Shamelessly embracing convenience

My top 12 convenience foods and 5-minute Greek beans on toast.

Hey! I’m Dina, a Registered Nutritionist, I chat about realistic healthy living for diverse bodies, with monthly 5-minute meals and delicious discoveries. If you’re new here, you can read more about what to expect on the D-List.

When we’re juggling all the balls, choosing convenience is not a reflection of laziness or a lack of culinary skills. It’s about being smart and efficient with the resources we have, and embracing practical solutions that help us simplify mealtimes.

Cooking every meal from scratch doesn't make us morally superior, and not everyone wants to be a domestic goddess. Sometimes we just want to eat food that is reasonably healthy, easy to prepare and doesn’t taste like arse. It really doesn’t need to be complicated, aspirational or perfect.

Sure, it would be nice to graze on fresh vegetables directly from the bush or spend hours preparing wholesome ingredients from my non-existent local farmers market. But this is the real world, and there is no shame in taking a shortcut now and again.

Cooking can be overwhelming at the best of times - from meal planning to prepping and cooking to washing up and storing leftovers. On repeat every single day. Pre-prepped ingredients can be a lifeline for people with disabilities and chronic illnesses, the elderly, sleep-deprived parents and anyone who is busy and tired (everyone)!

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What are convenience foods? 🥫

I’m talking about real food products that have been designed to save time and energy, such as pre-prepped, pre-cooked, pre-chopped, pre-washed, canned, jarred and frozen ingredients.

These ingredients are used in my monthly 5-minute meals and are the only way it is possible to make a meal in 5 minutes. It all started after years of working full-time in an office, commuting 4 hours a day, getting home late and exhausted, and consistently feeling unwell. There was no gas left in the tank to think about feeding myself. 5 minutes was as much as I could manage.

Thanks to my pre-prepped beauties, I discovered that I could whack out a quick healthy meal on the most stressful days.

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Why I’m shameless

• I have two jobs, a toddler who doesn’t sleep, and a disability that saps my energy. I will not be cooking up a storm every night and I feel zero guilt about bringing in my support crew of handy ingredients to help me feed myself and my family.

• Convenience doesn't equate to a compromise on health or quality. Frozen fruit, canned beans and pre-chopped veg can be just as nutritious as their fresh cousins.

• Minimally processed fruit and veg is still better than no fruit and veg. Healthy eating is not linear and is certainly not ‘all or nothing’. It’s impossible to achieve perfection with every meal, and it would be miserable to even try. Perfection is way more boring than boring-old-balance.

• Convenience isn’t necessarily more expensive. Carefully chosen products can save both time and money. And there is less food-waste when stocking up on non-perishable canned and frozen produce that lasts longer.

• Having access to easy options means I’m more likely to eat a healthy meal more often, and less likely to rely on ready-meals and takeaways.

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But Deens, what about all the Ultra Processed Foods (UPFs)?

Unless food is plucked directly from a tree, it will be processed in some form.

The categorisation of processing is a wide spectrum, from minimally-processed frozen vegetables to ultra-processed multicoloured cereals. Both ends of the spectrum are considered processed, creating unnecessary fear-mongering and food-shaming around anything in a packet.

But yes, it’s always a good idea to reduce the ultra-processed stuff where you can, without stress, as even the occasional multicoloured cereal poses minimal risk to our health in the grand scheme of our overall diet.

Nutritionist

Laura Thomas, PhD, RNutr

explains this better than anyone else on the planet so head over to The Truth About Ultra Processed Foods for more details. As you will see, it’s not so black and white.

If you are concerned about UPFs, opt for foods that look like food and contain minimal non-food ingredients.

My top 12 convenient staples:

1. Frozen veg. Spinach balls, broccoli, peas and mixed peppers to throw into curries, stir-fries and stews.

2. Canned fish. Tuna or sardines are a cheap source of protein and Omega-3s that can be eaten with salads, pasta, baked potato or toast.

3. Pasta sauce. Bolognese sauce for a family-friendly quick pasta with lentils or mince.

4. Chopped veg. Chopped onion or soffrito mix as a quick base for bolognese and soups. Life’s too short for crying over an onion.

5. Beans and chickpeas for hearty curries, soups and stews, or to transform a limp salad into a solid meal.

6. Frozen fruit. Blueberries are packed with antioxidants and are ready to add to porridge, smoothies and desserts, without worrying about spoiling.

7. Dips. Houmous, babaghanoush and guacamole. I love anything pre-mushed with garlic, it’s the most delicious way to eat veg, and can be added to anything - sandwiches, salad bowls, a mezze with bread and veggie sticks, or for dipping your pizza crusts in.

8. Frozen herbs are one of my favourite inventions - you won’t find me finely chopping ginger after nursery pick-up. That is Lego time!

9. Pre-washed salad leaves. No one wants wet lettuce in a sandwich.

10. Ready-to-eat veg. Jarred artichokes, roasted peppers, herby olives and cooked beetroot are an easy way to add veg to your meal without cooking or chopping. Jazz up a bog-standard meal with a side of sauerkraut, kimchi or red onion pickle for big flavour.

11. Thai curry paste and stir-fry sauce. Just add meat or veg with rice or noodles, no need to worry about seasoning.

12. Cooked grains. I always have a handy stash of cooked rice ready to accompany my curries, stir-fries and stews. Or spiced lentils for boosting a salad or bolognese.

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3 simple meal ideas using pre-prepped ingredients:

1. Pesto pasta. Combine a jar of pesto with frozen peas and broccoli, and wholegrain pasta. Sprinkle with grated parmesan and add a tin of tuna for extra protein.

2. Red curry. Use frozen cooked prawns and pre-chopped frozen peppers and spinach, combined with a jar of Thai red curry paste and a tin of coconut milk. Serve with a packet of pre-cooked wholegrain rice.

3. Greek beans on toast. See recipe below!

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Here’s your monthly 5-minute meal. Simple ‘recipes’ with minimal cooking and prep, when you can’t be arsed to cook.

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Greek beans on toast

A poshed-up version of the British comfort-food classic, using giant Greek white beans in a herby tomato sauce and a ‘no-chop’ side salad.

Ingredients (serves 2)

• A jar of Greek gigantes beans in tomato sauce

• 2 large slices of sourdough bread 

• Feta cheese 

• Butter (optional)

For the salad

• Watercress or rocket leaves

• Red onion pickle

• Marinated olives

• A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil 

• A squeeze of lemon

Directions

1. Heat the beans in a pan until warmed through.

2. Toast the bread and spread with butter. 

3. Make the side salad while you heat the beans. Combine some leaves, red onion pickle and marinated olives in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil and a squeeze of lemon.

4. Spoon the bean mixture onto the slices of bread and crumble some feta cheese over the top. Serve with the salad and enjoy!

If you have more time: Top with a poached egg.

Swaps: Use grated cheddar or parmesan if you don’t have feta.

Make it vegan: Skip the butter and cheese.

Baby-friendly: Mash up the bean mix and serve with toast fingers.

Let me know in the comments, what’s your favourite convenience product that you can’t do without?

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