Many Americans continue to face time constraints due to heavy workloads, child care, commuting and other life obligations, sometimes making it difficult to think about where your next meal is coming from. Caring for children at night takes up time that could make preparing a home-cooked meal more difficult.

The most recent Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research report found that households with children consume 19 percent more fast food meals than those without. Furthermore, complicated work schedules and jobs requiring travel take a toll on meal preparation.

Although convenience foods are great for saving time, they often fall short in nutrition value and may be tough on the wallet. However, you don’t have to give up being healthy for convenience. Follow these tips below:

Breakfast. Repeat after me, “breakfast shouldn’t have to be dessert.” Popular breakfast items have increased in sugar content over the past few decades. Many yogurts and cereals contain as much sugar as a candy bar, and many muffins pack as much sugar and fat as some iced cupcakes. Though a breakfast sandwich or bagel packed with sodium and saturated fat may be a convenience, there are many other accessible foods to help you fuel for the day.

Do your body a favor by including protein and fiber in your breakfast which keeps you full and energized longer. Protein is the most filling nutrient, and unlike sugar, fiber is a carbohydrate that provides long-lasting energy.

For those busy mornings, consider a microwavable protein and veggie-packed scrambled egg kit from your local grocery store.

Yogurts, granola and oatmeal are great options, but watch out for the sugar content. Instead, opt for choices with six grams or less of added sugar. Frozen, fresh or canned fruit are great way to sweeten these breakfast choices.

Lunch. If you’re scrambling to come up with a healthy lunch, a quick trip to the grocery store can offer you some healthy ready-to-eat options that are less expensive than a drive-thru.

Look no further than the grocery store’s salad bar for a wide variety of salad toppings, proteins and dressings. Because salad bar prices are by weight, you can save money by finding your protein source in the grocery aisles, such as a rotisserie chicken, canned chick peas or black beans.

Personally, I’m a fan of stocking up on shelf-stable flavored tuna packets and frozen steamable veggie bags for those at-work emergencies. If your only option is the drive-thru, going for grilled instead of fried chicken, served with a fruit cup or the smallest option of fries can save you hundreds of calories.

To save an additional couple of hundred calories, skip the dip and cheese. Popular sides of ranch and honey mustard can add up to 150 calories alone.

Don’t be afraid to ask for the nutrition facts. Most fast food restaurants have this information readily available in the restaurant and online.

Snacks. Granola bars are masters of disguise and are often masked as healthy, some having the equivalent sugar content as a bag of candy. Adding to the watch list are many trail mixes, canned fruit cocktails, pre-made smoothies and protein bars.

On your next grocery run, stock up on hummus and veggie packs, pre-cut fruit and low-fat cheese sticks.

Dinner. Slow cookers are a life saver to many families on the go. There’s nothing like a warm flavor-packed meal. One of my favorite minimal-ingredient slow cooker recipes is simply chicken and your favorite salsa with optional onions and peppers.

Serve with a whole wheat tortilla, brown rice or by itself. Slow-cooked meals also freeze well in a bag, making them easy to take to work. Microwavable meals can be a little tricky. My best piece of advice is to look at the sodium and saturated fat content.

The American Heart Association recommends no more than 13 grams of saturated fat per day. Looking at the nutrition facts label, foods with 5 percent or less of sodium are considered low in sodium and foods with 20 percent or more are considered high in sodium.

Shanthi Appelö is a registered and licensed dietitian nutritionist at the Knox County Health Department. She obtained her master’s degree in public health nutrition from the University of Tennessee. She can be reached at shanthi.appelo@knoxcounty.org.

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