Recipes that'll interest young ones

If you pack a lunch for your children or are simply wondering how to get them to eat more healthfully, a new book offers helpful advice. "Real Food for Healthy Kids" (William Morrow, $29.95) is written by Tracey Seaman, test kitchen director of Every Day With Rachael Ray magazine, and Tanya Wenman Steel, editor in chief of Epicurious.com. As mothers and food professionals, their expertise shows up in advice on everything from the best foods to stock in the pantry to put together a quick meal, to what foods kids should be eating, and why.

Much of the book is devoted to recipes, starting with fast breakfast offerings like toaster oven bean tacos, which give kids the protein and complex carbohydrates they need to get a good start on the school day, to more indulgent fare, including desserts. Fun lunch ideas include bento box chef's salad, an inventive twist to a weekday meal; and turkey pinwheels, a wrap packed with spinach, carrots and cranberries along with the usual deli turkey and cheese. More adventurous offerings such as pork chops with pear stuffing, and chicken stew with green olives testify to the authors' belief that children shouldn't be fed a steady diet of bland food like chicken nuggets. Keep an eye on the nutritional information included with each recipe. Some are higher in saturated fat and calories than I'd expect from a book focused on healthy eating. Heat-and-eat pastas don't pass the test

With the school year starting back, traffic is worse and schedules are hectic. A 90-second heat-and-serve pasta dinner promises to cure the drive-through blues, or at least be simple enough for tweens and teens to heat up as an after-school snack. Don't be tempted, though. We tried two of the four varieties of Ronzoni Bistro, the Linguine With Chicken & Mushrooms and Rotini With Tomato & Basil. Dull, salty flavors dominated. The linguine, in a cream sauce, tastes like baby food. The tomato rotini wasn't any better.

If it's a quick meal you're after, it's better to cook extra pasta when you've got 10 minutes free, refrigerate it along with some sauce, and have it handy to microwave when you've got to eat in less than two minutes. Suggested retail for a single-serving 8-ounce package is $2.79, another good reason to prepare your own in advance for just pennies a serving.

Cereal sugary but packs whole grains

At first bite, Kashi's newest cereal, Honey Sunshine, tastes like Corn Pops. They're both sugar-sweetened corn cereal, but a glance at the nutrition label shows some key differences. Honey Sunshine is sweet enough to be kid friendly --- it's got 6 grams of sugar per serving, which makes it about 20 percent sugar by weight. That's about a third less than you'll find in a competitor like Honey Nut Cheerios. And Honey Sunshine has three times as much fiber, at 6 grams a serving.

So what's not to love? On second bite, the puffed corn nuggets doesn't seem as sweet. But it's worth a try if you want to start the school day with more whole grains and less sugar. Suggested retail is $3.99 for a 12-ounce box at Publix and Kroger.