There’s no doubt that December is one of the busiest months of the year. Sometimes I find myself struggling to keep up with our regular routines while creating all the “holiday magic,” that moms are tasked with. So now more than ever, I need easy meals to get dinner on the table. When the Massachusetts-based company Cooked Perfect reached out to me to share their frozen meatballs and easy-prep recipes for both dinner and entertaining, I immediately said yes!
Cooked Perfect is a family-owned business and America’s number one, fully cooked, meatball brand. Their meatballs are easy to simmer on the stove in marinara sauce and serve with pasta (a go-to for me).
Their flavors include traditional Homestyle, Italian Style, Angus Beef, Turkey and Organic (not pictured). I recently tried out their Homestyle version with this Slow Cooker BBQ Meatball Recipe. I purchased mine at Stop & Shop in Danvers, but Cooked Perfect Meatballs are available at many North Shore grocery stores.
Cooked Perfect shared some recipes with me and the one I tried was for Slow Cooker BBQ Meatballs. It caught my eye because the recipe called for just 3 ingredients and the meatballs were ready after 6 hours in the crockpot or 4 hours on high. (I used my Instant Pot on the Slow Cook Setting.)
The Slow Cooker BBQ Meatballs would be great for serving as a holiday appetizer, but I actually used them for meal prepping with quinoa, arugula, sliced cucumbers, tomatoes and dill sauce. My son is a pretty picky eater, but even he was willing to give these sweet meatballs a try, served with sides of mac n’ cheese and cucumbers. I was happy to have the meatballs on hand this week to eat before sports and after getting home after school club pick-up.
Simplifying and sometimes prepping our meals lets us all sit down together and eat dinner as a family, which ties into Cooked Perfect’s Family Dinner Night Movement. With American families eating together less than ever, the goal of Family Dinner Night is to help families come together for just one more meal each week. You can pledge to join the movement at FamilyDinnerNight.com.
While most of us know it’s important to eat dinner together, we can struggle with putting it into practice. Family Dinner Night provides easy recipes, plus fun and engaging conversation starters that go beyond “how was your day.” I can’t wait to try playing one of their suggested games, like Guess that Category, or going around the table seeing how many state capitols we can name. (I’m pretty sure my husband will win this one!)
All these fun resources are available for free on FamilyDinnerNight.com and by following Cooked Perfect on Instagram @cookedperfect or on Facebook @CookedPerfect. You can also sign up for Cooked Perfect’s newsletter The Dinner Bell.
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This post is sponsored by Cooked Perfect, but all opinions (and kitchen mistakes) are my own.