In case you didn’t know, March is National Nutrition Month. And, since I’ve proclaimed 2010 the year the 2 Kids household will improve the nutritional quality of the food we eat, I’m kind of excited about it. For this year’s theme , the American Dietetic Association has chosen to emphasize, ‘Nutrition from the Ground Up,’ reminding us all that improving our diets doesn’t have to be complicated, it’s just a matter of starting to focus on the basics, building a foundation of health.

To help celebrate this month and continue to build our own ‘foundation of health,’ we’ve decided to expand our vegetable horizons. Each Monday in March, I’ll be sharing Alex and Soph’s opinions on some veggie recipes I’ve dug-up from around the inter-webs (and a couple will be my own creations). March 1st will be a Broccoli-fest, followed by Peas, then Carrots, and closing out the month will be Green Beans. All of the recipes will be kid-cooking friendly too, so the whole family can get in on the preparation and eating of these veggie-ful creations.

If you’re interested in more information on National Nutrition Month, head on over the ADA’s website.

As I was checking my twitter feed today, I noticed that @CuriousChef had tweeted about a post by Kelly Davis from Oliciouslife.com. Kelly’s post, titled, “Teaching Kids to Clean Up Their Plate: Clean Eating for Kids,” shares some great ideas for getting kids to eat healthier, and also for getting them involved in the food decision making process.

Now, I’m not the best mother when it comes to limiting snacks at my house, but we do have some rules–my biggest rule is Balance. I always tell the kids that a person need to try to achieve some sort of balance to remain healthy. That goes for work and play, exercise and rest as well as healthy vs. snacky foods.

I also like to teach the kids to make healthy decisions by getting them involved in the whole nutrition process. We plan meals together, we grocery shop together and we cook together. We talk about the balance of the meal and why we need to eat certain foods to stay healthy. Because of this, Alex and Soph have the power of knowledge when it comes to eating.

They also enjoy the creativity that cooking their own food allows them. We have a great time coming up with new recipes and/or ways to serve our meals. It seems simple, but sometimes just presenting a food in a different way makes it taste oh-so-delicious

I do believe, however, that parental persistence is a necessity. Consistently encouraging kids to try foods they say they don’t like and insisting on a balance of healthy foods and snack foods helps reinforce your message. My kids, despite as involved as they are with our whole ‘food production’ process are still picky eaters. Alex likes this and not that and Sophie likes that and not this–sometimes I feel like a short order cook. Because of this, I continue my mantra, “how do you know you don’t like it if you don’t try it?” and will even bribe them if necessary.

I guess the point is, food and eating are a hugely important part of life. Teaching our kids about the importance of eating a balanced diet AND teaching them how to buy and cook food provides them with essential skills that will positively affect their lives. Plus, family meals allow kids and their parents time to chat and have fun together, and you can’t beat that.