When you’re facing a car full of grumbling tummies, a stop at the drive-through for cheeseburgers and fries is the usual fix—but certainly not the best fix. In our high-tempo society, the need for food on the fly isn’t going to go away. But neither are those extra pounds if you don’t make better choices for your mobile meals.

To avoid fast-food temptations, Althea Zanecosky, MS, RD, keeps an 8×12-inch insulated cooler tucked in her car’s back seat.

“It’s like having a mini-kitchen in your car,” says Zanecosky, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. “We pack food for every member of the family — bottled water, 16 oz bottles of chocolate milk, juices, nuts, seeds, pretzels, yogurt, fruit, cereal, health bars.

“It saves time, money, and it saves fat and calories. It keeps us from eating mall food or hitting the drive-through for french fries.”

But food on the fly isn’t just about packing a few healthy choices for the road. With the right stuff in your fridge and pantry, you can assemble a healthy meal in about the time it takes you to get through the drive-through.

Convenience foods—anything frozen, canned, pre-cut, pre-washed, and pre-bagged—are good basics for healthy meals, says Lynn Fischer, author of Lowfat Cooking for Dummies and Quick & Healthy Cooking for Dummies. “Try any new product that comes out. Use everything to your advantage.

“Some vegetarian burgers are very good,” Fischer says. “But I don’t go for turkey burgers. Unless you have a butcher grind the meat especially for you, ground turkey often contains a lot of fat.”

Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

Little Dippers: Set out a “party tray” of vegetables and fruits for your family, Fischer suggests. Mix it up with interesting, lower-fat dips — even melted chocolate and strawberries once in a while for dessert.

Freezer-to-Table Main Dish: “For a dinner that’s ready in seven or eight minutes, start with a frozen healthy meal like Healthy Choice or Lean Cuisine,” Fischer says. “They don’t give you a lot of meat, which is good.” If you use a frozen-in-the-bag vegetable dinner, don’t add much meat; keep it the size of your palm, she adds. “Some huge chicken breasts are enough for two servings.”

Speedy Side Dishes: Keep frozen, canned, or fresh veggies on hand to round out a healthy meal. “A lot of frozen vegetables are frozen fresh, right on the spot, so they still have all the nutrients,” Fischer says. “Canned vegetables are also good. And you need some fresh vegetables, like celery, carrots, and tomatoes and fresh fruits like oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit, and grapes.”

By making the right choices in advance, getting hungry when you don’t have time to be hungry need not result in meal choices that’ll make you wish you hadn’t been hungry the next time you step on the scale.

Now that the summer is in full swing, it’s a perfect time to add low fat, nutritious, great-tasting fruits and vegetables to your diet. You can find them in your local supermarkets, farms and roadside stands, or even in your backyard or a window box, if you choose to plant your own. And, as the season progresses, you’ll have plenty of options to choose from.

First, a quick note on growing your own vegetables and fruits. It doesn’t mean that you’ll have to spend hours planting, watering, and weeding, or that even you need a backyard. A couple of tomato or other vegetable plants in a pot on your patio or in a window box can give you weeks of fresh veggies to add to your meals. And, they require little more work than regular watering and plenty of sun. There’s a wealth of information on the Web about growing vegetables and fruits in small spaces.

No matter how you get them, fresh summer fruits and vegetable can bring delicious, healthy options to your meals and snacks. Reach for a piece of fruit to satisfy that sweet tooth, or add a side of fresh vegetables to your regular meals. Here are a few suggestions:

• Bite-sized pieces of watermelon or cantaloupe stored in a container in the refrigerator stay fresh and provide a quick, easy snack.
• Cut up a fresh tomato and cucumber and add your favorite low-fat salad dressing or some low-fat or nonfat plain yogurt for a tasty salad.
• Start with some fresh string beans or yellow beans, add water, pop in the microwave for 2 or 3 minutes, then add a teaspoon of margarine or butter when done for a delicious side for your meal. (You can do the same with yellow squash or zucchini).
• Combine fresh peaches, strawberries, cherries, and raspberries for a great fruit salad.

Those are just some suggestions, and I hope you’ll come back to visit and share some of your recipes and ideas.

Remember, if you are on a special diet because of an ongoing health condition, be sure to check with your physician to find out if there are any restrictions on the amount or type of vegetables or fruits you can eat.