I am struggling to find healthy lunch items for my kindergartner who has been a picky eater since the day he was first introduced to food. He won't eat a sandwich -- well, he will eat a peanut butter sandwich but for some reason he thinks it must be warmed in a microwave. But microwaves are not available in his school cafeteria, so peanut butter sandwiches won't work -- nor will anything else that must be heated to satisfy Joey's picky palate. And he won't eat lunch meat or cheese or tuna fish or anything that seems to fill most kids' lunch boxes. He does eat fruits and vegetables -- which is primarily what I send him with to school -- but it seems he needs something more. Something with a kick of protein. But I'm stuck. So today I went to the grocery store in search of the magic item that will both satisfy Joey and satisfy even the smallest of nutritional needs. I ended up with yogurt.

I have never been a huge fan of yogurt because it's loaded with sugar. But yogurt does contain some vitamins and some calcium and a little bit of protein -- 5 grams -- and I opted for the light, fat-free variety which makes me feel better about my purchase. And tomorrow, my experiment begins. If the yogurt container is missing when I open Joey's lunch box after school, I will assume he has eaten the yogurt. If the container is still in the lunch box -- and is still full of yogurt -- I will start back at square one. And I'll just hope he doesn't figure out that he can toss the whole unopened yogurt container right into the trash. Surely, a five-year-old wouldn't think of that. Okay, yes he would.

Even though Joey may not take to my yogurt idea, something good has already come from my purchase of 10 servings of Yoplait Yogurt -- each one features a lid reading Save Lids to Save Lives with a pink breast cancer ribbon printed on the pink foil top. I didn't even notice this until I was in the check-out line, but now I know that for every pink lid I send in, 10 cents will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Yoplait will contribute up to $1.5 million and guarantees a $500,000 donation. So regardless of Joey's decision regarding the yogurt, someone will benefit from this purchase -- if only I can convince Joey to save the lids.

And so somehow, helping fund a cure for breast cancer seems easier than convincing my child to try new foods. Both are difficult ventures. And hopefully, a remedy will one day surface for both.