Now that we’re in full swing with our new life as parents of a kindergartener, we’re readjusting many of our daily routines — or lack of them, in some cases — to better accommodate the new needs of our girl. Before, we could take more time in the mornings and didn’t feel pressured to have to arrive on time to preschool every day. That’s certainly changed now and the adjustment hasn’t been without its bits of chaos.
One of the things that concerns me the most is making sure my girl actually has breakfast before heading out to school because I’m just not sure how much of her snack and lunch she’s eating during the day. Since she stays in after school as well, I need to make sure she’s feeding herself, and, from the looks of her lunchbox lately, she prefers to play and socialize than actually eat. This makes breakfast even more important to make sure she’s got the calories and nutrients to keep her going and energized all day.
According to Dayle Hayles, an award-winning author, educator and nutrition coach from the Kellogg’s Breakfast Council, it’s important that kids have breakfast to start out their day in the best possible way, even more so because “when students haven’t had breakfast, they’re listening to their stomachs, not the teachers.”
Not only that, but for my family of three with the crazy schedules, breakfast has become probably the best time for us to eat together, albeit not the most serene moment, but even if it’s only for 15 minutes, it happens a lot more often than dinner does. Plus, it’s not only a good habit for my girl, but also for my husband and I since research shows that people who eat breakfast tend to have healthier weight .
Now, how do we actually make sure that we get in the four essential nutrients we need — calcium, potassium, vitamin D and dietary fiber — every day for breakfast? Yes, a simple bowl of cereal with fruit does provide those four nutrients, but how do we make sure we add variety to every morning while making breakfast easy and simple?
5 Ideas to Make Breakfast Easy
1. Set the table night before and have one less thing to worry about during the morning rush. Seeing the table ready also encourages the little ones to sit and feel it’s part of a comforting routine.
2. Keep fruits like berries, mangoes and even unpeeled bananas frozen and ready to pop into a blender for a nutritious smoothie anytime.
3. Make pancake and waffle batter and freeze it in small batches. We love crepes, and they are so easy to make and even perfect for on-the-go!
4. Make hard boiled eggs in advance. My girl loves helping to peel and put salt on them. They’re also easy to grab and go for those mornings when sitting down at the table just isn’t an option.
5. Have a stock of nutritious cereals in the pantry and serve a bowl with berries and/or slices of bananas.
Would love for you to share in the comments below how you make breakfast happen at your house during the school year?
{Photo by goforchris on flickr}
Disclosure: We are one of the Kellogg’s Champions of Great Starts bloggers and proud to have Kellogg’s as a SpanglishBaby sponsor.
Mornings are the craziest time of the day for us. Working full time with 2 kids in daycare doesn’t give us the time to sit and have breakfast as a family as often as we would like.
Something I like to do is to make extra pancakes/waffles when we eat them during the weekend. I freeze the left overs and either pop them in the toaster or in the microwave to defrost when needed.
- My son loves oatmeal, so when we do have a few minutes to make it, we usually don’t have the time to eat it because it is hot. So, I put frozen berries on the bottom of the bowl to make it cooler (and more nutritious) faster.
-Overnight oatmeal: this is different but interesting. I put oatmeal (uncooked) in a bowl, milk, cinnamon and put in the fridge overnight. In the morning I add almonds, dry cranberries, or anything else you like and it is ready to go or eat.
- Something else I have been wanting to try is oatmeal in the crock pot overnight. I’ve read you can put it in either the very low heat setting or in the warm setting and leave it there overnight. It is ready by morning.
- Sometimes (when I remember), in addition to setting the table at night, I put the cereal already in the bowls and cover them with a napkin. All I have to do in the morning is pour the milk and drinks.
- On the days that there is absolutely no time to sit and eat, I just have my son drink his milk and I pack his dry cereal in a container and he eats it in the car. These are my least favorite mornings.
I look forward to reading more ideas!
These are all great ideas, Ana!
I particularly love the overnight oatmeal. You can also prepare it with apple juice and the next day mix it with greek or plain yogurt, honey and nuts. So good!!
Yogurt with granola and fruit is an easy go-to. A piece of toast with jam and a banana also does the trick. Cereal always works. My son is crazy for bagels with vegetable cream cheese – so I toast a half and with that and some fruit, he’s good to go. I also usually give a small cup of smoothie in the morning. He has about 20 minutes to eat then I help get him dressed, teeth brushed and out the door! Will switch to oatmeal in the cold weather! Like the post!
Thanks for the suggestions Kelly! We definitely do a lot more oatmeal during the “cold” LA days. We eat ours with lots of cranberries.
I’ve been thinking about doing the smoothie in a to-go cup instead so she can drink it in the car on the way to school.
When we are in a hurry or if I have an early meeting, I pack an egg, chopped tomato and cheese sandwich early in the morning. By the time we head out, the sandwich has cooled and my son eats it on the way to school in the car.
Oh, I want this for ME! LOL!
If only I could get my girl to eat tomatos! I can’t blame her, though, because I detested them as a child and now I love them. She’ll come around
I also do the waffles w/blueberries no topping in a bag and run out the door. To catch a bus. When time permits we will do cereal.
Waffles in a bag? Ha! Love it!
I love the idea of freezing berries and bananas for a smoothie…for some reason, I always forget about freezing simple things!
One favorite in our house is trail mix (like Planters Energy Mix) and yogurt. Great protein-filled start to the day!
Thanks for the great ideas. I’m in the same boat now that my son has started preschool.
I lobe the way that these tips are time saver too. I was wrong when I thought that these are the easy to prepare breakfast but its actually about being advanced. Yay, no skipping for breakfast anymore!