We do the spanokopita (in various formats) arepas, when available the tacos, the mashed potatoes, the hatch mac and cheese, the phyllo cups with goat cheese, scallion pancakes, the rolls with chiles and cheese in the fresh section (toaster oven would work great), the frozen Spanish rice, husband does all the Indian stuff. Son loves the chicken nuggets (yellow box only, I have to leave the kitchen because I hate the smell) and frozen brown rice, frozen fish nuggets, frozen fries (uses microwave for all). Also I found the kale and broccoli salad ok (no cooking required) if I use less than half of the enclosed dressing. Quite processed but works in a pinch for me. Throwing in the frozen TJs corn (especially roasted version), peas, and tri color peppers into a soup from Whole Foods with extra seasoning and/or into the TJs Spanish rice (which is very salty) also works for us.
Itās not great but when circumstances combine and Iām not cooking for whatever reasons, itās better than cheap take out and cheaper than expensive take out.
Good luck with the renovation! Youāll be happy when itās done even though it will probably take longer than planned. A big shift for everyone in terms of āhome cooked foodā; I hope youāll get used to it OK.
@sallyt when / if you get fed up of prepared stuff, the toaster oven does a fine job of roasting fish and chicken, and the microwave of steaming veg, frozen or otherwise. (I roast veg in the toaster oven too, but it may be not be sufficient volume for 4.)
Also things like baked polenta, quiche, and quesadillas in the toaster oven and rice and other grains in the microwave.
Headed to the Peabody MA store this am. Picked up some family faves and a few new items.
I am hoping the pumpkin cranberry crisps lean into the savory, cranberry side. Might be good with some goat cheese. And the baguettes looked interesting, has anyone tried them yet?
The frozen mac& cheese topped with tomato sauce and pepperoni.
TJās has Impossible Chicken Nuggets (but so do most supermarkets). They taste exactly like the real thing. While best heated in an oven, they are acceptable nuked. To digress: IM burger patties and sausage patties are great too. I havenāt tried the sausage links. The meatballs taste like other frozen meatballs, which is to say, heavy on the fillers.
If you could have access to a slow cooker you could do, frozen meatballs with sauce and microwave the pasta. There are slow cooker liners so you have minimal clean up of the appliance.
To keep this on topic the TJs frozen Italian meatballs were a meh- We like the target good and gather ones much better if not making my own
And happy reno! It feels ssooo good when itās done
