By Fredrica Syren:
A friend told me she has a hard time getting her 7-year-old to eat anything for breakfast each morning. I feel her pain, as all my three kids go through phases of being picky eaters. 
It can be both frustrating and difficult to feed kids in the morning. We are not only in a rush to get ready for school and work, but the kids also are perhaps more cranky because, after a long rest, their little bodies need food for energy to get into gear. It’s easy to give them a bowl of cereal and call it a day but, depending what kind of cereal we’re talking about, it might not be the best choice for a kid’s healthful breakfast.
Lots of cereals are just simple carbohydrates, which means they will get digested quickly, but because they lack fiber, the kids will be hungry again in one hour. If you’re going to serve cereal, serve whole grains and add a fruit (not juice) to it.
I have had to be creative when it comes to breakfast. Here are some healthy recipes I like:
Almond Butter Overnight Oats- Oats are well known for its health benefits and for being filling and this recipe can be done in advanced which is a plus in my book for busy moms.
Ingredients
- 1 large ripe/spotty banana, mashed
- 2 Tablespoons chia seeds
- 1 Tbsp. almond butter (or peanut butter)
- 1/2 cup gluten free rolled oats
- 3/4 cup almond milk
- ½ vanilla bean: slice open and scrape out seeds
Top with
- Fresh fruit and berries
- Coconut flakes
- Hemp seeds
- Bee pollen
- Maple syrup
- Cinnamon
- Cardamom
- Nuts and seeds
- Raw Cocoa nibs
Directions
- Mash the banana in a small bowl with the vanilla bean until smooth.
- Stir in the chia seeds until combined.
- Add the oats, almond milk and almond butter, and blend until well mixed.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Before serving, stir the oats to combine.
- Serve with all kinds of fun toppings from list above.
Smoothie Bowl— A smoothie bowl is a great breakfast, and you can be sneaky and add veggies to it. I like to serve my bowls topped with fruit, bananas, cocoa nibs and or bee pollen. I use frozen bananas in mine but it can be done with fresh bananas too.
Mango Smoothie Bowl:
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup filtered water
- 1 cup frozen mango
- 1 frozen bananas
- 1 tsp. wheat grass powder
- 1 tsp spiraling powder
- 1 Tbsp. hemp seeds
- Handful baby spinach
Directions
- Place in blender and mix until perfectly smooth
Chia Pudding-This is my oldest sons favorite breakfast and I just love topping chia pudding with lots of yummy things like granola, berries, coconut.
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk of your choice
- pinch of vanilla bean
- 1 1/2 tbs chia seeds
- 1 tbs maple syrup
Directions
Combine milk, chia seeds and maple syrup in a food processor or blender and mix for 1 minutes. In a small bowl stir in the raspberries and place in fridge overnight or an hour at least. Before serving sprinkle bee pollen over.
Yogurt Parfait–Yogurt is good but yogurt served in a mason jar topped with crunchy granola and sweet berries is a huge hit with my kids. I use unsweetened cashew yogurt so I like to drizzle a little maple syrup over for some sweetness.
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup yogurt
- 1/4 cup granola
- 1/2 berries or fruit of your choice
- 1/2 Tbsp. of maple syrup (optional)
Directions
Add yogurt first and then granola and top with fruit and drizzle maple syrup all over
Banana Buckwheat Pancakes — If I’m going to take the extra time to make pancakes, I like to make up batter the night before to cut prep time in the morning. They taste great with or without syrup.
Ingredients
- ½ cup raw buckwheat flour
- ¼ cup brown rice flour
- 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ¾ cup + 2 Tbsp. almond milk
- 2 Tbsp. agave nectar
- 1 Tbsp. canola oil
- 1 1/2 vanilla bean, split open and seeds used
- 1 medium and ripe banana, mashed
Directions
In a large bowl, combine buckwheat flour, brown rice flour, cornstarch and baking powder. Add almond milk, agave nectar, vanilla been seeds and banana, and blend. Cook pancakes on a slightly large nonstick skillet over medium heat.
