Breakfast?
 

Does anyone else struggle with breakfast? I seriously hate even thinking about it. Lunch, fine. Snacks, fine. But I just can't seem to get in a good rhythm with breakfast. For a while I was doing a variety of cereals both hot & cold with yogurt & fruit for breakfast, but the kids and I got bored pretty quickly with cereal as the main course. I want to keep it healthy, but I know I'm not eager to cook a meal in the morning. Do you branch out or keep it simple?

We do waffles, pancakes, cereal,biscuits and they are always served with fruit and milk

I don’t serve breakfast. Kids eat before drop off.

I serve a large snack at 9:30 that meets food program requirements to be claimed as breakfast.

Eliminates soooo much stress and chaos in the mornings.

I have the same breakfast menu each week, now. I don't want to give up the write-offs and the kids love the repetition. It sets the tone for what routine is in play for the day. :ouch: It makes it easy to plan and budget as well. Everything can be made in advance except for the scrambled eggs, but those can be served boiled a couple times a month as well for more time saved. ;) I literally just heat and serve in the mornings.

M) Eggs/Toast/Fruit
T) Waffles/Sausage/Fruit
W) Muffins/Cheese/Fruit
T) Bagel/Yogurt/Fruit
F) Hot Cereal/Bacon/Fruit

If I have a no pork family I just switch to tree nuts and small curd cottage cheese. ;) I buy from a local farm.
:ouch:

Personally, I have a meal replacement shake instead so I can enjoy my lunch and dinner. Doc want me at 1200 cal per day. :eek: Insane on a southern diet. :lol::lol::lol:

I love the idea of a set weekly menu. Thank you for posting yours! Make ahead and heat & serve. Simple, but a bit more variety than I was doing. Blackcat, what kind of things do you serve for a larger snack? I have to say that idea sounds appealing.

Originally Posted by Cat Herder:

M) Eggs/Toast/Fruit
T) Waffles/Sausage/Fruit
W) Muffins/Cheese/Fruit
T) Bagel/Yogurt/Fruit
F) Hot Cereal/Bacon/Fruit

Do you make your muffins from scratch?

Originally Posted by Joyfulnoise:
Do you make your muffins from scratch?

Most of the time, but I also cheat and add fresh fruit to pre-fab mixes, especially the Martha White Banana Nut and Honey Bran ones. ;)

Originally Posted by Joyfulnoise:
I love the idea of a set weekly menu. Thank you for posting yours! Make ahead and heat & serve. Simple, but a bit more variety than I was doing. Blackcat, what kind of things do you serve for a larger snack? I have to say that idea sounds appealing.

I do things like

M: boiled eggs/w.w. toast/banana/milk
T: yogurt/w.w. tortilla/blueberries/milk
W: w.w. crackers/peanut butter/cantaloupe/milk
Th: cereal bars/cheese sticks/watermelon/milk
F: cottage cheese/pineapple/w.w.toast/milk


No cooking or prepping really required at all. I call it snack so parents know their child needs to eat breakfast prior to arrival if they cannot make it until 9/9:30. I encourage them to feed their child breakfast and will address it if I notice the child is starving before our morning snack.

I make sure snack consists of all the components of breakfast so I can claim as breakfast and so that I know the kids are getting a well balanced start to their day since most of the kids are fed dry cereal or something equally minimal prior to drop off and usually in the car on the way :rolleyes::confused:

The easy items I serve also save me the time and stress of cooking and preparing so it seems to work well for me. I know it's not for everyone but I have eliminated a huge part of my work load by doing it like that.

~Hope that helps :)

Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
I don’t serve breakfast. Kids eat before drop off.

I serve a large snack at 9:30 that meets food program requirements to be claimed as breakfast.

Eliminates soooo much stress and chaos in the mornings.

Yes!!! This. If it wasn't for my DD needing to eat before school, I would totally do this.

I have a basic template: cereal, toasted, cereal, protein/special, cereal.

Toasted can be toast, bagel, english muffin, leftover buns, etc.
Protein is yogurt or eggs.
Special is oatmeal, rice cakes, muffins, quick bread, etc, depending on the season and what I feel like messing with.

Here's my usual:
Mon: pb and j on whole wheat, fruit, milk
Tues: pancakes, fruit, milk (sometimes sausage with it)
Wed: muffins or honey butter on whole wheat, fruit, milk
Thurs: Oatmeal, fruit, milk
Fri: cold cereal, fruit, milk

My problem is that most of my kids come in stuffing their faces. I have one that can eat anything and everything ALL THE TIME. But then I have my own two who are here so I have to serve breakfast to them, so I'm in a catch 22. If I get on a better schedule, I could do a bigger "breakfast/snack".

My own kids were eating breakfast at school most days and that went down the drain real quick back when all this junk started. Threw everything off for me here.

Getting it together is my new motto. Lol.

~Melissa~

Thanks everyone!

What yogurt do you serve and is it in the cup, tube?

Originally Posted by dolores:
What yogurt do you serve and is it in the cup, tube?

I serve Fage Greek yogurt.
I buy it plain and add fresh fruit to it.
I never buy flavored yogurt or the type that come in squeeze tubes. I’m sure the kids would prefer it but I think it’s gross... lol!

I serve the original large sized (32 oz), low-fat, vanilla Yoplait.

It isn't as healthy as the Greek but not even I can tolerate the taste of Greek, here. :lol::lol: I tried, just could not do it.

I dish it into toddler bowls and often add diced fresh fruit or granola to it.

Very useful thread. Thanks. Who can help with choosing food feeder for the baby?

Originally Posted by kimimiles:
Very useful thread. Thanks. Who can help with choosing food feeder for the baby?

Like a mesh feeder?

Originally Posted by Cat Herder:
I serve the original large sized (32 oz), low-fat, vanilla Yoplait.

It isn't as healthy as the Greek but not even I can tolerate the taste of Greek, here. :lol::lol: I tried, just could not do it.

I dish it into toddler bowls and often add diced fresh fruit or granola to it.

Have you tried The Greek Gods Greek yogurt? I've tried several other Greek yogurts and can't stand the sour taste. Their container says, "All taste No tang" and it's true. GG yogurt doesn't have that sour, tangy taste most Greek yogurts have. I've tried several flavors and like them all. Their Black Cherry is my favorite but I also like their vanilla, strawberry and blueberry flavors, too. The brand can be hard to find around here but I have been able to find the vanilla honey flavor at Walmart and if you have a Shaws or Hannafords grocery store near you, you might find them there, too.

Originally Posted by e.j.:
Have you tried The Greek Gods Greek yogurt? I've tried several other Greek yogurts and can't stand the sour taste. Their container says, "All taste No tang" and it's true. GG yogurt doesn't have that sour, tangy taste most Greek yogurts have. I've tried several flavors and like them all. Their Black Cherry is my favorite but I also like their vanilla, strawberry and blueberry flavors, too. The brand can be hard to find around here but I have been able to find the vanilla honey flavor at Walmart and if you have a Shaws or Hannafords grocery store near you, you might find them there, too.

I have and it's SO good!

I love yogurt and I love fruit but I don't like chunky fruit in my yogurt :lol:

Originally Posted by e.j.:
Have you tried The Greek Gods Greek yogurt? I've tried several other Greek yogurts and can't stand the sour taste. Their container says, "All taste No tang" and it's true. GG yogurt doesn't have that sour, tangy taste most Greek yogurts have. I've tried several flavors and like them all. Their Black Cherry is my favorite but I also like their vanilla, strawberry and blueberry flavors, too. The brand can be hard to find around here but I have been able to find the vanilla honey flavor at Walmart and if you have a Shaws or Hannafords grocery store near you, you might find them there, too.

I will pick some up the next time I go shopping. Thanks! :Sunny: All we have is Ingles. Two of them, all the competition closed.

Originally Posted by Cat Herder:
I will pick some up the next time I go shopping. Thanks! :Sunny: All we have is Ingles. Two of them, all the competition closed.

But Georgia still has a Roses store and I sure missed going there this year on our annual trip. No Roses here anymore :)

Originally Posted by Nellie Rodriguez:
This is bad. Breakfast is the main meal of the day. Try to eat something light - eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt. You need to give your stomach a load in the morning (maybe about an hour after you wake up). You need energy to work. If you don't feel like eating in the morning, most likely you are eating more than you need in the evening. The basis of health is fractional nutrition. Eat 5-6 times a day. A couple of snacks - apple, banana, yogurt. Dinner should be light: cottage cheese, kefir, eggs. You can have a slice of boiled chicken fillet. If you try to eat like this, you will have appetite in the morning and you will generally feel much better.

I noticed you’re new here. Welcome to the forum.

Maybe starting off with “this is bad” isn’t the best way to introduce yourself. :)

This thread is actually about preparing breakfast for our daycare children, in accordance with food program regulations, rather than whether we feel like eating breakfast.