Interesting …. I had a similar thought process for an air fryer. When I first got it, it was true: I rationalized that I got chicken strips rather than nuggets so they were less processed. However over time I started to use it better. While I still cook frozen fries occasionally, most of the time I use it for actual chicken

Air fryer is convenient for roasted or hasselback potatoes

I also got tired of manufactured marinara, so making pasta is usually in a lemon butter garlic or pesto sauce, and I’ll cut chicken into strips, marinate, and throw in the air fryer