Most of us play "Beat the Clock" in the kitchen! Sure, we’d like to cook from scratch, but we don’t always have the time! Here are a few ideas for turning out dishes that look and taste like you fussed, but without the fuss!

• For homemade baked mac & cheese, make any store-bought version (boxed or frozen), transfer it to your own baking dish, top it with some crushed buttery crackers, if you'd like, and some extra shredded cheese then bake till hot and bubbly.
• There are loads of all-in-one Asian meals in our supermarket freezers. We can even make them look homemade by serving them out of a wok, topped with a sprinkle of sliced scallions and sesame seeds.
• It's a cinch to put together fabulous homestyle berry parfaits by starting with a store-bought fruit pie that you chunk up and layer in a parfait glass with dollops of whipped cream and some fresh berries.

Who would ever know any of these dishes isn't homemade from scratch? You can start with a few market shortcuts and reap the benefits of the...