Kitchen Convenience: 5 Prepared Foods That Are (Almost) As Good As Homemade

Anne Wolfe Postic
Anne Wolfe Postic
Anne Postic writes about cooking for her family on The Kitchn. She lives in Columbia, South Carolina with her husband and three very handsome sons. She loves talking cooking, travel, parenting and art, though not necessarily in that order.
updated Sep 30, 2020
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I pride myself on making things from scratch, but with three children to feed, not to mention a decent sized crew of regular dinner guests, I don’t always live up to my own expectations. Like most of you, I’m a label reader, sometimes pleasantly surprised to find a pancake mix that saves me the trouble of mixing ingredients or a jar of marinara sauce that needs little more than a sprinkle of this or that to mimic the one I would create. Here are five prepared foods that I especially like and that have helped me get a homemade dinner on the table. Would love to hear your picks too! 

A meal like Campfire Stew — vegetable soup mixed with browned ground beef or turkey, and poured over whole wheat toast — is a lot easier when the soup comes from a can. How much easier? The meal can be prepared in 10 minutes.

On a recent Friday night, the kids wanted fondue, which seemed like a great plan. Fondue is an easy, social meal and a lot of fun. I had the ingredients for a cheddar beer version, but two cheeses are better than one.
Emmi Fondue from Switzerland, straight from the box, was an easy pick. The ingredients are simple and traditional. Besides, I was fresh out of kirschwasser, so it saved me a trip to the liquor store.

Here are a few more of my favorites:

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(Image: Anne Postic)