Last time I gave you some grocery shopping tips aimed to help you avoid impulse purchases of not-so-healthy items. Good nutrition starts in the grocery store; by stocking your refrigerator and shelves with a variety of wholesome foods, you will be more likely to eat healthier meals.

In this day and age, many of us have hectic schedules balancing career and family while still trying to live an active healthy lifestyle. To start with, you need to have easy-to-prepare foods on hand to help you avoid the temptation of eating out or ordering in. Following are some staple foods to keep on hand as well as some tips for making meal preparation a little easier: Keep pasta and rice on hand. Cook large batches and keep in the refrigerator; both can be quickly reheated by submerging in a pot of boiling water for a minute.

Potatoes can be baked and refrigerated and then reheated in the microwave.

Keep whole grain bread, bagels, English muffins, pita, tortilla and crackers on hand to build quick meals with.

Hot and cold cereals can make a healthy, low-fat nontraditional dinner when time is limited.

It is very important to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables every day, but they do not all have to be fresh. Frozen fruits and vegetables are picked and frozen shortly thereafter, so they maintain most (if not all) of their nutrients. So to save time on cleaning and chopping, add a bag of frozen mixed vegetables to your spaghetti sauce or stir-fry.

Tomato juice, vegetable juice, and 100% natural fruit juices are also a good way to get your 3 to 5 servings of vegetable and your 2 to 4 servings of fruit. Be careful not to substitute juice for water, however, as it does contain calories.

Spaghetti sauce is a good item to have on hand. Not only can it be used for a quick pasta dinner, but you can also make pizzas with an English muffin or pita bread topped with spaghetti sauce and some low-fat cheese for a quick and easy meal.

Canned tuna, salmon, sardines, clams, or chicken are definitely good staples to keep on hand. Tuna can be used in a sandwich, on crackers or over a salad, and is a great source of protein. Or maybe sardines on toast is your thing.

Baked beans and vegetarian refried beans are good sources of non-meat protein to keep on hand; they can be put on a reheated baked potato, or put inside a tortilla with some low-fat cheese or just poured over toast.

Part-skim mozzarella cheese, low-fat cheeses, yogurt and skim milk are good dairy products to have on hand.

Other good staples include: soups, eggs, grated Parmesan, bananas, apples, oranges, carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, extra-lean hamburger, ground turkey and pretzels.

So when you are planning your shopping list, give some thought to quick meals that you can prepare and include those items on your list. You do not have to eat a traditional meal to have a healthy and nutritious dinner.