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.

Love them or not, you can't argue that Jon and Kate Gosselin of Jon and Kate Plus 8 have captured the nation's attention. Not only are they parents of two sets of multiples -- twins Mady and Cara, plus sextuplets Alexis, Hannah, Leah, Aaden, Collin, and Joel -- but they also manage to feed their kids a steady diet of nutritious, organic, homemade foods. That's no easy task.

Kate recently shared some of her tips with LilSugar, including her philosophy that, if you feed it (and don't offer any other options), eventually they will eat it. Aside from that, though, Kate has also teamed up with the Grains Foods Foundation to encourage people, but especially families, to return to the time-honored habit of brown-bagging it. "We've been brown-bagging for years," said Kate, "And I'm working with the Grains Foods Foundation to show other families how packing lunches can be an easy and fun way to save money and eat healthy."

With kids back in school, this is timely advice. At our school, the menu consists mainly of pizza, hot dogs, hamburgers, and chicken nuggets -- all for $2.00 a pop. When I pack my daughter's lunch, she eats things like sandwiches on whole wheat, fruit, raw veggies, hummus, and leftovers like salmon and spaghetti. That's a lot better variety at a significantly lower cost. And brown-bagging isn't only for kids. Adults can avoid fast food temptation at lunch time by packing themselves a nutritious lunch at home in the morning, and families can save money by packing a cooler when on the road.

The only thing I disagree with is Kate's statement that when she feeds her kids snacks, it's usually a grain. Grains are good, especially when they're whole grains, but kids need plenty of fruits and veggies and high-quality protein sources too. I'd pick apples and peanut butter over pretzels any day.

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When the weather is hot (and in many places, it certainly still is), a popsicle from the freezer can seem like a fabulous treat. However, they don't offer much in the way of nutrition, and they can pack a lot of sugar into just a few bites.

If you're a pickle lover, there's another option -- Bob's Pickle Pops, which can be eaten frozen or unfrozen. It's basically pickle juice in a pouch, and, if you love pickles, that probably sounds just fabulous. If you don't, I'm sure it sounds like the worst idea ever.

These Pickle Pops have been deemed by the USDA to not be a food of minimal nutritional value, which means they have been approved for school lunches. You can order 20 Pickle Pops for $19.95, and if you're so inclined, you can grab up a couple of bottles of Tex's Pickle Juice while you're at it.

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Every morning, I pack my son's lunch for school (or day camp during the summer). For a while, I bought him those coolers in fun shapes like soccer balls and so forth. But after he lost three or four of them, I gave up on the concept. I also tried using a strong plastic baggie and freezing a thin layer of water in it. I didn't care if those got lost, but my son certainly cared when the baggies got a hole and spilled thawed water all over the rest of his lunch.

The best solution I've found is using edible ice packs. Take a look at your child's lunch and see what could be frozen. The frozen foods will keep your child's lunch cold and, by lunchtime, they should be thawed and ready to eat. Some perfect items for freezing include:

• Yogurt tubes
• Cans of fruit (individual serving sizes)
• Pudding cups
• Grapes
  
• Juice box
• Homemade cookies or muffins.
  

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Greasy pizza, limp green beans, mini cartons of milk that had lingered questionably long in the refrigerated cart... I don't remember school lunches being anything to rave about. I send my son to school with a packed lunch so I can be sure what my son is putting in his mouth. But honestly, the school lunch program in my community is very inexpensive. So much so, that I'm possibly spending more on the packed lunches. And, for families that qualify, there is a reduced cost breakfast and lunch program at the school.

According to this article, many students opt to not eat anything than to take a reduced cost meal. Having to stand in line and state that you need a reduced cost lunch causes embarrassment that some kids don't want to deal with. In some school districts, the reduced cost lunches even come off of a different menu. If schools offer a la carte items -- snacks, fruits, and other individual options -- students who are on the federally subsidized program are automatically differentiated. Unless they have their own cash, they're not eligible for any a la carte items.

Some schools are introducing different lines and/or different paying methods (lunch cards, etc) that will help minimize or eliminate the worry of embarrassment for kids on the reduced fee lunch program.

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It's the stoplight of the nutrition world. Schools in Charlottesville, Virginia are implementing a color-coded system designed to help kids quickly know if a food is a healthy choice or not. The system, which codes foods with red, yellow, or green colors, was originally implemented by the University of Virginia Medical Center. The system, called "Signals for Health" ranks the foods into the three color categories based on the food's calorie, fat, and sodium content.

I'm 100% behind any program that helps kids eat more healthfully. Hopefully Signals for Health will take away some of the guesswork, and help steer kids toward the green light choices.

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The Massachusetts based Farm to School program encourages the use of locally grown foods in school cafeterias. Rather than the limp french fries and greasy pizza that was served back in my school days, these kids have fresh, tasty, and nutritious options. In addition to the nutritional perks, the program also boosts the local economy. To date, over 70 Massachusetts school districts are receiving goods from more than 40 local farms. With better options on their cafeteria food line, kids are learning the importance of healthy eating. What's more, they're learning the benefits of buying food locally.

I live in a rural community and it's always sad to see parcels of farmer's fields being sold off for residential or commercial use. I know I would like to see a program like this implemented in my son's school. Anything that encourages good eating habits gets an A in my book -- add the benefits of supporting the local economy and being friendlier to the environment and it's just earned an A+.

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