Breakfast Double Quick

Here are some of our go-to breakfasts:

A new favourite in our house is Pea Butter. It tastes amazingly like peanut butter but is allergy-free. I like it because then I don’t have to worry about those last little smudges on the kids faces as they go off to school. My daughter likes pea butter on a tortilla and sometimes we even wrap that around a banana.

Almond butter is actually my personal favourite and I mix a few tablespoons of almond butter with an equal amount of light ricotta and spread that on my favourite sprouted wheat high protein toast (honestly I could not live without this bread) and put a few slices of apple on it. Sometimes I have that for lunch too.

Scrambled eggs cooked in the microwave kind of offend my taste buds, but the kids don’t mind them wrapped in a tortilla with a little cheese. Hard boiled eggs do in a pinch.

Granola and yogurt with a little agave syrup and lots of berries makes my oldest son very happy.

Reheated pancakes/waffles from the weekend. The kids eat the pancakes with a little jam rolled up (and berries if I’m lucky).

If it’s a really bad morning then a cheese stick, rice cake and apple slices on the way to school is all they get.

I can’t talk breakfast without mentioning my husband’s favourite: cottage cheese. Personally I can’t stand the stuff but if you can get the kids to eat it then you have hit a home run. I find it slightly more palatable with some bits of fruit and seeds thrown in.

Most days of the week my kids eat oatmeal. Sometimes instant oatmeal (I know, I can hear the gasps!), and sometimes it is my make-one-a-week oatmeal from my book Whining and Dining. I try and sneak flax and chia (Salba) seeds in there until they catch me.

Check here and here for some more quick ideas.

Oatmeal for the Week (from Whining and Dining:Mealtime Survival for Picky Eaters and the Families Who Love Them)

4 cups water
2 cups large flake oatmeal
salt
milk or cream to taste

Bring water to a boil on high heat, add oatmeal and a pinch of salt, decrease heat to medium low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until water is absorbed and oatmeal is tender. Serve, stirring in milk or cream to suit individual tastes.

Dried Fruit Variation:
Add these to your cold water while it’s heating up and the dates will mostly dissolve to naturally sweeten your oatmeal, and plump up any other dried fruit you care to use. We like how the tang of dried cranberries and apricots offset the sweetness of the dates, but feel free to use whatever you have on hand. If you have a pair of kitchen scissors, use them to cut up the dried fruit – much easier than using a knife.

¼ cup chopped dates
¼ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup chopped dried apricots
½ tsp cinnamon

Cooked Fresh Fruit Variation:
Add peeled grated apple or pear to the water, or chopped fresh peaches etc. when in season.

Extra Power/Protein Variation
Sprinkle cooked oatmeal with freshly ground flax seed, toasted wheat germ, chopped nuts, granola… you name it.

More Fibre
Add a couple of tablespoons of natural bran during cooking.