As a busy mum of two, I like to save time where I can. I won't lie, sometimes during the week, my kids can be partial to an "oven dinner" to make life easier. These are great for one off's but they aren't what I want my children eating every day. In a bid to get my family eating healthy midweek meals that are also quick to prepare, we joined up to take part in the Dolmio #ThankGoodness challenge.
We received a delivery of ingredients to get us started. I have always been a fan of the taste of Dolmio Bolognese jars as my mum used them when I lived at home. Since I moved out, I don't make bolognese as much as I'd like to. If I am making a sauce, especially for my children, I'd prefer to make them from scratch so I know exactly what ingredients are inside. Before I made a start on my family meal, I took a closer look at the Dolmio jar label. Did you know that in each jar there are at least 10 juicy diced tomatoes, a dollop of tomato purée, half an onion, a tablespoon of sunflower, a couple of cloves of garlic, a handful of herbs such as basil, a teaspoon of cornflour, a teaspoon of salt, a pinch of pepper, two teaspoons of added beet sugar for taste, a squeeze of lemon juice, a splash of water and nothing else? Absolutely no artificial colours, flavours, preservatives or sweeteners, just 100% natural ingredients.
As my delivery contained wholemeal spaghetti, of course spaghetti bolognese was going to be the first thing on my list. We also received a whole range of vegetables. My children, especially four year old C, aren't huge fans of vegetables so I thought spaghetti bolognese would be a great way to hide them and make sure they are getting all of the goodness without knowing.
Firstly, I chopped up courgette, carrots, mushrooms, aubergine, onion and peppers as finely as possible. This probably took the majority of my time and that wasn't even very long at all. Whilst chopping, I browned the mince then added the 500g jar of Dolmio Bolognese sauce followed by my chopped vegetables. I took some garlic granules and extra mixed herbs from my cupboard and added a dash of those too, alongside a pinch of salt and pepper. I then made up my spaghetti as per the packet instructions. By this point, the bolognese scent was filling up the house and I could not wait to tuck in.
My four year old a is a very fussy eater and did take a little bit of bribing. He totally surprised me and actually tried it which is a massive feat for him considering we have to fight with him almost every dinner time anyway! Two year old E, on the other hand, could not get hers into her mouth fast enough and asked for more. Chris and I agreed that it was a delicious meal and completely cleared our plates. Neither child queried the vegetables in the sauce and Chris even had to ask if I'd actually used the mushrooms because he couldn't taste them (he isn't a mushroom fan).
As we only had two adults and two little ones to feed, we had a lot of bolognese left over. I decided to pop it in lunchbox and keep it in the fridge for the following day where we used it in jacket potatoes. This means that we got two full, nutritious family meals in under a hours prep!
In the days to follow, Chris and I both mentioned that we'd love to make it again as it tasted so great and was really filling so I have definitely added Dolmio to my shopping list and will be making bolognese more often.
Do you use Dolmio sauces? Are you surprised by the ingredients inside the jars?
This post is an entry for the #Dolmio #ThankGoodness Challenge, sponsored by Dolmio. www.dolmio.co.uk/thankgoodness
We received a delivery of ingredients to get us started. I have always been a fan of the taste of Dolmio Bolognese jars as my mum used them when I lived at home. Since I moved out, I don't make bolognese as much as I'd like to. If I am making a sauce, especially for my children, I'd prefer to make them from scratch so I know exactly what ingredients are inside. Before I made a start on my family meal, I took a closer look at the Dolmio jar label. Did you know that in each jar there are at least 10 juicy diced tomatoes, a dollop of tomato purée, half an onion, a tablespoon of sunflower, a couple of cloves of garlic, a handful of herbs such as basil, a teaspoon of cornflour, a teaspoon of salt, a pinch of pepper, two teaspoons of added beet sugar for taste, a squeeze of lemon juice, a splash of water and nothing else? Absolutely no artificial colours, flavours, preservatives or sweeteners, just 100% natural ingredients.
As my delivery contained wholemeal spaghetti, of course spaghetti bolognese was going to be the first thing on my list. We also received a whole range of vegetables. My children, especially four year old C, aren't huge fans of vegetables so I thought spaghetti bolognese would be a great way to hide them and make sure they are getting all of the goodness without knowing.
Firstly, I chopped up courgette, carrots, mushrooms, aubergine, onion and peppers as finely as possible. This probably took the majority of my time and that wasn't even very long at all. Whilst chopping, I browned the mince then added the 500g jar of Dolmio Bolognese sauce followed by my chopped vegetables. I took some garlic granules and extra mixed herbs from my cupboard and added a dash of those too, alongside a pinch of salt and pepper. I then made up my spaghetti as per the packet instructions. By this point, the bolognese scent was filling up the house and I could not wait to tuck in.
My four year old a is a very fussy eater and did take a little bit of bribing. He totally surprised me and actually tried it which is a massive feat for him considering we have to fight with him almost every dinner time anyway! Two year old E, on the other hand, could not get hers into her mouth fast enough and asked for more. Chris and I agreed that it was a delicious meal and completely cleared our plates. Neither child queried the vegetables in the sauce and Chris even had to ask if I'd actually used the mushrooms because he couldn't taste them (he isn't a mushroom fan).
As we only had two adults and two little ones to feed, we had a lot of bolognese left over. I decided to pop it in lunchbox and keep it in the fridge for the following day where we used it in jacket potatoes. This means that we got two full, nutritious family meals in under a hours prep!
In the days to follow, Chris and I both mentioned that we'd love to make it again as it tasted so great and was really filling so I have definitely added Dolmio to my shopping list and will be making bolognese more often.
Do you use Dolmio sauces? Are you surprised by the ingredients inside the jars?
This post is an entry for the #Dolmio #ThankGoodness Challenge, sponsored by Dolmio. www.dolmio.co.uk/thankgoodness
Yum! Commenting for myself and on behalf of BritMums and thanking you for taking part
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