WRITTEN BY CATHERINE M. ALLCHIN PHOTOGRAPHED BY BARRY WONG

	Small children and busy lives often make for sleep-deprived parents who yearn for decent food that helps them get the rest they crave. It's possible to have the food and the rest, if you know what to look for.

Next time I'll be better. But what food is a good choice before heading to bed? Thus began my quest to understand the relationship between what we eat and how well we sleep.

There are some obvious no-no's, such as caffeine, alcohol, overly spicy food and refined sugar. The harder question is, what foods might actually help us doze better? The answer is all in your head. Well, at least that's where it starts. In the brain, the amino acid tryptophan triggers a neurotransmitter called serotonin. When it's time to hit the hay, serotonin is our friend. It makes us feel calm and sleepy. Protein foods such as meat, fish, poultry and eggs are generally high in tryptophan. Ever wonder why you get tired after Thanksgiving dinner? Chicken and turkey are reportedly good sources of tryptophan.

So in order to get some Z's, all I have to do is eat turkey? Not quite. Turns out it's not just what we eat, but when we eat it that counts. Experts caution about eating a big meal close to bedtime.

"If you eat too close to bedtime, the food will rev up your body," explains high-performance nutritionist Dr. Susan Kleiner, author of "Power Eating." She suggests eating a light meal of soup, salad and bread. Many nutritionists agree that breakfast should be the largest meal of the day, followed by a moderate-sized lunch and a light dinner early in the evening. The old adage "don't dine after nine" rings true.

In his book "The Sleep Rx," Norman Ford advocates eating certain foods in a certain order to promote sleep. He believes that tryptophan can be more effective when you consume protein with a combination of carbohydrates and a little good fat such as olive or canola oil. His prescription is this: Eat a dinner containing protein, carbohydrates and a small amount of a healthy fat. Later, about two hours before bedtime, have a carbohydrate-only snack, like fruit or whole-grain bread.

And, he says, avoid fat, sweets and refined carbohydrates — the unhealthy "nutritional narcotics" that our bodies crave. Complex carbohydrates (anything that comes from a plant and remains in its natural form) are the good guys; refined carbs (anything from a plant that is processed, like white flour or sugar) are the bad guys. For optimal health and sound sleep, Ford recommends a plant-based diet with only 10 to 20 percent of calories coming from fat. Kleiner agrees: "Your grandmother was right that a glass of warm milk might help, but not a glass of milk with a lot of chocolate in it."

And probably not with a whole package of cookies, either. Kleiner says people who come home late and wolf down cookies or, in my case, an entire pint of H”agen-Dazs, typically haven't eaten all day. "Their bodies are in survival mode, craving fat and sugar. You need to have food on hand, at work and at home, so you can eat well throughout the day."

She suggests taking a blender to work so you can make smoothies, or storing a few healthy soups and entrees in the freezer. One of Kleiner's favorite quick meals in the evening is a salmon fillet cooked in the microwave with lemon and dill. She calls this light, high-protein dinner a "real no-brainer," adding that it doesn't smell up the house at night, either. "Make it easy to eat well," she adds.

So my next mission became just that. How do I make it easier to eat well consistently throughout the day so I can sleep better at night? I stocked up on whole foods such as raw nuts, sunflower seeds and dried fruit at the grocery store and put them in glass containers within easy reach when I need a quick snack. Certainly bags of prewashed organic salads are handy, as are pieces of melon or pineapple kept in the fridge.

But what about real dinner?

Although I love cooking myself, evenings at our house were not fun. Feeding me, my husband and our young child all different meals, plus nursing the baby, made dinnertime pretty stressful. That phrase, "Make it easy to eat well," kept ringing in my head. Finally, I broke down and went outside. A small company called Delicious Planet came to my rescue. On Tuesday they delivered to my door healthy, gourmet meals that lasted most of the week. All I had to do was pour their vinaigrette over the salad and heat up the buffalo meatballs and Thai chicken. A vegetarian menu of four entrees and side dishes, plus plenty of salad, runs $100 a week; a regular menu with the same number of items is $105. There's a discount for ordering two meal packages at a time.

With this nutritious, prepared food waiting, how could I not get some shut-eye? Determined to succeed, I tried "The Sleep Rx" formula one night. First, an early dinner of protein and carbs: sea scallops, pasta and vegetables. Then, closer to bed, I ate an all-carbohydrate snack of organic prunes (not nearly as bad as they sound, and so sweet I almost tricked myself into calling it dessert). No wine, not much fat, no caffeine.

Eureka! I fell asleep quickly that night and got in a decent few hours before my 3-year-old woke up coughing.