I was getting a bag of ice from QFC after a positively atrocious day at work. I had used up my last brain cell and couldn’t begin to decipher what I wanted for dinner. I glanced in the case to my left and was drawn in by all these pretty black and beige “Grace’s Kitchen” boxes with a slew of reduced price stickers. I grabbed the one that said Duck Leg Confit and headed home.

I opened the package to find that for $18.99 ($16.99 on sale), you got a shrink wrapped package of two duck legs from Grimaud Farms, a pouch of mashed sweet potatoes and a container of cranberry sauce. I was immediately dismayed and thought, what a rip-off.

I defrosted all the packages, seared the duck legs until very crisp, tossed them into the oven to finish cooking, then microwaved the mashed sweet potatoes until hot. Dinner was seriously on the table in about 15 minutes. And it looked gorgeous.

I sat down and ate. The seared duck leg was juicy on the inside, with a perfect layer of crisped fat on the outside. The sweet potatoes were kind of bland, but not bad and the cranberry chutney was great—and I don’t even like cranberries. The combination of duck, sweet potatoes and chutney in one forkful was incredible. I couldn’t believe that something so good could come from the freezer and be prepared in such a short time.

After dinner, I really started thinking about (i.e. justifying) the price. The dinner served two generously, so that meant the normal cost was about $9.50 per serving. Easily what you’d pay for a much simpler meal out. When I found out that the Grimaud duck legs alone retailed for $15, I realized that it actually was a great deal (especially when on sale!).

It’s definitely not cheaper than cooking, say, top ramen, but for a meal of that quality—and total ease, it’s worth the splurge once and a while. I’ll definitely be trying more of Grace’s Kitchen’s entrees.