school lunches<\/a> the next day.<\/p>\n![\"Microwave]()
Microwave rice, especially brown and wild rice varieties, get the dietitians’ thumbs-up for a good convenience food choice. Photo \/ Babiche Martens<\/p>\n
The shortcut worth paying for<\/p>\n
Both name microwave rice as the standout. \u201cYou pay a little more for the convenience, but it makes it much easier to put together a quick, balanced meal,\u201d says Sekula, who rates the wholegrain and wild rice mixes in particular.<\/p>\n
Frozen vegetables and fruit, canned beans and lentils, canned fish, wraps and rotisserie chicken all get similar backing: reliable, and genuinely useful rather than just easy.<\/p>\n
Beware the health halo<\/p>\n
Some convenience foods sound healthier than they are. Henderson is wary of bottled smoothies, pre-marinated meats and vegetable crisps.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re still chips and are often high in fat and salt, so buy them if you enjoy them \u2013 but they shouldn\u2019t be thought of as a substitute for eating vegetables.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sekula\u2019s most overrated pick is premium protein bars. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe word \u2018protein\u2019 can give a product a health halo,\u201d she says, \u201cbut it does not automatically make it more nutritious, satisfying or good value.\u201d <\/p>\n
She\u2019d rather reach for yoghurt, nuts or peanut butter. <\/p>\n
Henderson\u2019s overrated pick is sweet spreads, such as Biscoff or pistachio spread. They\u2019re expensive, easy to overeat and less nutritionally useful than plain peanut butter.<\/p>\n
![\"Pre-made]()
Pre-made falafel mix makes for an easy nutritious knock-up meal. Photo \/ Babiche Martens<\/p>\n
What deserves more credit<\/p>\n
Both think processed and packaged get an unfair rap. Henderson makes the case for frozen fish, falafel mix, frozen hash browns, wraps and chilled soup pouches, so long as they\u2019re served with vegetables and protein. Sekula backs frozen vegetables and fruit, canned legumes, canned fish and pre-made falafel mix.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese foods are sometimes criticised simply because they are processed or packaged, but they contribute to a nutritious meal,\u201d Sekula says. \u201cIt is more useful to look at how they are used and what they are served with, rather than judging each product in isolation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Three to always keep at home<\/p>\n
Lily\u2019s essential three: Frozen vegetables, microwave rice or grains, and canned tuna.<\/p>\n
Julia\u2019s essential three: Frozen mixed vegetables, canned beans, chickpeas or lentils, and wraps.<\/p>\n
Henderson also keeps a pantry stocked with herbs, spices, garlic and onion powder and stock powder, ready to lift a simple meal. With a few basics like these on hand, Sekula says, \u201cThese three foods can form the base of a wide range of quick, balanced meals without relying on takeaway.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neither dietitian is precious about cooking from scratch. Convenience foods aren\u2019t the opposite of eating well; used right, they\u2019re what makes eating well realistic on the nights it otherwise wouldn\u2019t be.<\/p>\n
Herald contributor Nikki Birrell has worked in food and travel publishing for nearly 20 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cYes, grated cheese contains an anti-caking agent, but it\u2019s still cheese and incredibly convenient. You save time and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":552029,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[36671,95,1975,1863,138,112420,4187,34844,7491,6208,47836,1345,8156,5511,809,6036,65016,130,111,139,69,48211,17096,6744,15265,198956,65259,223,165,8229,1529,25446,6923,5977,1339],"class_list":["post-552028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-always","tag-and","tag-at","tag-back","tag-business","tag-convenience","tag-cost","tag-dietitians","tag-earn","tag-foods","tag-henderson","tag-home","tag-julia","tag-just","tag-keep","tag-know","tag-lily","tag-more","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-ones","tag-paying","tag-place","tag-registered","tag-sekula","tag-skip","tag-the","tag-their","tag-they","tag-three","tag-trolley","tag-what","tag-which","tag-without"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=552028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/552029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=552028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=552028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=552028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}