How to Shop Healthy at the Grocery Store

Feeding your family healthfully starts in one place: the grocery cart. You want to come prepared to the supermarket, make the healthiest selections and steer clear of temptation, which may mean avoiding the cookie section entirely if that's your weak spot. What you can do: Eat before you go! If you're not hungry while you're food shopping, you won't be tempted to toss the entire store into your cart. Take a list. Even if you know by heart what you need, having it written (or typed) out can prevent you from buying unnecessary, or unhealthy, things. Spend the most time shopping the store's perimeters. That's where you find the produce, dairy and lean meats; the snacks, sodas and other less-healthy foods are in the interior aisles. Try new things. Next week, ask your grocer what's in season, put one new type of fruit in your cart, and tell your kids it's the guest star fruit of the week.

Check out all of Joy Bauer's recipes, ideas and healthy eating tips on ParentsConnect.com. Go!