7 convenience foods to keep out of your kitchen

When you are busy, it’s all too easy to reach for some convenience foods at the supermarket. But if you’re on the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge, or you just want to be as healthy as you possibly can, these seven items are best left on the supermarket shelf.

1. Pasta sauce  

Some commercial pasta sauces contain almost 10 teaspoons of sugar per jar! Not ideal for a healthy family meal.  

Try this instead: You can make your own Healthy Carbonara Pasta quite easily at home and the whole family will love it.

2. Sweet cereal

 Many commercial cereals are sugary and low in nutrients. Make your own version that’s not only better for you, but tastes great too.

Try this instead: A healthy homemade breakfast like this Choc Oat Granola or the Gluten Free Granola from the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge is sure to be a hit with youngsters too.

3. Canned fruit

Make sure you select fruit that is canned in natural juice, rather than syrup. Fruit canned in syrup can contain up to 40% sugar!

Use fresh or frozen fruit when possible, especially when it comes to adding fruit to your breakfast, yoghurt, or in baking.

Try this: Raspberry Muffin recipe, perfect for using frozen berries.

4. Tomato sauce

Most kids love squeezing tomato sauce on their dinner, but when it’s made from 25% sugar it’s best to keep its use in check.

Try to limit the use of sauce, and try to find other things to dip into such as hummus, pesto or mustard mixed with Greek yoghurt.

Try this instead: A delicious topping perfect for meat is this homemade pesto.

5. Flavoured yogurt

Kids love yogurt and those little tubs or pouches are super easy for the lunchbox (or for yourself). But once again sugar is a key ingredient in these, and the diet yogurts are no better.

Some so called ‘light’ yogurts have close to 7 teaspoons of sugar in one 200g tub.

Try this instead: You can buy some plain creamy Greek yogurt instead and add a bit of honey, berries, granola or cinnamon.

6. Stirfry sauce

Many pantries contain a jar or two of stirfry sauce, but these are not ideal for your healthy eating plan. For instance some jars of  Sweet and Sour Simmer Sauce can have up to 25 teaspoons of sugar!

In our 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge we give you the tools for making your own simple and healthy sauces from scratch using fresh ingredients.

Try this instead: Chicken Cashew and Broccoli Stirfry

7. Salad dressing

Yes, there’s even sugar and vegetable oils in what you thought was your ‘healthy’ salad dressing. But the good news is it is super easy to make your own instead and it will pack so much more flavour into your salad.

Try this instead: try the Apple, Cheese and Walnut Salad from the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge which gives you directions for making a simple dressing of cider vinegar, lemon, salt and pepper, and a touch of mustard.