One of the things I hear over and over from busy folks like you is that there just isn’t much time to cook. You want to eat good nutritious and satisfying meals, but you really don’t have time for much stirring and simmering. Sports practices, dance classes, scouting events, helping with homework, and keeping the house from turning into total chaos keeps you beyond busy. I know. I know. Sometimes your family is just lucky they get anything to eat for dinner…… or is that just my house??
We are a tradition-loving football family. We play hard and we like to eat good food. All through football season my kids have practices during our regular dinner time. Dinner is pushed back till after football and cheer practice. It may be late, but I don’t want anything to get in the way of our most important family tradition which is eating together as a family. One of my strategies to deal with the time crunch is to always have jar pasta sauce and whole wheat pasta ready to go in the pantry. Pasta is a meal my family loves and is super easy to make when using a jar sauce like Ragu Homestyle Thick and Hearty Pasta Sauce. We just love this easy shortcut for getting dinner on the table in a jiffy.
You know I’m picky about ingredients. I don’t like to feed my family artificial colors and avoiding high fructose corn syrup is a must as far as I’m concerned. I also avoid artificial flavors. Who needs them! I like ingredients that I can pronounce like tomatoes, onions, and herbs. Ragu’s new Homestyle Thick and Hearty Pasta Sauce comes in five different varieties including Traditional, Mushroom, Meat, Four Cheese, and Roasted Garlic. Each one is thick and rich and really sticks to your pasta. The Ragu Homestyle Thick and Hearty Pasta Sauce includes fantastic flavor without artificial colors, flavors, and high fructose corn syrup. My family loves pasta night.
I wish that I had time to simmer pasta sauce on the stove all day, but I just don’t. I work all day and the kids keep me busy at night. The Ragu Homestyle Sauces are a nice compromise. They have the made-from-scratch flavor that my family craves in a convenient jar sauce. I boil the water for whole wheat pasta and simmer our favorite Ragu Homestyle Sauce while the kids help set the table and in just a short time, my family sits down for dinner together. It’s our chance to laugh and reconnect with each other after a long day. Twirling spaghetti and enjoying a meal together is how we keep our family close. That’s a tradition that I refuse to give up on just because we have a busy schedule.
If I’m feeling really ambitious I make this Chicken Sausage and Zucchini Pasta Skillet. It’s just a couple of extra minutes to make, but tastes like you took forever to make it. Top with lots of cheese and the kids go crazy over this pasta bowl.
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Cup onion finely chopped (the finer the better)
- 1 Small zucchini quartered
- 1 Package sweet Italian chicken sausage sliced
- Ragu Homestyle Thick and Hearty Pasta Sauce
- 1 Pound whole wheat spaghetti cooked
- Fresh parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top
- Place a pot of water on the stove to boil for pasta. When the water boils, salt it and cook pasta to al dente.
- Heat olive oil over medium high heat in a large skillet
- Add onions, zucchini, and sausage.
- Cook till sausage is cooked through and vegetables are soft. About 5-6 minutes.
- Add Ragu Homestyle Pasta Sauce.
- Stir till all ingredients are well mixed and heat through till warm.
- Add cooked spaghetti and mix till all ingredients are encompassed.
- Serve in bowls with lots of fresh parmesan cheese.
If you want to find out more about Ragu Homestyle Pasta Sauces, just click over to the Ragu website and check it out for yourself. I love, love, love the video on the website. That’s totally me! Ragu Homestyle Sauce……….”Always simmered in tradition.” For more great recipes to help you get dinner to the table so you can enjoy your family, check out my recipe index. I add new recipes all of the time. The crock pot recipes are a great solution for busy weeknights. I think I’m going to experiment a bit with the Ragu sauces and see what other delicious meals I can come up with. I’m thinking Meatball Subs with Roasted Garlic Sauce for starters. Yum! Can’t wait to get into the kitchen. You can also check out more recipe ideas from Ragu by clicking over to the Ragu recipe page.
What is your favorite meal for busy weeknights? Have you tried the Ragu Homestyle Pasta Sauces? Which flavor do you think will be your family’s favorite………..Traditional, Mushroom, Meat, Four Cheese, or Roasted Garlic?
I love zucchini and sausage so this dinner looks fabulous! Can’t wait to try it with the new Ragu sauces I fell in love with while making my veggie stuffed shells post with the garlic variety-YUM!
Megan Marlowe recently posted…Bacon, Havarti and Peach Wafflewiches
That looks so scrumptious!
We also have a link party every Thursday morning at 8 if you wanted to join in, we would love to have you.
I have a load of zucchini I need to use up this week. What a great idea! Dinner looks great 🙂
Nicole Burkholder recently posted…Let’s Get Real #154
Thanks Nicole! Dinner was really good and it was even better the next day for lunch.
Yummy! I love to mix pasta and veggies!
Great combination for sure! Thanks for stopping by.
Yum! I love zucchini with my pasta!
Me too! It add a lot of texture and is really eye-appealing I think.
Wish my family loved zucchini as much as I do. This is delicious looking. I wonder if they have any sauces without dehydrated onion. I have a daughter who is allergic to all onion except powdered or granulated. Sure does limit the jarred sauces!
Hi Marjie. I’m sure being allergic to onion limits a lot of packaged foods. I believe all of the ingredients are on the website. You could take a look there if you were interested in looking before you went to the store.