Nest Full of New

Like many of us, I’ve been crazily preparing a shopping list and schedule for the holiday season. After pouring through recipes books and going cross-eyed on Pinterest, I finally pushed it all aside to take a break. I didn’t remember it being this overwhelming.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love cooking and baking. And I adore doing all of this during the holidays for my friends and family. There are just some parts of it that I enjoy more and some things that I don’t do well.  Turkey, for example, is not in my chef-y wheelhouse. Neither is broccoli. (If it were up to me, broccoli wouldn’t be on anyone’s table.) Pie crust is another area that eludes me.

However, there are just some things that people expect at a holiday meal.

While I was out shopping a couple of weeks ago, I was fortunate to experience an “out of the mouths of babes” moment. A young lady shopping near me simply said to her friend, “What’s the big deal? Why not buy the onions and peppers already cut up? I hate doing it, so I let someone else take of it. No stress.”

I’m sure I’ve thought this before and immediately followed it with “Martha Stewart doesn’t take shortcuts. Neither will I.”  Well, something clicked in the store that day. I took a deep breath and conceded to accepting help with my holiday cooking.

Sprouts Farmer’s Market is one of my favorite places to shop. Healthy food, budget-friendly and so friendly. Not too long after that food revelation, Sprouts asked me if I’d like to try one of their prepared holiday meals.

Would I?!?!  Yes, indeed.

A few days later I was at my local Sprouts and picking up a yummy meal of roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, broccoli au gratin, cranberry sauce and Hawaiian rolls.

This is Tom. He totally rocks and was super helpful and explained everything. He’s my go-to guy!

I also might have picked up some Honeycomb Candy from the Bulk Bins.

And a bottle of wine.

And a dessert tray from the Bakery.

What?

So, I invited a couple of friends over to enjoy this feast with my family. (This particular meal serves 6-8 people.)  Sprouts had very thoughtfully packaged my dishes with clear, simple reheating and serving instructions. A quick turn in the oven or microwave, transfer the food to my own serving dishes, and we were literally eating a fabulous traditional holiday meal in just a a couple of hours!

The turkey was juicy and flavorful. It looked gorgeous and I couldn’t help but think of how many hours of cooking time this one thing had saved me. The turkeys at Sprouts are all-natural, no artificial ingredients, no hormones added and no preservatives.  (You can also select their spiral-sliced ham or a USDA Choice boneless rib roast for your centerpiece.)

The mashed potatoes and gravy had a wonderfully homemade flavor. The potatoes were very slightly chunky and the gravy tasted like it had been made with the turkey drippings. Just the way I like it!

Broccoli au gratin – I’m not a broccoli fan, but everyone really seemed to enjoy it. The bowl was empty…like scraped empty!

So, the stuffing. This is always a highly personal, “family recipe” part of the meal. In fact, we’re a dressing family. Not stuffing. I was a little hesitant about turning this particular side dish over to strangers.

OK, I was having a little freak-out session over nothing. Sprouts stuffing was delicious! Even though it wasn’t the cornbread dressing my grandmother and dad used to make every year, it was a fabulous stand-in. Again, not the tiniest sign of a leftover in the bowl.

Cranberry sauce and Hawaiian rolls rounded out out meal. The cranberry sauce was most definitely not the canned variety, but a bit chunky with a hint of citrus. More like a cranberry relish. Perfectly sweetened.

We topped off our meal with a variety of decadent, delicious sweets right from the Sprouts bakery. A little something for everyone and no hours of baking time required.

Sprouts Farmers Market is a healthy grocery store offering fresh, natural and organic foods at great prices. Sprouts offers consumers a complete healthy grocery store experience featuring fresh produce, bulk foods, dairy, meat and seafood, bakery, vitamins and supplements and more. The bright, open stores showcase fresh-baked goods, eclectic beer and wine, and thousands of natural, organic and gluten-free groceries. Sprouts’ “Healthy Living for Less” approach and knowledgeable service gives customers a unique shopping experience.

All meals are available for pick up between Nov 18, 2015 and Nov 26, 2015 (Limited pickup times, due to seasonality).  Please place orders 48 hours in advance to give the store ample time to prepare your meal.   

You get more information about Sprouts Farmers Market Fully Prepared Meals and other services on the Sprouts website, or connect with them on Facebook, and Instagram.  

Disclosure: I received complimentary products for the purpose of this review.  All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.