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?

[ppeatfruit]

sorry Log It's not true about fruit I've lost 3 stone just eating fruit for my breakfast I often make a smoothie with ground almonds. If you eat fruit on an empty stomach it's fine, it has fibre and plenty of vitamins and minerals, also the sugar takes far longer to digest than in juice.

[bryte]

We went cold turkey on cereal a few months ago. We have: greek yoghurt, fruit, honey and chopped hazelnuts twice a week; sausages and beans 1 morning; boiled egg and seedy bread another morning; scrambled eggs and bacon another day; porridge on one day per week. My DD2 wouldn't eat porridge before we went cold turkey on cereal but has happily eaten it without complaint. She likes it with flavoured yoghurt added and blueberries added. On a Sunday we have a less healthy day and make waffles or pancakes, but we still have fruit with those.

No-one has complained about the lack of cereal in the house. We do have to be a bit more organised but it pays off. I find I don't feel hungry until lunchtime.

[lildottie]

thanks log but I don't do salad more than I don't do fruit. I love veg though so I'm thinking I might try scrambled eggs with mushrooms onions and peppers, or omelettes. my motivator for trying to ditch the cereal was when I started looking at low GI diet, I never expected my weetabix to be high GI! I think with fruit I'm just lazy. I will eat it if someone puts it in front of me...I just can't be bothered with all the peeling and chopping!

[Logarhythm]

Well done on losing weight Ppea but I'm confused by your suggestion that I posted something that was untrue about fruit, can you clarify because I never said you couldn't lose weight eating fruit, you can lose weight eating anything you like....just not a lot of anything you like.

All I said was your health is not going to suffer from a lack of fruit if you eat veg - I never mentioned weight gain or loss. Eating healthy food is not always about losing weight.

[Logarhythm]

Lildottie - have you tried doing all the peeling and chopping in one go - in advance? I do this with lettuce and then store the leaves in the salad spinner - the keep fresh for 4 or 5 days.

Or using frozen fruit - defrost in the microwave as you need it....no need for chopping or prep and no waste!

[cruikshank]

What a great thread this is - loads of lovely ideas, and many of them so quick too! Mine take a little longer, but here goes:

Huevos rancheros is a nice weekend breakfast (I say weekend because it takes longer to prepare than porridge or berries with yoghurt and honey which is what we eat during the week). Recipe here:

www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/eggs-recipes/mexican-breakfast

Also there is a really lovely Madhur Jaffrey recipe that is similar ie uses a spicy tomato base, but the difference is that you beat the eggs together first and then pour them into the tomato mix, so that they scramble. Also eggs baked in the oven with tomatos and spinach, with the egg in a little well and a bit of grated cheese on top of the egg.

[Lyttelma]

We eat super-spartan Scottish porridge here! Yum yum yum. 1 measure oats to 2 measures water, and a pinch of salt. And that's it for me - nothing else. No milk, no sugar DS has lifelong aversion to this after Scottish DFather gave it to her cold when she didn't finish her breakfast as a child Though DD gets hers with milk, and a bit of honey stirred through.

Bircher muesli (I'm suspecting this is overnight oats?) as an alternative - oats, soaked overnight in water then grated apple for sure, plus anything else we can find. Grated pear, mashed banana, yoghurt, bit of honey, some seeds, almonds if we have them. It is really good with toasted coconut & flaked almonds . Even the porridge-averse sister will eat this stuff. Yum.

[ppeatfruit]

Well a lot of diets suggest to not eat fruit to commence with Log There's really no need to give it up is what I was saying, the sugar (which is unrefined and due to the fibre and vitamins much better for health than the usual white stuff.)

Talking about health I have all my own teeth and am never ill !

[ppeatfruit]

Oh sorry I'm old too

[SnottySundays]

onlychildinreality I use this:

Per person: 1/3 cup oats, 1/3 cup milk, and 1/3 cup natural yoghurt, with 1 tablespoon of ground seed mix (flaxseed and the like).
Mix together, then add fruit as desired! Chopped mango and strawberry is nice, grated apple and sultanas and cinnamon is also lovely. Mix the fruit in and leave covered in fridge overnight.

Overnight oats is basically the same as Bircher muesli, I think.

[lildottie]

was going to try overnight oats. I always have oats in the cupboard. but apparently not today. guess I'll buy some tomorrow then!

[RonaldMcDonald]

Sliced fruit and yoghurt with some ham roll ups
Ham and cheese roll ups
Omelette or scrambled eggs work better at mine unless of course it is boiled egg and soldiers

We do porridge for the smallest one and me

[Anomaly]

This has been a great thread as I'm trying to do what I can to improve breakfast. Are any cereals ok? I think if I throw them all out there will be a riot. I was thinking of keeping weetabix, shredded wheat and museli.

What about any of the following:
rice krispies
cornflakes
multigrain shapes
multigrain hoops

[Logarhythm]

Anomaly - oats are fine..the more processed the less nutritious - unless you count the added vits and minerals and you might as well give your dcs sugar and a mutli vit - and added vitamins are always second best to real food.

[lildottie]

that link log put up a but further back explained the cereal history really well and definitely changed the way I think about cereals. it put me off my weetabix! my overnight oats are in the fridge.

question - are there any bad oats/oat brands? I usually just buy the supermarket own value ones as they list just oats on the ingredients, is this the best ones to buy?

[Surfsup1]

CharlotteCollins The recommended intake of sugar for children 4-8yo is 3 teaspoons per day. If they have a whole teaspoon of that in their breakfast it's going to be pretty hard to keep the rest of the day in check.

[Surfsup1]

And you're right, bread is really no better. Any starchy food is going to be largely converted to sugar by your body.

[Logarhythm]

Oats are fine - the less processed the better, because once the factories get hold of you food, you are losing nutrients and gaining a whole load of rubbish and you are paying for that privilege. Try a few out - bake flapjacks with the unsuccessful applicants!

I doubt there a kid in Britain who sticks to the 3 tsp of sugar a day? That's not including starch or naturally occurring sugar in fruit though is it?

Starch is not the enemy. It depends on your goals....if you are concerned with your gut health have a look at resistent starch.

www.marksdailyapple.com/the-definitive-guide-to-resistant-starch/

www.marksdailyapple.com/resistant-starch-your-questions-answered/#axzz3A9dS5nyj


But it's important to remember that while we use the term healthy diet frequently it means different things to different people because everyone has different needs and goals. It is not about losing weight but it can be if that's what your goal is.

My kids are skinny, verging on the underweight, they don't have massive appetites, I want to ensure they get a full suite of nutrients into their bodies, with loads of fuel to energise them through the day and I want to avoid needless additives and other rubbish.

I limit their exposure to wheat products because due to lots of hereditary conditions in my family, I feel it's not a particularly healthy product to consume lots of, so I wouldn't be happy with them having wheat 3 times a day - easier than you think - breakfast cereal, sandwich for lunch, pasta for dinner. They may choose a wheat option at school next year for lunch and I will try to make sure their other two meals do not contain wheat - it's a loose rule...I just take it into account when I am meal planning.

Have a look at the ingredients in your average sliced loaf, if you thought Felicity Lawrence did a hatchet job on Breakfast Cereals she is equally damning on most commercially produced sliced bread. After reading her description in her book Not on the label10 years ago, I bought a bread machine.


Anyway I'm contemplating investing in a waffle maker, my dcs like variety and I provide it to steer them away from processed junk.

This week we're on holiday, all bets are off and the dcs are allowed their choice of boxed cereal but it's not being eaten, instead they are choosing huge chunks of watermelon and pain au chocolate - and while the latter is hardly saintly it does show that the forbidden fruit doesn't always have the most appeal.

[lildottie]

log how often do you use your bread maker? I love mine but the recipes in it are all full of sugar and I'm yet to find s recipe without it that doesn't go rock solid within half an hour!
I'm still sat in bed atm but will let u know the verdict on my first overnight oats shortly!

[Logarhythm]

We don't eat bread very much any more but I tend to make rolls once a week. I don't use sugar in my recipe, it seems to work fine without it. Dcs don't like wholemeal so I use white - often half strong white, half white spelt - less water needed when using spelt. I would like to get a good all spelt recipe.

My basic recipe for a white loaf is

500g white strong flour
1tsp doves farm yeast
Large pinch of Maldon seasalt
A splash olive oil - usually around 40-50g
350ml water

If using half spelt, you only need 320-330ml of water....it's something you need to hone a little to your own preference.

Dough cycle and then I make rolls or a loaf and bake in the oven. I stopped using the bread machine for the full cycle a long time ago. Bread made using the kitchen aid is better but I never get around to doing it that way. Same recipe for pizza bases.

[onlychildinreality]

Thanks snotty! I'll give that a try.

[ppeatfruit]

Like you Logar We now cut wheat right out of our diets because of exhaustion and bad mood issues. Ther's a book called Wheat Belly That explains a lot about it.

We buy spelt\Kamut bread and pure rye. I also make Kamut and rye bread sometimes which is lovely, it's the same as your recipe but using Kamut flour instead of wheat flour. I do it by hand and interestingly needs less kneading but more rising!

Anomaly We have the occsional pack of Rice Krispies and or organic corn flakes ( I hate the thought of GM corn).

[ppeatfruit]

The book is by William Davis M.D. Sorry I mean a bit like you Logar

[lildottie]

evening all. I trued the overnight oats this morning! and whilst I think I went a bit OTT on the cinnamon I live the concept. dh is not a cereal or porridge person but he gave it a go. think he needs a little more convincing! any ideas what I could put in it with blueberries. I did snottys 1/3 each milk oats and yoghurt with blueberries and cinnamon last night. have just put blueberries in tonight.
definitely going to givevthay bread recipe a go log. dmi has switched to spelt as its better for her ms so I have a bit in the cupboard

[SnottySundays]

lildottie banana goes well with blueberries, also pear is quite nice. Mango? Dunno about nuts, I don't eat the things, but someone else might?