Breakfast food ideas!

[Rebecca247]

Hey all I'm back with a different topic....

My little Max whose 16 months is a pretty good eater all day loves most fruits/veg and meats...

But I struggle with Brekkie ideas, he has weetbix on the odd occassion, doesnt like porridge, he likes the heinz apple cinnamon porridge in the baby tins.

I make him toast and toasted muffins, and on weekends when we have pancakes he loves them.
But with the toast he doesnt really EAT it, he sucks it ans might eat a little bit but not enough for me to think he's getting enough nutrition for brekkie! I would prefer to feed him something then make toast for him to nibble on while i'm making the older LO's lunches for school.....

Any ideas on what i can try and make for him.

Bek
xx

[speechie]

Hi-
our usuals are:
oatmeal with raisins
scrambled egg/fried egg/cheese omelet
pancakes
french toast
waffles
yogurt with fruit
cheerios/Kix/shredded wheat
vegetarian breakfast sausages
fruit fruit and more fruit
homemade muffins

[We Three]

Same here Cathie...those are all the things we have. Dd has never accepted eggs before, and just this week I was making myself a scrambled egg and she loved it! yay!

Blueberry pancakes are a biggie, she loves them.
Yogurt with fruit and some dry cereal is a fave too.  Today she had a piece of cinnamon raisin toast, some strawberries and a whole bunch of dry cheerios.

I thank God for cold cereals some days....rice crispies, special k, she is so happy having cereal, and that and some fruit is a good start I think!

Have you tried oatmeal...you say he doesn't care for porridge, is that oatmeal??  DD hated the baby oatmeal, but now she has Earth's Best (organic) maple/brown sugar oatmeal, and it is by far her favorite brekkie.

Oh yeah and homemade banana muffins...I sneak in some flax...very healthy...even dh likes them! Let me know if you want me to pm you the recipe...very very easy!!

[Rebecca247]

Max is a huge fruit fan, he loves it and can eat almost 2 small containers cut up everyday. his new found fave is sultanas at the moment!

This morning he wouldnt eat anything other then 1 strawberry diced up small and a few sultanas!
With the scrambled eggs, i'm guessing they are ok for a 16 month old, we havent tried any eggy foods with Max yet!

ooooh yummy i love cinnamon raison toast too, i will definately be trying that one!
I think we get Cheerios here (are you in australia) does it have lots of sugar in it?

I'm not sure if oatmeal is porridge or not, maybe they are different things!

Thanks Amelia the recipe for you banana muffins would be great, sound yummy!

Thanks for both replies!

[We Three]

I'm in the US....cheerios are very low in sugar...just one gram per serving...!!!  That's funny about oatmeal/porridge......when you sat porridge do you mean baby cereal, (like a powder) that you mix with water/formula to make a pasty-like food?   What I mean when I say oatmeal is that it comes in a packet and looks just like oats...add boiling water and there you go! Comes in flavors too...I foumnd the earth's Best brand is by far the lowest sugar....I could not believe how high in sugar most oatmeals are!!

I didn't offer eggs to dd until she was almost 2, but yet she had things with eggs "in" them long before that. I'd ask your doc, because if it is ok, it would open up alot of brekkie options...like french toast!!  Does he like yogurt?? 

I'll pm you the banana recipe....I'm sure you have all the ingredients in your house, they are simple!!  I'll get that to you tomorrow!

[Rebecca247]

The tin porridge he likes is a heinz baby one and its apple cinnamon porridge. the one he doesnt like is what i buy for my DD and that is in a satchet that we add milk to, so i guess your oatmeal is porridge to us!

I too have always been hesitant with the eggy stuff! he hasnt even tried the egg custard in the heinz range ( do you get heinz?) But none of my other LO's have any allergies to food or eggs so he will probably be ok!

he does like yoghurt, any type. I usually cut strawberries up really small and mix it all together for him. But te weather is getting cold here and was just thinking of nice warm brekkie ideas!

Thanks i'll try and make the muffins when my husband is nightshift, gives me something to do!

[amandamae]

Just a thought for anyone making oatmeal-

It's always so hot when I'm done making it and adding enough milk to cool it makes it too liquidy, so lately I've been adding unsweetened applesauce and it works great. Also, if I use a can of fruit for something I save the liquid from the can in the refridgerator and put that in his oatmeal too. You could also pour it into ice cube trays and freeze it so you can cool the oatmeal even faster!

[Rebecca247]

Great idea amanda, i find that its way to hot aswell, i even add extra milk for my 5 year old otherwise it would never cool in time for her to eat before school. I'll try your idea out for her!:)

[Shdef]

Egg in any shape or form

Homemade healthy muffins (can freeze them, too)

Sandwich

Yoghurt

[speechie]

I love the ideas on here...
Anne- yes, I was shocked by how much sugar is in regular instant oatmeal.
I actually did our own on the stovetop today:
1 cup steel cup oats, handful of raisins, 1.5 cups water/wholemilk, a dash of cinnamon/cardamon,and maple syrup or honey- just a tad! Heat it up till rolling boil then simmer on low for 6 mins. I add cold milk to mine too!
YUM.
never had trouble with eggs at that age, we had minor tomato/strawberry allergies which have resolved. Phew!
Heinz products are in the specialty aisle in American supermarkets. Usually there is a section for European/British goods in the ethnic foods area.

[Rebecca247]

I found cheerios in our local supermarket today, so he can try them as a dry snack today when we go to toy library for a play!

I found a few new ranges in heinz for toddler food today when i did my shopping, i was very excited. My husband looked at  me like i was strange...but HEY these are the things that excite us mums!

He had a full bottle this morning when he first woke so am going to wait half an hour and try something from the new stuff i bought yesterday. I also got some raison toast, i cant wait for some of that myself!

(speechie) your oatmeal looks yummo, he might like homemade better, he seems to eat better with homemade stuff!

[We Three]

Cathie I am TOTALLY gonna try to make my own oatmeal!!!  That would be so fun to play around with, too....add a bit of honey (if child is old enough), maybe some vanilla, maybe some brown sugar, maybe some wheat germ.....yay!!  I HATE oatmeal, so I'll have to have dh be my tester!!!

When oatmeal is too hot, I throw an ice cube in there and stir it up til it's melted...doesn't water it down too much.  Also, most of the time when I hear dd wake I go downstairs and heat the water to boiling, throw in the packet and stir it, then go up and get her.  Those extra minutes help it cool down some, too.   

Sp psyched Max is gonna try cheerios!!   That's a staple here in the US! How did he like them? 

[We Three]

Gonna post the muffins here...hope that's ok???   Think all of you would like them!!

Heat oven to 350

1 egg
3 tbs. canola oil ( I use vegetable oil, they came out fine...canola is healthier I think?)
1.5  tsp vanilla
3 very ripe bananas (4 if they are small)
1 cup sugar (you can use less if you want)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups whole wheat flour (we use King Arthur organic)
1 tsp cinnamon ( I throw in a dash more...I love cinnamon)

*optional-1 tsp pulverized wheat germ...I put it in a plastic baggie and beat it to a powder)

Heat oven to 350

Beat egg.  Add oil and vanilla.  Add bananas and beat well.  Add sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon.   Mix well.
Add flour a bit at a time and mix well.

Add mix to lined cupcake pan and bake for 20 minutes.  Test for doneness with toothpick inserted into center of muffin...if it isn't all gummy with batter, you're all set! 

This makes 12 or so good sized muffins...I fill cups about 2/3 full. After they cool completely, you can wrap some up in saran wrap and toss them into the freezer! They defrost in no time...I will take one out at night and leave it right on the counter....in the morning I give dd a muffin and some yogurt...a healthy breakfast!  when she was Max's age I'd cut it into chunks for her.  Now I slice it in half and put a bit of butter on it!!  Older kids love these even more if you added some mini chocolate chips!!

Also if you want to try the mini-muffins I'd try to bake for 15 minutes. 

These are really so good....and easy to convert the entire thing into organic if you wanted!! 

[Rebecca247]

Max loved the cheerios dry as he was playing today, kept coming back for more. My older DS had them with milk for brekkie amd loved it. Might try them with milk for max tomorrow morning, as this morning he ate nearly nothing again!

wow banana muffins sound so yummy, gonna pop out to the supermarket and grab a few things i dont have and give them a try! Thanks Amelia!

i'll let you know how i go!

[mum101]

rebecca, I'm in Australia too, I hadn't tried the Cherios, are they high in sugar? I wonder if they are the same as the US version.

we have here,
weetbix with raw muesli sprinkled on top (adds flavour and sweetness without adding sugar ), not for Leobin yet, he likes to eat himself. I also add processed flaxseed which is great for omega 3.
weetbix crunch are really good for variation
homemade porridge, or in the past I've bought the Uncle Toby's sachets, and then made one up for 2 people, adding quick cooking oats and a little more water to it. I use half water, half low fat milk. If i do homemade porridge I add dried apricots, or dried dates. Dates are the best!
raisin toast
french toast with fruit on the side
scrambled eggs

The yummiest thing we have now is bircher muesli which is delicious, requires no 'cooking'. I love the ingredients the best!
I like that it's all whole ingredients, no cooking required, no processing.

Bircher muesli
the night before get 2 cups rolled oats, add 1 1/4 cups apple juice and cover with a tea towel and leave overnight.
In the morning add fruit ingredients and 3 tablespoons natural yoghurt, but I do the fruit differently each time.

What's yum - pear or apple grated in, mashed banana is yum, 1 cup of frozen raspberries, last time I added tinned apricots instead because I needed to use them up and they were great, not as tart as the raspberries, but both just as good.


Most days we have weetbix, with about 2 days with something different.