Avoiding UPFs at breakfast

[Ayechinnyreckon]

After breakfast we eat virtually no UPFs but the kids breakfast is a huge issue.

They wake early and are hungry. They're 9&6 so can be trusted to go downstairs, get themselves some cereal and occupy themselves in the morning until we get up.

They eat cereal and pastries mainly until we get up and make a more substantial breakfast if they want it) 90mins - 2 hours later.

AIBU to want quick and easy breakfast that the DC can get themselves? So I don't have to get up at 5.30!

Creamy rice pudding and a banana
😋

Oats are great- Slow cooker porridge, baked oats (loads of recipes, I do a yogurt based one with no refined sugar), wholemeal toast, peanut butter and banana (you can get peanut that's got nothing in only roasted peanuts), Bircher muesli pots, homemade granola (find a recipe without a sky high sugar content), egg muffins (like mini frittatas),,

Ah. Then why the aversion to getting a toaster? It would mae things much easier. They only cost a tenner and a small one doesn't take up much space.

We make banana ‘flapjacks’ - bananas, nut butter and a squidge of something else sweet (honey/dates etc) in the blender then stir in oats to a flapjacky consistency and bake until they look cooked. Super easy and the kids love them.

@Ayechinnyreckon ah brill, I do too! Although usually only for packed lunches, but seeded homemade bread with some butter would be another one to add to the list. There's a lovely recipe on the Panasonic website.

What about a making a large container of banana and blueberry baked oats like that in the picture and they can help themselves to a chunk. It should last at least three days in the fridge.

I also make my kids banana muffins - they have butter, dates, spelt flour, bananas, eggs & blueberries. And a bit of bicarb! Super easy and a batch lasts about 3 days.

You don’t have to make your own bread op - sourdough from a proper (hipster haha) bakery is non UPF. Also Gail’s etc from the supermarket - check labels obv. And don’t get bread from the supermarket ‘fresh’ bakery bit - they don’t have to provide ingredient lists there for some reason and it will likely have UPF oils in.

@MumWifeOther do you have a link to that recipe please?

Recipe link please! Sounds yummy!

Shredded wheat or one of those health food brand cereals without any weird ingredients. Or porridge. Home made bread? Pancakes that they could heat up in microwave?
Fruit and natural yoghurt?

No aversion - we didn't own one growing up so it's just not something I've ever really considered having, but I'm not against them!

@Ayechinnyreckon
Do you know, your children are not coming to any harm eating what they do. It's all another big hype, and as long as they are eating healthily the rest of the time the they will be fine.
Back when mine were children cereals were full of sugar, and yet in their 30s now and have never had any work on their teeth , they are ultra healthy and so are any other person from that time I know.
Just wait it out and there will be another demon to scare the poop out of mums.

I eat as natural as possible, but the obsession with UPFs is leading people to discount perfectly ok foods, healthy foods in some cases

The problem we have in this country is that we eat too much, too often and I agree that gut health is important in terms of how our bodies function but its about over consumption not some consumption.

No one is 'triggered' that is a ridiculous thing to say, there is balance being pointed out to OP and lots of ideas have been put forward.

" No, not all bread is ultra-processed:

Bread made with basic ingredients
Bread made from wheat flour, water, salt, and yeast is processed, but not ultra-processed.

Sourdough
Sourdough is made from flour, water, salt, and a starter culture, and is considered nutritious and easy to digest.

Wholegrain bread
Wholegrain bread is minimally processed and made from flour from fully intact grains, including the bran and endosperm.

Bread that contains emulsifiers, colorings, or preservatives is considered ultra-processed. "

I enjoy baking (and cooking generally) so I do make my own bread and apart from at uni almost always have.

I guess I assumed, given their awareness of UFPs, that OP is choosing cereals which do have nutritional value… could be wrong though.

Anyway my point was more about the quantity of food - I would think cereal or a pastry is sufficient enough for a young child that they don’t need a whole other breakfast 2 hours later. I’m a grown adult and I have 2 weetabix with milk at 7am then a piece of fruit around 10am and that sees me through until lunch at 1pm.

I eat as natural as possible, but the obsession with UPFs is leading people to discount perfectly ok foods, healthy foods in some cases

Like what?

"leading people to discount perfectly ok foods, healthy foods in some case"

Which are the healthy UPFs iyo? Wholemeal bread?

I make it myself and have never followed a recipe but roughly this is it -

125g melted butter
add about 16, allow to soften
mash in 2 very soft bananas - I use a potato masher but if you have a food processor even better
1 cup spelt flour
2 eggs (room temp)
handful blueberries (or can use raisins, figs, whatever you fancy)
1 tsp bicarb
(I often add 1 tbsp maple syrup just to make it runnier)

mix everything well and divide into 12 muffin cases. Bake at 180c for 15-20 mins until fork comes out clean!

store in an airtight container

My kids love them!

@hazelnutvanillalatte she said likely not definitely, and I'm not sure where you've lifted that from but a lot of whole grain bread is UPF, and not all sour dough is UPF free. There's majority of supermarket bread is UPF, and bloody bad for it too.

Yes, but I meant all supermarket bread because we don't all have access to artisanal bakeries. Isn't supermarket wholegrain bread usually UPF? Sourdough can be hard to find.

I think "eating natural" is a good name for what I mean. I've not actually read Dr van tullen (had to look him up for this thread) so I think I just got my terminology a bit mixed up.

Basically I want some more natural, less junky, higher protein breakfast options for kids to manage independently!

Could you make some banana bread or muffins with almond flour and eggs and honey? That would keep them satisfied but not be UPF.

Personally, I don't think a bowl of cereal will hurt them! I loathe most UPFs but sometimes get cravings for rice krispies or cornflakes because they have loads of added B vitamins that can be hard to find in most foods.

The problem with this country is that people eat too much shitty processed food. Pick up a standard loaf of bread and check the ingredients! Bread should be flour, water, salt, yeast. Adding sugar, e numbers, gluten etc etc is absurd and very much the norm. There needs to be a serious overhaul and people need to be educated on the dangers of UPFs.