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These Quick And Easy Meals Will Get You Through The Hectic Days of Back-To-School

by Team Scary Mommy
Updated: 
Originally Published: 

Just when your family had absorbed all the new procedures, logistics, and earth-shattering schedule alterations necessary to survive The Infamous Summer of 2020, back-to-school season has arrived to throw another five or ten wrenches in things. Delightful. As we prepare to add in-person classes, remote learning and distanced sports to our already overflowing schedule, we’ve got to simplify what we can and carve out time wherever we can find it.

One way to save your daily schedule: finally solve the puzzle of dinner prep: finding easy-to-prepare meals with fresh ingredients that your kids will actually eat. My secret dinnertime ingredient? RAGÚ® Old World Style® Traditional Sauce, the cornerstone of a variety of delicious meals perfectly suited for my overscheduled family.

Each of the examples included below is a novel, kid-pleasing dish geared for freshness and nutrition, and each one is made with RAGÚ® Old World Style® Traditional Sauce, itself made with quality ingredients like olive oil and vine-ripened tomatoes. A family evening that comes off on schedule *and* includes one of these meals feels like a real victory.

Three-Meat “Instant” Bolognese

A hearty, delicious spin on the classic bolognese. Fresh vegetables come together with Italian sausage and RAGÚ® Old World Style® Traditional Sauce, for a pasta dish that will have the kids diving straight in. Just one of many ways to use RAGÚ® sauce as the foundation of a fun, fresh dish that’s forgiving during the evening rush, simmering while you chase down homework and generally keep the world spinning.

Penne Primavera

Experts in the dinnertime logistics game know that a few smart variations on pasta and tomato sauce open up a whole new world of dishes. Here, by cooking down the vegetables in broth before warming together with RAGÚ® Old World Style® Traditional Sauce, pasta, and cheese, you’ve created a hearty, delicious meal that’s miles away from a plate of spaghetti without tying up your entire evening. And to a hungry kid, it just looks like cheesy goodness.

Homemade Pizza

Since time began, Moms have been searching for the perfect way to deploy the homemade pizza- here’s a take that minimizes the overhead and maximizes the flavor and the veggies. Whatever staple veggies you’ve got on hand go into the rich, flavorful RAGÚ® Old World Style® Traditional Sauce and you’re operating an in-home pizzeria in minutes. Add to that the ability to customize pizzas for picky eaters and topping tyrants and you’ve got a meal that the kids may just take over from beginning to end. Good luck on the dishes though!

Braised Chicken and Penne

Dinner isn’t a problem that you can solve just once- it’s a party that you’re throwing seven nights a week, which means that any good solution is going to be deployed over and over again. So it is with chicken thighs, a great staple of the family dinner if you could only think up new ways to serve them. Braising them and serving over pasta is a great way to present familiar ingredients in a simple, tasty way. And remember- use boneless, skinless chicken thighs to minimize your braise time.

Buy yourself a little breathing room in the afternoon rush by elevating simple ingredients into enticing new dishes with RAGÚ® Old World Style® Traditional Sauce. It doesn’t always take more time to prepare family-pleasing dishes- just a spark of inspiration and an eye for kid-friendly concepts.

RAGÚ® sauce helps busy families enjoy more time together thanks to the delicious taste of RAGÚ® Old World Style® Traditional Sauce. For more quick and delicious recipes, visit Ragu.com.

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