It's a healthy breakfast thread!

[fuzzpig]

Really determined to finally ditch (or at least reduce) the cereal. The DCs only like really sugary/chocolatey stuff

I'm thinking of switching to cereal only at weekends.

DD (7) is fairly easy going and loves eggs, but DS (nearly 5) won't eat them. Well, he will eat a little bit, but only with dramatic sighs and eye rolling and I don't think it's worth the stress in the mornings.

He likes cheese on toast - decent wholemeal bread with seeds with either Red Leicester or cheddar. That's better than cereal right?

Not sure what else to do really. Neither will eat porridge no matter how I do it.

I like the idea of fruity pancakes and stuff but is that actually any better in terms of sugar?

Cheese on toast is a great breakfast! My DS has it often in the mornings, sometimes with (reduced sugar) baked beans, or with a slice of ham under the cheese. Fills him up far longer than when we used to offer cereal.

Pancakes are a good idea. I often do them with a very ripe, mashed banana instead of any sugar. Okay, it's still technically sugar but hopefully a bit better for them as it's fruit rather than refined? (I may be kidding myself!) Also, it has egg in so probably more protein than cereal.

DD likes toast and cream cheese or fish pate for breakfast. Yes, seems weird but she's a right fussy 2 year old with few acceptable foods so we don't question it!

Eggy bread? Would your DS try that?

DD, DSD and I looooove French toast but DS doesn't for some reason! Not sure it'd be much better anyway TBH the amount of cinnamon sugar I put on it

I feel reassured about cheese on toast thanks :o I am happy to cook stuff as I am trying to get up earlier anyway, will be worth it if it's healthier! They are hungry the instant they wake up so I'd need to be organised.

Interesting about replacing the sugar with banana, I had no idea you could do that! Is that American style pancakes? I've tried putting oats in the batter before for English style, but can't do that if DH is with us (coeliac)

Go with me on this one, but we had tofu smoothies last week for breakfast and my 6 yo liked them. High protein, healthy, nice. Soft or silken tofu, frozen raspberries, half a banana, bit of juice. Blend.

I also sometimes do Bircher muesli, which is oats mixed with a grated apple, yogurt and milk or juice. Needs to be left in fridge over night for oats to soften. I sometimes put puréed mango (from a tin) in there too. Serve with milk and a bit of maple syrup or brown sugar.

I love eggy bread too but I prefer it more savoury. Sprinkle with Worcestershire sauce. Sounds odd but my dad did this when we were little so it's the only way I'll eat it now!

Yes, the pancakes are thick American type ones. They work well with gluten free flour too. Tried that a few times. Not quite as fluffy but the DC didn't notice.

Oh, and we have done Parmesan chicken strips for breakfast before. Chicken breast, cut into strips, rolled in grated Parmesan. You can freeze them and they'll cook from frozen in less than 10 minutes. That's an Annabel karmel.

I think it helped once I stopped thinking of breakfast as being only certain 'breakfast' foods, and started thinking of it as just another meal of the day. And eating a bit more protein first thing definitely helps keep us going longer.

and the DC even have fish fingers occasionally... well, fussy DD asks for them everyday and I ration it down to once a week

favouritepants I love Bircher muesli. Haven't had it in ages. Thanks for the reminder. I'll do that tomorrow night for Tuesday.

I have a toddler and these are the sorts of things she gets for breakfast:

Poached egg with boiled buttered new potato chunks, fruit
Porridge with honey, fruit
Wholemeal pitta with cheese, cherry toms & cucumber
Berries & greek yogurt
Beans on toast
Smoked salmon, pitta bread/toast, cherry toms, cucumber
Banana & pecan nuts in pushchair due to refusing all food until we were actually leaving the house!
Homemade scones with butter (made by DH on a saturday)

hth

Ooh good idea for a thread. We have:-

Porridge with frozen raspberries (defrosted in microwave) / lemon curd / jam / cinnamon / honey / fruit compote (apple or plum usually) / banana (not all at once though )
Egg - scrambled,boiled, fried or omelette
Homemade granola - this recipe with sugar reduced to 35g Granola
Wrap with cheese
Baked beans on toast
Cheese on toast
Eggy bread
Fruit salad

Have thought these might be good - they keep quite well and stay moist (unlike other recipes I have tried) Carrot cheese pancakes

Lots of ides here too Shake up your wake up

I want to cut down on cereals too, because the DCs devour so much of the stuff and it goes in no time.

I have very little idea what constitutes too much sugar in cereal, though. I try to stick to ones which say under 10 % of your/kids' recommended daily amount, which still allows things like cheerios and cookie crisp. If it's got 5g of sugar in a portion, then that's 1tsp, which is what I'd put in their bowl of porridge anyway. Then again, cereal company's idea of portion size and my DC's ideas might be quite different...

Any thoughts, anyone?

Cheese on toast sounds a marvellous breakfast! Have you ever put sweetcorn under the cheese? My DCs love it - and I love any way of getting some fruit and veg into breakfast.

Super Nutritious, Gluten & Dairy Breakfast Pancakes...

I banana
1 egg
Tsp of Linseeds & or Sunflower Seeds,

Blitz together to make a batter,

Drop batter into smallish rounds onto a medium hot griddle or frying pan - think drop scone or cookie size. - this makes Aprox 5, which is enough for 1 x 11 yr old (or adult) portion

Whilst still wet sprinkle with sesame seeds

Turn & cook other side when you can see they are beginning to cook through - about a minute

Served drizzled with a little blackstrap molasses,

Honey, Agave or maple syrup will do, but don't have the calcium etc that molasses does.

DD loves these, they are packed full of all the good stuff they need, such as protein, vitamins, calcium & other important minerals & taste sweet & like they shouldn't be healthy at all .- they are quick & very easy to make

& even her fussy eater friends wolf them down too

Place marking for that recipe Rockin, sounds delicious.

My DDs like natural yoghurt with chopped fruit, banana/apple/berries not defrosted and a handful of granola. I make mine with almonds and honey, sesame seeds when DD2 isn't looking. Also pancakes with fruit, or with bacon. One will eat scrambled eggs when there is time.

We gave up cereals 3 years ago, along with fruit juice. It doesn't mean they eat a lot less sugar, although it's likely - we just focused on real food, everything is from scratch, even the bread. They get cereal and pain au chocolat/croissants, when we're on holiday or a at Christmas.

They eat crepes, American pancakes, bacon & eggs, potato bread, eggy bread, smoothies made with frozen fruit and full fat greek yoghurt, porridge with double cream and cinnamon, homemade granola, bacon sandwiches, poached eggs, boiled eggs, leftovers, muffins, sausages, greek yoghurt with fruit, kedgeree and shakshuka at the weekends.

My DC are young (2.4 and 9 mo) so I still fret a lot about sugar and salt.

DH makes them rolled oats and banana pancakes at the weekend - no sugar as the banana is enough.

During the week they love porridge made in the slow cooker overnight. For some reason it acquires this creamy pudding like texture and taste... and again no added sugar.

Blah should've said;oats replace part of the flour in pancakes and slow cooker porridge is pinhead (the actual grain, not the steel cut oats)

With toast as a base you can agg

scrambled egg for the one who will eat it
cheese you have done, but have you tried 'milk cheese'? Put a pan of milk on the hob, about 1/2 - 1 mug full and crumble in some crumbly cheese and let it melt - pour over the toast as you would beans
baked beans with or without sausage
ham and cheese

Do you have a toastie maker?

Logarythm what do your DCs drink now that you've given up fruit juice?

rockin those pancakes pancakes sound great! Looksikr that's my breakfast sorted!

My DCs just have water or milk to drink now.

Thanks for all the new ideas BTW! :o

Toast and peanut butter (or almond butter)
Greek yogurt with blueberries and chopped bananas

Our pancake recipe:

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup ground almonds
Cup milk
X2 eggs

No sugar

Pearl barley porridge with cinnamon, nuts, fruit etc. Really filling and healthy.

Can I hijack the thread to ask all you porridge eaters for your recipes? I used to eat gallons of the stuff as a kid, made by my grandmother, but the recipe is now lost, and the stuff I've had since is horrible!

Porridge - 1 cup oats, 2 cups milk.easy

Yoghurt with fruit and chopped nuts.

A sandwich (toasted or not).

Popcorn (unsugared), a glass of milk and a piece of fruit.

Toast avocado and tomatoes.

Mixing a bit of unhealthy cereal with something healthier like muesli or shredded wheat?

Leftovers

Bubble and squeak