Convenience Foods

                            Convenience foods are defined as items that need little or no preparation, from ready to eat breakfast cereals, canned or frozen foods, to pre-packaged heat and serve meals.

                           Nutritionally, these products do not compare with home cooked meals. Most convenience foods contain a lot of sugar, salt and fat compared to home cooked meals.

                          Processing can strip vitamins and minerals from some foods, but there are a few exceptions. Fruit and vegetables that are quick frozen often have more vitamins than those picked before maturing shipped long distances and then allowed to sit on shelves at stores for way to long.

                         It is important to always check the labels and ingredient list. Sometimes combining convenience foods with fresh ingredients may help increase the nutritional value to your meals and also save time.

                        Convenience foods for our babies are good in nutritional value as they are prepared with certain standards especially made for babies, e.g.; Instant cereals, pureed fruit, vegetables and meat. As our children get older it can become a worry as the convenience foods are loaded with fat, salt and preservatives, e.g.; sausage rolls and party pies. Children individually packaged desserts are a big concern because they may provide milk but they are loaded with sugar, fats, artificial flavourings and colouring.

                      Be aware when feeding your children;

n      Chicken is a better choice than sausage rolls and party pies

n      Yogurts are better than most desserts

n      Porridge or wheat biscuits cereals are a better choice than sweetened children’s cereals

                    I have discovered that I can actually do my own convenience foods; all you need is a freezer and some planning.

n      Left overs can be pre-packaged so that you can just pop into the microwave on another day

n      If you are making soups or casseroles, make more than needed and freeze the portion that you don’t use

n      Buy extra fresh vegetables and freeze them

                    Doing this will help you to control the amount of fat, salt and other ingredients that you use, and you will have a ready made meal that will save you time when preparing your evening meal. Make sure you date and label all packages and always use oldest first.

                         I hope this helps………..