...to ask you about breakfast?

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My children are top loaders, they like a big breakfast and then hardly eat anything at dinner. It's always been this way and we largely just go with it now. So, breakfast is our main family meal where we all sit together and have a natter etc.

But...since starting school it's harder to fill DS up in the time available. We still sit together, but just don't have as long so overall DS eats less and as a result is often walking out the door to school saying he's still hungry. I thought by now maybe his appetite would have shifted so he would be more hungry in the evenings, but it hasn't happened. So I'm trying to find some filling, easy breakfasts which are going to give him energy for the day but can be consumed relatively quickly. Or even something which we could take with us on the school run, sort of a grab and go style loaf or bake type breakfast if such a thing exists?

Cereal doesn't seem to keep him full. Porridge does the trick better than most things, but noone wants to eat it every single day of the week even with different toppings etc. We tried overnight oats but no-one was a big fan.

Does anyone have any filling, healthy breakfast recipes which work for manic mornings?

YABU - just stick with cereal, his metabolism will shift eventually
YANBU - and here's a recipe you might want to try

Pre-made bacon, egg, cheese in an English muffin. Wrap in foil, paper/whatever Take them out of the fridge and heat in air fryer each morning.

I've never done it but I've always wondered about making breakfast wraps (sausage patties, bacon and a bit of omelette) in advance and freezing them and reheating in the oven. I might give it a go

I've got breakfast wraps down to a fine art without premaking.

Potato waffle in the toaster on max. Put down for a second run. Microwave a couple of quorn cocktail sausages (keep in freezer) or cook sausage patties and/or bacon in air fryer. Do a one egg omelette (if cooking for more than one adjust to your convenience) and assemble.

Or you could stick the sausages, bacon, waffles in the oven or air fryer so they don't need watching closely while getting dressed.

Typical Mumsnetter nagging behaviour, thank you so much for dissing my polite response

Look up egg muffins. You can make them in advance and then just warm them up or eat cold.

Overnight oats, another one that can be done in advance.

I wouldn't consider cereals a big breakfast as they're not filling and are over processed so just spike your blood sugar so no wonder he's hungry.

Instead go for overnight oats (we do a chocolate peanut butter one which has lots of protein from the peanut butter and the chocolate is just cocoa powder). We sweeten with honey and sprinkle seeds/nuts on top.

The other alternative is eggs/avocado on toast or an omelette with cheese/ham and spinach/mushroom.

Not the way I've decided to do it, hence thinking about different breakfast options but thanks for your opinion :)

Beans on wholemeal toast is incredibly filling!

Thanks for all the overnight oat suggestions, as mentioned in the original post none of us are a fan of cold oats. The texture doesn't appeal no matter what we do to it! Somehow it works warm as porridge, but cold is bleugh and DS agrees. Sadly he's also not a big PB fan. But am looking forward to trying the many other suggestions.

yes great idea!!! We do those for picnics but hadn't thought about it for breakfast. Same with protein balls someone mentioned earlier, used to do that a lot before the kids!! This has been such a helpful thread

Banana pancakes, my kids love them and they are super quick. It's a Joe Wicks recipe that I have been doing for years.
1 banana (riper the better), 1 egg and 25g oats per person, whizz together with a blender/hand blender. Dry fry (consistency and thickness of american pancakes) a few minutes each side. They are naturally sweet, I normally serve with yoghurt and fruit.

Another one: how about making a large Spanish tortilla at the start of the week? Pack it with eggs, cheese, potato and onion, slice it up and serve on the go for three-four days. Could add in ham for a bit of extra protein.

I think savoury things with mixed textures and colours will be best. So a good thick dark toast with toppings. Spanish omelette with something on the side , poached eggs, flatbread topped with fried up anything…I often make a yoghurt and aubergine paste and spread that on very crispy toast and add feta and balsamic. Lots of different flavours for my body to feel like it’s been well provided for!

Protein - eggs on toast, egg sandwich with cheese, egg burrito, all of the above with sausages or bacon some days too, ham and cheese sandwich/wrap/bagel, bagel with cream cheese/salmon/whatever.

I have been making baked porridge oat cake in a brownie tin which lasts a good 4 days for a family of 4 and can be eaten warm or cold - its so filling.
Mash up 3 ripe bananas with 2 eggs, 2 cups of milk, couple tbs of runny nut butter, then add 2.5 cups oats, 1/2 cup chopped nuts, 2 tbs brown sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp baking powder and pinch of salt. I like to add fresh blueberries or some chocolate chips. My children (and husband!) love it as it's like eating cake for breakfast!
I also like a savoury (spinach, carrot, cheese) muffin made with oats, easy to grab and go. Also baked egg cups, slice of ham in a muffin tray as a 'case', crack an egg in the centre, season and bake.

This. Protein is the way to completely fill him up.

You can make the overnight oats in the fridge, then in the morning microwave them or you can even prep baked oats and bake them either in the morning or the night before and then warm through.

I also found online someone that rather than layering it all up, they whizz everything except the oats down into like a smoothie, then add the oats, so you get colourful oats.

My daughter loves these but she actually opts out of the oats and just has egg and banana, she loves them and they can also be made in advance and then warmed up.

• Banana pancakes (put oats, egg, banana and milk, I often add chia seeds too into a blender then fry) -served with maple syrup and fresh fruit. Delicious, healthy and filling.
• Eggs any way!
• Smoothie bowl - make a smoothie of any kind, add into bowl with oats, chia seeds, cacao nibs, nuts.

These are what we usually alternate for breakfast. My toddler loves the smoothie bowls and banana pancakes.

Get everyone up a little earlier so there is time to cook and eat a big breakfast without rushing. Eggs are a good idea because protein helps to keep you feeling full, but if they're not popular any kind of easy protein will do. It doesn't have to be a 'breakfast' food. Beans, fish fingers, rice or pasta with tuna or something tasty from leftovers. Porridge is great but probably not enough on its own. Cheese on toast maybe?

I thought by now maybe his appetite would have shifted so he would be more hungry in the evenings, but it hasn't happened

It won't, I'm the same. I get so many comments about how "disgusting" it must be to have a big breakfast every day, how most people "can't even stomach breakfast at all" etc. The fact is, I'm a size 8, and healthy and NEED a big breakfast. I can even happily skip dinner. It doesn't matter how big dinner is. A big omelette and toast for breakfast and a substantial lunch, plus a soup in the evening is all I need. In fact, I can't sleep if I have a big dinner. I'm 35.

I have tried skipping breakfast or having a bit of porridge to fit in with how most British people eat and it doesn't work for me, I end up eating more throughout the day as I am famished.

Banana omelette pancake:
1 Mushed ripe banana
1 beaten egg
2 Tbs (ish) self raising flour (helps it rise)
Handful of seeds or nuts
3 Tbs (ish) oats

Mix into a thick batter

Cook like a pancake

Serve with fruit/yoghurt/syrup/Nutella or on its own!

Fruit smoothie - banana plus Greek yogurt then any other fruit you like and a bit of ice (or those ready frozen packs of fruit), put seeds on the top plus peanut butter on toast or bagel and cream cheese.

Back in the day mine enjoyed beans on toast, fishfinger sandwich (!) or oatcakes with cheddar cheese or peanut butter. All nice and filling.

I just assumed as OP said she was already too tired to think about breakfast recipes that maybe getting up earlier wasn't the preferred option 😅

I'm just off to make myself cheese on toast now, this thread has made me so hungry!!!

me too 😂

Yeah when his little sister starts sleeping reliably I'll be way more up for getting up earlier, but right now I can't face it.

I honestly don't think we're being slow in the mornings, but the time just disappears. We need to be out of the house by about 7.55, everyone is usually up by 6.30, I pack all the bags the night before, but...we do milk upstairs, then getting dressed, bushing teeth, getting hair sorted etc, then the adults need to get ready. So we sit down to breakfast at about 7.15ish. We also read with DS after breakfast/before school (tis hell on legs getting him to do it after school so this works for us). Basically leaves about 25 minutes to eat before we need to be getting shoes and helmets on etc. I don't want the poor kid to be inhaling the food so he manages either one bowl of cereal/porridge and a slice of toast in that time, maybe an additional yogurt. But because we leave so early there's lots of time to eat on the move if I have the right recipes. Which is where all these handy suggestions will come in nicely :D Though the other day I was organised enough to give him a snack for on the commute but he let go of it when the bike hit a pot hole 🙄😂

Keep meaning to bring the reading book upstairs so it could be something we do in bed before getting up and then it's out of the way, but seems to be a very slow habit formation going on from me! I blame the sleep deprivation.