Prepared Christmas dinners? (Turkey: buying, price, store)

[tmasek73]

My wife and I will be in town and were looking to see where people recommend us look for a prepared turkey dinner for two (although a small turkey that would give some leftovers would be preferred rather then just a breast). We aren't looking to break the bank and saw that Lowes had a dinner with some fixin's for about $50.

Are there any other local places that are better quality for around that price that anyone has personally had and would recommend?

Thanks for all suggestions.

[apexgds]

Whole Foods has a turkey breast with mashed potatoes, cornbread stuffing, cranberry relish, and gravy for about $60. You can probably add on some green beans or some such in their prepared foods case. Or you could do a mini ham, beans and sweet potato casserole from Honeybaked for about the same price.

[neighbor1]

Boston Market provides prepared meals for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. You can even pick up hot ready-to-eat individual meals, but you do have to stand in line. Just call your local Boston Market for details.

[wraleigh]

Originally Posted by neighbor1

Boston Market provides prepared meals for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. You can even pick up hot ready-to-eat individual meals, but you do have to stand in line. Just call your local Boston Market for details.

[don6170]

Originally Posted by tmasek73

We aren't looking to break the bank and saw that Lowes had a dinner with some fixin's for about $50.

Note that some "prepared dinners" still require you to cook them at home. We did one from HT a couple years ago, it is was almost as much work as starting from scratch.

[WeLuvNC]

I want to say that the Honey Baked Ham store on Six Forks also provides a meal - not sure of the cost. No prep needed other than reheating.

[MainLineMommy]

Originally Posted by WeLuvNC

I want to say that the Honey Baked Ham store on Six Forks also provides a meal - not sure of the cost. No prep needed other than reheating.

Careful with this. If you get a turkey from them, they cook it and then freeze it, so you are buying a frozen turkey that you have to thaw for several days and then heat yourself. Almost as much effort as making your own turkey, although probably with a better flavor turnout. The hams are given to you cold and they actually recommend you serving at room temperature instead of heating all the way. Heating all the way is difficult without drying out the meat, as the ham is on the bone. The ham is incredibly delicious, though. You also might be able to get sliced turkey breast that is easy to reheat from them. Also, I can't recommend their sides. I tried three of them and had found that heating them took MUCH longer than what the box said, which really messed with the timing of my dinner because I had all of my stove-top sides done and the HoneyBaked sides were still cooking. The broccoli casserole never set. It heated but stayed a runny mess until I finally just tossed it. The mac and cheese was good, but Stouffers is just as good and the heat time is actually accurate. The sweat potato casserole was just okay.

You might also want to try Golden Corral or Cracker Barrel.

[garnetpalmetto]

Papa Mojo's Roadhouse is doing Cajun Fried Turkeys for $40 - order by tomorrow and pick up on 12/23. They also have full meals available for $120 or you can order a'la carte.