12 Lesser-Known Grocery Store Finds Perfect for Quick, Delicious Meals

When it’s been a long, busy day or you’re eating on the go, you don’t have the time or energy to make a home-cooked meal.

But what are your options other than fast food or spending a fortune at the Whole Foods hot bar?

Check out some of these grocery-store items you may never have thought or heard about.

Premade Salads

You can get kits with the ingredients all ready to be mixed together. Even better, you can get a salad already put together, and all you have to do is add the dressing from the packet it comes in.

Hot Soups

Many grocery stores have several hot soups that you can ladle into a to-go cup or bowl. A lot of people don’t know this, though, and they’re missing out on a delicious, filling, and affordable meal.

Deli Sandwiches

In the deli section of many grocery stores, you can buy premade wrapped sandwiches, which are great to-go meals. Some of them also will make fresh sandwiches to order. It takes a little more time, but the quality is usually excellent.

Whole Foods Hot Pizza

Okay, we mentioned that the Whole Foods hot bar can cost a small fortune, but their pizza is more reasonably priced, and each slice is large. Bonus: if you like New York-style pizza, Whole Foods, believe it or not, serves up a good one!

Adult Lunchables

This is the slang term for mini-charcuterie packages you can find in the refrigerated sections. They typically consist of something like 6 or so each slices of meat, cheese, and toasted bread each.

Is There a Microwave?

Some grocery stores and many convenience stores have in-store microwaves. You can buy a premade meal, heat it up right there, and be good to go. And you can leave the packaging behind in the trash.

Canned Food

Wait, don’t you need to open it, empty it, and heat it up? Not if you buy a pop-top can and have a car? Place the can on an idling engine block or on a sunny dashboard as close to the windshield as you can get it. Before long, you’ll have a hot meal.

Stuff on Sale

When prepared foods reach their sell-by date, grocery stores will often mark them down. You can get something like a delicious marinated steak kebab for 25 or 50% off, among other finds.

Wings Bars

Not all grocery stores have them, which might be why you’re not used to noticing them. Those that do have hot, tasty chicken wings in several varieties just ready for you to tong them into a box. And they’re usually very reasonably priced.

Gas Station Chicken

Technically, a convenience store at a gas station isn’t a grocery store. Many, though, have in-store chicken vendors that make really tasty fried chicken and chicken tenders, and so many people have no idea about this!

Tacos

The breakfast or lunch taco is high on many people’s lists of the best, most convenient meals in the world. A lot of gas stations and restaurants offer them, but plenty of grocery stores are catching on as well. They’re also great for dinner if you can find any left at that time.

Pre-Cut Melon

Watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew are all tasty, nutritious, and filling. But you don’t have to buy the whole thing and then wait for peak ripeness before cutting it. In the produce section, you can find cut pieces in containers just waiting for you to pick them up.

 

12 Foods To NEVER Eat After They Expire (Throw Them Away Immediately)

The “Sell by” date on food packaging tells how long the food can stay on shelves, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s when it expires. On the other hand, the “Best by” or “Use by” date is something to really pay attention to.

Some foods can be fine well past that date, but others don’t, and consuming them can lead to food poisoning, a trip to the hospital, or worse. Following are some foods you should never consume after they expire.

12 Foods To NEVER Eat After They Expire (Throw Them Away Immediately)