Ragu | The Mommy Insider

I am a huge fan of pasta. I could eat pasta 21 times a week (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) if I had enough in the house to fix. Maybe that’s why these extra 10 lbs won’t come off? I’m also a huge fan of sauce! Yet another reason why I’m struggling with these extra 10 lbs.

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.

That brings me to this week’s featured “Moms the Word on Dinner” video on the Ragu Facebook page which is about how families spice up their pasta.

How do I spice up my pasta you ask? Good question!

Because everyone in my family has differing taste buds (to the extreme!), I prepare what I call ‘meals with options’.
For example, I cook angel hair pasta or my daughter’s favorite, rigatoni.
Then I will place a few sauce options and pasta ‘toppings’ as my kids call them, on the table. Pasta toppings might include sautéed chicken, shrimp, red peppers, peas, and cheeses, to name a few. Sauces include red pasta sauce, alfredo sauce, and lemon butter, most often coming from a what I like to call.. a jar.. full of ingredients that I can pronounce.

I don’t believe in forcing a child to eat a meal or a food that they have tried and don’t like so I am OK with offering my kids variations of a meal at dinner time. I have found ‘meals with options’ to be a good solution for my family.

Plus, the table looks really pretty when it’s covered in small bowls full of colorful ‘toppings’.

Chime In..

How do you spice up your pasta? Do you have a special sauce recipe, favorite sauce or pasta topping? Please share in the comments below.

There’s one thing that I’m actively trying to get better at lately.. cooking. I’ve decided to start cooking at least two nights a week. OK, maybe three. So what’s the story you ask? Well, my husband works nights most of the time so he’s not home at night to enjoy dinner with us and my mother lives very close to us and likes to see the kids as much as possible, so we go to her house about five nights a week to hang out with her and have dinner. The kids love it because there’s no TV (you read that right), and I love it because we get good, wholesome, organic, prepared from scratch meals because that’s how my mom rolls. She’s wholesome and organic. 🙂 Oh, and I love that we get to see her.. not just the food she prepared. Don’t worry, we do the dishes.

When I was recently asked to be a brand ambassador for Ragú® I thought what perfect timing! I am honored to be part of such an amazing group of bloggers participating in this campaign and I’m sure this campaign will help me gain the knowledge and confidence I need to cook more and give me the extra push I need to be more creative with food. There are 25 Ragú® Mom’s the Word on Dinner brand ambassadors including Mommy Niri and Rockin’ Mama. I will link to a full list of participating bloggers soon.
Mom’s the Word on Dinner is the name of the campaign and during my brand ambassadorship, I hope to get creative (that means use cooking utensils), use recipes (I might have to measure stuff), and share dinner time ideas and tips with you. I’m so excited to be par tof this campaign which is about sharing dinner time advice with other moms and I want you to participate too so jump on over to the Ragu Mom’s the Word on Dinner Facebook page and join us!

I had a blast watching the videos on the Ragú® Mom’s the Word on Dinner Facebook page today. Video topics including “Got Kids with Odd Eating Habits?” and “When Dinner Gets Tough..” will keep you hooked to the computer for a while.

Here’s a video to get you started:

During my brand ambassadorship for Ragú®, I’ll be hosting two in-home parties and two great giveaways so be sure to follow me on Twitter and Facebook and sign up for my RSS feed so you are always up to date with my latest posts and goodies!

Do you have a dinner time tip you’d like to share with me and my readers? Please do, in the comments below!

Disclosure – This post was created in connection with my appointment as an Ambassador in the Ragú® Mom’s the Word on Dinner Program. I am being compensated for my Ambassadorship. All opinions and ideas featured in this post are 100% my own. Visit www.facebook.com/ragusauce to join the conversation, get recipes, and watch videos.