happy tuuuuuuuesday wtf-ers! call i call you all that? i’m gonna do it anyway, so i hope that’s cool.
i hope you are all doing well. in this edition of wtf do i feed you, we’re gonna tackle the (alleged) most important meal of the day: breakfast.
so here’s the thing. breakfast time is usually pure chaos at our place, energy wise. everyone is happy to see each other, batteries are filled up, we debrief about dreams, talk about what’s happening in the day ahead, it’s just a lot. it’s (almost) always a rush trying to get everyone to eat enough before we do daycare drop off, etc, on the weekdays and on weekends we want to get out the door at a reasonable hour so that the dog doesn’t pee all over the place. 9 am is usually the cut off. in order to make things as easy as possible, we have figured out a menu of breakfast foods that are filling enough so we feel good sending the kids off, that are healthy-ish, that are very fast to make so we can get food in mouths ASAP, and are things that that the kids will definitely eat without whining about it. also, ideally, things that take them long enough to eat/that they can handle independently so that i can enjoy at least 1 peaceful sip of my coffee.
not having to think twice about what to make has made things SO much easier in the mornings, and i would like to share my breakfast wisdom with you, just incase it’s helpful. it’s super basic stuff, but sometimes it’s nice to see things written down?
so here’s our roster of breakfasts (for the kids):
oatmeal with frozen blueberries (and an occasional jam smiley face)
PB or WOW butter sammies (WOW butter is made from soy, so we don’t poison any friends with allergies with our peanut butter fingers)
scrambled eggs or omelettes with fruit
frozen waffles
pancakes/french toast
apple sauce with instant oats, flax & fruit
smoothies
cereal with berries
we also always have snacks on hand for when things are cooking and the kids are literally climbing up our legs and screaming at us for food. i highly recommend having an emergency stash of breakfast friendly snacks for moments like this.
another important note is that we try and feed both kids the same thing, but that’s not a hard and fast rule. it’s definitely easier, but since all of the food on our roster is really easy to make, it’s not a huge deal to serve separate breakfasts if one of them is being annoying about it, or has a special request.
cool! now let me break everything down.
emergency snacks
an apple, a handful of grapes or blueberries, a heel of a bread loaf, a banana, a cucumber, a pouch, yogurt in a tube.
oatmeal with frozen blueberries (and an occasional jam smiley face)
as a family, we eat…a giant bag of frozen wild blueberries a week? easily. we put them in oatmeal, smoothies, and have them with a little maple syrup or honey as a frozen treat for dessert. they rule. they are also a handy hack for cooling down quick oats. floris would like me to give him credit for the blueberry trick, so i am doing that now.
for this breakfast, just make instant oatmeal as you normally would. we add honey or maple syrup. then after the hot water goes in, you stir in a handful of frozen bleubs (they must be the little wild ones for this trick to work) which brings the whole thing to a kid friendly temp AND turns the whole mess bright purple.
no wild blueberries? just thaw regular ones in some hot water, mix that in with the oatmeal & give it a little extra time to cool down if needed.
otis will request a jam smiley face every once in a while (a thing my folks used to do - just make 3 dots of jam look like a face).
this takes about 3 minutes to make and we make it 5/7 days a week, easily.
for those in puree purgatory: when the kids were babies and were in the trying new flavours stage of eating, we did a variation on this theme. i would hydrate baby cereal with water or formula & sweeten it with a little fruit puree. another winner.
PB or WOW butter sammies (WOW butter is made from soy, so we don’t poison any friends with allergies with our peanut butter fingers)
we eat a ridiculous amount of peanut butter in my house - like, a jar a week. pb on bread, or pb sandwiches are a morning staple. i find that toast is a hard texture for my kids to get on board with - something about how crunchy and scratchy it is can turn them off, and who has time for “will they eat it” roulette? not me. so we just go for an untoasted moment. a regular sandwich, if you will.
depending on how nice i’m feeling, i’ll go crusts on or off. for little littles, i’ll cut the sammy into bite sizes. for toddlers, i would give a choice between triangles or squares or halves. or i won’t give anybody any choices! it all really depends on what side of the bed i woke up on, and if floris is making breakfast (which he does most days) he just hands ‘em out, crusts intact, and nobody whines. there’s probably a lesson for me in that approach….
anyway, we’ll usually serve this with berries - we eat like a million pints of blueberries and raspberries a week, so always have them handy to grab. or just the sandwich on its own.
scrambled eggs or omelettes with fruit
this is the breakfast that usually requires an emergency snack beforehand, but it also only takes a minute. crack however many eggs you wanna serve, a splash of water or milk, and if you are fancy you can use a frying pan and scramble to your liking or if you’re lazy like me, microwave it in a bowl for 30 seconds at a time, scramble up in between each sesh - for about 1 minute-1:30 depending on how many eggs you’re making.
plop it in a kid friendly bowl or on a plate (the one you microwaved will be very hot so don’t use that one), throw some fruit on there too, maybe even a frozen waffle (more on that below) & that’s breakfast.
frozen waffles
more like gimme my eggo! we STAN eggos in this house. in THIS HOUSE? we love an eggo moment.
my point is: frozen waffles forever. here’s the frozen waffle-centric breakfast i made the other day!
are your kids being doinks and don’t wanna wait for the toaster? give it to ‘em cold. let them chomp on that frozen bad boy. they probably won’t give a care.
frozen waffles are the ultimate road snack, the best on the go breakfast, the unsung hero of the frozen food aisle and have a tie for first (with blueberry oatmeal) on our breakfast roster. they tie a quick breakfast together. i love a frozen waffle, the kids love a frozen waffle. the flavoured eggos are my fave - blueberry? yes please. strawberry?! MOTHER MAY I!?
eggos, if you’re reading? please sponsor this newsletter.
apple sauce with quick oats, flax & fruit
this takes 30 seconds & is perfect for when your baby is getting used to more textures, or if you have a bigger kid that is hangry and who loves applesauce.
this is what you do: get yourself some plain ol’ unsweetened applesauce, put it in a bowl. shake enough instant oats on top to cover the apple sauce. grab a teaspoon-ish (or a 3 finger pinch) of flax meal. toss that on. mix it all together and let it sit for a sec. get some fruit - the aforementioned raspberries & blueberries work great here. arrange them on the bowl of mush in whatever design will please your kids - i do a face, or sometime just a pile in the middle, or i’ll do a border of berries. this small effort elevates the dish from pure mush, to mush with flare!
this is a fine breakfast, but it’s also a great snack. especially if your kid needs a little extra fibre, if you know what i mean ;)
smoothies
IMO, a big smoothie is a totally acceptable quick breakfast, or at least completes a mediocre one. it’s also a great way to use up gross bananas, or berries & greens that are on the fritz. you can get very creative with a smoothie, and it’s very hard to mess them up.
we got these smoothie cups which are perfect for the kids, because they are spill proof.
going on a car trip and gotta leave around breakfast time? wanna walk the dang dog but everyone’s being a nightmare? road smoothies.
cereal with berries
cereal is my favourite food. cheerios and blueberries/raspberries/sliced banana/sliced strawbs? always a yes. honey nut cheerios with all that? even better. cereal milk to drink at the end? the stuff of dreams. teaching my kids to slurp cereal milk was a moment i’ll treasure. every time i catch them doing it on their own, i am so proud.
i turn to cereal as an option when we’ve been on the oatmeal/waffle train for a while, but i don’t wanna crack an egg or put in any effort at all.
pancakes/french toast
most sundays are pancake day at the dekker/needs residence, it’s a routine that i have come to really enjoy. we’re on a permanent quest to find the perfect pancake and it’s been QUITE a fun journey.
french toast happens when we have bread we gotta get rid of, or we feel like mixing things up.
now, i’ve talked about pancakes many times before, so i won’t go into too much detail. but the pro-est tips i have for you, pancake/french toast wise, are:
1) make a double, or even a triple batch to freeze. you can toast pancakes AND french toast for a quick breakfast.
2) have a load of weird bread heels you’re avoiding? french toast ‘em!
3) this is a great banana pancake recipe. the cinnamon sugar dunk at the end is optional, but encouraged. especially on pancake day.
4) if you don’t have a designated pancake maker get up early enough to avoid hangry kids, plan on breaking out your emergency breakfast snacks. maybe even plan on a smoothie to tie everyone over. it’s a long haul, but it’s always worth it.
ok so that’s it. that’s the general breakfast vibe in my house. of course, we switch things up completely from time to time. maybe we’ll go out and get a pastry or a muffin or breakfast sandwiches, maybe someone will make something totally off the menu, just because. but usually we stick to these things to keep the routine running smoothly. i consider it self care!
i hope this was interesting? helpful, even? i am very curious what you feed your kids for breakfast! please let me know.
ttyl xoxo,
kt