TJ’s spanakopita is tasty. As far as frozen prepared dishes go, TJ’s would be my first choice to fill the freezer. Only problem is, they keep discontinuing things I like. I can think of 2 offhand: shrimp toast, and stuffed poblano peppers.
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Cooked Perfect Angus Meatballs
Stouffers Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo
Stouffers Spinach Souffle (our standard “side” for steak)
Marie Callender’s Chocolate Satin Pie (we cut into 12ths, keep frozen and have “slivers” that thaw quickly for dessert)
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Frozen President’s Choice Yorkshire Pudding, available in Canada, are good.
I didn’t have to wash it, trim it, de-shell it, cut it up. That counts as prepared, as far as I am concerned. Particularly with some other items I didn’t list, but occasionally buy, like artichoke hearts and pearl onions!
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Guess I’m boring. I don’t really keep anything prepared-frozen on hand. I am jealous about your tales of The Great McCain’s Frozen Fries, because on occasion I will get frozen fries and they never live up to expectation, and your brand doesn’t sell/distribute in my neck of the woods.
I will buy frozen pierogis but generally they’re being used that night. Ditto sometimes I’ll get whichever brand of frozen meatballs does not have “mechanically separated beef” in the ingredients to make meatball hoagies that night (of the 2 “big brand” names here, I think one does/one doesn’t, but I can’t remember which is which).
The only other thing is junkie snack finger food type stuff (mozz sticks, mini quiche, poppers, small dumplings/egg rolls) that I’ll get for use around New Year’s Eve.
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McCain’s is the regular grocery store brand in Canada and they don’t impress me much. They’re just ordinary frozen fries.
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True. I guess I’m just thinking along the lines of entrees and desserts that require cooking\baking and not just prep work.
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Ditto ice cream. Alexia sweet potato fries, Kroger shoestring fries.
Boo Hiss Don’t Pop My Bubble!
LoL.
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I’m just amazed our McCain’s selection is more varied than yours. Canadian stores have a fraction of the flavours of yogurt, Cheez-its, sweetened breakfast cereals, and Doritos that you have, and we don’t even have Quaker Instant Grits, King’s Hawaiian , Maytag blue cheese, Cookie Crisp or Spray Cheese available in our stores. LOL
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Our McCain’s here is nada because I guess they don’t distribute this far away - But I do know what you mean about the breadth of variety available in most large U.S. chains.
In late October past I was at the grocery and stopped to watch a dad who was standing there just staring at the cereal shelves with a defeated posture. I asked him if I could help. He explained that his wife had told him to get some Cheerios on the way home.
We counted - with the then-offered “Now It’s Back! Pumpkin Spice Cheerios!!”, there were, IIRC twenty distinct varieties to chose from. My advice was, “Hey, if she just said “Cheerios” without further spec, she hopefully meant the plain ones”.
Pretty much anywhere I’ve been in the U.S., large grocery stores have a glut of choices. But there are certainly regional differences. I don’t think a Kroger (or pick retailer) in any state can compete with the grocery cheese aisles in Wisconsin. The Publix and Winn Dixie stores in coastal and South Florida have chum in the freezer section right next to the (human) edible frozen fish. I know there are more oddities in my memory but they’re not loading at the moment…
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My frozen prepared foods also skew Asian.
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From Trader Joe’s: their Indian vegetarian line, I get a few occasionally. I used to love their Misal with Brown Rice, but they discontinued that, alas. Their other stuff is not at all bad for an occasional quick lunch.
I also like their frozen naans, and their frozen veg fried rice (regular and cauli) though I doctor the rice a bit. I tried their Korean-ish scallion pancakes a couple of times but found them a little greasy. -
From the regular grocery store: some breakfast waffles and similar. I used to regularly get pierogies but haven’t for a while, and can’t remember the brand off-hand.
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From the Indian store, frozen Haldiram samosas and Bhagwati dhoklas. Occasionally some tiny spring rolls.
These are the prepared foods. I get lots of frozen veggies from all these places especially in the winter.
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Seriously! I am used to retrieving the same items from the same aisles, but I have a visitor who wanted something different. One was “protein water”. Sooooo many “waters”…but none protein!
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Yep. I haven’t yet forgiven them for d/c-in the Trader Jacques cultured butter.
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The prepared things I often grab from the freezer are ice cream (duh), potstickers, potato/leek pancakes, and tater tots, sometimes ravioli. I also rely on frozen peas. When we did a kitchen reno, Amy’s saved us.
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Yes! to TJ veg gyoza that I regularly buy. I have not tried the potato/leek pancakes but I think I will next time I go.
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Do homemade foods count? I have about 5 quarts of homemade stock. I can have soup on the table in 15 minutes.
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From Trader Joes:
Thai style shrimp dumplings, chicken pot stickers, latkes, naan would be the top items.
But also, the little hot dogs in puff pastry, the Indian veggie samosas, and croissants.
Non- TJs-usually store brand, chopped spinach for use in quiche, crinkle fries cause I will pan fry those and thats a good thing.
Newman’s supreme frozen pizza, just in case.
and empanada shells, if that counts?
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I, for one, would be more interested in hearing about your process…
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Not too complicated, shallow pan (i like cast iron), either vegetable or canola oil to a hot temp.
I do take the fries out ahead of time, to warm a little and be sure any frost is gone. Some folks I know will throw them into the over for a bit first but I have not done that.
Then toss them into the oil till I like the look of them, slotted spoon onto paper towels. Liberal use of salt and onto plates or a warm oven depending on the rest of the meal.
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