P.O.
Fruit
banana pancake
Oatmeal
Scrambled Eggs
Crackers, cheese, milk
Toast with melted cheese
Mini waffles
I have really limited time in the morning before work and taking my 2 1/2 year old to nursery school and need ideas for meals I can prepare in the morning or night before that are quick and healthy and that she can eat on her own - any ideas???
Oh my gosh! U guys rock! Thank u so much for all of the feedback - I have a ton of options now.
Fruit
banana pancake
Oatmeal
Scrambled Eggs
Crackers, cheese, milk
Toast with melted cheese
Mini waffles
my kids are kinda funny about breakfast. Sometimes they just don't really want much to eat or they just want something really quick so they finish watching cartoons etc (they are 2 and 4) so these are somethings I feed them.
oatmeal
dry waffle I know that sounds weird but they have the cinnamon toast ones that are sweeter than normal ones. They will just pick them up with their hands and eat it dry. A lot less of a mess for me and them.
dry cereal again I know that sounds weird but then they can just eat it with their fingers and they would rather have dry cereal and then milk or a yogurt smoothie in a sippy.
Pop tart
cereal breakfast bars. They make them with the cereal kids really like, like Lucky Charms, fruity pebbles etc.
They also like the usual eggs, bagels, french toast sticks (with syrup) pancakes, yogurt and toast etc.
my daughter LOVED scrambled eggs as well as hardboiled eggs. You can freeze the scrambled eggs and just pull them out each morning and zap for about 15 sec in the microwave.
Also - she liked egg wraps.... ok, it's kind of wierd, but you basically do the scrambled egg mix but fry it flat (like a crepe) so it's the same size as the burrito wrap. we did a little bit of cream cheese and sometimes she would do spinach laid out inside. Then you roll them up and make either pinwheels or just the wrap. These also can be frozen (so I would make a big batch on Sunday) and either I would take one out before I got in the shower and it woudl defrost in about 20 min or I could zap in the microwave as well (but the cream cheese sometimes gets hot and sorta slimy-ish in the microwave).
The other thing we did also is the same wrap but with turkey and swiss - doesn't have to be 'breakfast' food!
Breakfast pizza (crescent rolls, eggs, cheese, any toppings). Make on the weekend and heat a slice up for breakfast anytime throughout the week.
oatmeal!
Get steel cut oats. You cook them on Sunday, and you can cut a slice and serve them for the week. 2 minutes in the microwave with a little cinnamon - maybe some syrup for the kiddo - healthy and good.
I have this ever week!
whole grain toaster waffles
cut up fruit (berries are popular with my son)
yogurt
cereal bars (I like Kashi TLC)
breakfast sandwiches o soft tacos (cook eggs, meat, whatever topping the night before and re-heat)
bagels with cream cheese
hard-boiled eggs
banana and dry cereal
I give my son a cup of soy or nut milk EVERY morning with breakfast so that no matter how little or what he eats-he gets a good amount of protein and a little fat and sugar to get him going first thing
how about cheerios or fruit loops, or any kind of cereal that your child may like. my daughter loves cheerios, they come in different flavors, whole wheat, banana, apple cinnamon etc. you can buy them in small size boxes and even pack them for school if she eats her breakfast there. and some milk with that, you're done. also granola bars or yogurt work well. add a banana on a side and you're set.
Honestly, don't go crazy "making" breakfasts. Whole grain toaster waffles, whole grain bagel or a whole grain cereal, a fruit and milk is just fine, you don't need to prepare a gourmet meal! A string/stick cheese if you feel she needs extra protein too. Don't get the "light" syrup as someone suggested. "Light" means made with an artificial sweetener like Splenda, not recommended for kids.
PS I went to Forest Hills High.
Real oatmeal - cooks in 2 minutes and healthy. Add a little brown sugar. Make it with milk. Add things like ground flaxseed or ground almonds for protein which she won't notice, or chopped dried fruit (not the sugar added kind - just apricot, raisin)
Make a whole wheat muffin batter and add different things and freeze the muffins and give her one in the morning. Ideas: different flours, different nuts, different dried fruit/coconut, applesauce.
Fruit should definitely be in there for breakfast - fresh, not 'fruit snacks' - which have 0 real fruit. 1/2 a banana, cut up an orange, pineapple - anything - mango. Just one type at the meal so you can vary it each day. (If you don't buy organic, definitely buy organic strawberries - California made a wicked ruling last fall and let growers spray with a chemical that the scientists on the panel who advised against allowing the spray said they wouldn't want anyone they knew living near the fields where such spray was used. )
Other ideas: fritatta - like scrambled eggs with other things in them. You can mix in diced cooked potatoes, cheese, meat, diced veggies. You can cook that the night before and cut it in pie slices so she can feed herself and have it for a few days.
Scrambled egg, Toast, Fruit, Multigrain cheerios + milk
Depends on what she likes I guess?
Waffles or french toast are great (make the french toast for dinner the night before or make a bunch extra on a sunday morning, then all you ahve to do is pop it into the toaster...spread applesause on it or if she is used to syrup, get the light kind).
Someone recently posted aobut pre-made egg conconctions made in muffin tins and thawed in the refrige the night before then microwaved the next morning. Again, depends on WHAT your child will eat.
I do home daycare and we have a few "set" days. My USDA food program requires a grain and a fruit item to "qualify" as a balanced breakfast. So Mondays we have cheerios/fruit, Tuesdays are waffle day/fruit, wednesday is "whatever wednesday" (could be toast, oatmeal, cereal again, maybe bagels with butter..whatever), Thursdays are English muffins/fruit, and Fridays are Dinosaur Toast (I have a cutter to quickly cut the toast into a dinosaur shape)...we make cinnamon toast and of coarse fruit. Always Milk.
Good luck!