May 17, 2008

You Say Tomato, I Say Fresh & Simple

At la casa dei Dana Files, pasta is served quite often. It’s quick and easy to make, tastes molto delizioso, and it’s something that The Pickiest Eater Ever, aka Dawson, will eat without complaint. In fact, we’ve boiled so many noodles, and tried nearly every pasta sauce ever made, that one could call us Pasta Connoisseurs.

As much as we love penne and tomato sauce, it can be difficult to get a delicious dinner on the table, especially when our lives are constantly busy and chaotic. Not only that, I hate doing more dishes than I have to, so when the folks at Ragu sent samples of their new Fresh & Simple Pouches I was more than excited.

I know it sounds crazy to be giddy about pasta sauce pouches, but you have to understand my reasoning. In the summer we grow tons of tomatoes. To make sure that nothing goes to waste, my husband boils the many leftover tomatoes into puree and then freezes them in quart containers and heavy duty Ziploc bags. These frozen ‘maters are excellent for making homemade pasta sauce, but I can’t exactly microwave the plastic baggies without creating a gigantic mess.

I’m not saying I don’t love homemade sauce, but sometimes the time it takes to thaw, heat, add garlic and herbs and simmer, is a pain in the rear. Not to mention the extra kitchen utensils, knives, cutting board and saucepan I need to use and wash later.

The Ragu Fresh & Simple Pouch is great for those busy days. I just clip the pouch open, pop it in the microwave for 90 seconds and pour right over my pasta. The only thing I had to worry about was boiling noodles and that takes 10 minutes (we love al dente).

The sauces come in three flavors: Garden Vegetable (Dawson’s favorite.), Traditional Tomato Basil (Doug’s favorite) and Tomato, Onion & Garlic (my favorite). An added bonus is that Ragu sauces are all natural which means no additives or preservatives, and every 1/2 cup of sauce has a full serving of vegetables.

Even I can’t sneak the veggies in my homemade sauce without Dawson turning up his nose. With the Garden Vegetable sauce my picky eater didn’t have a clue that he was eating something good for him.

For more info on Ragu and their All Natural sauces, click here. You can also discover some fabulous recipe ideas, like Shrimp in Red Pepper Alfredo Sauce. Yummo!