It's December, which means it's time to print out my kids' monthly school lunch menu. I'd rather never even look at the thing, because I'm not so sure the food that comes out of elementary cafeteria is very healthy. But my kindergarten guy loves to buy lunch so each week, we pour over our print-out and decide which days he can leave the Spiderman lunch box at home.

The funny thing about our not-so-healthy menu is that it always comes printed with some pretty good nutritional tips, which makes me think the food service folks are doing something right -- yet, this Wednesday's Country Fried Steak and next Monday's Chicken Nuggets and Tator Tots just don't scream health to me. Still, the kitchen crew is trying. Here's what they offer in the way of holiday health tips this month.

• You can substitute brown sugar for white sugar and halve the amount in your recipes.
• Start your dinner with a salad. You'll eat less during dinner.
• Instead of thick, fatty frosting on cakes, use confectioner's sugar instead.
• Try small samples of everything so you don't feel deprived. Key words here: small samples.

Good tips, right? Maybe one day, the meals follow suit.