Chef Boyardee Fun With Family & Make It Boyardeelicious Recipe Contest

When I think of "home", I think of comfort foods my mom always made for me as a child. It's one of the many reasons I look forward to visiting even today. For quick meals and lunches, my mom often made Mini Beef Ravioli by Chef Boyardee. Not only do I still love it, but now my children do, too.

I am so excited to tell you not only about my Chef Boyardee dinner party, but the Make It Boyardeelicious recipe contest is going on now until March 11th. That gives you 4 more days to think of a creative dish including a Chef Boyardee product. Chef Boyardee fans (like myself) are invited to share their own original recipe for a chance to win $500 AND $75 in Chef Boyardee coupons!!! A winner will be picked weekly and, so there will be 10 finalists. These 10 finalists will go on to a voting period before a Grand Prize Winner is chosen. What's the Grand Prize? A Year's Worth of Groceries (about $5200)!!!  Can you imagine not having to pay for groceries? What a dream! Also, if you vote for your favorite recipe, you will automatically be entered to win $100!

Thanks to Chef Boyardee and Mom Central, I was able to throw a fun family dinner party full of delicious eats and treats. We received an awesome party kit containing a chef's hat, aprons, mixing bowls, Le Creuset Bakeware, recipe cards and coupons! It was such an awesome package to get in the mail! The kids loved all the kid-friendly cookware they received as well as the chef hat and I love Le Creuset and coupons. I took a survey of which Chef Boyardee food the family wanted me to include in a recipe and Beef Ravioli won (Beefaroni was a close second)! 

We had over 8 of our favorite people, so we had a dinner for 12 set up with our version of the Ravioli Lasagna recipe! Here's our recipe:

Cheesy-Goodness Leftover Ravioli Bake

Ingredients

2 Cans of Chef Boyardee Mini Ravioli along with any leftover Ravioli you have from lunch!

2 carrots thinly sliced

1 can Hunt's Italian Diced Tomatoes (drained)

1 cup Mozzarella Cheese

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Add the cans of Chef Boyardee Mini Ravioli to mixing bowl along with carrots and diced tomatoes. 
• In a microwave-safe bowl, cover with wrap and heat mixture in microwave for 3 minutes on high. 
• Slowly mix together with spoon until the carrots and tomatoes are blended in with the ravioli.
• Add the mixture into an 8x8 (or 8x11 depending on how much was left over) glass baking dish.
• Measure 1 cup of Mozzarella and sprinkle evenly across the top of the ravioli mixture. 
• Cover with tin foil and bake for about 12 minutes. 
• Take the tinfoil off and bake for an additional 3-5 minutes or until cheese begins to brown just a bit.
• take out of the oven, let cool a few minutes and enjoy!

Let me just say that the smell coming from the oven was making it hard to wait for dinner! While waiting we used one of the mixing bowls we received and a plate for chicken-bite appetizers. As for the recipe, I got this idea from my mom's Baked Spaghetti Recipe using leftover spaghetti, so you could also use this with the Chef Boyardee Spaghetti and Meatballs (my son's favorite). We ate dinner with a delicious salad for a well-balanced meal. 

I love having family gatherings, but when we can do something memorable like this for the kids, it's even more fun. I know this is bad, but I don't even have a picture of the delicious Ravioli Bake! I totally forgot to take a picture and it was gone before I had a chance. It was really that good. So, give it a try.

Okay, now that you've read my inspiring post, aren't you ready to enter your own innovative and delicious Chef Boyardee Recipe into the contest? Again, the Make It Boyardeelicious Recipe Contest ends on March 11th, so get over to the Chef Boyardee Facebook page and enter today. 

I wrote this review while participating in a In Home Party campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Chef Boyardee and received product samples to facilitate my party and review, and a promotional item to thank me for participating.