Eat Well Wednesday: 12 processed or packaged foods to include in your diet
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Fresh foods—fruit, vegetables, meat, chicken, fish, milk, eggs, herbs etc—are always the best choice when feeding yourself a healthy diet.
The majority of my fortnightly food budget is spent on these fresh food items and I get them from my weekly pilgrimage to the local markets. I also, however, conduct a fortnightly shop at my local supermarket for pantry and non-perishable items.
In today’s culture and society it’s not easy to eat 100% unprocessed food. Processing is part of the way our food becomes convenient, safe and widely accessible. As much as there are some dodgy products on the market these days, there’s also some genuinely good ones too.
Although processed and/or packaged food is generally deemed less healthy than its fresher counterparts, there’s definitely plenty of nutritional value in certain manufactured foods with some non-perishable items that I just can’t do without.
Canned fish
Fish is a really important part of our diet supplying us with important B-vitamins, zinc and essential fats known as omega 3s. Regular fish consumption and a diet rich in omega 3 has been linked to a number of health benefits such as a decrease in the incidence of depression, help with managing healthy blood sugar levels, relief of inflammatory conditions such as arthritis or psoriasis, and a decrease in the risk of heart disease and stroke. But it’s all a little too fishy for you, there are several ways you can consume your daily intake of omega 3 fats.
The great thing about fish is you can buy the healthiest kinds; salmon, tuna and sardines in a can, ready to eat for a relatively low cost. Canned fish is a fantastic source of low fat protein too and can be used in a variety of many different meals and snacks. I use tuna in tuna mornay for the kids, in sandwiches, added to salads or as a key ingredient in pasta bakes. It’s also great on crackers for a post-workout snack as the perfect combination of carbohydrates and protein.
[pe2-image src=”http://lh5.ggpht.com/-0a5H9cYetO0/VFlPpyRkPdI/AAAAAAAAKuQ/iFE1P-KFX40/s144-c-o/IMG_8787.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/108454826374315674707/12ProcessedPackagedFoodsToAddToYourDiet#6077976751401876946″ caption=”Canned fish is a great way to get your omega 3 intake.” type=”image” alt=”IMG_8787.JPG” pe2_single_image_size=”w614″ pe2_img_align=”center” pe2_caption=”1″ ]
Quinoa
Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is an ancient South American grain that’s become a bit of a nutrition buzz in recent times. Quinoa is actually a seed, but is a fantastic substitute for traditional grains as it provides one of the only plant sources of complete protein and is a great source of fibre that is packed full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. You can buy it in different varieties; black, red or royal and it’s found in the health food section of the supermarket.
It’s great served as an accompaniment to curries and stews, added to salads or used as a substitute for cous cous or rice.
Extra-virgin olive oil
Extra-virgin olive oil is a pantry essential. It’s full of important healthy fats, antioxidants and is so very versatile. I use it to sauté off onion and garlic, grill or roast fresh vegetables, barbecue meat, the base for meat and vegetable marinades or as a salad dressing. I always buy Australian made and love trying the different varieties and strengths of flavours available.
Four Bean Mix and other legumes
Beans, lentils, chickpeas and other legumes are some of the healthiest foods around. For a quick, healthy meal that my kids absolutely love, I always keep a can of baked beans in the pantry for those days when I can’t muster the strength for much else. What’s really important to remember is to choose the brand that’s lowest in salt. Do that by comparing the amount of sodium per 100g on the nutrition information panels.
I regularly use Four Bean Mix as a quick, simple way to add fibre and good quality carbohydrate to a meal. Toss it together with olive oil, lemon juice, avocado chunks, halved carry tomatoes and finely sliced red onion or shallots and serve with fish, chicken or steak. Easy and delicious!
It’d be great to see food manufacturers in Australia reducing the amount of salt in their products. The more we purchase lower salt products, the more consumer demand there is for low-salt products and the more manufacturers will make them. Lowering the salt content of our diet can lead to incredible improvements in our long term health and is definitely worth the effort. When you’re buying canned legumes you can dramatically reduce the amount of sodium by throughly draining and rinsing under water.
Other canned legumes are also fantastic, cheap ways of making your meal go further, adding fibre and carbohydrate to your salad or curry or texture to your soup or stew. I add lentils to spaghetti bolognese, cannellini beans to vegetable soup, chick peas to curries and salads, and kidney beans to savoury mince.
[pe2-image src=”http://lh4.ggpht.com/-veLF9S9enok/VFlO0ToldOI/AAAAAAAAKtM/bKwdBYXvd1k/s144-c-o/IMG_8797.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/108454826374315674707/12ProcessedPackagedFoodsToAddToYourDiet#6077975832643859682″ caption=”Canned legumes are always a great addition to the pantry and making a meal go further.” type=”image” alt=”IMG_8797.jpg” pe2_single_image_size=”w614″ pe2_img_align=”center” pe2_caption=”1″ ]
Asian-style sauces
Lots of manufactured sauces are extremely high in energy and unnecessary additives. I prefer to make my own pasta sauces, marinades or stir-fry sauces because that way I know what’s in them and I can control energy content. I love Chinese rice wine, soy sauce, fish sauce, kecap manis, white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar and oyster sauce. Being very rich and strong in flavour you usually only need to use small amounts of these ingredients with the vinegars in particular extremely low in energy.
As I’m stir frying vegetables I pour over a mix of 4 tablespoons Chinese rice wine, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce and 1 teaspoon brown sugar. Great flavour, low fat and low energy.
Be mindful that soy sauce, fish sauce and oyster sauce are all extremely high in sodium however. I would only use them occasionally. If you have conditions such as high blood pressure or heart disease, it’s best to avoid them and use other flavours such as dried herbs and spices.
Mustard
I love mustard, not because it has any stand out nutritional properties, but because it’s a great way to flavour food without having to add other high energy sauces or dressings. I love spreading my sandwiches with Dijon or wholegrain mustard instead of mayonnaise or adding it to my homemade salad dressings for a bit of kick.
Try 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons honey and 2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard and drizzle of a fresh baby spinach salad with red onion, cucumber, chicken, rotated capsicum and crumbled feta…. Divine!
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Wholemeal flour
I love baking, especially with my kids, and whenever possible I swap regular white flour for wholemeal flour. It has a bit more fibre than white flour because the husk of the grain was adding back in during processing. It great to make pikelets, pancakes and bran muffins. Anything that uses regular flour can usually handle the swap as long as you add a little bit of extra liquid so your final product isn’t too dry.
Try these Carrot and Walnut Muffins. Great little snacks!
Paprika and Cumin
These are my favourite spices. I try to use spices as much as I can in my cooking because they make food taste and smell so good! They are also a great source of antioxidants.
Instead of using traditional potato chips try using sweet potato instead. Peel and slice the sweet potato into chip size strips, microwave for 3-5 minutes until slightly tender, toss in a little salt and paprika and barbeuc or lightly fry in small amount of olive oil. They are delicious!
I sprinkle cumin on meat with sesame seeds, turmeric, salt and then barbecue or grill. I also make a spiced cous cous with chicken stock, cumin, turmeric, chopped fresh chives, parsley and lemon juice. Other dried herbs and spiced are great to use and one of the best ways to add flavour without adding excess kilojoules.
Nuts
Nuts are little nutrition powerhouses. Packed full of vitamins, minerals, healthy fats and antioxidants they are great to snack on or fantastic added to salads, stir fries or muesli. Nuts that I use quite often are pine nuts in pesto, pasta dishes and salad; walnuts in my Carrot and Walnut Muffins, salad and muesli, almonds to snack on and cashews, crushed and used as a crumb in my Honey Mustard Chicken Salad.
When buying nuts, the best choices are the raw, unsalted versions. Nuts sold in the snack (chips) section of the supermarket are roasted in oil and have lots of added salt. Buy your nuts from the health food section and choose raw or dry roasted (no fat added in the roasting process).
[pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-W4Mf_pjktI0/VFlPGwueNAI/AAAAAAAAKtk/9Im0Vv9iKVM/s144-c-o/IMG_8808.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/108454826374315674707/12ProcessedPackagedFoodsToAddToYourDiet#6077976149690823682″ caption=”Go ‘nuts’ with your nuts and dried fruit.” type=”image” alt=”IMG_8808.JPG” pe2_single_image_size=”w614″ pe2_img_align=”center” pe2_caption=”1″ ]
Dried fruit
Fresh fruit is always superior to dried, canned or processed versions of fruit, but dried fruit can be a handy on-the-go snack for both you and your kids. I make up little snack containers for my kids with dried apricots, dried goji berries, pieces of cheese, and fresh fruit usually apples or strawberries. They love them.
Just be mindful that dried fruit has had the naturally occurring sugars concentrated because all the moisture has been remove. This means that per 100g, dried fruit contains much more energy and sugar compared to fresh fruit. You’ll know if you eat too much as your bowels may become a little loose due to too much fructose (fruit sugar) in the large intestine. Another thing to remember is that due to the sticky consistency of dried fruit it can be one of the culprits of dental caries (holes in your teeth) if they are eaten too often or if brushing is inadequate.
Dried herbs
Dried herbs are a must in my pantry and are also a very important part of a well stocked pantry. Fresh herbs don’t tend to last all that long especially if you want to use them at their peak. That’s why I always keep an assortment of dried herbs in my pantry to make sure I’ve got something on hand to add flavour to my meals, sauces and marinades. I use parsley, basil and oregano in my home made tomato based pasta sauce. Oregano, lemon juice and crushed garlic is a fantastic marinade for lamb cutlets and homemade pizzas are fantastic finished off with a good sprinkle of all three.
I also find that it’s handy to have the dried version of herbs I don’t use often such as tarragon, sage and thyme. I rarely use up a whole bunch of these herbs so rather than waste it, using the dried version is sometimes a better option for me.
Salsa
I’m a sucker for snacking on chips and dips. It’s one of my favourite foodie habits, I love it. It’s certainly OK to enjoy dipping every now and then but too much chips and dip can make me feel pretty sluggish and bloated. That’s why I love snacking on a vegetable tasting plate and then dipping in either salsa, hummus or herbed natural yoghurt. It satisfies my dipping desire but doesn’t leave me feeling like: “I wish I didn’t eat so much”. Salsa is also fantastic as an accompaniment to savoury mince, added to tacos or in a meat and salad wrap.
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