by erin thursby scopes1925@msn.com
You might think this is cheating, but some of the best holiday meals are the ones you don’t make. If you’re hosting a group or just extra harried after a long day, why stress about chopping things? Cut your holiday meal stress in half by getting someone else to do the heavy lifting while still being the meal hero.
The first time-honored solution is to pick something up from the supermarket deli on the way home. It’s not the most original solution, but it can be if you avoid the large chain supermarkets. Area specialty markets that have a deli often carry unique ready-made food items you won’t find anywhere else. Both Native Suns in the area have a good deli, but the one at Baymeadows and 9A (11030 Baymeadows Rd 904-519-2997) is fantastic, proving that healthy food can sometimes be more delectable than the stuff that’s bad for you. They use all-natural or all-organic ingredients whenever possible. I love their wraps and their rye berry and raisin salad.
In San Marco, Matthew’s Market has been the area’s dinner savior, with rotisserie chicken and gourmet selection (see the review on the previous page for more details).
Meal assembly kitchens seem to be everywhere these days.
Here’s how it works: each month, the meal assembly stores offer a different menu with a variety of selections. Come in to choose which menu items you would like and assemble them in portions big enough to feed your family. They do all the prep work ahead of time, the ingredients are right in front of you and all the meals are packaged in easy-to-cook trays. This way you can assemble all your meals for the month, and all you have to do is pop it in the oven when you get home from work. The more servings you make, the cheaper it is per serving, depending on the meal assembly store you visit. Fixing it yourself isn’t the only option; you can also have the staff at the store assemble meals for you, for an extra fee. Also, most of these stores offer a meal of the day that’s already pre-packaged and ready to be cooked for that night’s supper.
The pre-made meals that you can grab from these places generally aren’t cooked, just prepared and frozen, ready for you to pop in the oven and cook fresh. While there are a bunch of chains around town that do this, such as Entrées Made Easy (11700 San Jose Blvd 904-880-2665), if you like to keep a local flavor to your meals, go with Terry’s Kitchen (4218 Saint Johns Ave 904-388-1743). If you want something specific, just call Terry herself and they can have it for you ahead of time. Calling ahead can be important during the rush of the holidays. They still have plenty in their freezers that you can pick up, such as their popular chicken veggie pie, their bow tie pasta, lasagna, classic mac and cheese and more. For an easy but classy choice, go with their fish in foil.
The most important thing is that you take advantage of these ready-made, fresh meals, so you can spend the holidays catching up with family instead of stressing about which ingredient you’ve forgotten.
|
