This month, as part of National Nutrition Month, I’m encouraging all of my readers, clients and friends to make clean eating a priority for your family. I swear, it doesn’t have to take that long, nutritious food can taste good, and your kids will eat it…

Recently, we had our nephews stay with us for a few days. Between long day trips to Legoland, I managed to plan some healthy meals and snacks, and had the boys help out. As it turns out, when kids have a chance to help choose and prepare foods, they are much more likely to try new things. Especially if they’re made to feel super important in the process:

Here, my nephew is helping me to make some homemade soup. Even while I was busy chopping veggies, I could trust his ability to pull off the cilantro leaves and he got to learn about what the heck cilantro is. You know, instead of the usual “I don’t like that green stuff” the second he sees it on his plate.

We also had some fun making funny faces out of our snacks. What an awesome way to get your kids to like rice cakes, right? And add some healthy protein and fruit into the mix.

At the end of the weekend, my youngest nephew was too tired to join me on my early morning shopping trip (which made for a much easier errand, let’s be honest). So, if taking your kids to the grocery store is too stressful or just not possible with your schedule, have them pick out one healthy food to try each week before you go, and find some way to incorporate that food into a weekly meal. Or, if you’re feeling brave, take them to the store and spend lots of time in the produce section. Have them pick out one new fruit or vegetable to try that week (and stay out of the cookie and cereal aisles!).

For more ideas about healthy kid’s meals, here’s a great resource I’ve recently stumbled upon:

http://www.superhealthykids.com/recipe-category/snacks/page//2

Make National Nutrition Month the kickoff to permanent, healthy family habits…and remember, have some fun along the way!