"TV dinners, they're going to my head/ TV dinners, my skin is turning red/20-year-old turkey in a 30-year-old tin/I can't wait until tomorrow and thaw one out again."

In 1981, when ZZ Top sang about their love-hate for this EZ food, they couldn't have predicted that 30-some years later, the TV dinner would have led Americans into a frozen-meal habit costing $9 billion annually.

Americans eat 31 percent more packaged and frozen food than fresh food. These microwave-meals-in-a-minute often deliver oversized portions, unhealthy fats, excess sodium and nutritionally anemic foods. So, when your family sits down for dinner, do you want to dish up a meal from a box, or make a quick, great-tasting, healthy dinner from almost-scratch? (Some shortcuts, like canned tomatoes, are smart and healthy.)

One popular frozen lasagna contains: corn syrup (a ticket to obesity and heart disease), dextrose and sugar (listed three times!), which increase your risk for dementia, depression and diabetes; and heavy whipping cream, which is loaded with make-you-age-faster saturated fat! Making your own ground-turkey lasagna with 100 percent whole-grain pasta and low-fat cheese boosts your nutrition immediately! You can find easy-to-make healthy recipes online. Bonus: Leftovers make a second meal inexpensive and easy!

Don't stop there. Many frozen breakfast foods smuggle in heart-damaging trans fats. Opt for whole-grain cereals, nonfat Greek yogurt and berries. Pack lunches, and use fruit and 1 ounce of dark chocolate for treats. And ditch sweetened beverages; they shorten your life by many years.