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Real Simple grazed the aisles, clicked on hundreds of websites, and hoofed it to dozens of gourmet shops to find these foods. Most are available at grocery stores nationwide; the others are just a phone call or a mouse click away.

Refrigerator/Freezer

Pillsbury refrigerated prepared piecrusts. You'll find them packaged two to a box in your supermarket's dairy case, not pressed into an aluminum-foil pie plate. Each piecrust is perfectly rolled and folded so you can shape it or drape it into your favorite dish.

Cooked chicken wings. Here's the single-serving equivalent of a whole roast chicken. Great in recipes or for teenage parties and little-kid lunches.

Shady Brook Farms Turkey Meatballs. Beefless, with a fresh (not powdered) garlic flavor.

Shredded Jack cheese. The convenience of grated hard cheeses (like Parmesan) isn't worth the compromise in flavor, but buying preshredded semi-soft cheeses makes sense.

Packaged washed baby spinach. So it costs a lot more than the "dirty" kind. You'll also eat more of it this way.

Prepped vegetables. Now that producers are bagging shredded carrots, broccoli florets, and pre-washed lettuces, salads take no time (so no excuses).

Frozen cooked shrimp. Having cooked, peeled shrimp in the freezer is as handy as having a can of tuna in the pantry.

Fillo Factory Spanakopita (a.k.a. spinach-and-cheese appetizers). These flaky pastry pillows are perfect for party starters or as part of a light lunch or brunch.

Nancy's Petite Quiche. You should keep these amazingly flaky, professional-quality mini pastries in your freezer; many caterers do. These came from a Costco warehouse store.

Minh Egg Rolls. Add some chicken wings, dumplings, and meatballs and you've got an instant pupu platter. Another warehouse-store find.

Boston Market Frozen Cinnamon Apples. These ultraconvenient apples make a great (if sweet) pie filling.

Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry. Fold it, and pat it, and mark it with an E for easy.

Belgium Chef Waffles. Put away the waffle iron and stay in bed a little longer on Sunday morning. The kids can pop these better-than-frozen-tasting frozen waffles in the toaster. They make an excellent base for a last-minute ice cream sundae, too. Call 800-350-5016 for store locations.