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Vegetables are a great way to provide the necessary vitamins and minerals to your family. However, how many times have you told your children to eat their vegetables? Probably a lot.

Almost all children seem to have an aversion to vegetables. They will kick up a fuss, cry, and push the vegetables around their plate.

Vegetables do not always have to be the enemy. The key is to find a creative way to prepare them and your family will become vegetable lovers rather than vegetable haters!

Do you remember when you were a child and your mother dropped a soggy green lump of cabbage on your plate. Did you want to eat it? Almost certainly not.

There are ways to make your children eat their vegetables. Broccoli, for example, is very high in both vitamins and minerals and there are various ways of preparing it. Good vegetable grill recipes usually turn out great and a lot of kids love these but what if that is not enough and your child still complains? Here are some tips:

Raw - leave a platter of raw broccoli cut up into bite size pieces in the fridge as a snack for your children. Serve it a little bowl of salad dressing for them to dip it in and you will have an instant hit. Make sure you leave the tips of the broccoli on the platter and encourage your child to eat them. If you are creative, you can make a game of it.

Bribery - Do not laugh, it works! Tell your child that if he or she eats their veggies, you will give them a special treat when they are done. It is important that you follow through and give him or her the treat.

Cheese - cheese and broccoli go together excellently. Adding a cheesy sauce changes the flavor and texture of the broccoli and your children might even prefer the cheesy broccoli to whatever else is on their plate. You can use cheese in vegetable soup recipes. This also works with good vegetable grill recipes. Most kids love a cheesy flavor.

Lasagna and Pizza - you can add broccoli to lasagna and cover it in cheese and sauce. Your children might not even realize the dish contains broccoli. You could also use a vegetable pizza recipe to make a delicious and nutritious vegetable pizza. Kids think of lasagna and pizza as fun foods and will be more likely to eat them without a fuss and without questioning the contents.

Chopped or Minced - precook the broccoli and cool it for a while before blending it in a food processor. You can then add it to any dish you are making and your kids will not see or taste it.

Shakes - make a milkshake using ice cream milk and a lot of chocolate syrup. Add the broccoli to the shake as you are blending it. The taste of the chocolate will hide the taste of the broccoli. Just make sure that the ice cream that you use has chunks of something in it, that is not hard to find in grocery stores.

These are just some of the ways you can encourage your children to eat vegetables and get more vitamins, minerals, and nutrients into their diet.