We make a lot of New Year's resolutions around food. We vow to eat less sugar, less fat, and less salt. We promise ourselves we'll eat more veggies, whole grains, and fish and cut down on burgers and second helpings.

These are good first steps, but you can make other kinds of food resolutions, too, ones that benefit your whole family's health, not just your own. Try these FAMILY food resolutions:

Schedule family dinners. Studies show that gathering around the table for an evening meal helps kids get better grades, resist peer pressure to drink and smoke, and avoid eating disorders. Families are busy, I know, but aim for four nights a week. It will motivate you to prepare healthier meals and find time to talk to your kids.

Take charge. Make this the year you're in control, not your 3-year-old. When trying something new, a little struggle is OK. If your child spits out food, that's OK. What's not OK is eating not-so-nutritious food just because your kids say they like it.

Start experimenting. Try one new fruit or vegetable each week. I like to go for a new color: a lighter shade of green, a deeper shade of yellow, orange, purple, even blue. Let your kids help you find unfamiliar varieties at the grocery, then search Cook’n and your favorite cooking site for recipe and preparation ideas that you can capture into Cook'n!

And have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!