I have two children, one of whom, despite my ceaseless attempts, is not much of a breakfast eater. I have tried various breakfast ideas with her that have worked but sometimes struggle to keep it interesting.
And recently I have found it challenging to have healthy suppers ready on the fly. My children are active and we're in an "in between" season where swim club and gymnastics overlap, which means we're out of the house at supper time several nights each week. I refuse to eat out that often. Add Provincial Achievement Tests for both girls and now I'm extra concerned about a really good breakfast, too.
If your definition of a morning person is someone who eagerly jumps out of bed at 5 am, I don't qualify. I am not the kind of mom who enjoys getting up an hour before my children so I can bake fresh muffins for breakfast. My children learned at a young age to grab a juice box, a piece of fruit and a granola bar.
But I am the kind of mom who wants to teach her children that healthy food tastes good and that it doesn't have to be difficult.
Enter light bulb moment!
Scrambled omelettes! In bulk! If Jugo Juice can do it for their wraps (which I have duplicated for suppers), why can't I? The more I think about this, the more I wish I'd thought of it sooner.
What did I do? I threw 10 eggs, a splash of milk, a diced tomato, half a finely chopped onion, some chopped spinach, a yellow bell pepper and some cheese into my frying pan, cooked it up and threw it in the fridge so my kids can heat it up by themselves (they're old enough) in the morning. They can have it with a slice of toast or in a whole wheat wrap - their choice. It works for breakfast or supper on the fly and it's incredibly versatile. Your kids won't eat spinach? Don't put it in. They love bacon? Add some! Use what works for you, even if it's just plain scrambled eggs.
I'm also known to have pre-cooked chicken breasts and a variety of fresh veggies on hand to make wraps for suppers on the fly. Add this idea to The Big Cook and I'm good to go.
What's your favorite way to beat the, "I'm hungry, can we stop at _______ (enter any fast food restaurant here)?" blues?
Love this idea. Gonna try it!!! Thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteMy kids are not cereal eaters for breakfast (there is something very wrong with them!), so I make eggs almost every morning - usually resulting in egg muffins or egg burritos. I love the idea of making eggs in bulk to reheat...especially if they are putting them into a tortilla!
ReplyDeleteAnd to solve the I'm hungry can we get McDonalds (because that is all they ever beg ofr!) blues, I often have a box of granola bars or a bag of baby carrots with me when we go out. And if I failed to plan ahead...have a stick of gum, we'll be home in 20 min!
This sounds good. Cook it all up and leave it in the fridge for the kids to heat up.
ReplyDeleteA few months ago, I bought an omelet container that's made especially for cooking in the microwave. The kids have used it A LOT and it's been great. From start to finish, they can have a cheese omelet in 3 or 4 minutes. And they can do it all themselves. So worth the $3 for the container at Walmart. I think I might even take your idea and just cook up the veggies and leave those in the fridge so they can throw them in their omelets (not that they'll touch the veggies, that's wishful thinking on my part, but I can hope).
As for the eating out.... I have to admit that I'm there with Ivymamma. I usually have some kind of snack in the car and if not that, I have done the gum thing too.
Your schedule right now is like mine most of the year. It's just not possible (for my wallet or my stomach) to eat out. We don't eat out much.
I find we eat most anything, even on the go, but it takes so much more work for me as it means that by 2pm, I need to be making dinner so it's done in time.
Awesome idea... and I laughed out loud at "If your definition of a morning person is someone who eagerly jumps out of bed at 5 am, I don't qualify." That is so me. Thanks for the tip!
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