Supermarket Shortcuts- From the Freezer Part 1

Written Thursday, July 24th, 2008 by Penny Hawkins

Like the deli in your supermarket, the frozen foods aisle is a great place to find dinner shortcuts (and I don’t mean T.V. dinners!). Here are some of my favorites:

Meatballs- Another of my favorite time savers, and one I put on my personal staples list. Pre-cooked frozen meatballs are another instant dinner idea, and most of them are as good as homemade. Use them for spaghetti and meatballs, meatball subs, sweet-n-sour meatballs, etc. There are also quite a few recipes out there for casseroles that use frozen meatballs, so if you have them on-hand you are halfway to dinner!

Dinner Kits- I put these on the list because they are fast and they areconvenient, even though I find that most of them have little taste. I avoid the ones that already have the meat in them because there is never enough and it usually has a texture like rubber. If you use a frozen dinner kit, look for the ones that you add your own meat to. An exception to this rule are the ones by Bertolli- they have enough meat (not rubbery) and they taste great! Keeping one of these on-hand for emergencies is not a bad idea (add some garlic bread and a salad, and dinner is done).

Refrigerated Pie Crust and Pour-A-Quiche- What could be easier? Mrs. Smith’s makes a great frozen quiche filling that you thaw, pour in a pie shell (I use Pillsbury) and bake! You can add some of your own ingredients if you want, such as chopped onion, real bacon bits, frozen chopped broccoli (thawed and drained) or fresh herbs. With a side salad or some fresh fruit, this is an easy delicious meal.