Help! I need protein-rich, reasonably healthy breakfast ideas for my semi-picky 8 yr old. He is all about the carbs -- pancakes, cereal, waffles -- but I need to get more protein in him. There are a lot of breakfast staples he doesn't like (yogurt, oatmeal, peanut butter, bananas).
He does like eggs either scrambled or fried, and he likes breakfast meats such as ham, bacon and sausage.
Whaddya got?
Has he tried hard boiled eggs? I find hard boiled eggs a great item to keep in the fridge for a quick breakfast or for snacking, and you make them ahead so you don't have to cook in the morning. A hard boiled egg and some cheddar cheese make a good protein rich breaky.
Try him on whole grain waffles/pancakes.
You can add in 2 - 3 tablespoons steel cut oatmeal to the pancake/waffle mixes - it's a great way to sneak in some oatmeal.
Cheese omelets are good too.
Leftovers!
Or bacon, sausage or ham sandwich.
(There's no difference between a cold ham sandwich and breakfast ham & toast, right?)
There is no reason he can't have other things for breakfast. My son liked left over pizza
chili
beef stew
pot roast etc.
Bagels with cream cheese
scrambled eggs on toast with a slice of cheese
Hot dog on a bun
Turkey sandwich
Breakfast just means to break your fast so any food will do.
You could double (or triple) the egg whites in the pancakes or waffles as a way to get more protein. Or try adding greek yogurt into pancakes or waffles. You could make breakfast quesadillas with chicken, cheese, eggs. Or scramble ground turkey into eggs to add a little protein.
One other suggestion - just because most people eat certain foods (cereal, yogurt, etc) at breakfast, doesn't mean that you HAVE to subscribe to that. You could feed him lunch or dinner foods just as well. Just make sure you try to have your son eat a wide variety of real food: fruits, veggies, proteins, dairy.
Breakfast doesn't need to be "breakfast" food. I just ate a warmed up plate of last night's dinner for breakfast. You can do that, or make him a sandwich, soup, a hot dog, quesadilla or burrito, whatever her likes!
Breakfast burritos are a great breakfast idea!
I use 1 strip of bacon, 1 egg (scrambled), and 1 flour tortilla. Add a bit of shredded cheese and picante/taco sauce if your son likes it, and that is a good breakfast with lots of protein!
You can use sausage instead of bacon, or add other veggies if you want... depends on how complicated you want to make it.
Nothing wrong with eggs. They are very high in protein and not as high in cholesterol as once thought. I would limit the breakfast meats. They are fine once in awhile, but they are also very fatty and very high in cholesterol.
Does he like cereal? Some cereals are very high in protein and don't have too much sugar. I am amazed at how much one bowl of Cheerios can fill me up for hours.
My youngest is not a big fan of breakfast foods. He is, however, a huge fan of chocolate milk. I will often give him Carnation Breakfast Essentials. He's happy, and we actually get out the door on time.
Also, it really is ok to serve any healthy food (including dinner leftovers) for breakfast. As long as he's getting the nutrition he needs you're doing great!
Scrambled eggs done in the microwave are really quick and easy. Serve on whole meal toast. Otherwise healthy cereal such a wheat bix or all bran and a slice of toast is a great breakfast. There's no real need to do any cooking. We never cook breakfast except on weekends.
As long as my kids eat, they eat...and I'm happy. Some days they don't want to eat breakfast, and I want them to daily.
Saturday I made breakfast burritos for my youngest son and I, no one else wanted one. But scrambled eggs would be the same anyways. Quick and easy.
My kids like protein bars for a quick on the go grab meal.
Add nutella or peanut butter to toast, bagels, waffle, etc.
Toaster Struddels, pop tarts, waffles, frozen pancakes, frozen sausage biscuits, ham sandwich, pizza, etc...whatever gets food in their belly's when they wake up works in my book! My 11 year old even talked my into saying yes to an ice cream strawberry shortcake bar Saturday. That's fruit and dairy, right?? :)
Are you looking for quick, simple ideas due to school starting soon?
There are tons of microwavable options an 8 yr old can handle.
Breakfast burritos, sausage biscuit, breakfast corn dog (pancake with sausage middle).
Breakfast burritos made w/scrambled eggs. (You can add diced cooked
sausage if you want.).
Protein bars. (get a yummy chocolate one).
Protein chocolate shake
Breakfast burritos. Egg-in-a-hat. French toast and sausage; whole grain muffins with low-sugar and sausages or eggs.
My sister has a neat trick; she will make up a muffin batter, line her tin with paper cups, put a bit of batter into the cup and put the whole thing in the freezer. Then pops the cups out and stores them in a ziplock bag. She pulls them muffins out the night before to defrost in the fridge and then bakes off just as many as she needs in the mornings. Easy and there's built-in portion control (so you don't have a plate full of delicious muffins just sitting on the counter, calling you all day!).
Breakfast burritos - scrambled egg, refried beans, meat (sausage or bacon), cheese, salsa.
while you say NO to oatmeal - have you tried cookies!! Peanut Butter and oatmeal cookies! You can make them in a muffin as well...or you can make them into a 'bar' and add m&m's, chocolate chips (or carob chips)...yeah..I know it's funky - but it will get him to eat!
scrambled eggs with ham or sausage chopped up in it with cheese..
does he like toast? Put a slice of ham, cheese and maybe pineapple (if he likes it) on a piece of toast and toast it. It's sweet and tangy and yummy! (make sure you put it on foil in the toaster oven (we don't have a toaster - too limiting) - i toast the bread a LITTLE before I put the ham and cheese on it, it keeps it from getting soggy.
banana and blueberry pancakes....I know you said he doesn't like banana - however, when pureed and mixed with blueberries - you can get that in there.
Good luck!
You could add protein powder to his pancake or waffles...if you make them from scratch. Otherwise, you could mix it in with fruit and make a special topping other than cereal...
How about quiche? You can mix it up with an unlimited number of variations. You can make a regular sized one that will last several days so you can avoid cooking for several mornings in a row. Alternately you can make mini quiches in muffin tins and freeze them...easy to pop in the micro and also avoid cooking on busy mornings.
Quinoa is a good protein source. You can make breakfast versions with almond or coconut milk (or regular milk) and add a drizzle of maple syrup, some chopped nuts and fruit. There area also some good quinoa muffin recipes out there, that would cover his love of carbs and your desire for protein too.
Have you tried making him oatmeal pancakes? My daughters love them. We add organic strawberry jam on top.
I was going to say yogurt, we do the vanilla yogurt Dannan all natural mixed with fruit.
Breakfast does not have to be breakfast foods. We sometimes do Chicken or another meat. Nuts are a decent source of protein .
He will eat eggs, that is a good source of protein.
Cheese sticks
Protein bars
Good luck.
Try Special K protein plus cereal.
Eggs all the way. Full of protein. When I had gestational diabetes I ate a lot of hard boiled eggs for protein, and it turns out my daughter loves them. I make her two the night before and she has them for breakfast in the morning.
add protein powder to your pancake and waffle batter.
khairete
S.
Then feed him the meats....that's protein. Feed him the eggs, that's protein.
In my child care center we weren't required to offer meat at breakfast but I did have bacon on pancake day. They just go together.
And I like a sausage patty with my over easy eggs.
My rule is that they can choose the main item (cereal, waffles, etc) but then they have to choose a fruit to go with it. Then throw in juice or milk and it's a good meal. Often it's sugary cereal for my daughter and a bagel and cream cheese for my son. Find out what fruits he does like and keep the in stock. That, eggs, toast and juice or milk are a great go-to breakfast!
You can also let him eat non breakfast foods if he's interested in that sort of stuff - sandwiches, pizza, pasta, etc.
My kids love a waffle sandwich with cream cheese! Breakfast burritos are good, too. You can make up a batch of breakfast burritos (I do 12 at a time with scrambled eggs, cheese, black beans, and a little salsa) and freeze them. Wrap each one in a paper towel, then foil or put a bunch in a ziploc bag. Take it out, pull off the foil, pop in the microwave wrapped in the towel for 1.5-2 minutes.
Ham and cheese quesadilla on a whole wheat tortilla
Eggs, ham and cheese - as an omelet with whole wheat toast or as a breakfast sandwhich on an English muffin. Breakfast in about 5 minutes :)
