Breakfast Ideas - Jasper,IN

I make whole-wheat, oatmeal, flax seed pancakes over the weekend and then just toast them the rest of the week. I make a HUGE batch and keep them in the fridge. They can even be eaten by hand in the car if we are running that late:) PM me if you want the "recipe" (I just kind of throw stuff together until it's the right consistency).

On crazy mornings (or sometimes just to supplement breakfast) I throw a banana in the blender with a cup of milk and a tablespoon or two of peanut butter. At least it gets some nutrition in on mornings when my daughter is "not hungry."

I always have hard boiled eggs in the fridge. Easy to grab, easy to eat with a banana and some milk.

We do steel cut oatmeal in the crockpot overnight as another person mentioned. We usually add in something just before serving like raisins, dried cranberries (Craisins), brown sugar, milk, etc so the kids can pick how they want it. We also spinkle fresh fruit like blueberries on top when they are in season. I usually add some wheat germ to the oatmeal, too - the kids have no idea it's in there.

Sometimes I make a batch of healthy muffins on the weekends (some whole wheat flour, wheat germ, etc) to eat during the week. They freeze well. I also make pancakes (they are fairly healthy the way I make them) at least one morning on the weekend and whenever I make them, I make double the amount we need and freeze the extra. They are good on school mornings to zap in the microwave.

My kids just eat cereal most mornings, though. It's fairly quick - they can pour it themselves while I'm getting ready (well, the 7 & 4 year old can, other is too young) and eat it all within 10-15 minutes.

Since breakfast is the most important part of the morning routine we make sure the kids have 15-20 minutes for breakfast. If you can't do that you may want to look at your morning routine... we do alot the night before: picking out clothes, packing backpacks and putting by front door next to the shoes, deciding on lunch and mostly packing lunch if bringing (with cold stuff in one pile in the fridge for easy grabbing at last minute), etc. My son wakes up at 7am, out the door to meet the school bus by 7:45am and he usually has time to watch 15-20 minutes of TV (TV is off until all ready for school). My daughters and I leave the house by 8:15 most mornings. We have our 'off' mornings but for the most part they are relaxed and nice.

Homemade oatmeal cookies, and fresh fruit.( Add some wheat germ when you are making the cookies for a healthier cookie.)You can make a lot of cookies ahead, freeze them, and just take out enough for the next morning the night before.

Toast with peanut butter and fresh fruit on the side.

Hard-boiled egg slices on Ritz crackers with a dab of ketchup or salsa.( This would be something people can put together themselves from dishes of ingredients on the table.)And kids love to use an egg slicer! (But they need to eat all the slices they make!)
You could also put out shredded cheese with the above ingredients.

Mini bagels with cream cheese or peanut butter and blueberries to press into the top.

Hope this helps. Also there is nothing wrong with having bagels every Monday, cereal on Tuesdays, toast Etc., on Wednesday, and so on, if that makes it easier on you.
You might be surprised that people like to know what to expect each day.

I make my daughter eggs in the microwave..coat a bowl with cooking spray, put in the egg, and nuke for 30-45 seconds. Quick and easy. It might also help to get everything out the night before - have the table set with cereal bowls, boxes, spoons, whatever, then everyone isn't searching for things. Yogurt, fruit and granola is also quick and easy. I have a friend whose little boy eats oatmeal every morning in the car on his way to day care. She makes it at home and throws it in a plastic cup and he's finished by the time they arrive. Hope this helps.

Cheese--sticks, chunks, slices.

Hard-boiled eggs, as someone mentioned.

granola bars.

K. Z.

Hi D.,

Here is something that is convenient, economical, AND healthy...steel cut oats done in the crockpot overnight! Mix it up the night before, a healthy breakfast ready when you get up. You can find all kinds of recipes online, but I like to add craisins to mine. They plump up and because they contain natural fruit sugars, they add a slight sweetness. Good stuff!

Hope this helps!
D.

What about a breakfast casserole? You put it together the night before and put it in the oven as soon as you get up. Very easy!! When we go to the lake on weekends I will cook it and we heat it up in the mornings in the microwave.

I add two cans of potatoes to my recipe.

Make this casserole the night before for an easy and delicious breakfast. It's perfect for overnight houseguests.
Serves: 8
Cook Time: 1 Hour (refrigerate overnight)
Smithfield Product: Dinner Sausage
Ingredients
1 lb. Smithfield Smoked Sausage, diced
5 pieces thick-sliced white bread, with crust, buttered and cubed
4 eggs
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon hot sauce
3 cups grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese

Spray a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish with vegetable oil cooking spray. Place the bread cubes in the dish. Evenly distribute the sausage over the bread cubes.

Combine the eggs and half the milk in a separate bowl and whisk together. Add remaining milk, mustard, salt, and hot sauce and mix well. Pour the egg mixture over the bread. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, remove the casserole from the refrigerator and allow it to sit on the counter for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the plastic wrap. Sprinkle cheese evenly on top of the casserole. Place it in the oven and bake uncovered for 1 hour.

Smoothies (put ziploc bags of frozen fruit in the freezer) and choose different yogurt, berries, etc. w/ a little protein powder.

Breakfast cookies....there are several recipes out there. They contain things like oatmeal, bananas, nuts, dried fruit, etc.

Make a quiche or breakfast casserole AHEAD OF TIME! Heat up in seconds for a quick hot nutritious breakfast. I just made one a couple days ago w/ zucchini, eggs, red pepper, mushrooms, onion, etc. EXCELLENT!

If you have access to Market Day through a school, my kids and I like the HEALTHY "cookies" that you can get through them. These things are very filling and have all kinds of healthy ingredients that I am blanking on at the moment.
I was never a huge cereal person but Cheerios or Honey Nut Cheerios with some fruit mixed in is quick and tasty.
A breakfast that I read about years ago that I like a lot is to put some oats in a bowl, just cover with water, and put in the fridge overnight-covered. In the morning, drain off any extra water, add some yogurt and some fruit. It's very tasty and filling and doesn't take much time.
When my son tries to get out of eating ANYTHING before school, he'll agree to a yogurt, half a bagel, a cheese stick, an apple, etc.

Multi grain waffles or bagels with fruit. Sometimes cereal. I only buy multi grain and natural cereals and organic milk.Add orange juice or whatever juice they enjoy (not the sugary types)

Hello D.,
We have the same problem in our house. Plus, my girls are fickle with breakfast food. I found 'Breakfast
Cookies' by Quaker--Oatmeal Chocolate Chip to be exact.
They are indiviually packaged and a quick zap (instructions provided) gives them that fresh baked feel and taste.
It is 180 calories with 50 calories of fat it but it has loads of vitamins and fiber! One cookie with a glass of milk does it. Its quick and easy and they finish it FAST(so no daudling at breakfast) 'cause they think they're eating cookies for breakfast!

I recently had this same issue when my youngest son went on a eatting strike. He would eat breakfast and at meals barely enough for feed a bird. Of course, cereal was our staple breakfast and I decided it was time to make breakfast count. I ended up baking banana and pumpkin bread and replaced the all purpose flour with whole wheat. The banana was the healthier option because the recipe I used didn't have the oils in it but in my house one loaf would never do and I didn't have enough bananas for another loaf. I have never worked with wheat germ personally, but I am sure you could hide some in the loaves or even sprinkly some oats in. I even considered baking oatmeal raisin cookies as an alternative to a quick breakfast. I know my options have a lot of sugar but I have a sweet tooth in the morning myself and when I make a bowl of oatmeal it is usually is doctored pretty good so there isn't much difference. :( You could also hard boil some eggs to have them grab on the go to. My kids love those. You could also use oatmeal or cream of wheat packets. I read a lot of responses for frozen pancakes. I often add oats to my pancakes. You could possibly do this with some blueberries.

I can recommend some really healthy shakes and nutrition bars, they are meal replacements, won't spike your blood sugar, tasty and good for you. The kids will love them.
If you would like me to send you the info on them, email me at ____@____.com
I look forward to helping your girls get a good start to the day!!
Take care and god bless.

My daughter is quite a bit younger than yours but a lot of times we do some variation on fruit of some kind (like banana slices or fruit from a fruit cup) and a microwaved frozen pancake or waffle and a glass of milk. There are pleanty of lower sugar options other than syrup for pancakes. Also if you are really in a hurry this is also portable!
There is also a website called weeliscious.com. It has recipie ideas. I don't always think they are realistic for my lifestyle but you may want to check out the website. I a big fan of batch coking and freezing