our basic take on spaghetti and meatballs at our home {#meatballmasters}

“I made a delicious and easy dinner using Johnsonville® Meatballs {#MeatballMasters} as part of a sponsored post for Socialstars. All opinions are my own, but I wouldn’t share with you something I wouldn’t share with my family!”

Family dinner time is really important to me. Call me old fashioned, but I think it’s just a crucial part of the family dynamic. And heck, I’m taking it all in, as I see my kids literally growing before my eyes. I know that in a couple years, doing family dinners are going to basically impossible. Yet…I will try my darnedest!! It’s a time to relax and sit and talk to each other. A time to hear about the day without all the distractions of life and technology before us. Our dinner table is a “phone free zone”, so there is no worry about emails or phone calls interrupting our conversation, like in all other areas of our home. It’s our little safe haven, if you will 🙂

When I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner one week, my oldest brought up her idea again. She has been talking about having meatballs for-EVER. We had them a while back at a restaurant and every now and then since having them, she has wanted me to make them. I have pinned, and Google-d and asked my family, yet I haven’t found an easy solution. And let’s face it, I NEED easy! I am a busy mom of four little ones running around everywhere. Plus, I am not one that is handy in the kitchen…do ya feel me? Like, whoa…complicated isn’t happening!

The answer to my daughter’s longing came in my email inbox, of all places! I received information on Johnsonville® meatballs and I actually smiled huge when reading it! I thought about how happy she was going to be – I was going to be her meatball hero! I wasn’t very familiar with the product, so I wanted to check it out before I started working on a post to share with you all. After all, if I wouldn’t feed it to my family, I sure shouldn’t be sharing it with you. What I found out was pretty great though!! I’ve tried other frozen meatballs before and, well, BARF! They are just nasty (sorry for being so transparent, but it’s true!!). They are crunchy and just really bad meat. Johnsonville® Meatballs are made with only premium cuts of meat – boo-yah!! My family loved them! I loved that the best tasting frozen meatballs I’ve ever had, and easy to find (my local grocery store, Meijer, carries them!). I loved that they weren’t just regular ‘ol meatballs too, they had a bit of a spice to them, but not enough where my kids noticed. Left all in the family happy!

This week’s family dinner night was Sunday. Knowing that Christmas was this week, I wanted to hang with my family – you know, the calm before the storm? Starting Monday, we were busy, busy, busy. I wanted to take the time with my girls to talk about what our week was going to be like, but also to check in with them, and see how they were feeling about school, dance and the fun winter break we had ahead of us! We were able to talk and have some fun over the super, duper dinner we prepared. It wasn’t fancy, but my kids loved it!

My girls aren’t fans of spaghetti sauce, so when we have spaghetti night, it’s typically just buttered noodles. This time, I was able to cook the meatballs on my stove top with some sauce that my husband and I love, that we typically don’t have. I’m not one to make different meals for everyone…you eat what I make sort of thing.

Now, just because I have little ones, doesn’t mean I don’t like to make it a little fancy.  The candles weren’t lit, but it still looked nice 🙂

All in all, what a great night, with an easy meal to put together that made all smile!! After dinner, we looked outside to a beautiful site too. Perfection!

What do you think? Have you tried or would you now try the Johnsonville® Meatballs I mentioned in this post? Talk to me!! {{Addition :: {I have made other meals using Johnsonville® products – check them out!!}}