Sometimes kids love vegetables—sometimes they don’t. My daughter is a huge fan of broccoli but hates carrots—which, as far as I can tell, seems to be the opposite of the norm. The thing is, she will eat her carrots with a smile on her face if they’re given to her in a creative manner. Here are some ways to do just that.

• Create a toothpick village. My daughter loves to play with her food—I say, why not, as long as she eats it? We like to make buildings, creatures and such out of toothpicks and carrots, broccoli, peppers—anything. She’s also more keen on carrots if they’re served in teriyaki sauce.
• Toss some veggies into a smoothie. If you have a juicer, that works well, too. Your child will never know they’re drinking their 3 to 5 a day.
• Serve veggies in soup. You can actually add extra, and the broth flavor may just mask the taste that your kids hate.
• Bake some sweet potato fries. Lots of kids love these, and they think they’re getting French fries (technically, they are, right?). Apples work well for this too.
• Smash or grate veggies up into other foods. You can add them to just about anything—pasta sauce, meatloaf, pizza, whatever. No one will be the wiser, and they’ll all be getting the health benefits of more veggies in their diets.
• Introduce new vegetables each week. The novelty may be enough to get them to try it. And remember that a child may have to be introduced a food up to fifteen times before he or she really likes it.

Of course, one of the goals of getting kids to eat vegetables isn’t just to get them in their bodies—it’s to get them eating them as a lifelong habit, something that many of us fail to do as adults. To do this, be sure to lead by example and eat your vegetables.

Talk about how good they are, serve them up in a variety of ways, and discuss why they are so important. Why not? We talk about sex and drugs and peer pressure with our kids—there’s no reason that vegetables and healthy eating, other important life choices, should be left out.

How do you sneak in veggies with your kids’ meals? Do you even have to? What about creative ways to serve them without hiding them? Share your stories here.