Thanks to Stop & Shop’s Consumer Advisor Andrea Astrachan for the following helpful tips. A link to Andrea’s monthly column online can be found here.
I don’t have time to cook. I don’t know what to cook. I don’t feel like cooking.
Tip: Let the Supermarket Do the Cooking!
Fresh, prepared foods at your local Stop & Shop and Giant Food provide a quick and easy meal solution. With an increased range of prepared foods offerings, such as cranberry walnut salad, baguette sandwiches and fresh pizzas, you can get creative and choose what you know your family will want to eat. Let’s face it – kids can be picky eaters!
Don’t want to turn on the oven, or don’t have an hour to roast a chicken yourself?
Tip: Purchase the main course and add your favorite sides to round-out the meal.
Stop & Shop’s and Giant’s new rotisserie chicken feeds a family of four for just $7. At home, make your favorite sides – a green salad and steamed vegetables take just a few minutes and add a homemade touch.
Stop & Shop and Giant Consumer Advisor Andrea Astrachan offers the following additional meal tips:
• Keep meals simple. Shop for time savers like pre-cut veggies, grated cheeses and bagged salads.
• Use frozen vegetables, which are quick and easy to prepare, and pack the same nutrient value and health benefits of fresh.
• The convenience of frozen extends to other food groups too. For example, thawed, cooked shrimp can be added to a pasta dish, ravioli can be boiled and topped with tomato sauce, and frozen veggie burgers are a healthy choice for a quick lunch or dinner. Frozen multi-grain waffles, pancakes and bagels are great to have on hand for breakfast too.
• Cook one-dish casseroles or main courses like chicken cacciatore and lasagna when you have time on the weekend and freeze for use during the busy school and work week. Dust off your slow cooker to help.
• Keep a well-stocked pantry so that you prepare quick meals. Great items to keep on hand include: bottled salad dressings, pasta, rice and potato side dishes, olives, roasted red peppers, salsa, marinades, tomato sauce, canned tuna and salmon, canned and boxed soups and broths (look for the ones lower in sodium or ones that have the word “healthy”), dry milk, shelf-stable puddings, flavored oils and vinegars.
• Enjoy “no cook” meals. Make a crisp summer salad by adding defrosted, cooked shrimp and croutons to a bagged salad or try a deli buffet of sliced turkey, corned beef and pastrami with sides of rye bread and rolls, pickled beets and coleslaw.
For more tips, recipes and savings visit www.stopandshop.com and www.giantfood.com.
