What Do You Make Your Children for Breakfast?

I make bow tie pasta eggs. I use bow tie pasta (the smallest ones) cook them until tender. Scramble about 2-3 eggs and toss in the pasta with a little butter and parmesan cheese (the fresh cheese works best). We call them Pasta Eggs.

my 4 y.o. will rarely eat breakfast, she wants juice and milk. If she eats, it's a banana or apple. I work, and her daycare provides decent breakfast (french toast, eggs, cereal, etc.) and she's usually ready to eat at 9 AM they say, so I don't force her in the morning when we are getting ready.

Weirdly, today she asked for pizza, which we had cold, so she got a smallish slice. I'm impressed with what you are making! I'm bigger on lunches and dinners, and healthy snacks than breakfast, but I definitely would have appreciated all the work you put into breakfast! My mom was a "git yer own" type, so I ate a lot of bananas and cheerios as a kid.

When I do make breakfast, it's a special occasion. I made pancakes with lingonberries and cream on Xmas morning with veggie sausage. I still couldn't get my kid to eat before 9 AM!!

I dont make my children for breakfast, I just let them eat cereal (like Cheerios, chex, shredded wheat - the good stuff).

Bananas, blueberries, or cheerios as an appitizer so I can cook!!! My girls love love oatmeal- I do the instant packets, the flavored ones by Quaker, can get it @ Costco. I add milk and/or raisins, and feel no guilt about the instant.:) I sometimes make up a big batch of cinnamon apple pancakes and store it in the fridge.-I use bisquik,and add fresh chopped apples, cinnamom, and a dab of nutmeg. I have a giant (again with the Costco) emptied and washed out bar-b-q sauce container that I store it in. This way you can make it when you want, and it is ready to shake up and pour into the skillet in the morning. Morning Star makes meatless sausage links that my girls (and I) looove- sausage taste, but waaay better without the grease and mystery meat! But they're pretty expensive, so we don't have them as much as we would like to. Also, frozen blueberry waffles are a favorite- easy to cook, and coupled with the fruit and veggie sausage- not too bad. I think it's Jimmy dean that makes a great frozen breakfast skillet- meat, veggies, potatoes- you add 6 (I add 8) eggs, and cheese if you want. It's super easy, and there is always leftovers for another morinig. If you feel inspired, you can make the same thing but with fresh ingredients. When my husband is home, he likes to make biscuits and gravy...yummmm. I look forward to seeing more ideas...

Most mornings my kids get cereal. We don't have time to make a big breakfast. On the weekend we'll have pancakes or waffles or eggs but we don't have time to cook during the week.

I feel like a slouch after reading your post! lol

One of my kids likes Cheerios for breakfast, and the other usually just wants toast. They do like it when we make hot cereal, and on the weekends when we don't have to get ready for school, we'll make pancakes, eggs and bacon! That's always a big hit.

My daughter is 16 months and it depends on what I have the energy for but mostly oatmeal with bananas, raisins, cinnamon, and a little bit of milk. She goes through spurts though so I change it up... sometimes eggs with toast and fruit on the side, plain yogurt with frozen berries and oat bran sweetened with banana or homemade applesauce, french toast with fruit (she loves the dipping motion in maple syrup - I only give her a little bit), or pancakes (sour cream with wheat flour) and some fruit. Breakfast seems to always have fruit. And if I'm eating cereal, she tends to want some of my cereal too - so I'll give her pieces here and there with her breakfast.

You're an overachiever! lol My kids typically get cereal (not the sugary types) or oatmeal. One of my triplets will only eat sandwiches, so I usually put peanutbutter or nutella on wheat bread for him.

On weekends I put in a little more effort. We like waffles (sometimes I make gingerbread or pumpkin waffles) or pancakes. We also like to do quiche or ebelskivers. If I'm really feeling the love I make homemade frozen yogurt with fresh berries (more in the summertime). It sounds to me like you're doing great! I wanna eat at your house!

If you want to try some of my recipes for the frozen yogurt, ebelskivers, or pumpkin waffles, I have them listed on my blog! :)

www.thosecrazybeans.blogspot.com

Omelets, pancakes with sugar free syrup (just as good as the "real" stuff), french toast, cereal (my 3yo son's fave is actually Life), wheat bagels with cream cheese or peanut butter..... The list is endless. Pretty much whatever you would eat, see if they like!!

Cream of Wheat or Malt-O Meal is something we frequently have for breakfast-- full of iron and filling for the tummy!

Waffles or pancakes with fresh fruit

peanut butter and jelly bisquits-

muffin-bran/whole wheat with jam

dip eggs-- my son loves those!

WOW!!! You mamas are great! My 20 month old usually eats one of three things: oatmeal (raisins, apricots, etc plus a little butter and sugar), grits, or cinnamon sugar whole wheat toast. He LOVES bacon and sausage, and on Sundays we go to the local diner for a big breakfast.
Daddy has coffee, protein bar and cinnamon sugar toast. Mommy has coffee and whatever is on the counter..banana, left over toast, uneaten toddler food!

I grew up in a house that did not use much sugar, I never ate "kid" cereals, etc. The first time my husband made toast with margarine and a special blend of cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on it, I actually said, "YOu can do that to toast????" Now it is a favorite, it probably has less than 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and a whole teaspoon of cinnamon- yummy!

Hello - wow, you're sure a super mom! That is an amazing breakfast you give them. I'm a 36 yr. old mom, partly stay at home (work 12 hours/week as a nurse, more if budget needs) and have 3 children - 4, 7, and 10, girl in the middle - and we are a homeschooling family. Before I tell you what I give them for breakfast, I'll tell you what I give them for lunch, so I don't sound like such a terrible mom! We're vegetarian, and eat very healthy. We have big lunches and dinners, with a wide variety of foods such as Asian, American, Mexican, Italian, Greek, etc., all from scratch. So for breakfast, I consider it my free break! My kids get their breakfast all by themselves - healthy cereal and soymilk and fresh fruit everyday, except Sundays, when we have a big breakfast. I think if I had to cook and clean up for 3 meals a day I would be crazy!

Sounds like you are doing just fine. =) We also eat oatmeal, breakfast burritos and sometimes cantaloupe.

Breakfast is important and I'm glad you try to give your kids something balanced in the morning! There are four basic breakfast options (with some variations) that I like to give my 2 1/2 year old daughter. My daughter likes to rotate with the following for breakfast.

scrambled egg, toast, fruit, milk
cereal, yogurt (sometimes fruit), milk
mini-bagel with cream cheese (lately jelly, too), milk
1 pancake (waffle or french toast) with a little bit of syrup, milk

We don't eat a lot of bacon/sausage at home, but she likes that too. She also likes mini-bagels with peanut butter, but she mainly prefers cream cheese. She will also "mooch" off of my mom's oatmeal. So, that might be an option for you, since your kids eat granola. If you haven't already, give pancakes, waffles, or french toast a try. You can top them with things other than syrup if you're worried about sugar content - ie, applesauce, peanut butter, fruit (berries, banana), etc...

I hope this helps!! Keep up the good work!!!

It all sounds good what you fix....we do oatmeal and Eggo waffles alot along with fruit..............

My daughter (2 1/2) loves frozen waffles or oatmeal and likes to eat frozen blueberries with both. She just got over this Barbara's cereal kick recently too. I've tried the eggs, toast, etc thing and my daughter wouldn't go for it. My main thing is to make sure she gets some type of fruit with her breakfast.

I am always looking for breakfast solutions.

we sweeten our oatmeal with applesauce and cinnamon.
french toast
fritatas, baked scrambled eggs with veggies and/or meat and cheese - that is always easy because I make a large batch and have left overs
tortillas with scrambled eggs
yogurt mixed with baby rice/wheat cereal (earthsbest)
pancakes (I try to mix in flax and wheatgerm)

I love smoothies for myselg.
I use real vanilla extract to flavor things like french toast and pancakes it cuts the sugar down.
Thanks for all the other ideas.

Hey W., I grew up with some great variations for eggs & other breakfasts:
Layer sauteed spinach, boiled, mashed potatoes (but not mixed with butter and milk, etc, just mashed) then eggs.
Then there was a mildly fried pattie, flour, seasoning, egg, mix in any finely chopped veggies, and just pan fry with just a little oil or butter.
French Toast is always yummy.
My sister used to make homemade muffins.
Breads like zucchini nut or orange cranberry wheat bread is fun to make, smells delicious and kids love them. You can sub the sugar with applesauce, I am told, when baking.
My grandmother used to make rice pudding.
For scrambled eggs, I always like to mix in the veggies for that food group: mushrooms, bell peppers (very colorful!), spinach, chard, etc.
Crepes! Look for recipes online.
Pancakes, waffles, with banana slice eyes, strawberry nose, blueberry mouth, etc.

Just another note, I don't think eating eggs every day is any good. There are lots of great things about eggs, but cholestorol (sp?) is not one of them, and maybe some research will give other information. It has always been recommended to me by my midwife not to eat eggs more than 3-4 times per week, and no more than 3 eggs each time, pregnant, breastfeeding, or neither.

Hope this helps.

Grilled Cheese/Quesadillas
Instant Oatmeal
Toaster pancakes/waffles
Fried rice when we've had leftover rice from dinner
Twice baked potatoes (leftover baked potatoes I dice up and add bacon like with the rice, onions, egg and then grated cheese)

During the week, my daughter eats breakfast at daycare. On weekends, she usually wants oatmeal. The daycare meals are organized by a nutritionist. I don't have one of their menus on me, but some of the things I know they have had in some combination are: grits, biscuits with jelly, cereal, fruit, toast, oatmeal, pancakes, juice, milk. Most days I try to ask her about her meals when I pick her up. I'm always impressed with what she had! haha

hi W.,
old fashioned oatmeal (quick kind is high glycemic). at your child's age, I only put cinnamon on it. taught them how to shake in a little-which turned out to be a lot=).
now, they like to add sugar and cinnamon and one adds a bit of margarine. i myself use stevia, that olive oil/margarine, and cinnamon. I may stop buying sugar...(good mamasource discussion!)
happy new year!
G.

we only have eggs every other day, i don't know if everyday is too much, probably not. we also do french toast and add either apple sauce to the egg batter or pureed carrots. egg benedict, my 2 year old loves it, egg cooked hard. pancakes, oatmeal, also, breakfast casseroles you can make the night before, quiche fruit fruit and more fruit. it sounds like you are doing great. i only give o's for a light snack while i'm cooking breakfast. keeps them happy.

We have 12 children in our licensed child care home. We feed them a grain, fruit, and milk. We feed them soemthing different every day from whole wheat toast, waffles, cereal, pancakes, breakfast bars, muffins, etc. and there is a huge range of fuits and veggies. They love hash browns and the biggest variety of fruit that we can find.
Lately they just love "Cuties!" They can either peel them themselves or my husband starts one for each and then they can peel it. Our lunch is our biggest meal for them; protein, grain, two fuits or veggies or one of each, and milk. They love spaghetti with ground turkey, big green salad with veggies in it, etc. I was raised in Minnesota and our big meal of the day was lunch. Also this helps single Moms who don't have time or energy to cook a big meal at night. We buy it, we cook and serve it and the kids can eat alot or a little or nothing at all. I do not worry as they eat well even if they don't eat alot at every meal sometimes. We follow the guidelines of the State of California for nutrition for children.
F.

You can also have filling and nutritious "non-breakfast" foods in the morning: soup, pot pie, sandwiches, wraps, etc. Sometimes we have breakfast for dinner which we started when the kids were young (and I was running out of ideas!) they got a real kick out of that :)

After a vacation on Sentosa Island (Singapore) with a fabulous breakfast buffet trying to cater to every culture you can imagine, we learned not to limit ourselves to American ideas of what breakfast should be. . .

We don't care for the Autralian "spaghetti on toast", but matzah ball soup, pad thai, cheese, churos, french bread, and cold cuts break the routine. (not all on the same day!) Some cultures like fish for breakfast, others rice or mushrooms and tomatoes. I think Americans are the only ones who eat potatoes for breakfast. . .

Maybe you should take the kids to a breakfast buffet some weekend and see what catches their fancy!