Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012

Grocery shopping with the kids: Does that statement bring visions of stress, whining and tossing random things into the cart to appease your children?

Well, it brings those thought to my mind, too. However, it does not have to be that way. In fact, now that my kids are a little older, I can get them to help me at the store and it is helping me to get them involved in the whole eating process a little better.

Here are a few suggestions to help you also begin getting your children involved at the store:

-If your kids are younger, have them pick one new fruit or vegetable to try OR look for mini-fruits and vegetables to try (mini-bananas, cucumbers, and so on).

-If your kids are older, this is a great time to educate them on label reading or how to pick out the best produce.

For example, how to pick out the best cantaloupe:

• Pick it up and look at it, evaluate it with your senses -- it should be heavy for size (this indicates it is juicy).
  
• The color should be nice and creamy beige -- not green, which indicates the fruit is under ripe.
  
• Check the stem end of the cantaloupe. NO stem should be on the cantaloupe, the stem end should be slightly indented, indicating that the fruit easily came away from the vine when it was picked.
  
• The netting should be thick, coarse and pretty well defined.
  
• The blossom end should yield just a bit when pressed.

These are only a couple ideas to get you started. Hopefully, they will help you shop well and eat well!

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