At the Grocery Store

At the Grocery Store

Buy a rotisserie chicken. One 2- to 3-pound chicken will yield about 4 cups of shredded meat. Most recipes call for 2 cups—freeze or chill the remaining meat to use in another meal.
Purchase twice the amount of meat called for in a recipe. Freeze what you don’t use for the night’s dinner and plan on using it the following week.*

When you’re at the deli counter stocking up on sliced meat and cheeses for lunches, have the attendant cut small amounts of different varieties of cold cuts, like turkey, salami, and roast beef. Then grab a loaf of artisan bread and plan on panini sandwiches for dinner.

Pick up an assortment of fresh bagels—they’re not just for breakfast anymore! Use them as an interesting alternative to hamburger buns.

Buy frozen meats like fish fillets and boneless, skinless chicken breasts that have been individually frozen. That way, it will be easy to pull out the quantity you need and leave the rest frozen for another meal. It also really speeds up defrosting times—when you only need to defrost a piece or two, it goes a whole lot quicker!

Grab a bag of frozen meatballs. You’ll be able to get spaghetti and meatballs on the table in record time, but they’ll also be the base for hearty meatball sandwiches. Add a jar of Prego® Italian sauce from the pasta aisle, shredded mozzarella and Parmesan cheese from the dairy case, and a few crusty hoagie buns from the bakery.
Stock up on resealable plastic bags, freezer bags and storage containers. They’ll come in handy for foods you prepare ahead.

Buy fresh fruits in season—they make nutritious, ultra-speedy desserts, not to mention that they’ll be at the peak of flavor and reasonably priced.
*Tip
Before freezing raw ground beef, remove it from its packaging, put in a resealable plastic bag, then press flat to an even thickness. Storing the meat in the freezer is easier and it thaws in no time.