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Top 10 Healthy “Convenience” Foods

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This a guest blog post by Sharon Palmer, RD

Drive-thru hamburgers, microwavable pizza pockets and bags of chips—these are the foods that probably come to mind when you think of convenience. For busy people on the run, convenience usually means fast food fare, pop in the microwave processed foods, and grab and go packs—foods typically laden with calories, fat, refined carbs and sodium—and low in vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytonutrients.

But it’s time for a food attitude adjustment; convenience is not just limited to low-nutrient food choices. Plenty of healthy foods can be easily stored and whipped up in minutes in the time it would take you to pick up takeout.  The supermarket is home to a number of convenient whole foods that can help you turn out healthy meals in minutes; here are my top picks.

1. Fresh fruit. The world’s original “fast food”, fresh fruit such as apples, pears, bananas, peaches and oranges comes with natural grab and go packaging.
2. Bagged salad greens. Just toss a bag of pre-washed salad greens into your shopping cart and you’ve got a quick side salad for dinner. Or make salad your entrée by adding chopped cooked chicken, fresh vegetables and a splash of olive oil.

3. Fish fillets. Top an individually frozen fish fillet with herbs, garlic and lemon, throw it under the broiler, and serve it with a side of grains and salad for a quick, tasty meal.

4. Whole grains. Place whole grains such as quinoa, bulgur, brown rice and wheat berries into a rice cooker with water (according to package directions), push the button and walk away. Then toss the steamed grains with cooked lean meat, herbs, garlic, and chopped vegetables for a delicious, nutritious dinner.

5. Yogurt. Throw a cup of yogurt into a briefcase or enjoy it as an after-dinner treat.

6. Frozen vegetables. While there’s nothing better than fresh vegetables, if you’re in a rush just pop frozen vegetables into the microwave and you’ve got a healthy sidedish in a flash.

7. Canned beans. Rinse a can of beans to remove sodium by up to 36 percent and stir them into salads, sidedishes, soups, and stews.

8. Canned tomatoes. Stir a can of low-sodium tomatoes into pastas, soups, sauces, stews, and casseroles for fast comfort food.

9. Nuts. A handful of nuts like almonds, walnuts or peanuts makes a perfect nutrient-rich complement for lunch on the run.

10. Oatmeal. The perfect solution for breakfast; just pop it into the microwave and add milk, nuts and fruit.

Sharon Palmer is a registered dietitian and food and nutrition writer. Visit her website www.sharonpalmer.com

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  • http://twitter.com/Amy_Rey Amy Reynaldo

    A baggie of assorted nuts and dried fruit bits (chocolate chips optional) makes a great protein-rich snack, and it’s so portable.

  • LeaG

    What a great demonstration that you don’t have to rely on processed foods to have quick delicious food! Whole foods can be fast and simple too!

  • Kscofield

    My favorite fast-food snacks: a baggie of pumpkin seeds with pine nuts and dried craisins; a spoonful of sesame seed butter spread on a banana; a smoothie with any kind of frozen fruit + rice milk + nuts, seeds or nut butter! 

  • Mary Lou Sharp

    My favorite trick is a last minute vegetable salad. Put a cup or 2 of frozen vegs in a to go container with some rice vinegar and soy sauce. By lunchtime the vegs are defrosted but still cold, marinated, and delicious

    • http://profiles.google.com/patriot9878 joe jones

      Then you got time to go into the bedroom and have sex you little devil you

  • kangax

    Beef or turkey jerky (preferrable antibiotic and nitrite -free) is a great snack as well. Pure protein, almost no fat, or sugar.

    Also, cheese (like mozzarella sticks).

  • http://homeremediesmd.com Home Remedies MD

    I love fruit because it is very easy to access and you don’t have to cook it before you eat it.

  • Lisa

    At the risk of sounding like the slap chop guy, I have to say: I love nuts. They’re great in salads with some raisins and salsa.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Susan-See/100003807008694 Susan See

      Nuts are my downfall. I try to stay away from the loose nuts but I eat nut butters in small amounts and sprinkle sesame seeds on almost anything.

      • http://profiles.google.com/patriot9878 joe jones

        eat sunflower seeds, pumkin seeds. But peanuts and casheews if you can’t eat a few eat none.

  • Jim Cooper

    Agreed, except that bagged salad greens taste terrible. They are stale and tough most of the time. Better to just pick up some lettuce, and lots cheaper, too.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Susan-See/100003807008694 Susan See

      There is a chemical in the bag material to help the food to stay “fresh”. I hate the smell of it. I recently got some chopped kale in a bag and it smelled awful. On the other hand, if you can’t get fresh where you live, there’s no choice. I rinse the contents before eating it.

  • Dina Rose

    You can also make steal cut oats by putting the oats and boiling water in a thermos before you go to bed.  They’ll be ready (and sometimes even still a little warm) when you get up in the morning.

    Real food… conveniently.  I love it.

  • http://www.facebook.com/kenleebow Ken Leebow

    Here are two amazing convenient food/recipes that are so easy to make and taste great … They can be a meal or a snack … These are staples in my refrigerator … enjoy …

    Quinoa recipe …
    http://bit.ly/mX1MRB
    Edamame recipe …http://bit.ly/lxEtJo

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Susan-See/100003807008694 Susan See

      Thanks for the links. I like edamame but I never know what to do with it. I don’t rinse the quinoa. For some reason I like the bitter flavor.

  • http://www.facebook.com/cactuswren Susan Cactuswren

    Today, August 3rd, is (in the US) National Grab Some Nuts Day.  I *could* not make this up.

  • http://www.collegiatefitness.com Bobby

    Oatmeallllll. I used to hate it but not it’s a staple food for me in the morning, especially when I’m going to be stuck in class for a few hours. Convenient and incredibly filling…the perfect combo.

    Great post!

    • http://www.collegiatefitness.com Bobby

      now*, woops

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2EQIUHCOVYGXRVO76AJBGNQEUI Charles Roland

    Foods rich in vitamins helps in reducing the problem of high blood pressure, diabetes and other high cholesterol’s problems. Almond is rich in vitamins and helps in preventing most of the diseases. homeremediesfider suggest to take 8 glass of water per day for reducing cholesterol in the body.
    Home Remedies for Cholesterol

  • http://dubturbobeatmakerx.com matthewhoggard9588

    Awesome blog post by Sharon Palmer!! The information you allocated here about top
    10 healthy “Convenience” foods is really healthy. I read the blog
    post carefully and gather vital info, which will be good for me. Nice put!!
    Keep it up.

  • kacat

    What about the risk of BPA exposure in canned foods?

    • http://profiles.google.com/patriot9878 joe jones

      You can’t make processed food safe for the mases. You can jar stuff like nuts and dried fruit,but meat and veggies and fruit is not so easy.

  • Joannaschlosser

    I enjoyed all of these suggestions with the exception of using a microwave to heat foods and the canned tomatoes. The tomatoes absorb toxic chemicals from the lining in aluminum cans, just found that out recently. Quick fix: buying canned tomatoes in glass jars.

    • Be

      Or can your own.

    • http://www.facebook.com/judy.sakai Judy Sakai

      I have not been able to find tomatoes in jars! :(

      • http://profiles.google.com/patriot9878 joe jones

        probably can’t. So can your own. It is so easy. We canned 200 jars the other day in 3 hours.

        • http://www.facebook.com/people/Kathryn-Berg-Edwards/100000418857868 Kathryn Berg Edwards

          can you tell me how to can? I’ve never done any canning at all.

      • http://profiles.google.com/patriot9878 joe jones

        There you go find someone who will start a canning company using jars.

    • http://profiles.google.com/patriot9878 joe jones

      They should only use glass for everything. Cans can’t be recycled like glass. plus you can reuse glass jars. We are learning everything, but it will be too late, because inside of a year you got martial law and then you eat what they say.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Kathryn-Berg-Edwards/100000418857868 Kathryn Berg Edwards

        They used to use glass for almost everything; showing my age;. I’m wondering why they don’t start doing that again with all the dangers in the other methods.
        Where I live they don’t even recycle glass. I think they are afraid of breakage plus people don’t know how to recycle so many things and they go flying out of the trucks all over the place especially plastic. the tin cans are heavier,

  • Alison

    Homemade pancakes packed with whole grain flour, veg & fruit! Perfect for a quick snack. Just made sweet potato-apple pancakes with whole grain flour and ground flax!

  • Cindy Scott Day

    Hummus. (Try it over a baked potato sometime.)

  • Leticia

    string cheese

  • snowball

    Really??? People don’t already know this basic stuff? Was this article written for and by complete idiots?? Btw, I cook 99.9% of the time and EVERYTHING I make is fast, nutritious and HEALTHY. I am a vegan who doesn’t eat flour foods (breads, pasta, crackers etc.) and only eat cooked/raw veggies and non-animal derived protein. Everything tastes gourmet and takes under 10 min. Now THAT’S something to read about. Someone needs to hire more thoughtful writers with more powerful, informative material.

    • http://www.facebook.com/alyce.herrera.1 Alyce Herrera

      there is a lot of crap out there so either choose to avoid it or step right square into it’s your choice.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Susan-See/100003807008694 Susan See

      You are assuming that a 15-year old knows all this stuff. As they mature it’s new to them if their families don’t have this awareness. There is a new audience every time this kind of information is put out there. For some unknown reason you seem to think that people are frozen in time age-wise. Kind of funny. I like a vegan diet myself. Have you ever been to Ithaca, New York? There is a great vegan restaurant there called Moosewood.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Dafydd-Roberts/100002481894783 Dafydd Roberts

    radiation oven

  • Foxwell

    mashed a banana add 2 eggs, mix, heat oil in pan , spoon batter. banana pancakes without the carbs. just protein and potassium! drizzle with honey and a little cinnamon. Bonus kids love them!

    • Mya

      Great simple recipe. Thx for sharing!

    • http://www.facebook.com/alyce.herrera.1 Alyce Herrera

      I have chickens so any new egg fun is great

    • Luv2skixc

      that sounds really good, easy and healthy, i can’t wait to try that, thanks

  • Mya

    Canned tomatoes are so bad for you. The acid from the tomatoes eats away at the cans lining which causes it to leach extremely high levels of BPA into the tomatoes.
    –Google BPA —

    • Mya

      I see that’s was mentioned already. Glad to see more people aware of the chemicals allowed into our foods. The culmination of all of them are killing us and this precious planet. Go vegan, save the world!

  • Dawn

    Toast with Adams crunchy peanut butter and banana. Excellent with coffee and much healthier than a pastry!

  • Lili

    Well, if you really want to go healthy, you should both re-think using a microwave and buying fruit sprayed with pesticides… just saying!

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Susan-See/100003807008694 Susan See

      I know. I spray and wash every fruit and vegetable with cleaner before I eat it. The microwave is harder to give up.

      • http://profiles.google.com/patriot9878 joe jones

        The microwave you should not give up, because when you microwave you destroy moist of the nutrition and so you eat more and are able to enjoy more food. I mean microwave 6 hot pockets and you get 10% of your daily intake of something

  • Izzie Kay

    With whole grains, including oatmeal, I’m only a little worried about all the antinutrients (e.g. phytic acid) in them that hinder mineral absorption. Any insights or experiences?

  • http://www.facebook.com/LadyDacia Dacia Alyse

    Canned tomatoes and beans leach the highest amount of BPA (and endocrine disruptor) into the food. Those items are a huge health no no and should be avoided at all cost. Try eden organic. They seem to be the only company who cares about how they can their food, but you wont find any canned beans for $1.00.

  • http://www.facebook.com/alyce.herrera.1 Alyce Herrera

    I do oatmeal in a mason jar on my way to school. fill 1/3 with oatmeal then add some dried fruit or fresh some nuts and honey/brown sugar/agave nectar then fill (leaving room for expansion) with hot water. Byt he time I got to class It would be ready to eat. I used to eat it half way then after my class I would fill it up with some milk or even better almond or hemp milk (super easy to make if you have a blender) then I would drink the rest on my way to my next class. That would hold me till early afternoon for my lunch break. I even got my class mates into it.
    P.S. Reuse an old sock or mitten for around the jar to keep your hand from getting burned.

    • Marisa Gallegos

      happy you shared your routine will surely try this on for size

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Susan-See/100003807008694 Susan See

    Actually, frozen fruits and vegetables , unless you buy them locally, have more nutrients. They are frozen on the spot, unlike “fresh” which have to be transported and can lose nutrients in the process.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Susan-See/100003807008694 Susan See

    Easy any time of day. one cup full-fat yogurt (I don’t eat much fat so for my health I eat full-fat, plus it tastes better) Oh and recent studies show that low-fat diets reduce your metabolism and low carbs promote inflamation. http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/TIP04569/Best-Way-to-Keep-Weight-Off.html. Anyway, I put 1/2 cup of plain uncooked oatmeal into the yogurt, and either a cut up nectarine or in the winter some frozen raspberries. I add natural sweetener if in the mood. I don’t use honey because it’s all devoid of any nutrients unless you can buy it locally. The part I like is that the oatmeal is chewy after it sits a minute. I sometimes use cooked oatmeal too. http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/11/tests-show-most-store-honey-isnt-honey/#.UF9BrK7k2So

  • http://www.facebook.com/qmpash Herbert Kaufman

    Personally, I prefer bacon and eggs!

  • Joel

    Forget the microwave – is steaming that hard? Microwaved frozen vegetables – might as well eat the bag, too.

  • http://profiles.google.com/patriot9878 joe jones

    You want to eat good food on the run. Get sardines, sunflower seeds or some spinach. Pisstachios, pumpkin seeds, but leave the processed stuff alone. It has too much salt and fat and who knows what. But patronize the Dollar General stores and leave WalMart alone. If you keep going to Walmart before long the stores will start covering 8 football fields and the other stores close and then Walmart raises prices.

  • http://profiles.google.com/patriot9878 joe jones

    If you want to eat cheap buy a big bag od regular grits and cream of wheat not instant. You can eat for 25 cents a bowl and leave the damn bacon alone. Then if you must buy meat wholesale like 100 whole chickens or 200 pounds of fish and quit buying cart fulls each week. I would like to stand outside Walmart and call the fat bastards with all the pizzas, cheese, hot dogs and hot pockets fat bastards and maybe they’ll leave

  • http://profiles.google.com/patriot9878 joe jones

    You can also save time and money if you buy cans of fruit and veggies in bulk.

  • http://profiles.google.com/patriot9878 joe jones

    Here’s the problem many don’t think abnout. It’s not always what you eat. You eat and are full, but if you drink juices, sodas a lot that might be your problem.

  • http://profiles.google.com/patriot9878 joe jones

    Also it’s not what you eat, but how you prepare. Bake potato good, but deep fried and you should be shot. Fish or chicken sandwich good, but you put sauce on it you dumbass

  • http://profiles.google.com/patriot9878 joe jones

    I bet you use a slow cooker a lot too.