Oh, Stop & Shop - How I Wish You Were In Manhattan!

Stop & Shop is a truly great place to shop for groceries when you are on a budget - and let's face it, who isn't these days? They give you great tips (like buy all your baking goods and turkeys now when they're at their cheapest and freeze the perishables for months), as well as the freedom moms need to make their shopping experiences as quick and painless as possible. One of things you can do is sign up for the "Scan It" program, where you can hand the scanner to your kids and have them scan products as they go into your cart. Your kids will love the "laser gun" and you can keep them from running amok through the store. Also, the deli kiosks can take your order, give you a slip with your number on it and you can continue to shop without waiting on the hour-long lines at most deli counters in supermarkets. When your order is up - they call the number over the PA system!

The best part about Stop & Shop during the holidays is that they have ready made holiday meals so you don't have to cook a thing! For those of you who know just how disastrous my cooking attempts turn out to be - this is FABULOUS news! They have Turkey dinners and Ham dinners and even a Rib Roast dinner! They even have a "Meal Extras" package so you can have leftovers of all the little things you love without looking like a moocher when you leave your family's house with huge plastic containers of their food! WHOO HOO!!!

I found out all this great stuff at the complimentary Stop & Shop luncheon they gave bloggers last week here in NYC. Right before the luncheon they gave us an opportunity to make fun "food gifts" like chocolate covered pretzels. The food gift I chose to make was "Cookies in a Jar", which entailed getting all the ingredients into a large Ball jar, making it look almost like sand art. Take a look:



And another fun moment was getting caught in something I NEVER wear -- an apron!



Here's the best part for you: if you leave a comment here with one of your quick and easy holiday recipes (can be a link back to a post of your own if you like), I will give away the Stop & Shop gift card they gave to me at the Luncheon to one lucky winner! And if you're guessing that I am shamelessly using this giveaway to get holiday meal ideas because I'm a disaster in the kitchen on my own - you're right!!! :-)