Is cooking really not your thing? Can’t tell a saucepan from a frying pan? Does your refrigerator hold an old bottle of ketchup and maybe something furry on the bottom shelf that resembles the cat you haven't seen in a week? Or, maybe you’re just pressed for time. Never fear, the frozen food case of your grocery store holds the answers to your hurry-up life, that is if you choose wisely. Nutritionist Elizabeth Somer, author of "The Origin Diet," was invited to appear on "Today," to offer some tips for healthy eating from the freezer case. Here she shares some simple guidelines:

You say freezer food is OK?
There’s something to be said for eating from the freezer case. America’s bulging waistlines are partially a result of expanding portions. You can’t beat frozen meals for helping you control those portions. Heating up a single tray of food can simply remove any temptation to go back to the stove for more. Of course, you also can eat some of the grocery store’s greasiest and most artery-clogging items, too. It’s a matter of following a few simple guidelines.

What are those guidelines?
You want to look for foods that are low in fat, especially saturated and trans fat, supply some fiber (at least two to three grams per serving), and don't pack a huge calorie punch. You can’t use cut off points for frozen items, especially entrees, like “no more than five grams of fat.” The first guideline is to look for foods that are no more than 30 percent fat calories, which means no more than three grams of fat for every 100 calories.

Why can’t you just look for foods that have a limit on fat, sugar or salt?
You don’t want to reward companies that kept the fat grams low by serving up tiny portions. A label might say, “Only 210 calories,” but is that really a meal? A one-cup fruited yogurt has 250 calories and we don’t call that a meal. It’s a snack. True, almost seven out of every 10 Americans is battling a weight problem, but even diets shouldn’t drop below 1200 calories a day and if people ate a third of their calories at each meal, that means at least 400 calories. Stick to a 200-calorie entree and you’re likely to say, “Hey that meal was so healthy, I can have a little treat now, like that half gallon of ice cream in the freezer.” What you want is a meal that will fill you up with healthy food without filling you out with too many calories.

Your second guideline is to choose foods low in saturated and trans fats.
Yes. Look for items that have less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat. That means about one gram of saturated fat or less for every 100 calories. An entree that contains 250 calories, for example, should have no more than 2.8 grams of saturated fat.

What about sodium?
My third guideline is to limit sodium. Whether you have high blood pressure or not, everyone would benefit by cutting back on their sodium intake. Many frozen foods, particularly the breakfast and dinner entrees, are sodium land mines, supplying up to half or more of your entire day’s allotment for sodium, which is 2400 milligrams. Look for items that contain no more than 200 milligrams of sodium for every 100 calories. For example, a slice of pizza that supplies 300 calories should contain more than 600 milligrams sodium.

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