Broccoli & Tomato Ravioli Bake

Some nights dinners just have to be easy.  Whether you’ve had a busy day, or just don’t feel like spending a lot of time in the kitchen, having a few simple recipes on hand can be really helpful.  When I am trying to come up with something quick to make for dinner, it needs to have 3 things.  Something with a little protein, a vegetable and usually some cheese.  Casseroles and Bakes are wonderful because it’s an all in one type meal that you can pair with a fresh salad or even some bread and it’s perfect.  With the help of Birds Eye, you can easily add nutritious, tasty veggies that kids will love every night to your meals, like in this yummy Broccoli & Tomato Ravioli Bake!

Today, 9 out of 10 people in the United States do not get the proper amount of vegetables, according to The State Of The Plate report.  Making sure my family gets the recommended amount of vegetables a day is very important to me.  Of course, sometimes that can be challenging with 4 children that can sometimes be picky.  Broccoli is probably one of our favorite vegetables, so I use it a lot our meals. Broccoli goes well by itself as a side dish and it also works great  in several casseroles and pasta dishes.  When my children were really little, I always played a little game with them when they were eating their broccoli.  We pretended that the broccoli were little trees.  Some were bigger and some were smaller.  We would count the trees (for counting practice 🙂 ) and then see who could eat the biggest broccoli “tree”!  My 3 year old still likes to show me the big “trees” she is going to eat a dinner time!

This easy Broccoli & Tomato Bake takes only a few minutes to prepare and can be on your table in 30 minutes!  Cheese Ravioli is cooked quickly, drained, and then tossed with your favorite tomato sauce, fire roasted tomatoes, and tender Birds Eye Steamed Broccoli Florets. It’s then topped with Italian Blend shredded cheese and baked for 20-25 minutes until the cheese is melted and it’s nice and bubbly!  My children love the cheesy pasta and don’t really mind the addition of veggies!

This year, Birds Eye has partnered with Melissa d’Arabian, celebrity chef, mom of four, and host of FoodNetwork.com’s web series The Picky Eaters Project, to make a difference and help moms with the dinnertime dilemma.   Together, Birds Eye and Melissa are combining their expertise in getting children to eat more veggies, one bite at a time.  I am loving this Orange Chicken Dish full of vegetables she makes in this short video.  I think I’ll have to add it to our dinner menu soon!  I also love her idea of adding vegetables to familiar foods that kids love to slowly introduce more veggies a little at a time!

Birds Eye continues to make eating more vegetables a reality by showing families how to fill half the plate with veggies in fun and simple ways moms and kids will both like. By providing moms with more than 40 unique vegetable blends year round at affordable prices, you can always find several varieties that your family will love!

*Linking up at Skip To My Lou, Buns In My Oven

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.