This past year we've had three open within 10 miles of our house. (And another three are built but not opened yet. Overkill, much?) They carry all the normal grocery store stuff, and a couple of awesome gluten-free options I can't find anywhere else, like the Glutino pretzels and Betty Crocker gluten-free brownie mix(both of which are so good I can't have them in the house). But for the majority of items, they offer only a handful of brands to choose from, which keeps the stores small and relatively inexpensive, especially since everything is also self-checkout. (I heart self checkout.) The downfall to less options, though, is that it's less ideal for full on grocery shopping if you're a brand-whore (waving hand) or want a lot of produce, since everything is pre-packaged.
It is great, however, for quick dinner options.
They have a full fresh-cooked, re-heat and serve section (pastas, soups, etc.), a full raw meat section (beef, lamb, pork, chicken) and a prepped-but-you-cook-it section, from hamburger patties(which are amazing) to meat/veggie fajita combos, to stuffed chicken or fish patties. (This is the cream-cheese and mushroom stuffed chicken...yes, I bought something stuffed. Weird, I know.)In other words, it's magical on days I'm not really in the mood to cook anything elaborate. Like last night. Thursday is a football night, so the husband doesn't get home til 8ish. So I'm a big fan of hitting up Fresh and Easy and grabbing something I can grill or just pop in the oven when he's on the way home.
This is totally self-serving, multi-faceted logic here...If I don't have to cook, I can A, be fantastically lazy while immersing myself in girly-tv (Tivo is so full right now it's erasing over itself), or B, happy-hour it with K for an hour or three. All while still ending the evening with a full-on, fresh cooked meal. Genius.
Last night my drinking buddy and I happy-houred. And since hubby wanted to go out with the boys after the game, I invited her over afterward and 'cooked' for her instead.
I'm not going to pretend like it was the best meal ever or anything, but I have to show some love to a home-cooked meal when all I have to do is boil water for the rice, preheat an oven, and microwave some pre-washed and trimmed veggies.
XO, Fresh and Easy. XO.
Posts
.jpg)
BAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA your labels on this post made me snort my coffee this morning. I heart you!
ReplyDeleteFresh and Easy is a Tesco shoot off (the British Wal-Mart), so they have major capital. Expect them to be ubiquitous in a short period of time.
ReplyDeleteAlso, another Fresh and Easy trick, the coupons! If you sign up for their mailing list, they mail you great coupons all the time. If you don't get them mailed to you, ask the checkout people for them, they usually keep a few in their pockets. Greatest of all, you can use them multiple times in the same trip (when it asks you to scan it, scan it, then insert into the coupon thing, but don't let it go, then scan and insert again). I've used the same coupon like five times in one shopping trip (total was supposed to be $60, four scans of the coupon got it down to $40).