Mac & cheese, pizza and maybe spaghetti — if kids did the grocery shopping, that's probably about as far as it would go.

On the Very Best Kids™ team, we spend a lot of time talking about how we can help kids over the hurdles to good nutrition. Last summer we decided to take our discussions to the next level, putting some new "good-for-you" foods to the test by inviting a group of kids to taste them in our photo studio. The goal of our totally unscientific experiment: develop a list of new foods your kids might like.

We started our tasting session with fruit because, well, fruit is easiest. We passed around a blood orange — it looks like an orange from the outside but reveals crimson flesh when cut. "Cool name!" said Tate. That's all it took: Everyone grabbed for a slice. Blood oranges were a hit!

Passion fruit was next. "I think this is a vegetable," Ellie said as she rolled it around in her hands. The kids passed the mystery fruit back and forth. We split it open, and they all leaned in for a closer look. "It looks like something that came from the sea," Olivia said about the bubbly interior. Tiny tastes (after all, it does look kind of weird) were followed by upward-facing thumbs.

Next we presented a beautiful platter of raw cauliflower we had found in wacky colors — neon green, red, bright yellow. As parents we were enchanted by the range of hues. But the kids weren't impressed. "No way I'm eating that," said Marcus. Emma scrunched up her nose. We passed the platter around, but the kids sat back in their seats, minds made up. Thumbs down!

Edamame was next — it's green and a bean (a soybean, that is). We held our breaths as we placed the platter on the table. "I know what these are," said Eric as he scooped some onto his plate. "They're good!" His cousin Marcus nodded in agreement. The other kids watched as they popped the beans from their shells, and soon all were following suit, tossing beans into their mouths like candy. "Ummm, these are good," said Jorge. Thumbs up!

An open can of sardines got a big "wow!" The kids leaned forward, wide-eyed at the neat silver fish. Marcus picked one up by the tail and dropped it into his mouth like a seal in a circus act. Jorge sniffed his sardine on a cracker, took a baby bite, and quickly put it back on his plate. But he chewed, swallowed and smiled!

And so it went until all of our samples had been eyed, sniffed, poked and considered, and the winners declared. Beyond that, something good happened at our session . . . the kids opened their minds (and their mouths) to new foods. Experimenting with new foods, and even getting a little creative, can send kids down the path to good nutrition. "Just because they don't like something right now doesn't mean they won't like it later," says Nutritionist and Registered Dietician Connie Evers. "It's a first step."

Connie reminded us that it could take 10 to 12 introductions to a new food before kids warm up to it. Seeing a new food on a plate and watching other family members eat it helps introduce it in a positive way — and sometimes that's enough.

Connie Evers Do's and Don'ts of Introducing New Foods:

1. Don't force the issue. "In a power struggle over food, the child will always win."
2. Do encourage kids to savor the flavor. "Saying, 'It's good for you,' is not a big sell for kids. Number one for them is good taste."
3. Do acknowledge and respect when kids say they don't like a food. "Everyone has food likes and dislikes."