Disconnect to Reconnect: Easy Lasagna and a Giveaway {Giveaway CLOSED}

I used to interact on the computer just for fun, but ever since starting my blog, computer time has turned into a career. Everyday I am blogging, editing photos, checking and answering emails, interacting with brands and publishing weekly blog posts.

If I'm not blogging you'll find me on various social media sites, facebook, twitter, pinterest and instagram. I'm my own marketer, so sometimes it can all seems never ending.
There are some days that I look up at the clock and realize it's 2:00 pm, and I'm still in my pajamas. 

I used to feel bad for being on the computer so much, but I told myself this is your career, and your contribution to helping our family financially. This is how it's suppose to be, but is it really suppose to be this crazy?
 

Honestly I love what I do, but technology can sure get the best of me at times, and the best of my family as well.  Sadly these photos are all too familiar in our home and on the go.

The other night it was very quiet in our house that I decided to do a walk through. If you knew my family than you would know quiet does not describe our house. I popped my head into my daughters room to find her sitting in her chair responding to text messages, snap chatting, and checking in on Instagram. 

Next to Mackenzie's room was Carson sitting by his desk watching Full House and playing flappy bird on his iPod. Off to the main bedroom where my husband was checking emails from his iPad and watching a movie. I couldn't believe how everyone was separated as a family, and so consumed by technology.

Growing up my mom always made sure we ate dinner together as a family, and it was always at the table. It was never spread out in the living room eating off of TV trays or around the coffee table. Eating together as a family is the one childhood memory that I remember very clearly.

Sadly that isn't how it's been in my home lately. We used to eat dinner every night at the table, but then we moved to a new home, and never really got back into the routine. 
Recently I was invited to team up with the Power of Family Meals and J.M. Smucker Company for an initiative that emphasizes on the benefits of eating together as a family.

Disconnect to Reconnect is a movement to get families to unplug at the table for at least one meal, once a week or more. We don't always have the chance to eat together as a family, but when we do the one rule we have is no electronic devices or phones at the table. Family meal time is all about focusing on each other and reconnecting as a family.

When I want to gather my family around the table I can always depend on a good pasta meal to do the trick. This easy No Boil Classic Lasagna is a family favorite in our house (recipe below).

Family meal time opens up the line of communication more than you realize especially with teenagers. It gives us time to chat about our day, see how everyone is doing, catch up on school activities, and listen to who my daughters new crush is for the week. Before we know it everyone is giggling and having a great time.

My son is one of the pickiest eaters, so lasagna is the one meal I can make with no complaints.

This recipe is simple to make and you don't have to cook the noodles first. I love that part.

 





I recently took the pledge to Disconnect to Reconnect and were starting out slowly. My family is finally getting back into our routine and I couldn't be happier! Now it's your turn. Are you ready to Disconnect to Reconnect? I  challenge you to put down all your electronic devices, cook a home-cooked meal and enjoy dinner together and reconnect as a family. Trust me your children will appreciate the time you spend together gathered around the table. I know I did.  


Another favorite meal my family loves is Breakfast for Dinner! We love it so much that I add it to our menu at least twice a month. Now it's time for a giveaway!!!! The generous folks over at Smuckers are offering one lucky Mommy's Kitchen reader a Breakfast for Dinner Prize Package.


The Prize package includes the following: 
  • Presto Jumbo Cool Touch electric griddle 
  • 7-piece kitchen utensil set with stand 
  • Family Talk conversation game 
  • Smucker’s Strawberry Natural Squeeze jam 
  • JIF Creamy Peanut Putter 
  • JIF Chocolate Hazelnut Spread 
  • Folger’s Classic Roast 
  • Hungry Jack Breakfast Syrup 
  • 2 packs Hungry Jack Complete Pancake and Waffle Mix 
  • 2 packs Martha White Banana Nut Muffin Mix 
  • Crisco No-Stick Cooking Spray 
  • Martha White All-Purpose Flour
 This Giveaway is now Closed! A Winner has been chosen.

How to Enter: 
To enter the giveaway just leave a comment on this post letting me know what your family’s favorite dinner meal is? (mandatory comment)

Bonus Entries:
1) Take the Pledge and come back and leave an additional comment and letting me know.
n additional comment saying that you did.

2) Tweet the following for a second bonus entry: 
Take the Pledge #Disconnect2Reconnect with the @PowerofMeals at @mommyskitchen Win a Breakfast 4 Dinner Prize Pack http://tinyurl.com/lgrwxnb

Rules:
Contest starts today and will run until midnight on Sunday May 18th 2014. If you leave an anonymous comment please include your email address in your comment. Contest open to US and Canadian Residents only due to shipping charges. I will choose a random winner and contact the winner via email. The winner will have 48 to reply or a new will be chosen.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of #DisconnecttoReconnect Campaign; however, all thoughts and opinions stated above are 100% entirely my own.



photo appsiggy_zps9eec996c.png

118 comments

Jen said…
We love Carnitas!

juanitas_cocina@yahoo.com
Jen said…
I tweeted! https://twitter.com/JuanitasCocina/status/466346060840189954

juanitas_cocina@yahoo.com
Mary Andrews said…
Anything Italian, really. But lasagna is one of our absolute faves! And I love the no-boil method!!


ffejs_grl@yahoo.com
Mary Andrews said…
I took the pledge. Love time with my family, and we will be spending it connected to one another over dinner every evening!


ffejs_grl@yahoo.com
We love this no boil lasagna....so easy and good!
Amy said…
I don't know if I can pick a favorite for the whole family. We all request something different for our birthdays, but we love pancakes for dinner.
Unknown said…
This looks and sounds delicious! Manicotti is on of our favorites too... Prime Rib, or Ribeyes are one of our favorites too.. man we just Love food! Ty for sharing with us!
Unknown said…
My family. loves stuffed shells and meatballs
Dianne Craner said…
My family loves Chicken quesadillas with grilled peppers and onion. Disconnecting for Family dinner should be a top priority.
Anonymous said…
We live Chile Verde.


Giddyupbecky@yahoo.com
susanlulu said…
Steak is my favorite meal.
susanlulu@yahoo.com
Unknown said…
Hello! We love breakfast for supper. Any combination of eggs, waffles, pancakes, muffins, and etc. My kiddos (triplets age 11 and our 3 year old love to help).
Terri C said…
We love homemade pizza. I try to make everyone's favorite toppings.
itc0002@sbcglobal.net
Terri C said…
We took the pledge! I'm excited for my family!
itc0002@sbcglobal.net
Anonymous said…
We love steaks,italian dishes & seafood. Always eat at the dinner table. Also, love breakfast for dinner. dasmith1810@yahoo.com
Margie Huddleston margie@thehuddlestons.org said…
We have always loved having taco salad with all the fixins! My son is picky like yours and he loves that he can make it his own. :)
Margie Huddleston margie@thehuddlestons.org said…
We proudly took this pledge! People matter more than electronics anyway :)
Jennifer I. said…
My kids favorite meal (right now) is homemade calzones.
Sila Lumenn said…
King Ranch Chicken is a favorite around here.
Jennifer I. said…
I took the pledge. I love this idea.
Unknown said…
Cat head biscuits tomatoe gravy sausage bacon eggs and grits that's what my bunch in the sout likes for supper..yum yum!
maryann said…
I took the pledge
I'm the grandmother and my daughter and I take turns cooking supper so therefore her family and myself eat supper together.
Basically we like vegetables, salad, meat and starch. We cook alot of pork, chicken and fish. We have tried many different recipes. We are not too fussy but we always cook from scratch.
Dana said…
We love roast with potatoes and carrots.
Dana said…
I also took the pledge.
sharonjo said…
My family's favorite dinner is grilled steaks served with twice-baked potatoes. Thank you!
sharonjo at gwtc dot net
sharonjo said…
I took the pledge.
sharonjo at gwtc dot net
sharonjo said…
Tweet: https://twitter.com/sharonjo2/status/466423790063583233

sharonjo at gwtc dot net
amalia r said…
Lemon chicken, roasted potatoes abs a big salad
amalia r said…
I took the pledge!
Meghan Finley said…
https://twitter.com/immortalb4/status/466447094736519168
Unknown said…
I love this way of cooking lasagna and whenever we all are home at their same time and have a meal together all electronics are left on a tray in the living room you can pick up after dinner. Roxanneday2012@me.com
Unknown said…
I love this way of cooking lasagna and whenever we all are home at their same time and have a meal together all electronics are left on a tray in the living room you can pick up after dinner. Roxanneday2012@me.com
Jenny Williamson said…
We love sheppards pie!Even my 2 year!
Anonymous said…
My husband's favorite meal happens to be lasagna. I've always cooked my noodles, but will try your recipe. Sounds great, and I really enjoy your blog.
ballard@athletics.msstate.edu
momof3 said…
Our favorite meal is Mexican casserole!!!
momof3 said…
We took the challenge! Love family dinners and conversion!
momof3 said…
Our favorite meal is Mexican casserole!!!
JACLYN said…
Our favorite dinner meal together is baked ziti with garlic bread!
Anonymous said…
At my house it's either baked ham (my daughter's favorite) or home made tamales (my favorite). I took the pledge. :) sharon.hardy@cox.net
FIBERONE said…
Our favorite is my chicken dressing casserole. My children ask me to prepare it for family get togethers.
seaglassmama said…
Our family favorite is stuffed shells with garlic bread on the side! Yummy!
Shay VanDijk said…
Spaghetti and meat sauce, salad with french dressing and garlic cheese bread. My picky eaters love Italian food, second choice is lasagna.
I make it a point to have dinner with the kids every night. Hubby doesn't make it home in time. On the weekends we eat all meals as a family together and are trying to have more family activities. We are unplugging more too.
Clemons Blogs said…
My families favorite dinner is Fried Chicken,Mashed Potatoes, Corn on the Cob and a Salad. That's mine, anyway, and my husband, daughter, son-in-law and grandkids all love it, too. I suspect it's their favorite, too.
Dawn said…
My family loves my chicken and noodles and tacos/burritos are a big favorite too.
Dawn said…
I took the pledge and my husband. I agree with the pledge but I do have one observation. We have six kids and we use to go on several road trips, they were fun but very stressful. We went on a road trip last weekend with four grandkids and because of a phone and ipad games and apps it was a stress free trip, youve got to love technology for that!
Karen said…
Lasagna is our family favorite too! Roast beef is a close second.
Unknown said…
I took the pledge!
Anonymous said…
One of our family favorite meals is Poppyseed Chicken served with peas and biscuits.
kbmom@mac.com
1froglegs said…
We never actually reach a consensus about dinner. My son and I both love sloppy joes, my daughter likes anything with pasta and my wife likes anything that cleans up well.
1froglegs said…
I took the pledge for both my wife and I.

asotv@aol.com
1froglegs said…
I tweeted at https://twitter.com/1froglegs/status/466679589922942976
Gretchen Hays said…
We love roast beef, mashed taters and brown gravy.
Marcy said…
Orange chicken for us!
Marcy said…
I took the pledge!
Monica said…
Enchiladas! Thanks
Anonymous said…
We love Creamy Baked Taquitos with Cilantro Lime Dressing.
Christie Teachwaitn4reces@sbcglobal.net
Anonymous said…
I took the pledge. Christie Teachwaitn4reces@sbcglobal.net
Our family maintains the tradition that having dinner together if no one is home late because of work. My mum simple theory is so we can finish the food with no worry of the next person who is not around. I like the lasagna recipe, simple and one pot for one meal. :)
Anonymous said…
Our family LOVES lasagna!! Definately going to be trying this!
Anonymous said…
I took the pledge ;)
emt817ftw said…
I make a ravioli bake that everyone loves. Easy, filling and full of flavor. Thanks for the giveaway!

emt817ftw@gmail.com

Esther Thurman
Natalie F said…
I took the pledge.
Sarah Beth said…
Our favorite family meal is lasagna too!
Jamie Smith said…
Baked chicken breast and baked potatoes with salad and texas toast.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
Our favorite dinner is barbecued pork chops seasoned with smoked paprika, along with grilled corn on the cob and salad. So yummy and I don't have to heat up the house to make dinner!

Gracienna@Gmail
My family likes make-your-own tacos, but lasagna is a big hit also.
Digicats {at} Sbcglobal {dot} Net
I took the pledge as Carol Ezovski
Digicats {at} Sbcglobal {dot} Net
I tweeted
https://twitter.com/cezovski9/status/467084829704474624
Digicats {at} Sbcglobal {dot} Net
Anonymous said…
took the pledge
mollievalentine@yahoo.com
Anonymous said…
I took the pledge to reconnect

cyndihamm22@yahoo.com
Anonymous said…
I want to try to make pasta casserole, something Italian

cyndihamm22@yahoo.com
Anonymous said…
I want to try the no boil lasagna recipe.
mollievalentine@yahoo.com
anitrakinison said…
Anything with meat;lol.
anitrakinison said…
Tweeted & shared to Facebook. This is such a good idea! :)
Anonymous said…
Just found this site and the recipes are great.. Our favorite family meal is
Baked cube steak with gravy made over it
Mash potatoes
peas or green beans
sandytallman@yahoo.com
Lori said…
Our family loves breakfast anytime as well. My son and daughter are kind of picky too, so I understand that. I love your blog, thank you for sharing your recipes. We try to sit down at least 5 nights a week together for dinner. It's about the only time someone's not playing on their phone/laptop/dsi/kindle/ipod/xbox/wii. I can't wait to go camping, none of that stuff is allowed!
Lori said…
since I forgot to leave my email, from the previous post here it is
lsunshine205@aol.com
This comment has been removed by the author.
I took pledge. We will schedule one night a week to celebrate family. Our fav is spaghetti.

Rocky4patter@yahoo.com
Unknown said…
OUr favorite family meal is Crock Pot Taco Soup.
Anonymous said…
Joanne A.

No particular favorite, but the lasagna looks really good. We live on the farm and our dinner menu depends on the time of year and what we've been doing.

aylward2 at nemr dot net
Anonymous said…
My families favorite dinner is meatloaf with mashedpotato and glazed carrot.
menbigebe@gmail.com
Cindy said…
We love slow cooker meals. One of our favorites is old fashioned beef stew with cornbread. Comfort food for the win!

clogzilla(at)yahoo(dot)com
Cindy said…
I took the pledge!

clogzilla(at)yahoo(dot)com
Cindy said…
Tweet!

https://twitter.com/normawatson/status/467416696937250816

clogzilla(at)yahoo(dot)com
JC said…
We love lasagna.
JC said…
-https://twitter.com/tcarolinep/status/467526289759698944
JC said…
I took the pledge.
latanya t said…
I took the pledge

dlatany at gmail dot com
latanya t said…
https://twitter.com/sweetums82/status/467708893762564097

dlatany at gmail dot com
Anonymous said…
A juicy burger with sauteed onions and cheddar cheese with a side of roasted vegetables (in place of fries - yum.

tmacwelch@yahoo.com
marcia goss said…
Our favorite meal is cheese enchiladas.
marcia.goss@gmail.com
marcia goss said…
I took the pledge.
marcia.goss@gmail.com
marcia goss said…
https://twitter.com/mgoss123/status/467817984397172737
marcia.goss@gmail.com
d schmidt said…
My families favorite meal is beef pot roast

mummytotwoboys@yahoo.com
d schmidt said…
I took the pledge as d schmidt

mummytotwoboys@yahoo.com
d schmidt said…
Tweeted

https://twitter.com/mummytotwoboys1/status/467832147769040896

mummytotwoboys@yahoo.com
Susan Christy said…
Confetti Spaghetti - yum!
Sherrie said…
Our favorite family dinner is Spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread.

callawishes(at)hotmail(dot)com
Sherrie said…
We took the pledge. Thanks :)
Sherrie said…
tweet

https://twitter.com/callawishes/status/467884201279102976
Anonymous said…
Our favorite is homemade pizza! Very yummy!

roxannewv@yahoo.com
Tabathia B said…
Hot dogs (using nathan's) and fries

tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
Tabathia B said…
tweet
https://twitter.com/ChelleB36/status/468218183917502464
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
Tabathia B said…
took the pledge

tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
Deb K said…
Our favorite is a big think steak on the grill!
Deb K said…
I took the pledge.
laurie nykaza said…
We do Beef tenderloin every week with mashed potatoes and gluten free hot rolls and just a veggie salad simple but we love it.
Anonymous said…
Have you ever tried making a game