Nutrition Nuggets February

Stocking Your Pantry

Want your children to eat healthier meals and snacks? Keeping the right foods and ingredients on hand is half the battle. Try these suggestions:

• Consult friends, online sites, or cookbooks for ideas on what to stock. Then, make your own list on a computer or smartphone or in a notebook. hint: Include plenty of healthy snacks like rice cakes, baked crackers, and whole-grain cereal bars.

• try to keep the healthiest foods at your children's eye level in the pantry and refrigerator. if they see the unsalted sunflower seeds or applesauce cups first, they'll be more likely to eat those than the chips they can't reach on the top shelf.

• Rotate what you buy so your youngsters can try new foods. You can make different kinds of whole grains for dinner, for example, if you have brown rice, quinoa, and whole-wheat couscous in the pantry.

Note: Explain that some foods have to be used by a certain date. Then, when you're putting away groceries, ask your children to help you put the newer items in ten back and the ones with the oldest dates in the front so they get used first.