My Quick, Easy, and Delicious Meal from Mariano’s Fresh Market

So, my blog is called Ravings By Rae. My idea behind this, was that I could come here to rant, rave, or ramble about whatever I wanted. I rarely rave about things. Sure, I enjoy different things but rave about them? Not so much.

But, this post, is completely, 100%, a huge freaking RAVE! Things like this are the reason I created this blog. I recently took a trip to Mariano’s and my family has never been so satisfied by store bought, take-home food, ever! My first trip to Mariano’s Fresh Market blew my mind.

Lately, my life has been extra busy. Between work, school, and my daily life I just haven’t been able to cook meals as often as I would like to. I planned to spend most of my Saturday working on various projects, so I wanted to make sure that my family would get something other and PB&J for dinner, again.

After hearing a bunch of great stories about Mariano’s Fresh Market, I decided I would try it out. The closest one to me is about an hour away, but I’ve been known to travel for good food. So, I decided I would try it out and I am SO glad that I did.

I got to Mariano’s around noon on a Saturday, so I expected it to be busy. I was right. The parking lot was absolutely full and it excited me for what was to come.

I walked through the doors and was greeted by the biggest and best produce selection I’ve ever seen in my life. There were employees hustling around and constantly refilling the shelves. I’ve been to fresh markets in the past but they paled in comparison to Mariano’s. To see my entire shopping trip, head over to my Google+.

But, I wasn’t there for produce. I was there for a hot and ready meal for my family. The layout in Mariano’s is different than any other store I’ve been in. So, as I maneuvered around looking for the hot food I stumbled upon the bakery. I’m obsessed with sweets and never have I seen a spread of sweets, like what I saw at Mariano’s.

After spending about 15 minutes picking out one of just about everything, I continued my search for the hot food. *It should be noted that Mariano’s has helpful store maps at the front of the store. I’m just too hard headed to use them. 🙂

When I stopped in front of the hot food, I was seriously surprised with how great the different options looked. Because I checked their website before heading to the store, I was familiar with the menu, so I had a good idea of what I wanted.

The ladies behind the counter were helpful in telling me about the different foods they had to offer. They have whole rotisserie chickens, meatloaf, baby back ribs, sausage and peppers, and tons of sides. I settled on a nice big pack of fried chicken, some yummy macaroni and cheese, a heaping container of mashed potatoes, and some honey wings.

After filling my cart with containers of food, I turned around and spotted the soups. My kids love soup, so I filled up a medium sized container with some chicken and dumpling soup. This soup has been the talk of my home. My boyfriend always has something negative to say about the food we eat, but this time he was blown away. The flavor was amazing.

And of course, no meal is complete without bread. I spotted this delicious looking salami and provolone chop block bread before heading out. This bread was gone within hours of me getting home. I’ve never had anything like it. We heated it up a little and it was delicious. I’m in love with bread and the combination of the spices, the salami, and the provolone made this bread out of this world. The kids loved it too!

Oh, and on my way to the registers I spotted two convenient little kiosks where you can sign up for the Mariano’s Rewards Card. I know I’ll be going back soon, so the added savings with the rewards card will come in handy.

Our quick and easy family dinner was delicious. The chicken was perfectly cooked with a crispy skin. Before being served my boyfriend complained that I didn’t provide gravy for his mashed potatoes, but once he tasted them he decided they tasted amazing, no gravy needed. The macaroni and cheese was a hit with the entire family. And as I mentioned, the soup and bread were beyond comparison. We are already planning a trip back to Mariano’s!

Mariano’s goes above and beyond in quality, freshness, and variety. My family hasn’t eaten that good in a long time. And having Mariano’s provide our dinner for the night, meant mommy had more time to get work done, without worrying about cooking. 😉

I highly recommend you try Mariano’s Fresh Market out for yourself. And be sure to follow them on Twitter and “Like” them on Facebook to stay in the loop with all the latest deals.

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias®  and Mariano’s #cbias #SocialFabric