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The hardest thing about cooking Thanksgiving dinner for a lot of people is coordinating the timing of all the side dishes and desserts so that everything is done when the turkey is ready. Trader Joe’s Holiday Essentials is a side dish kit of sorts that includes mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry-pecan stuffing and green beans in mushroom sauce with a fried onion topping. Each side is individually packaged and can be cooked in the microwave while the turkey cooks. Here’s the catch: We tasted the sides in The Times Test Kitchen and found them to be just OK--not terrible, but not that terrific either. You’ll get a much better meal if you cook the dishes yourself; on the other hand, if you’re in a time bind, you won’t embarrass yourself if you go for the box.

$19.99 at Trader Joe’s locations.