Like many people, you may find it hard to prepare a nutritious breakfast for your child in the morning as you are rushing out the door. You’ve probably heard, too, that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, yet too many Americans skips breakfast. Encourage your child to eat breakfast daily while they are young to foster the habit of making breakfast a part of their everyday routine.
Listed below are some quick and easy breakfast ideas for your child (and maybe even yourself!) when you’re on the run.
Seven Fast & Easy, Child-friendly Breakfasts
- Monkey taco: Take a piece of whole wheat bread, spread with peanut butter, place a whole peeled banana on top of bread, and wrap the bread around the banana like a taco — no plate required!
- Hardboiled egg & an apple: Keep boiled eggs in the fridge for a quick ‘grab- and- go’ protein source. Add a piece of fruit and you are set.
- Breakfast in a baggie: Combine some Cheerios or other whole grain cereal, dried fruit, and unsalted nuts in a small baggie and let your child munch without a mess.
- Tortilla roll-up: Spread hummus on a whole wheat tortilla, top with shredded carrot and cucumber cut into thin strips, and roll up.
- Yogurt parfait: Put one cup yogurt in a cup the night before, and before you leave the next morning top with granola and chopped fruit. Voila!
- Whole wheat toast & peanut butter: Spread toast with natural peanut butter or an alternative like almond or sunflower butter.
- Better-than-instant oatmeal: Make a large batch of old fashioned oatmeal over the weekend. Portion out into individual bowls and store in the fridge. In the morning, just heat in the microwave…even quicker than preparing instant oatmeal and has less sodium! Top with a splash of milk, one tablespoon chopped walnuts, one tablespoon of raisins and dash of cinnamon.
Tips:
Try including some vegetables with breakfast. There is no rule that excludes veggies at breakfast, yet most people don’t consider them a breakfast food. How about carrot sticks, broccoli florets, and bell pepper slices dipped in plain yogurt seasoned with herbs and garlic, or add spinach to a smoothie.
Topping your child’s peanut butter toast, oatmeal, or cereal with 1-2 tablespoons of ground flax seed is an easy way to include some healthy omega-3’s in their diet.
If your child can’t have peanut butter, consider trying different nut butters like almond or sunflower butter. They are often a bit more expensive than peanut butter, but still tasty and convenient.
