Have we reached peak laziness?
When did it become so difficult to take something out of its packaging, chop it, wash it or, heaven forbid, butter it?!
According to research by the BBC, sales of pre-peeled potatoes went up 40% from 2010 to 2011 and is continuing to grow year on year, whilst diced onions were up 14% and prepared vegetables were up 17%!
I, for one, am not a fan of lazy foods in the slightest.
Not only do they strip the heart and soul from the food by throwing in lashings of chemicals to preserve it/thicken it/make it stay pretty over time, but there is no enjoyment to be had during consumption any more.
We’re cramming morsels down our faces as we rush off to the next meeting, we’re no longer preparing food because our schedule doesn’t allow for it, so we don’t think of food as sustenance or important nourishment any more, all it is is another tick on the To Do list.
The unavoidable outcome of this is that these types of busy on-the-move people are unaware that this is why they’re always tired/stressed out/hungry for more… because what they’re eating, whilst colourful, is vacuous, tasteless and diminishes wellbeing at a horrific rate.
Here are the top 7 worst convenience foods you can find in stores, which will prove just how much we hate our bodies/using cutlery! FYI – This list is designed to showcase the worst of the worst… do NOT buy these if you care about good food!
Pre-buttered malt loaf
I was shocked and disgusted when I saw this. PRE-BUTTERED?! Has the world gone mad? Next, Soreen will be sending a drone to open the ever-so-hard-to-open plastic wrapping too!
Pre-cooked jacket potato
Probably one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen, it’s almost laughable that a 5 minute microwaveable potato is considered one of the most revolutionary things to happen in the 2000s.
Oh, and there is How To Cook instructions on their site in case you really were struggling to make sense of your starchy nemesis.
Pre-cut avocado
When M&S launched this in April there was considerable backlash concerning the sheer laziness of the product. Not only is it lazy, avocados are inherently good at a) telling you they’re ripe (the knobbly bit falls off), and b) keeping the flesh firm with its rough outer shell. By taking the flesh out, putting it in a pot, and preserving it with parsley no less, you’ll get a much mushier and mangey avocado experience.
Pre-mashed mashed potato
This has been around for years, and it is one of my biggest bug bears. Homemade mashed potato is delicious, fluffy, filling and creamy. Pre-mashed mashed potato comes packed with heavy cream, lumps of butter and way too much salt, making it super unhealthy, and making you wish you’d just had the patience to boil a few potatoes for half an hour instead. Ruin your Sunday dinner with this delight today!
Crustless bread
This is obviously one for the kids, but really – does this need to be a thing? Assuming the parents opened the packaging themselves (although I’m quite certain they’d deem this too difficult a task), they’re also probably not far away from a knife which, yes would you believe it, CUTS CRUSTS OFF MANUALLY. Unless you live in a cave and the closest thing to a knife you have is the sharp end of an elephant’s tusk, then you really have no excuse.
Grated cheese
So so commonly used, grated cheese is a prime example of convenience food becoming normalised. To most, it’s far easier to whap out of a bag of grated cheese and sprinkle over your cottage pie, but just remember that by not bothering to grate a block of cheese yourself, you’re also eating heaps of potato starch into your diet (to stop the cheese from caking in the bag). Potato starch is a delicious combination of empty calories, carbs, and sugars. Yum!
Microwave sausages
Sausages are not a food you eat if you’re trying to be healthy, but if you have kids who demand them, serving up microwave sausages is a massive sin that won’t help their health and wellbeing at all. That’s because the guys at Walls pack the ‘succulent’ sausages out with loads of water, rusk and yummy potato starch, leaving only 60% for actual pork meat. A typical good sausages needs at least 80% pork for it to give you the good bits such as protein without making you starve later on.
And here are some of the foods you should DEFINITELY be making yourself at home…
Hummus
Literally chickpeas, water and lemon juice. Throw in a bit of tahini if you fancy it, but you don’t have to if you don’t want the extra fat. Tahini-free hummus recipes are abundant, so don’t fret. Homemade hummus is cheap as chips, with half of the fat of packaged hummus.
Banana bread
Full of butter and sugar, you’re far better off making your own. Not only will it be tonnes healthier (you can add in oats, nuts, seeds, whatever you like) it will also taste so much fresher! See this healthy banana loaf recipe.
Salsa
Literally just chopped tomatoes and spices, you can easily whip up a homemade salsa in seconds from stock items you’ll definitely have in the pantry. Tastes so much better, and isn’t heaping with that nasty vinaigrette supermarkets like to plough their salsas with.
Smoothies
I’m sure this is common sense, but you’ll get so much more goodness from homemade smoothies. You can add in the bits and pieces you like the most and make and eat within seconds. If you struggle with IBS or have digestive issues, there are a list of Low FODMAP smoothies you can whip up super easily too.
Soup
Yes, I know canned soup is cheap, but with the sheer amount of salt in each can your palate will not thank you. Make your own with stock, fresh meat and vegetables and enjoy a whole new soup experience.
My Wellbeing Journal 