Blogging Baby Size Six: Easy breakfast ideas

by Stefania Butler (Subscribe to Stefania Butler's posts) Feb 22nd 2006 1:22PM

Categories: Toddlers, Preschoolers, Fun & Activities, Eating & Nutrition

Breakfast. It's the meal I dread preparing most. Mainly it's because I'm usually still a little pissed off that my three-year-old has woken me up by shoving a scratchy princess dress in my face exclaiming, "It's insiiiiiide out. Heeeelllllpppp meeeeeee!" Also because I haven't had my coffee yet when my kidlets are clamoring for morning sustenance. How I cannot wait until they are old enough to fend for themselves.

But—

I have perfected the art of the one minute breakfast. It goes something like this:

microwaved Krusteaz mini-pancakes (no trans fats) and Morningstar Farms (fake) sausage
toasted Van's waffles spread with peanut butter and honey (no allergy issues here)
Instant McCann's Irish oatmeal. (If you don't have a hot water dispenser, get one. It's life-saving.) Get the plain oatmeal and top with yogurt and/or honey. Fruit or the above fake sausage on the side
Cheerios and sliced bananas
Cheese sticks and pears
scrambled egg and microwaved ready-cook bacon or any "fakin' bacon" (the egg takes a minute and the bacon, about 10 seconds in the micro. Brilliant.)

How about you? How much do you hate making breakfast? What do you do to make the task easier? Please share your ideas.

[photo: PBSkids.org]

Comments (14)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Mandie 2-22-2006 @ 1:36PM

My daughter loves pancakes. if asked what she would like for breakfast the answer never varies. I precook- them usually with a weekend breakfast and ziploc for weekdays, serve with an apple/ banana /yogurt. thirty seconds

Wally's Dad 2-22-2006 @ 1:45PM

On a related note, if you have the time on the weekend to spend just a little more time making breakfast give the McCann's Steel Cut oatmeal a try. It seems pricey, at around $10-$12 a can in my area, but a little bit goes a long way. The steel cut oatmeal is fantastic, and nothing like the quick or rolled oats. It cooks to a wonderful porridge consistency and the texture is similar to a good risotto. The flavor is more like the natural nutty/grainy taste whole grains should have and with a little cream and brown sugar it's fantastic. The only drawback is that it needs to be cooked for a little while on the stovetop.

/Life would suck without the electric teapot at both the desk and the kitchen countertop...

ann adams 2-22-2006 @ 1:52PM

Now that they're older, weekdays are easy. The schools serve a nutritious breakfast - free. When they're off for vacations (this week), the biggest challenge is keeping eight boxes of cereal from being opened at once. I run out of sealed containers. Yes, I have rules about that like finish one before you start another, especially the same cereal but they still get carried away sometimes especially if there's a game or other cutout on the box.

We cook brunch together almost every Saturday; their choice within reason. Family time and it only takes me twice as long. Luckily, we have no allergies. Sunday mornings are usually oatmeal with dates and raisins. I get the big boxes of quick oats and add my own fruit. I'd love to do the instant but it's out of reach of our budget with three little pigs. One package for them would be an appetizer. That was good, grandma, now what's for breakfast?

I did the math on the pre-cooked bacon and was surprised. Allowing for shrinkage, it's not that expensive as a treat from time to time. Same with the pre-cooked sausage and I trust it more than trying to make sure the raw links are cooked thoroughly.

I make pancakes with Krusteaz (eight at a time in four or five batches), but I buy prepared waffles. And eggs, of course, five dozen at a time. I feed at least six people and quite often more.

Breakfast works very well for dinner too. We love breakfast.

thordora 2-22-2006 @ 2:42PM

sliced fruit and yoghurt. Give my kids a giant bowl of fruit, they go to town. It's GREAT. (except in winter when fruit isn't so cheap here...)

Meredith 2-22-2006 @ 3:19PM

We aren't as healthy as it seems all of you are. Although I will not allow my kid to eat PopTarts, she does eat fruit and granola bars for breakfast on school days. Also, she will share one of those Oatmeal to Go bars with her Dad (we call them Daddy Bars) and have a yogurt drink along side.

On weekends, we cook a big breakfast one day as a family. It is my favorite time of the entire week!

MamaGrouch 2-22-2006 @ 3:21PM

I cook real bacon in the microwave, just put the slices on a plate and cover with a paper towel to keep the grease from splattering (3 slices = 2 1/2 minutes on high).

Another favorite: Eggs Tortilla. Just rip a flour tortilla into 1" pieces and fry in a lightly greased pan until golden brown. Crack a couple of eggs in with the tortillas and scramble them all up together until the eggs are cooked. Takes 5 minutes altogether and is a bit more hearty than just scrambled eggs.

Bonnie 2-22-2006 @ 3:28PM

Yogurt!! YoBaby makes those cute toddler-size cups
which my son loves! If I run out of those, I'll thaw some frozen berries in the microwave (big bag of mixed berries from Costco) topped with some vanilla yogurt topped with granola. (Good grief that sound so hippie.)

Or, when I get in a groove, I'll bake (banana bread, pumpkin spice bread, morning glory) everything in muffin tins and throw them in the freezer for a quick nuke in the morning. My son thinks muffins are the bomb.

Like bananas, kiwis are also a perfect single-serving size fruit. And/or I'll buy some cut up fruit from the grocery store (or Costco) to save time & offer variety.

Oatmeal is another big favorite and doesn't take too long. And I just found some single serving packs of organic instant oatmeal that can be made in one minutes. You can find them at, you guessed it, Costco.

mommy2boys 2-22-2006 @ 6:21PM

for me it's usually no actual cooking involved -- either a bowl of cereal, an eggo waffle in the toaster, or a toaster streudel. about once a week i will make some orange rolls from those refrigerated can things. my boys love those and it only takes 10 minutes to cook. putting on the frosting takes a while, though, since C has to help...

Becca 2-23-2006 @ 12:51AM

My 3yo. likes to be awake for nearly an hour before he eats. Luckily for him and for me we don't have to go to school or anything so we can wait. We have our hot drinks, he has hot chocolate, and I have my coffee, then about an hour later we have breakfast. I'm more awake, and more likely to be ready to fix his favorite eggs with cheese. If I had to feed him right after we got up? Hmm I'd probably give him cereal, or something out of the toaster.

Michael Harrison 2-23-2006 @ 11:25AM

The steel-cut oats are certainly nuttier and have a much hardier consistency than the rolled oats, and they take quite a while to cook. I just cook up a big pot, maybe 4 or 5 cups of uncooked oats, on the weekend, and put it in single-serving tupperware containers for the week. Microwave, add your toppings (we love strawberry preserves), and you're good to go.

And if you have a Whole Foods or a co-op with bulk grain hoppers, they have have steel-cut oats at an absurdly low price. I usually just bring in my McCann's tin, fill it up from the bin, and usually pay about a quarter of the costs.

momma2mingbu 2-23-2006 @ 3:18PM

cold cereal with milk
Pop Tarts (did I really just admit that?)
apples, bananas, strawberries or blueberries
blueberry muffins or chocolate chip muffins
frozen waffles
toast with butter
on the days my 7 year old is dragging butt, he eats a granola bar at the bus stop
cinnamon rolls
bagel with cream cheese or peanut butter
cream cheese clouds (like a cinnamon roll with cream cheese inside)
French Toast
pancakes
turkey bacon sandwiches (toast or an English Muffin, cheese, turkey bacon and Miracle Whip)
English Muffins with butter and jam
Biscuits with butter and jam

Sandy 2-24-2006 @ 12:02AM

My toddler's favorites: Rice Cereal with canned fruit. Frozen Go-gurt. Yogurt with nuts (add a little water) and delivered in a Gerber Sport bottle or a cup with straw. Scrambled egg-whites. Toast with peanut butter and apple-butter (apple sauce with some melted butter, cinnamon and little nutmeg that we mix and refrigerate - great substitute for jelly/syrup and tastes great with muffins and pancakes). And of course, eggs and buttermilk pancakes on Sundays.

ana 4-27-2006 @ 6:12PM

1. Banana slices and grapes or banana plus yoghurt
2. Pasta (takes about 10 min to boil) sprinkled with little bit of cheese+any fruits I have
3. Tortellini or Raviolli(takes 2 min to boil)
4. Muffins (I like to make my owns)+milk
5. Sometimes I take 2 minutes to peel some vegetables (1 carrot, 1 potato etc, whatever I've got) and boil it for a nice puree. It really doesn't take more than 5 min.
6. boiled egg, cheese and cucumber

sherri 8-10-2007 @ 4:59PM

We eat yoguart, good for his belly and easy. We also eat fruit especially banannas or share a bowl of healthy type cereal. We live in the south so we eat Grits and biscuits a lot too. He has decided he does not like oatmeal, even the flavored instant type. I also have issues with getting him to eat vegetables.. sometimes. My husband tends to feed him more bacon and eggs type breakfast. I get into different phases of foods in the morning. I still have a bunch of blueberry waffles in the freezer from my last phase. I want him to try a large variety of foods and have a lot of interest in different cultures and foods.