Looking for Healthy Breakfast Ideas That Kids Will Actually Eat!

We like oatmeal and fruit for breakfast along with nuts and raisins. Another good item is peanut butter on toast and topped with applesause. AF

J.

Have you tried Weetabix? They are filling & healthy , plus you can add to them or have them by themselves. My kids will eat them with a banana or strawberries sliced on top. They are also good with kiwi , blueberries or raisins.

Hope this helps

K.

I have been making the French Toast recipe (in variation) from Jessica Seinfeld's book, Deceptively Delicious. She uses purees in most of her recipes, so if you didn't want to make your own purees, you could just get some baby food and use that.

French Toast (with Banana or pineapple or pumpkin or carrot or butternut squash) {I've been doing it with butternut squash and I absolutely love it... I've pretty much done my own thing by substituting the egg yolk you would normally use, for a big heaping spoonful of butternut squash puree)

Here's my variation:
1 or two large eggs (just the whites)
a splash of skim milk
a splash of vanilla extract
a bunch of shakes of cinnamon

Mix all that in a bowl
soak 2-3 slices of whole wheat bread (turning to get fully coated- don't soak longer than 1 minute or it'll get really soggy)

Then just cook on medium high heat on frying pan using nonstick cooking spray.

My son eats this up, and I love it too. The butternut squash makes it even sweeter, which is why it's a hit for kids.

I can email you the original recipe if you want, I just didn't want to put it here since I've never actually followed the recipe completely. She does say you can add flaxseed meal to the recipe to give it even more health benefits.

Good luck. I look forward to reading other responses to this question, as one can only eat so much French Toast before getting tired of it. ;)

Perfect Smoothies

Banana Chocolate
1 frozen banana (freeze in slice form)
chocolate soy milk (almost covering fruit in blender)
big scoop of vanilla soy yogurt
For Mom....
add a little very strong coffee/espresso for a morning kick

Blueberry Dreamsicle
+-3/4 cupfrozen blueberries
frozen banana (1/3 banana)
peach juice and vanilla soy milk (almost covering fruit)
vanilla soy yogurt
for a blueberry 'tart' sub. vanilla soy milk with more peach and a dash of lemon juice

Tropical Paradise
equal parts mango and pineapple (works best frozen but they might be hard to find in the store and who has time to freeze pineapples and mangoes....)
apple juice and orange juice to almost cover fruit
big scoop vanilla soy yog.
dash of peach juice
little bit of honey
*frozen raspberries are really good in this too but they have a bunch of seeds...

Using soy instead of dairy milk makes a great smoothie texture- milk tends to froth up in the blender, but the soy stays creamy and smooth. I wasn't really a big fan of soy milk at first, but in smoothies its Awesome! Plus, extra good for you. The kids won't know the difference, just say mmm, its chocolate! Using frozen fruit helps the texture, and keeps the smoothie nice and cold without adding ice or ice cream. Good luck!!

J.,
My kids love smoothies and what I do with them is use, milk, yogurt and carnation instant breakfast and if I have them I put in bananas. I have also found that my kids very much enjoy peanut butter and jelly waffles, I buy frozen ones and throw them in the toaster and instead of using butter and syrup I but peanut butter and jelly on them. My boys ages 5 and almost 4 will ask for these for lunch time too. Hope this helps.

I know you may be looking fo something new, but I want to add that cereal IS a healthy option for breakfast if you get the right ones!

Go for thr 5-5-5 rule, as close as you can get to 5 gms of protein, 5 gms of fiber and 5 gms of sugar. Obviously there is some give - Cheerios (plain) have 3 gms of protein and 3 gms fiber and only 1 gm of sugar which is great. Add fruit like berries and banana and it is good.

Kashi has good cereals (I think the heart to heart is right on 5-5-5, plus is in heart shapes) as well as the new Fiber one cereals. Some of the shredded wheat cereals and Barbaras too. I think the toasted oatmeal square cereal is also good. I am most stringent on trying to keep the sugars down. And no high fructose corn syrup!

You can also add wheat bran and/or wheat germ (my daughter is SO picky and does not complain about either of these things being added to pasta, cereal, etc.) to make them better - always try to add fruit. With the added protein, calcium and vit d from low fat milk it is a great breakfast!

Hi J., I've got alot to say, so be pacient and read on, this is a fav subject for me. Smoothie idea is great but can be work for a busy morning (unless someone has some shortcuts to share). You can always find recipes on line and use a sort of "standard" of old or really ripe bananas (when they get too dark to eat I freeze them and make banana bread or use in smoothies). Use frozen fruit (when on sale I stock up) with pineapple and mango and mix w/bananna, honey, vanilla yogert (I buy it in the large container and it's a staple in my fridge). We also enjoy peaches and strawberries and oj, any mix you find can be great, just remember to include a scoop of protein powder (I use soy, that I get at the Super Fresh or the Giant). I make these maybe once a week and on special test days. I also make sure I enclude a hearty muffin or bagle w/ cream cheese. On these days it's something like a more "healthy" and "stick to your ribs food" verses just waffles or pancakes out of the "box" that seems to not stay with them or us for vary long.
Remember complex carbs and protein will be more difficult to digest and will stay in the system longer. So on these smoothie days don't serve choc chip muffins (enough sweetness in the smoothie), it's a delicious wh/wh raisen bagle or muffin w/ cream cheese.
Another thing I have found alot of younger moms do is to offer choices. This isn't tourture or slop your giving them, it's delicious and nutricious and YOU DO know that it is tasty. Your kitchen is not a resturant, so this is what we are having today. If they want a choice tell them it's this or a bowl of Raisen Bran. I have 5 kids and my youngest 3 are left at home. I have to say, only one is emotional at breakfast time and gives me a hard time.
I also use the box pancake mix and "soup it up". I add another egg, or a scoop of protein powder again, then AT LEAST ONE OF THE following along with slightly processes old fashioned oats (again if it is too small like instant oatmeal it will digest too quickly and it's purpose isn't worth as much), chunky apple sause, mashed bannana, sliced or chopped fresh apple, blueberries or strawberries.
Cerial is good too only make sure you are not buying things with say, no more than 12 or 13 grahms of sugar, and chocolate is not appropriate for breakfast (certainly not for a school day, maybe a treat on the weekend or vacations). You can also find recipes for little egg cups that are fun, like little quiches. I make these in a double batch and freeze them in freezer bags. You can add what ever you like to these and even make them low fat or low carb. Our fav is crubled bacon, colby/jack cheese, finly chopped onion(don't tell the kids, they'll never know), and a little either spinich or broccolli in each cup. Again, a bran raisen muffin, or wh/wh toast, &jelly is great with this and a glass of milk or oj.
This is how I handle mornings. Keep in mind that most mas manufactured breakfast foods don't have the complex carbs and protein we need to stay full and satified for a couple hours. You also don't want to give them empty calories, that's how we turn into "c****** kids", because that 300 calorie breakfast they ate an hour ago ran right through them and now they want cookies at 9:30. Have fun, remember your the mom!

Here's a recipe I found online for Banana eggs... I don't care for eggs, and I like this.. I modified it for our tastes:

3 eggs: 2 bananas if they are big, if the bananas are medium small - 1:1 egg and bananas.
Optional: tsp Cinnamon or Vanilla or to taste

Blend until smooth in blender.

Pour in oven container to fit. For 3 eggs I use an 8x8, for 5, I use a 9x13. The thicker it is the longer it takes to cook.

Cook in preheated 350 deg oven until you can touch the top and it's firm... (for eggs). Usually takes mine about 15 min.

Also I use the old fashioned oil or spread and then flour in a pyrex dish... You can use what ever method is your favorite to keep things like that from sticking... spray, nonstick pan, etc.

I also make old fashioned oats in the microwave with just a tsp of sugar for 2 servings as listed on the box. I make them different, tho, so they don't get mushy or slimy like oats get when you cook them in liquid from the start.. I also use milk to make them so it helps get some protein in them.....Email me if you want my method.

Smoothie: chocolate Banana. Buy old bananas at the grocery store for like 1/2 price. Peel and freeze them broken in half. I don't know measurements, but we add a little milk, some bananas, some tofu (the wonderful thing about tofu is that you get protein but it doesn't change the flavor like yogurt does), cocoa powder, we use suganotte (not sure of the spelling, but get from a health food store) for sweetener, and of course ice. DELICIOUS.

For a fruit one: some real fruit juice (frozen), try blueberries for fruit, or mango or pineapple, some tofu for the protein, and of course ice.

We always add flax oil to smoothies for the good oil effect. 1-2 tablespoons to a large blender.

Oh, and we have gone through lots of blenders in our lives, but the best one is our current one, a jack lalayne one.

have fun, experiment!

Oh, do the kids like cottage cheese? that is a great protein, add a little fruit -- a great breakfast
do they like sausage? break up and add to scrambled eggs.
remember with eggs, the protein is in the white. So put in one regular egg and then add whites from several eggs -- more protein, less fat. The yolk is the fat part.

Don't buy sugar cereals -- just plain ones.
And you can make oatmeal, 1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal plus 1 cup water or milk, add a little vanilla, a little cinnamon, a little suganaut, and cook in the microwave. Put in a large bowl, so it doesn't boil over. Great

Another hot cereal that is great is cocoa wheats.

have fun!

If you are looking to add protein to the girls breakfast, try turkey bacon. Also a breakfast wrap might me appealing, with say ham and eggs in a wrap. Maybe even a sweet wrap; spread a wrap with yogurt and add fruit, then role. I always try to make sure my daghter has some sort of fruit with her breakfast, too.

Ask you daughters for their ideas of what they think would be a good breakfast. Don't be scared of serving "dinner" or "lunch" foods, One of the best breakfasts I ever had was some leftover chili. They are probably better for breakfast!

When I was a kid, I never ate breakfast. It just took awhile for my stomach to wake up. Also, my mom stopped fixing breakfast for me when I was too young (actually, I don't remember her ever fixing me breakfast, though I know I ate Rice Crispies when I was three) and I was too busy doing other things to stop and pour myself a bowl of cereal. She wouldn't let me put brown sugar on oatmeal (I think she was afraid I would put the whole box on the oatmeal; she wasn't big on supervision, either), so I wouldn't eat it. Now I love oatmeal, with a bit of brown sugar. My point is that I'm the type of mom who is glad that my daughter eats anything for breakfast. My philosophy is something is better than nothing.

Hi J.,
I have three daughters and found when they reached the ages of your precious girls, they thought anything they thought of or fixed themselves was so much better than anything I came up with. Try getting them to choose what they would like to have ahead of time......potential menu without specific date......so they can see the process of buying the groceries and then let them help in the perparation of the breakfast. I can almost guarantee you they will eat better when they do that. How about fruit bowls instead of the starches? Banana and peanut butter sandwiches cut into triangles with raisins to dip the edges in? Scramble the eggs and let them choose the 'extras' like real bacon bits, or finely shredded cheese, etc.

Good luck to you.
P.

I'm unsure of why you had skin/seed issues with the smoothies. I put the fruit in the blender and puree it without a problem. Add some frozen milk (or fat free ice cream) if desired.

Toast/Bagels with cream cheese and/or jelly (you can get whole wheat or whole grain)
Fruit Salad
Omelets with veggies/fruits mixed into them
Chicken sausage

Dear J.,
You are such a great mommy for being proactive in looking for healthier breakfast ideas! :)
You mentioned wanting to know of yummy breakfasts and/or smoothies without the skin of the fruit or seeds, but with protein. I make a smoothie each and every morning that meets all of your criteria! :)
I use the powder drink mix called Juice Plus+ Complete which is soy protein based, has many other healthy ingredients and is sooo delicious! I make mine in a blender with 8 oz. of purified water, a scoop of either the Chocolate and Vanilla Juice Plus+ Complete, 1/2 or whole banana, a cup of frozen blueberries and about 10 frozen strawberries. Yummy! It is soooo delicious and so filling!
Kids absolutely love it, too! (Once blended, there are absolutely NO skin remnants).
I am also a rep for Juice Plus+ (have been for more than eight years), so if you would like some more info about the Juice Plus+ Complete and/or sample to try, email me at ____@____.com. :)
Blessings!
J. F.

You can do a banana smoothie, (banana's don't have seeds or skin) Just put two banana's in the blender with some milk and use colored yogurt to make it "pretty" and mix, I use a splash of orange juice just to make it a bit sweeter, but with bananas you don't need any sugar. you could also put mangos in there or papaya which don't have seeds or skin.

Also peanut butter on bananas is soo yummy, I cut the banana in half lengthwise and put peanut butter on the halves then raisins on top and call it ants on a log, the kids love it.

you could also make whole wheat pancakes (so much healthier) and instead of syrup spread low sugar jam on top with butter (I have diabetes so this works great for me)

You could also spruce up yogurt, have them make there own yogurt for breakfast, it will be fun for them, get a quart of plain yogurt and set out some fun things to put in there, use stevia for sugar replacement or use real sugar just put it in there yourself before letting them go wild putting stuff in there, you could have them put nuts brown sugar rasins, fresh sliced mango, banan's, real organic maple syrup or strawberry jam in the yogurt is awsome!, Also you can puree some mango and put it in the plain yogurt, yummy. Or kiwi in the yogurt is always good and purreed pears.

you can always make your own granola bars, it's easy and you control what goes in there, there is tons of protien and you could serve this with the yogurt or anything for that matter. here is a good site to make your own granola:
http://www.koa.com/recipes/files/0018.htm
or
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/granola-ba...

Use wheat germ on everything!, you can use it in your pancakes and yogurt and oatmeal and even on chicken, get some, it is really really healthy and the kids wont even know you are using it at all! You can even sprinkle some on vanilla ice cream, my kids love it and so do I and it boosts up the vitamins in every food!
here is an article that tells you what wheat germ is.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-wheat-germ.htm

oh, forgot to mention mango pudding: just cut up two mangos get some dried mangos about a handful and soak in water for 10 min, then drain and blend in a blender the dried soaked mangos and fresh mangos together, you can serve with low fat low sugar whipped cream, serve in really cool glasses, the kids will love this! It's an aswome breakfast fruit!
You can get dried mango at a health food store like trader joes or Whole foods Market. Or if you can't find it use dried apricots you should find those at your local grocer store.

Hope this helps!

When it comes to cereal, I am a bit stricter - I usually look for something with AT LEAST 8g of fiber or more - and low sugars....I never look at calories because after all, they are kids and they need energy to burn any way. I usually buy FiberOne or Wheaties - they have some good flavors for high fiber cereals now - Caramel Delight is one of our favorites - or the honey clusters...honey is always a good addition. I buy the Light Silk Soy Milk which makes the cereals sweeter without having to add my own sugar- and the soy is a good source of protein. You can also chop up a banana and add it for their fruit...that is a balanced meal!
You can also do simple things like Oatnut bread with peanut butter or soynut butter...yogurt with blueberries - no seeds....and they are selling flavored light oatmeal now - Weight Watchers or something like that - like maple and brown sugar, etc - that is very good. Oats are great for nutrition.
On the weekends when I have more time I will make more things that take time - there are tons of alternatives for pancakes - potato pancakes, whole grain pancakes, etc - and you can mix up your eggs and make egg pancakes - just add milk and flour and it spread the eggs thin like pancakes and they come out like crepes - my kids love them. Also, muffins, etc are good - just make whole grain muffins with different nuts or whatever the girls like - and they can help you bake and it makes it taste better because they helped. :) You can also mix eggs and salsa or make a frittata with their favorite olives or whatever veggie they like.
Hope this helps!!

I give my kids the South Beach Living peanut butter cereal bars. They love them. They are healthy, high in protein and other good stuff and low in sugar. They taste like a candy bar too.

The smoothie idea is a great one. I have 13 year twin daughters who often try to skip breakfast. My girls also dislike the seeds. We put in mangos, peaches,bananas and kiwi. You can find these frozen in the grocery store. I always add a protein powder (used to use yogurt but the girls didn't like the taste), a bit of honey and rice milk in vanilla flavor.

Hopefully your girls will like it too!

Search for a recipe for healthy oatmeal cookies or bake a cake. I rented the sneaky chef and deceptively delicious from the library. You can puree all sorts of veggies and bake it into a cake. You can go as far as to blend fruit with a little honey and something to smooth it out to make icing and have fun with it. Tell them their having a birthday breakfast. They will eat it and it will be completely healthy.

http://www.bhg.com/recipes/healthy-eating/healthy-recipes...

Do you make pancakes from scratch? If you do omit the sugar and add pumpkin puree or apple sauce. I also put a few mini choclate chips in each and have a no syrup rule for chipped pancakes. I also buy Dannon Vanilla yogurt(only 5 ingredients and all pronounceable) and add to it if neededs fruit or wheat germ. I had a friend who had her girls design one healthy meal aweek and help prepare it. They enjoyed the input and the mom time. You said they stopped liking eggs. This can be a phase. Try having them make omlets or sanwiches using eggs. Mine still like ketchup on them(I do too) With cereal I buy a plain and mix with a sugary. Fruity cheeries with plain Cheerios. Kix with trix and so on. They don't notice it.
Hope this helps.

I buy multi-grain blueberry waffles and my daughter loves yogurt!