ronco pasta - Stuff Parents Need

A Favorite Kitchen Shortcut: Oven Pancakes

February 6, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 17 Comments

Thanks to Ronco, a favorite around my home, for partnering with me on this post. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own!

Friends, I love pinning gorgeous recipes on Pinterest every bit as much as you do, but when it’s time to roll up my sleeves and get to work in the kitchen, I almost always opt for recipes and shortcuts that will get me in and out of there FAST.

Ronco Pot-Sized Pasta

Ronco just launched a celebration of kitchen shortcuts, and has also released Pot-Sized Pasta to help things go a little faster during your meal prep. Have you seen it on the shelves, yet? It look like this:

So why do you need to purchase noodles that are half the length? Does that actually save you any time? Absolutely! When I have to break apart my pasta, a few different things happen:

I have to break it apart in groups, as I can’t get it all to come apart quickly.
Because I have to break it in groups I have to go as fast as possible so that all the pasta gets in the pot at pretty much the same time.
Because I have to go really fast,things get messy, and I always end up with noodles bits all over the counter and the floors. And that means more cleanup. Which means more time. 🙁
If I try to fit all of the pasta in the pot, I have to spend time squishing it down, little by little. That never works well, by the way, so I definitely don’t recommend doing it!

Ronco Pot-Sized Pasta goes straight into the pot, all at once, with no mess. It’s compact box also fits in the pantry nice and neat, which I love!

My Kitchen Shortcut

Ronco asked me to share with you one of my favorite kitchen shortcuts, and I knew instantly what I wanted to showcase: oven pancakes!

I make 16 pancakes at one time, and spend ZERO time in front of the stove pouring, watching, and flipping. That’s because I make them all in the oven.

To make oven pancakes, follow the directions on the box of pancake mix (because boxed mix is already a shortcut!), and then pour that mix onto a greased baking sheet (with raised edges). I followed the instructions for making around 14 pancakes, just to give you an idea of how much you should make.

It will look a little lumpy, but that’s ok, because you aren’t supposed to over-mix pancake batter.

The next step is to pop these into the oven, set to 325, for 15 minutes. At minute 13, I usually go back into the kitchen and switch the oven over to broil, just to give the pancakes a darker finished color. If you do that, you need to watch them for those last 2 minutes!

Remove the very large pancake from the oven, and cut into squares or rectangles, or you can even bust out some cookie cutters if you want to get really creative. One pan for me yields 16 pancakes, all ready at the exact same time!

I absolutely love that I can go do other things while the pancakes are cooking. It saves me a TON of time, and a lot of frustration, too, as I tend to ruin at least 3 pancakes during my attempts to make them.

Comfort Food All Dressed Up for Fall: Bacon and Butternut Squash Penne

November 5, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 6 Comments

This is a compensated post in partnership with Ronco Pasta. The recipe I created is my own.

A few weeks ago I was really craving some comfort food, and specifically, my favorite pasta noodle (penne). So I dreamed up this recipe which is oh-so-perfect for this time of year. Also? It has bacon. And you can’t go wrong with bacon, friends!

Check it out, and if you like how it sounds, or if you make it and love how it tastes, could I ask for your vote? I’m facing off with another blogger in a recipe competition, and if I win there’s a $100 Visa gift card with my name on it. And more importantly, by voting for me, you have a chance to win a $250 Visa gift card. Now that’s what I call a win/win!

You can vote once a day now through December 1st. Here’s the voting link. Remember, each vote not only helps me, but gives you another chance to win $250!
https://offerpop.com/ad.psp?cid=482206&ref=blog_post

I hope you love the dish, I hope you vote for me, and I hope we both win big! Let’s do this!

Bacon and Butternut Squash Penne

Ingredients

1 butternut squash, peeled and diced into bite-size pieces
4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp each salt, pepper, sage, nutmeg
16 oz Ronco Hidden Veggies Penne Pasta
8 oz turkey bacon
2/3 cup Parmesan cheese

Optional: fresh parsley for garnish

Servings: 4

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add the olive oil to large mixing bowl, then blend in all 4 spices. Then add the diced squash to the bowl, and mix to combine. Place the squash mixture on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and with raised edges. Bake for 40 minutes, flipping the squash over after 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 6 cups of water in a large pot until boiling. I recommend adding 1 tsp salt to the water for extra flavor, but that is optional. Cook the pasta for 7-9 minutes. Strain and set aside.

While the pasta is cooking, heat the bacon in the microwave, following package instructions. I cooked my bacon slices 4 at a time on a lined paper towel, with a second paper towel on top, for 4-5 minutes. After 3 minutes, I checked the bacon every 30 seconds to make sure it wasn’t getting too crisp. The end goal is crispy bacon, not burnt bacon! After the bacon has cooled a bit, use kitchen shears or a knife to cut it into strips. If some of it crumbles, that is perfectly fine.

Now it is time to add everything together! Using the pot that you cooked the noodles in, combine the penne, bacon, butternut squash and 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese. If the mixture needs some additional moisture, you can add in a bit of water, 1 Tbsp at a time. Plate your pasta and sprinkle with fresh parsley, if desired. Enjoy!

Ronco Hidden Veggie Pasta: One Year Supply Giveaway!

April 15, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 71 Comments

I am constantly trying to find ways to work more veggies into our meals. In the summer months, when lots of vegetables are in abundance at our local farmer’s market, the task isn’t so tough. There’s enough variety available to keep us from being too bored. But at other times of the year, I definitely DO get bored and I struggle. Also, to be frank, sometimes I just want to eat carbs and sugar and skip over the green stuff. Just sayin’.

But I have good news for the carbs fans out there who need a little more veg in their lives. Ronco has just released Hidden Veggie pasta. Every 4 oz. serving of the pasta has a full serving of veggies in it. I’ve tried it. I LOVE it. And I think you will, too! I recently made a SUPER easy recipe for some thai noodles and my family loved it!

I simply cut up some broccoli and some red bell peppers, and then I made my own peanut sauces (no recipe needed: just mix a littl soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, green onions and peanut butter until you get the flavor you like!).

Then all I did was to cook the pasta noodles according to package directions. I added the broccoli into the noodles that were cooking for the last 3 minutes of cooking time. You could also steam them in the microwave. I just went the easiest route!

Then I mixed all the ingredients together in a large serving dish. It wasn’t the prettiest dish I have ever made, but it tasted fantastic, and in addition to that broccoli and red bell pepper, the noodles also had veggies in them, which made this dish a new healthy favorite!

I found the flavor of the noodles themselves to be quite mild and versatile, so I think you won’t have any trouble coming up with recipe ideas. But Ronco also has some great Hidden Veggie recipe ideas on their site.

Ronco products are sold in the following cities and surrounding areas: Memphis, Birmingham, Little Rock, Mobile and Nashville. If you live in those areas, then you are in luck because I’ve got a fantastic giveaway for you!

Win it!: One lucky reader will win a 1 year supply of Ronco Hidden Veggies! This will be in the form of 24 foupons for 1 free package of Ronco Hidden Veggies pasta, so if you don’t live where it is sold, I wouldn’t recommend entering this particular giveaway.

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received complimentary products for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Win a Kindle Fire with Ronco!

January 27, 2012 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

One of my very favorite brands of pasta is Ronco. I have two main reasons. The first one is because their products are excellent and reasonably priced (ok, I guess that’s two reasons right there!). But there is one more reason I love this company: they do AWESOME giveaways! If you were reading my blog last year, then you probably saw two big giveaways I did with them. Three winners each got a year’s supply of pasta (wow!) and in a separate giveaway, someone won a Cuisinart stainless steel 4 piece pasta/steamer set and 4 boxes of pasta. They have certainly shown Stuff Parents Need readers a lot of love!

And today is no different! I want you to be in the know about a most excellent contest happening over at the Ronco Pasta Facebook page. It’s called the Pasta Moments Photo Contest, and as part of it, Ronco wants to see your favorite pasta moments, as well as what “home” means to you. Break out your cameras and capture the spirit of home and comfort, and submit it to the contest to be entered to win some outstanding prizes!

One grand prize winner is going to snag a Kindle Fire! OOOOOHHH!! There are weekly prizes for all 7 weeks that the contest is running (weekly winners get a 1 year supply of Ronco pasta!). Official rules can be found here.

You know you love pasta, and you are probably planning on having it for at least one meal this week. So capture those moments, submit them to Ronco, and see if you can snag pasta for the year or a Kindle Fire!

Disclosure: Ronco is providing me with a $25 gift card to Shutterfly as a thank you for the time I spent writing the post. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

FREE PASTA FOR ONE YEAR!!!! (3 WINNERS!!!)

January 10, 2011 · by Tiffany Merritt · 38 Comments

PLEASE NOTE: ONLY OPEN TO RESIDENTS OF ALABAMA, ARKANSAS, INDIANA, KENTUCKY, MISSISSIPPI AND TENNESSEE, AS THAT IS WHERE THIS PRODUCT IS SOLD. If you don’t live in these states but know someone who does, please pass the word on to them!

Ronco Pasta has officially launched their new Facebook page and they are celebrating this launch in a major way! Their site has easy, family and budget-friendly recipes (woo hoo!) and a “pasta locator” to help you find where you can buy Ronco products. Fans of their site will have access to cooking tips and discounts.

Ronco knows that Stuff Parents Need readers value quality and convenience, which makes them a perfect match for your cooking needs. They are offering 3 of you (yes!!!) FREE PASTA FOR ONE YEAR* Never before have I been more jealous that I cannot enter my own giveaway, folks. This one is SUCH a doozy!

The contest will run until January 20th at 11:59pm EST when winners will be selected via Random.org. The winners will have 48 hours to respond before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee. Limit one entrant per household, please.

How do you enter? It’s SOOOO simple! You just need to do two things (must do both to enter)

1. Like Ronco Pasta on Facebook and post on their wall that Stuff Parents Need sent you.

2. Like Stuff Parents Need on Facebook.

Once you have done both things, please come back here and leave a comment that you did. Winners will be drawn from the blog comments, so don’t forget to do that!

EDIT: You get one entry for liking us both on facebook, so your entry would look like this: I like Ronco and Stuff Parents Need on Facebook. To get more than one entry, you have to be a blogger and post about this giveaway on your site. Make sense?

If you are a blogger, I’d like to offer a rare bonus entry opportunity. Please post about this giveaway on your blog to help get the word out and you are eligible for 2 extra entries.

*Based on a family of four. Delivered via free product coupons.

Disclosure: I received no compensation or free products in exchange for this post. I’m a Ronco customer, and I believe you will love their products if you have never tried them before.