Pasta with Meatballs for Kids!

This is a project of The Women Bloggers and Kendal King Group to share the goodness of Nestle Gerber Cereal. All opinions are my own. #CookingwithGerber

You guys, I have a really sneaky recipe for you today! If you have picky eaters like I do, then you are going to want to hang on to this recipe.

One of my kids’ favorite meals since they started eating table food was pasta and meatballs. I mean, can you blame them? We usually have it at least once a week (usually on Sundays) and it’s the one meal I know that they will eat and ask for more of. It’s our go-to “I don’t want to fight with the kids about eating” meal.

But the one thing my kids don’t like to eat? Their veggies. Typical kids if you ask me. So as a mom, I have to find a way to sneak in those veggies without them knowing.

The easiest way to do that is in pasta sauce. When my children were younger, I would make them for lunches a homemade version of canned spaghetti and meatballs. I’m Italian. I just can’t do the canned stuff.

When making them their pasta and meatballs, I would sneak in a few things along the way. Wanna know the secret?

Pasta and Meatballs for Kids

For this recipe of pasta and meatballs for kids, you will need Gerber MutliGrain Cereal, 1 lb. of meatball mix, tomato sauce, Gerber Mixed Vegetables, and Alphabet Pasta. Yes, people, we are adding baby food into our recipe! Because, let’s face it, it’s not just baby food. It’s a great recipe substitute!

Boil water on stove for your pasta.

While you are waiting for the water to boil, mix your meatball mix with the Gerber MultiGrain Cereal. The cereal will act as a binder like you would normally use breadcrumbs. It is also filled with Vitabloks, a blend of six B Vitamins, Vitamins E and C, iron, zinc, and calcium. You can also make the meatballs egg-less as well!

Mix well and roll your meatballs into tiny bite sizes. Fry in frying pan with a little EVOO or bake in the oven.

Next, add one to two containers of Gerber Mixed Vegetables to your tomato sauce. Heat on low on stove.

Once water is boiling, add in 1 cup of Alphabet pasta. Cook until tender. Drain.

Mix everything together and you have a veggie-filled lunch for your kids! You can easily make a big batch of this on Sunday and have enough for the week ahead.