Disclosure: This is part of a campaign for which I am an Ambassador for the Ragú® Mom’s the Word on Dinner Program. Visit www.facebook.com/ragusauce to join the conversation.

Alicia Hagan, Editor

How to Get Your Kids Involved in Preparing Holiday Meals, with Ragu Sauces!

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Sharing time in the kitchen is a highlight of holiday meals.   Here are a few ideas to get your kids involved in holiday meal preparation using Ragu pizza and pasta sauces!

Ragu pizza and pasta sauces

  • Pizza Bites are an appetizer kids can help make!
    Divide four hamburger buns in half and lay cut side up on a baking sheet.
    Spread two tablespoons of Ragu Quick Traditional Pizza Sauce on each portion.
    Top with a slice of Provolone cheese.
    Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until bubbly.
    Cool slightly and cut each into fourths.
  • Why not try kid-friendly macaroni-and-cheese as a side dish this holiday?
    For a nutritious seasonal twist, cook and coarsely mash a butternut squash.
    Combine squash with 3 cups of cooked macaroni and a jar of Ragu Cheesy Double Cheddar Sauce.
    Top with 1 cup bread crumbs combined with 2 T.
    Parmesan and bake in a 350 degree oven until golden.
  • Let your children make breadsticks!
    Thaw ready made bread dough.
    Roll in melted butter and a little garlic powder and bake.
    Serve hot with Chunky Ragu Mama’s Special Garden Sauce.
  • Malfatti, Italian spinach-cheese balls – Your kids will love helping with this recipe!
    Cook enough frozen chopped spinach to yield one cup.
    Squeeze in a potato ricer until thoroughly drained.
    Combine with 1-1/2 cups ricotta cheese, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup Parmesan, 1 cup bread crumbs, 1 t. basil, and one garlic clove, pressed. Combine.
    Chill for 1 hour.
    Bring a large pot of water to simmering.
    On a heavily floured surface, roll mixture into walnut-sized balls.
    Drop into the water and simmer 3-5 minutes until they float.
    Lift out with a slotted spoon.
    Serve with Ragu Old World Style Marinara sauce.
  • Make a Santa Pizza!
    Spread Ragu Old World Homemade Style Pizza Sauce on a pre-made pizza crust.
    Arrange grated mozzarella to form Santa’s hair and beard.
    Leave some red showing for his hat and his rosy cheeks.
    Use sliced green olives or pepperoni to make his eyes and nose, and other toppings as desired.

Kids enjoy time experimenting in the kitchen with their parents while preparing holiday meals!

Share your favorite recipe that kids can participate in, in the comments below!

Connect with Ragu

Read my previous Ragu “Moms The Word on Dinner” posts here:

Disclosure: This is part of a campaign for which I am an Ambassador for the Ragú® Mom’s the Word on Dinner Program. Visit www.facebook.com/ragusauce to join the conversation.
Alicia Hagan, Editor

Win a $200 AmEx Gift Card + How to Make Leftovers Delicious! #Giveaway {Contest has ended}

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I am an Ambassador in the Ragú® Mom’s the Word on Dinner Program and this week we are discussing leftovers!   What busy parent doesn’t love leftovers?  They are quick and easy to prepare when you’re on the run, after a long night out at sports practices, or when you’re too tired to cook a meal.

If we have leftover chicken, sausage, and/or shrimp, we mix them together in a pot of Ragu sauce and serve it over pasta, rice, or barley and wahlah!, we have a Jambalaya!  Here is a great recipe for Jambalaya.  The best thing about this recipe is that you probably have all of the ingredients in your kitchen already!  My favorite Ragu recipe to date has to be the Chicken Fajita Grilled Pizza with Ragu Pasta Sauce that I made in September.  That was delicious but there’s we never have enough pizza left for leftovers.

Ragu Moms the Word on Dinner

 

Win a $200 American Express Gift Card! {This contest has ended}

To win tell me your favorite leftover tip or what your favorite leftover meal is (what recipe always leaves you with great leftovers?) in the comments below.

To earn extra entries, after you have left a comment, do any or all of the following.
Make sure you leave a separate comment entry for each extra thing you do.
DO NOT leave your email address within the comment!

Get two extra entries (each) for doing each or all of the following:

  • Subscribe to The Mommy Insider (and verify the subscription) and leave a separate comment telling me that you subscribed. If you are already a subscriber, leave a comment telling me that you are a subscriber.
  • Follow @mommyinsider and Tweet this giveaway using the blue Tweet button at the top or bottom of this post. Then leave a comment with a link to the Tweet.  Tweet up to once every 8 hours.
  • Like The Mommy Insider Facebook page.  If you are already a fan of our page, tell me in the comments below.
  • Blog about this giveaway on your own blog and put a link to the blog post in the comments below.  Do not copy and paste the first two paragraphs!
  • Follow Ragu on Twitter
  • “Like” Ragu on their Facebook Fan Page
  • Comment on the Leftover discussion on Ragu Mom’s The Word On Dinner Facebook page.
Entries accepted through 11:59pm November 15th.  Open to U.S. residents, 18+.  No P.O. Boxes.

Disclosure: This is part of a campaign where I am an Ambassador in the Ragú® Mom’s the Word on Dinner Program. Visit www.facebook.com/ragusauce to join the conversation.

Alicia Hagan, Editor

Recipe & Giveaway: Chicken Fajita Grilled Pizza with Ragu Pasta Sauce {Win a $200 Gift Card! – Contest Ended}

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Congratulations, Amie won this giveaway!

As you might know, I am a Ragu “Mom’s The Word On Dinner” Ambassador, and I’m very proud and excited about that as you’ll see in this post.

Being a Ragu “Mom’s The Word on Dinner” Ambassador gives me the opportunity to branch out with our dinner recipes and cook some delicious meals, one of which I enjoyed with my family this week.

This week’s fun Ragu recipe was Chicken Fajita Grilled Pizza with Ragu Sauce.

Grilled Chicken Fajita Pizza with Ragu Pasta Sauce

Here is the Chicken Fajita Grilled Pizza with Ragu Sauce with a few customizations:

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 2 large poblano or medium green bell peppers
  • 1 large red onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
  • 2 (12-inch) prebaked pizza crusts
  • 1-1/2 cups Ragú® Old World Style® Tomato & Mozzarella Pasta Sauce
  • 3 cups shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese (about 12 oz.)
  • 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
  • 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
  • Customizations we made: 12 mushrooms, anchovies

Directions

  1. Lightly coat chicken and onion with oil, then season, if desired, with salt and ground black pepper. Grill chicken, onion and peppers, turning once, 8 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked and vegetables are tender. Don’t be alarmed when the peppers turn black while grilling. The skin will easily peel or slip off after cooling. Wrap peppers in aluminum foil; let stand 5 minutes, then remove skin and thinly slice.
    Thinly slice chicken; set aside. We also sprayed one dozen mushrooms with olive oil spray and grilled them.
  2. Grill top side of pizza crusts 1 minute; remove from grill. Evenly spread pizzas with Ragu® Old World Style® Tomato & Mozzarella Pasta Sauce, then evenly top with chicken, vegetables and cheese. Grill pizzas, covered, 3 minutes or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with cilantro. Serve, if desired, with additional heated Sauce and diced avocado.

My entire family enjoyed the pizza and my son even added a few anchovies to his three slices! My daughter enjoyed a couple of plain sauce and cheese slices while my husband put red peppers and onions on his slices.

This is a quick and easy meal to prepare and as you read above, pizza toppings can be customized for everyone in your family.

Be sure to visit the recipe section of Ragu’s website where you will find recipes for even the pickiest of eaters!

Connect with Ragu

Read my previous Ragu “Moms The Word on Dinner” posts here:

Win a $200 Gift Card! – Contest Ended

We are giving a lucky reader $200!

To enter, tell us your favorite pasta sauce memory or creative use of pasta sauce. It can be a recipe, something funny that happened with pasta sauce, or tell us how you use pasta sauce besides on pasta.
Get extra entries for following The Mommy Insider on Twitter and on Facebook.
Tweet this: “I entered to win a $200 gift card from TheMommyInsider.com & @ragusauce here: http://bit.ly/qibYd2 You can enter to win too! @mommyinsider”
Be sure to tell us what you’ve done in separate comments below.

Entries accepted through 11:59pm September 22nd. This contest is open to U.S. residents ages 18 and over only. No P.O. Boxes.

This Contest has Ended!

Disclosure: This is part of a campaign for which I am an Ambassador for the Ragú® Mom’s the Word on Dinner Program. Visit www.facebook.com/ragusauce to join the conversation.

Alicia Hagan, Editor