Cooking for Two, or Just Two More Days Until Pay Day? Highland Park Market’s September 29th Specials Have You Covered!

🍽️ Survive the Week on Highland Park Market Specials: Who Needs Gourmet When You’re Just Tired?

Dear weary souls of Farmington,

It’s Jack Beckett, your local senior writer (and culinary therapist) from The Farmington Mercury, here to rescue you from the sad monotony of mid-week meals. If you’re a middle-aged couple just trying to survive until Friday while eating something that doesn’t come in a cardboard box with a tiny cartoon chef, this one’s for you. I scoured the Highland Park Market September 29th flyer like a frugal knight on a budgeted crusade, and I’ve got the easy-to-make, delicious meals you need to avoid those desperate late-night ramen sessions.

Here’s what’s on deck this week, folks. Fasten your apron (or let’s be honest, just your napkin), and get ready for some grocery-store gourmet.

Monday: Seared Sirloin Tip Roast with Garlic Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes and an Existential Crisis 🥩🍽️

Ingredients:

• Sirloin Tip Roast ($6.99/lb) – We’re fancy now.
• Yukon Gold Potatoes ($2.99 for 5 lbs) – The budget-friendly savior of every meal.
• Fresh Green Beans ($1.99/lb) – To pretend we care about nutrition.

Recipe:

1. Step 1: Take your Sirloin Tip Roast and sear it, imagining it’s the culinary equivalent of your unfinished to-do list. Toss it in the oven at 375°F for 20 minutes per pound. (That gives you about 45 minutes to figure out what you’re doing with your life.)
2. Step 2: Boil those Yukon Gold Potatoes with just a hint of garlic because nothing says “I’m an adult,” like knowing how to use garlic in everything.
3. Step 3: Heat your Green Beans in a skillet, sautéing them until they’re a crispy reminder that you’re better at cooking than managing your inbox.

Why It Works: A good roast looks impressive enough to distract you from the fact that it’s only Monday. You might even have enough leftovers for a sad Wednesday sandwich—if you don’t eat them all while doom-scrolling Twitter.

Tuesday: One-Pan Chicken and Cauliflower Bake with Cranberry Nut Bread Because You Deserve It 🍗🌾

Ingredients:

• Bell & Evans Wrapped Broilers ($2.69/lb) – Because whole chickens are a commitment, we’re not ready for that kind of relationship.
• Jumbo Cauliflower (2/$6) – Roasted because we need to feel like we’re being “healthy.”
• Fresh Store Baked Cranberry Nut Bread ($5.99) – Don’t ask questions; buy it.

Recipe:

1. Step 1: Place your chicken and Jumbo Cauliflower in one pan, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt like you’re a TV chef who doesn’t live paycheck to paycheck, and bake at 400°F for 40-45 minutes.
2. Step 2: Slice that Cranberry Nut Bread and pretend you’re in a quaint New England bakery instead of eating in front of Netflix.
3. Step 3: Bask in the simplicity. You’re an effortless chef now, even if everything else is a dumpster fire.

Why It Works: One-pan meals are like therapy: efficient and comforting, and you only have to clean up once. And the Cranberry Nut Bread? That’s your reward for being a functioning human being today.

Wednesday: Black Pepper Pork Chops with Butternut Squash and Some Fall Vibes 🍖🍂

Ingredients:

• Highland Park Boneless Pork Chops ($3.99/lb) – When you need to feel like an adult.
• Olivia’s Organics Butternut Squash ($3.99/ea) – Because it’s fall and it’s in everything.
• Sweet Honeycrisp Apples ($1.99/lb) – Pretend it’s from the farmer’s market, not aisle 3.

Recipe:

1. Step 1: Season your pork chops with black pepper as if you know what you’re doing. Sear them in a pan, then bake for 10-15 minutes at 425°F until they stop looking like rubbery regrets.
2. Step 2: Roast the Butternut Squash with cinnamon and toss in the Honeycrisp apples at the end because that’s what people on Pinterest do.
3. Step 3: Serve and marvel at how autumnal your dinner is while the world around you spirals.

Why It Works: This dish is hearty and seasonally appropriate. Plus, roasting squash makes you feel like you’re thriving, even if you have no idea what day it is anymore.

Thursday: Buffalo Chicken Bagel Sandwiches with Macaroni Salad Because We’re Just Trying to Get Through the Week 🥯🔥

Ingredients:

• Boar’s Head Buffalo Chicken Breast ($12.99/lb) – Spicy enough to keep things interesting.
• Thomas’ Bagels (BOGO) – Nothing says “we gave up on dinner” quite like a bagel sandwich.
• Highland Park Macaroni Salad with Tuna ($5.99/lb) – Salad? We barely know her.

Recipe:

1. Step 1: Toast the Bagels and pretend it’s breakfast for dinner because you’re quirky, not because you forgot to plan.
2. Step 2: Layer slices of Buffalo Chicken and a dollop of cream cheese, because why not? Add lettuce if you’re feeling particularly health-conscious.
3. Step 3: Serve with the pre-made Macaroni Salad, which you bought because we’re not doing extra work today.

Why It Works: This is the meal you eat when you’re tired of trying. Plus, the BOGO on Bagels means tomorrow’s breakfast is practically complimentary. Winning.

Friday: BBQ Baby Back Ribs with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Peppers Because You Made It 🍖🍠

Ingredients:

• Highland Park Baby Back Ribs ($3.99/lb) – You earned this.
• Sweet Potatoes ($2.99 for 5 lbs) – Sweet, like the satisfaction of surviving the week.
• Fresh Green Peppers ($1.99/lb)—These are for color so you won’t feel guilty about only eating ribs.

Recipe:

1. Step 1: Cover your ribs in BBQ sauce and slow roast them at 300°F for 2.5-3 hours, or until they fall apart like your carefully laid plans for the week.
2. Step 2: Roast the Sweet Potatoes and Green Peppers alongside your ribs because throwing everything in the oven together is the level of efficiency you’ve always aspired to.
3. Step 3: Serve and feel accomplished. You made it through the week, and now you get ribs.

Why It Works: Ribs feel like a celebration, and by Friday, you deserve one. The slow roasting gives you time to pour yourself a drink and reflect on how many leftovers you will eat tomorrow.

Curated Specials You Shouldn’t Miss This Week:

• USDA Choice Angus Beef Top Sirloin Steaks ($7.99/lb) – Impress someone or pretend to.
• Coca-Cola 2 Liters (Asst. 2/$10) – When you need caffeine to power through the dinner you forgot to make.
• Cabot Cheese Bars (Asst. 2/$5) – Who doesn’t need more cheese?
• Classico Pasta Sauce (Asst. 2/$6) – Dump it on anything. We won’t judge.

Highland Park Market
204 Main St. Farmington, CT 06032
Store Hours: Mon.-Sat. 8 AM – 7 PM | Sun. 8 AM – 6 PM
Check out their full flyer here for all your shopping needs!

Special Thanks to Our Sponsor: Farmington Storage

Thanks to Farmington Storage for making this article possible and holding on to everything we’ll probably never use again. Whether it’s holiday decorations or all those kitchen gadgets you swore you’d use, Farmington Storage has your back. Conveniently located at 155 Scott Swamp Road, or call 860.777.4001. They’ll keep your clutter safe while you figure out where your Tupperware lids went.

That’s it, folks. Another week of meals, another week we have survived. If you love this delicious, borderline ridiculous content, don’t forget to subscribe to The Farmington Mercury for more local news, food ideas, and occasional existential musings. Catch us on X or explore all our spicy local takes on We Are Farmington.

Jack Beckett
Senior Writer, Farmington Mercury
Coffee-addicted ☕, meal-prep procrastinator 🍳, and master of grocery store gourmet.