What semi-prepped "convenience foods" if any do you purchase as a shortcut?

Frozen spinach, edamame, and frozen, sliced, lotus roots to make quick lotus root chips (so good and sooooo convenient).

Lasagna and garlic toast are life savers for those emergency days when there's no time and everyone is starving. Beware of the frozen appetizers though! They're mostly used during festive times when you're already busy cooking ip other meals and may neglect to notice if they're sufficiently cooked. We made this mistake one day and ended up with real bad stomach pains. =(

Sometimes I prepare my own "convenience foods", i.e. if I've bought extra leeks, once they are sliced, washed & spun dry I freeze them in a Ziploc bag. Extra fresh ginger I scoop with a tablespoon measure onto freezer or wax paper, quarter the scoops with a sharp knife, and freeze. Both freeze very well and are as good as fresh in soup or stir-fries.

Trader Joe's packaged pre-washed & cut leeks, recipe-ready cubed pancetta, Fage Greek yogurt, Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing, Heinz Ketchup, Near East Rice Mix, and frozen chopped organic spinach.

Another thing I keep on hand is the Pilsbury French bread in the tube..I have some brats in the freezer, which are 'freezer food' to me. But, then you have to have hot dog buns.
The french bread dough keeps quite a while and can be sliced before baking into 'buns', slice to length for a couple, then put a starter slice in the middle.
Same with English Muffins which can be stored in the freezer and make good hamburger buns..especially if you have chicken breasts to grind up for chicken burgers.

True confessions: I love the biscuits in a tube that I get at the A and P, tomato paste from the tube, and when I was in college preferred instant Taster's Choice to brewed coffee (changed once I learned to brew coffee myself).
Luv the idea of a Sandra Lee Semi Homemade contest for the Holiday App.
Luv the idea of an app for organizing the pantry and/or the kitchen. Desperate for a personal organizer, it's on the top of my Christmas wish list.
I also buy pappadums. Heat in the microwave and the weeknight dal and rice and pickles is just like takeout but better. Add a lassi made with canned Alfonso mangoes and you are a heavier but happier cook. oxx to all of you for yr contributions.
Also, Trader Joe's declined to consider a petition to pay more for Florida tomatoes so that our tomato products would not increase our indentured footprint so much. I will not step foot in Trader Joe's until they reconsider and apologize. They are capitalizing on their image as hip and politically correct but not walking the walk. Someone else mentioned this (I got dizzy going back up the thread to find them) and I wanted to reiterate. Food52 has one hundred thousand users (I read that in an article but can't vouch for it firsthand) and probably support some small percentage of Trader Joe's entire business. Could b large if we all got behind this.

In Little Italy in the Bronx, I buy home made ricotta and mozzarella, sfogliatelle, rainbow cookies, biscotti, olive bread, prosciutto bread, home made prosciutto, ravioli, hand cut pasta, olive crema (I suspect pureed olives are the secret here), artichoke hearts, fried artichokes, and the best pizza ever!!!! anyone planning a trip to nyc should include a stop on Arthur Ave.

In Little Italy in the Bronx, I buy home made ricotta and mozzarella, sfogliatelle, rainbow cookies, biscotti, olive bread, prosciutto bread, home made prosciutto, ravioli, hand cut pasta, olive crema (I suspect pureed olives are the secret here), artichoke hearts, fried artichokes, and the best pizza ever!!!! anyone planning a trip to nyc should include a stop on Arthur Ave.

I try to buy convenience foods at the farmer's market. Bread (I would like to always bake my own, my mom does, but the day job keeps getting in my way), garlic powder, pickled eggplant, garlic pesto, roasted pureed garlic, kim chee. At the grocery store, I buy pre sliced mushrooms some times (to be thoroughly cooked before eating), canned diced tomatoes in juice, all kinds of canned beans (for some crazy reason they taste better to us than dried beans we cook ourselves), frozen peas, frozen corn, frozen edamame,
frozen fruit, frozen puff pastry, frozen phyllo, refrigerator case hummus. At the Asian store I buy rice cakes wrapped in ?banana leaves to steam at home, dumpling skins, kim chee. At the halal store next door I buy samosas ready to eat, flatbreads, esp paratha.

pierino, two or three weeks ago, a patient came in saying "Things have not been so good since I last saw you". It turned out that he had had salmonella bacteremia with aortitis (translates salmonella infection in the blood stream that lodged in the aorta and caused a localized infection in the large blood vessel that emerges from the left ventricle) leading to an aortic aneurysm (ballooning of the weakened walls of the infected segment of the aorta) causing him to go directly from the imaging center to the operating room.

FOOD SAFETY IS A SIGNIFICANT ISSUE, PLEASE BE CAREFUL. CONVENIENCE IS NOT EVERYTHING AND NEITHER IS COST.

Things I always have in my pantry and buy on a regular basis: canned tomatos, tortillas and tortilla chips, jam and pickles... mostly everything else I make. But occasionally I do buy the odd jar of "fill-in-the-blank."

A lot of the above (San Marzano tomatoes, pasta, canned beans, frozen peas), plus:
Smoked oysters, Frontera salsa, Kombucha & roasted bell peppers in oil.
Also, sometimes jam from the farmers market, bread and other artisanal things that will always be better than mine and worth the money, when I have a craving.

One thing that freezes really well is Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies.

@calendargirl.

The "back to nature" fudge mint cookie is almost an exact replica. Whole Foods stocks them year round.
http://www.amazon.com/Back-Nature-Fudge-Cookies-6-4-Ounce/dp/B001FSISZK

I love this thread! My larder has Spanish tuna (Ortiz) packed in oil, canned salmon, tinned mackerel and sardines, artichoke hearts (marinated and frozen), boxed broth/stock, canned chilies, olives (black & green), including the sliced and pitted black ones, frozen lemon juice (Minute Maid - it is wonderful), lots of raw nuts in the freezer (almonds, slivered, sliced and whole; walnuts; pecans; pignoli; pistachios, etc. They keep for ages when frozen and won't become rancid. One thing that freezes really well is Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies. Buy a box or two for the freezer and stash them way in the back! Haul them out to serve with Merrill's Best Lime Ice Cream. The bottled tomato sauce in my cupboard is Rao's Marinara. The frozen brown rice you all talk about is a revelation to me, though I do have TJ's frozen gyoza, frozen veggies. Thanks for all the fine tips!

I think most of us learned to cook using semi-made convenience foods..instead of making pie dough using frozen dough in a quiche or a pie, or using Lipton onion soup mix for a roast..etc..etc.
The very first thing I cooked on the stove was a french onion soup using canned beef consomme.
Using semi made stuff gave us the confidence to expand.

I think we are all making Sandra Lee very proud! ;) Went to the store this morning to buy just a gallon of milk. Came home with 3 bags of shredded cheese (on sale), tortillas, buttermilk (because I remembered that I always forget to buy it), and duck fat (because it was calling my name). And I forgot the milk.

Love this thread and am fascinated by the answers! Let me start by saying that I have a 2- and 4-year-old, so that totally impacts things, but I always have the following on hand: 4-cheese tortellini from Costco (really amazing), chicken apple sausages, Boca burgers, and jars of the only bottled tomato sauce I will eat: the White Linen by Victoria marinara (only ingredients are tomatoes, evoo, basil, and onions). I hope I can live with the shame!

What a fascinating thread! I'm with all of you who noted how different each cook's idea of convenience food is. While I will, on occasion, make all of these things fresh, I keep canned and jarred artichoke hearts, beans, tuna and salmon, chiles, as well as tomato products (crushed, whole San Marzano, passata/puree), dried pasta, soba, udon, boxed stock, frozen peas, spinach, edamame, fruit for smoothies for my daughter, nut butters, and frozen brown rice. Like many of you, I find the occasional rotisserite chicken useful: burritos, faux mu shu, etc. I am of the hurricane preparedness school of pantry stocking, and though I am learning to can more myself (thanks Mrs. Wheelbarrow!) until I can produce a larder such as hers, I buy some convenience food.

That said, I stopped shopping at Trader Joes in July after hearing some reps of the Immokalee farm workers speak at a food policy conference and after reading Barry Estabrook's Tomatoland (any one else read this?). As a result, I've lost a few of my favorite convenience foods and have had to work a bit harder. I still haven't found another place to get frozen brown rice and I really like their canned pumpkin puree and boxed pumkin bread mix this time of year.

Apologies Sam - I posted the same recipe - uh duh. Anyway, we call it Shocking Pink on our turf!

Sam - I am totally in your corner on serving the jellied cranberry sauce with ridges. I make a walnut pesto asiago filling and actually make cranberry sauce sandwiches. They are delicious. Sometimes i sub cream cheese. At out table for The Bird, we always serve Susan Stamberg's Shocking Pink: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=844268
We did not serve it one year, and complaints were endless.

I'm going to repost here for thanksgiving. Holiday stuff. Cranberry sauce.

Make a couple of 'high class'. cranberry sauce. NPR has a great onehttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4176014

But do not forget to include a can of Cranberry sauce for T-day. It MUST have the ridges from the can..and the Jello type texture..but the ridges make me smile and takes me back to home and comfort.

My guilty pleasure is a box of frozen vada (vegetarian, chickpea-flour-based balls) from the Indian grocery. For a quick dinner, I put them in marinara and eat them over spaghetti like meatballs. So cheap at $2 a box.

This question should be included in the Food52 Holiday iPad app! Something like - "What semi-prepped convenience foods do you purchase for the holidays?" Creamtea could phrase it better, and you get the idea.

Wow, look what y'all did while I was out! How fun is this?! I thought of more. Triscuits. Trader Joe's seeded corn crackers. Multi-grain bread. Extra bagels (we buy them fresh) in the freezer. All Bran cereal. (Yes, I know it has HFCS in it, but it makes the best bran muffins....) I have powdered espresso in the freezer for baking also, but I confess to never having used it as coffee. And my guilty pleasure: Coke Zero. (Don't hate on me, y'all.)

I don't think anyone has mentioned this one yet, but in the spirit of the season - canned pumpkin puree. For pie, quick bread, flan. I know some people say fresh is better, but in my experience, not so much...and not nearly as likely to happen very often if I have to wrestle a pumpkin into submission before I even start making the pie.

Trader Joe's chocolate-covered ice cream bonbons. But I would never serve them to company. Because they are usually gone by the time the company comes.

Despite my full freezer, canned tomatoes and applesauce and quest for seasonal/local whenever possible, I'm with you all with most of the postings. In addition, my newest craze comes from the Ikea food section. Potato gratins, rosti (potato pancakes), broccoli/potato timbales, salmon paste in tube, herring, anchovies, chocolate and lingonberry jams. The potato-thingys are great with fresh eggs in morning or for brunch.

Too many shortcuts to list. I'll get a bag of southern cut hash brown (the cube kind) which are quick and easy to fry up for breakfast on the weekend. (I fry in duck fat tho). Sometimes frozen pie dough for quiche, and frozen dimsum pot stickers. Frozen veggies like peas and green beans are often better than what's available fresh in off season.
When very lazy, the Pubilx will sell raw fresh made pizza dough which is a time saver if you ask at the bakery counter. When I go camping, the uncle bens 90 second rice is good boil/bag (only the spanish style, the other flavors are bad IMHO). Speaking of camping SPAM. Horrible for you health wise but easy to pack and fry up instead of bacon. While I make most salad dressing on the fly on demand. Blue cheese isn't something I keep on hand--so jarred blue cheese dressing for veggie dipping. It keeps well and isn't quite as spectacular as making it yourself it lasts longer in the 'fridge it's just fine for a daily driver dressing if you find a good brand that's stored in the cooler section of the supermarket--not the bottled stuff.

Refrigerated Santa Barbara or San Pedro's Original salsa (when I can get it) are always in my fridge to go with eggs. Homemade is of course better, but... Also many have cited frozen or marinated artichokes, which I also usually have. Hearts of palm. Jarred Paisana spaghetti sauce is really quite good- a holdover from when one of the kids didn't like my sauce. Maybe she would eat it now...

Rotisserie chicken from Sunshine Market to make tacos, soup or salads for last minute lunches has saved my patootie many times. I also stash a few frozen pie/tart crusts in my freezer. Lately I have been buying pizza dough from Tra Vigne ...they make great dough and save me the mess. I don't buy prepackaged spinach or lettuce. I am too afraid of what bad thing is in those packages (like death).

Frozen berries (I use them in too many things to list and my dogs get a handful in their food each day), precut veggies, sometimes frozen pie crusts and guacamole. However, the purchased guac always disappoints me, so I'm not sure why I still buy it. Oh, and we're in West Texas where there's a chain called Spec's; they have an amazing taco skillet sauce that I cannot resist. Being in West Texas, we eat tortillas several times per week and I always buy them rather than make them myself. They're made fresh daily down here and you can't beat 'em!

Great question and great answers! I immediately thought of corn tortillas from the local tortilleria (better than I can do at home and ground from corn, not made with meal). I like to think that we have very few prepared foods because of a family member's sensitivity to some additives. But as others have pointed out, all KINDS of things qualify as convenience. I suppose it includes the lovely artisinal bread that I do not have the time or the oven to make, spices, phyllo, dried pasta, fresh pasta, Asian noodles, broth, frozen artichokes, marinated artichokes, condiments (I'm still looking for lemon grass paste in a tube to go with the tomato paste in a tube and the anchovy paste in a tube). Do flavored vinegars count? What about flours? Quick-cooking tapioca to thicken pies and cobblers? Chocolate?

oh, yeah.... and precleaned calamari!

peeled whole garlic, pureed fresh frozen herbs, puff pastry, organic stocks, Amy's Chunky Tomato Bisque, black bean powder, carton of fresh egg whites, Roses Lime Cordial, chili paste, triple washed spinach, Mrs. T's Perogies, frozen salmon burgers, pre-grated/shaved parmesan, preshredded mozzarella, pre-crumbled blue and feta, buttermilk powder (when I can find it), pizza dough, tortillas --- does bread count? :)

Scanning these answers, it strikes me how varied the idea of 'convenience food' is - even amongst a relatively small group, who all identify as cooks to some extent. Huge spectrum of what qualifies, from ready made pie crust to simply purchasing prepared mustard or ground spices. I'm just waiting for someone to include, say....canned frosting on one end, to grinding all his/her own flour on the other. No big point to make....just interesting how subjective the concept of 'convenience' is.

Canned tuna. Lots of canned San Marzano tomatoes (whole). Jarred artichoke hearts. Canned black beans, kidney beans, cannellini beans. Organic lemon juice. Frozen out-of-season fruits for smoothies. And, most important, frozen limeade concentrate for mid-winter Margaritas!!

Prewashed spinach, but not lettuce for some reason. Gluten-free baking mixes (betty crocker cookies and bob's red mill corn bread) because I don't have room to keep 4 different kinds of flour just for the infrequent baking I do for friends and the gluten-free AP flours taste funky. Canned beans, crushed tomatoes and quartered artichoke hearts. Baked tofu. Prepared thai curry pastes. Corn tortillas when I don't feel up to making my own (there's such a big difference in flavour that I'm almost not sure it's worth the 15 minutes of saved time though).
Oh, and mayonnaise.

This is such a good question! I'm getting all kinds of great ideas. Thanks, everyone!! ;o)

My dirty little secret from the freezer is definitely Pillsbury Pie Dough. Whether it is for quiche, pies, gallettes or otherwise, people never believe its not from scratch. Not my favorite thing to admit...but I gotta give them props for this great product, very handy

canned artichokes, organic diced tomatoes or whole tomatoes, anchovy paste, tomato paste, TJ's organic frozen fruits (berries), organic stock when I am in between roast chickens or making a refrigerator clean-out veggie stock, cans of tuna, frozen pearl onions and corn when out of season, some organic canned pumpkin, Nutella, frozen peas and spinach, phyllo dough. I can't think of other things right now - oh some organic canned beans.

Jarred or frozen artichoke hears. I'm an artichoke peeling disaster-show. And canned tomatoes all through the winter because I never seem to put enough by, even when I do get my act together to borrow canning equipment. I don't dry my own fruit or cure my own meats, if you consider buying those convenience/prepackaged products! And, though I try not to, we do sometimes get bagged spinach or lettuces.

Pillsbury pie crust, Better Than Bouillon, Broadcast corned beef hash. And of course: washed arugola and spinach, Hellman's mayonnaise, canned San Marzano tomatoes, and always always always prepackaged pasta.

Muir Glen tomatoes, incl. the fire roasted ones, Milano cookies (original style). trader Joe's sun-dried tomatoes in the packages are full of yum.

Excellent question! Once I run out of whole tomatoes that I've frozen from my garden, I'll stock up on the Pomi brand boxed tomatoes. Canned beans, greek yogurt. Lemon juice. Oh, and despite the fact that my user name implies I should always be making soup from scratch, sometimes life has other ideas about time ... I like to keep some of the Pacific brand boxed soups on hand (esp. the roasted red pepper and tomato) ... so quick and easy to jazz up with herbs or pasta or yogurt. Oh, and pasta. That's another thing I love to make from scratch, but I do keep store-bought on hand for quick meals.

I don't use bagged lettuce, either. It has a large carbon footprint, for one thing, and as pierino correctly mentions, there have been numerous contamination outbreaks among various bagged produce. I love true baby carrots when they're in season, but the bagged little things aren't the real McCoy (I have some friends named McCoy who have a sign over their front door reading "The Real McCoys.") I usually have some canned beans just in case, and good canned tomatoes always. Good canned tuna. I think that's about it.

I used to make a lot from scratch but I have come to rely on convenience foods, especially for weeknight cooking. Figure it's better than take-out! Here's my regular list: canned tomatoes and beans, frozen vegetables, shredded and sliced cheese, flour tortillas, pizza dough from Trader Joe's or local pizza place, canned artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil, cold cereal, Haagen Dazs ice cream, Pepperidge Farm bread for grilled cheese. And then my fridge is packed with way more condiments than any family of 3 needs. And I'd be lying if I didn't admit my major weakness for potato chips and oreos, but I don't allow myself to buy them on a regular basis! : )

The list goes on, I failed to divulge the boxed stock that I always keep on hand, try to make my own but in a pinch its always good to have back up, mayo because I can't always make my own, canned tuna, artichokes marinated, frozen spinach, wow great question creamtea. Oh and I always have ground and powdered spices as I don't always grind my own.

Frozen peas, edamame, spinach and berries (for smoothies). Boxed broth for when I run out of stock. Canned tomatoes and beans. cans of tuna.

Pierino, in my opinion your feedback is condensending and insulting. Every feedback and answer to a question insults a cook, chef or fellow food52er. Get off your high horse.

Oh dear, I think of myself as a scratch person but ... ALWAYS the tomato in every form (I am a ketchup fan and a tomato FREAK) frozen peas, artichokes and edamame. Boxes of broth for when I run out of home made. Canned beans for when I don't even have time to pressure cook. AND (no mocking!) 100 calorie cookie bags for when I want tea and cookies! I have self control issues!!! Oh and not only THAT - Weight Watcher ice cream bars! Whew - now the cat is really out of the bag.

creamtea, what a fun question! ok, i've got canned beans, tuna fish, canned (and boxed) tomatoes ( i love Pomi brand), frozen blueberries, frozen edamame, a lifetime supply of frozen puff pastry (which I guess I should start using, huh?), ready-to-heat lentils, canned chili (once in a while - I'm not THAT crazy), hot dogs, peanut butter, Biscoff spread, Nutella, and American cheese slices (yes, the ones individually wrapped in plastic.) There's probably more, but I'm too lazy to go look and I'm pretty sure I've shamed myself enough with the last couple items here, so I'm sticking with this.

Sometimes canned beans, and almost always pre-washed lettuce.

First of all, pre-washed anything is a really bad idea. There was yet another recent food poisoning outbreak linked to pre-washed lettuce from California. That moron Rachael Ray really popularized this stuff as a convenience without researching it. The washing process can actually spread e-coli and listeria. Geez, buy a damn salad spinner.
I always have a jar of Best Foods mayonnaise on hand as well as Tabasco, and Pepper Plant Original California Hot sauce from Gilroy California. But I'm working on making my own ketchup. Frozen peas are always handy to have on hand.

Whew. Glad I'm not the only one. I'll add my own list: frozen pie dough (cause I break down into a quivering lump of jello in the face of pie dough - I'm working on it, okay?). And I'm totaly with Sam on the rotisserie chicken - not all the time mind you, but every now and then they are perfect for fast enchilladas! And speaking of, when I'm feeling especially virtuous I'll make my own enchillada sauce but there's always a can of old el paso in the pantry for emergency purposes. Ditto with salsa. Ditto with hummus. My 18 month old can't get enough of hummus and I am hard pressed to keep up with his appetite! Loads of frozen veggies because they last forever and are many times better than fresh (I'm on board with AntoniaJames).

I guess it also depends on how you define 'convenience' foods. If it includes not always making ALL my own mayo, yogurt, ice cream, bread, granola, using cans of chickpeas/cannellini/black bean instead of starting with dried, not squeezing all my own OJ, etc...well then, the list would be much longer than the one I posted earlier. I do all of the above when time permits and/or mood strikes, but I'd be a lier to say I don't always have a jar of Hellman's, several tubs of Greek yogurt, cans of beans, etc. on hand. Sometimes I just want a quick, basic tuna on rye - and making the mayo just isn't the point. Call me lazy ;-)

It depends on what else is going on and how crazy my life is. I always keep marinated artichoke hearts, canned tomatoes, a can or two of chick peas, Swanson's chicken broth and frozen spinach, edamame and blueberries in the house. In a pinch (or when I'm so busy I can't think about doing much cooking), I've bought pre-washed salad greens (less frequently lately because of the risk), frozen cooked brown rice, Trader Joe's precooked lentils (Toss the rice and lentils together and warm them up and you have mujaddara in 5 minutes!). Before my husband met me, he lived on frozen stir-dry dinners (don't ask), spaghetti and jarred sauce, and canned soup, and he still likes me to keep jarred spaghetti sauce and canned soup (I draw the line on the frozen stir-fry!) in the house so he can have an easy dinner on nights when I work late or have a meeting. (I do make these things ahead from scratch but it takes less time to open a can than it does to defrost soup or sauce that is in the freezer.)

Artichoke hearts (marinated in jars), frozen spinach (often much better quality than what's available fresh, even here). That's about it. I suppose the vanilla yogurt and granola that I buy for Mr.T would be convenience foods, too. And I buy roti, uncooked, at the Indian grocery, for when I just don't feel like making them from scratch. ;o)

Bags of frozen peas, peeled pearl onions, edamame and artichoke hearts (from Trader Joe's). Frozen puff pastry and phyllo. Demi glace. Pre-washed bags of baby spinach. In a parallel universe, I always make my own stock; in this one I often use canned chicken or beef broth for cooking.

Rotisserie chicken. Cut it up brush with hosin sauce. Broil to crisp. Serve in flour tortillas brushed with sesame oil 'face to face in pairs' and warmed in the microwave..with more hosin sauce and chopped green onions.
Rice and some frozen 'dim sum' potsticker dumplings as side dish, or a bagged slaw with lime/ginger/garlic/olive oil. Quick and easy a 'mock peking duck'.

Frozen corn and peas because my use of them is erratic, they are highly seasonal, and the amounts I need are small. Organic when I can... I think quality is better than what I'd get otherwise, most of the year. Similar logic with fruits. What I don't buy is salad fixings -- easier to buy and store in their whole forms; there is also concern about food safety. Oddly, some of the convenience foods are things I buy for a 'rainy day' but they sit in the pantry or freezer while I try valiantly to cook through my saved recipes from food52, my 360+ cookbooks, etc.

Pre washed spinach, baby carrots, frozen blueberries and strawberries, frozen corn and peas, frozen veggie burgers.

None, too expensive and don't have the taste. One day a week I clean, prep, make whatever I want for the week.