When I was in Sweden recently, I visited my cousin Karin, who had twin boys a year ago. Karin has always been one of my favorite cousins. When we were young, she was the fearless one - at our summer house, she was always the first to jump off the cliff into the water below, daring us to follow, and she's still the same as an adult.

When I visited her, she was making her boys lunch, and I was so impressed by the meal she put together for them that I wanted to share it here. As we sat in the kitchen reminiscing, she drizzled olive oil over a small piece of salmon and roasted it with garlic. While the salmon was cooking, she boiled a few potatoes and mashed them with a fork and a little bit of salt. Then she cut the kernels off an ear of corn and pureed them with olive oil, salt, and pepper. When the salmon was done, she broke it into little pieces with a fork, then, as soon as it had cooled down a bit, she divided everything between two bowls and let the boys feed themselves.

They devoured every bite.

What I found most interesting about this is that Karin has never been a health nut. But she really wants to feed her kids healthy food and avoids canned baby food whenever possible. She put together this great, nutritious lunch in less than 30 minutes. Not only are her kids getting a good-for-them meal, they are also training their palates to eat different kinds of food. You hear all kinds of stories about kids who only eat round food or white food, but I can't imagine Karin's adventurous little eaters refusing to try any type of new food.

Do you have any secrets for encouraging your kids to eat healthfully and try new foods? I'd love to hear your secrets!