This year I've figured something out. Raising kids who eat healthy, whole foods seems to be half recipes, half behavior. While I've been focused on the healthy recipes for the last couple of years, I've also read tons of great books, and my new favorite piece of advice comes from, It's Not About the Broccoli. When trying new things, let kids be critics, says author Dina Rose, Ph. D. So when I made a new dish with a new ingredient, sugar snap peas, I told my 4 and 2-year-olds that I wanted their opinions. Thumbs-up, thumbs in the middle or thumbs down — and if it's either of the latter options, that's OK because we'll try this dish again another time and maybe they'll like it better.

Call me an amateur psychologist, but releasing the pressure and allowing them to like or not like a new food seemed to yield just the results I was looking for. Not only did they give this one a thumbs-up, they stood up on their booster seats to stretch their arms even higher in the air — like two tiny Statues of Liberty at my kitchen table. That's what I like to see.

Get the recipe for Ginger Pork Over Pasta with Sugar Snap Peas at Foodlets.com.