While we may aspire to cook meals from scratch, time limitations often get in the way, especially during the busy holiday season. Wisely chosen convenience ingredients can fit into a healthy eating plan.

Some boxed, frozen and canned foods contain a lot of salt or sodium. When choosing a product, check the amount of sodium on the nutrition facts label to see if it fits into your salt budget. The dietary guidelines for Americans recommend less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day. Examples of convenience foods rich in nutrition and low in sodium are frozen fruits and vegetables without a sauce, freshly cut fruits and vegetables, hummus, unsalted nuts, minimally processed nut butters, and canned vegetables and beans that have been rinsed. However, canned soup may contain over 600 milligrams sodium and some types of boxed macaroni and cheese may have over 900 milligrams sodium per serving.