Back to School With an A+ Breakfast

About author / Christine Gable

Culinary enthusiast; kids cuisine and slow cooking; magazine recipe developer; professional writer. Her simple recipes are great for family dinners.

Can it be that backpacks and school supplies season is here already?
Not only is back to school season right around the corner, but back to breakfast is the best way to send your kids back to school.

If you’re like me, breakfast is the hardest meal of the day. For some reason I find lunch and dinner much easier to pull together. But ask me to come up with a cohesive breakfast in the morning and my mind draws a blank – or worse yet, spins like a hamster on a wheel. All I can think of is the same old, same old. Of course, that coffee probably hasn’t kicked in yet either.

And secondly, if your family tends to be like ours, early morning hunger doesn’t strike in full force until we’ve been up for more than an hour. So if everyone gets to bed at a decent hour, it’s also much easier to fill up and feel satisfied (hey, we’re actually hungry!) before that school bus rumbles up.

I’m sure you’ve heard it – that the first meal of the day is the most important. After all, it’s the one that breaks the fast after that night of sleep. And it’s not only a good way to welcome the new day, it’s the way to beat headaches and lack of concentration. For kids headed off for a full day of learning, it’s best to bypass that bowl of sugared crispies and opt for a more nutritious (and longer-lasting) meal.

So I’ve decided to make it easier on all of us who can’t quite come up with something more nutritious than cereal and milk first thing in the morning. And please, help me out: share what your family’s early morning favorites are too – comment below!

Fruits & Fruit Juices

Sugar in the form of fruit is the way to provide vitamin C to keep immunity strong. Choose by the season for the freshest flavors. Good choices: Blueberries, strawberries, cherries—or citrus fruits like oranges and grapefruit.

Grains & Breads

Choose unrefined carbs and you choose to give your kids more energy and a higher level of concentration by default. Oatmeal and whole grain bread give a slower, steadier form of energy since they are broken down slowly—and that equals longer staying power. Sugary cereals and white bread give that energy spike and the corresponding blood sugar drop. Add even more staying power to whole grains by tossing in (or topping with) extras like nuts or seeds, or adding a dollop of nut butters.

And a note on cereals: Choose carefully if you’d like that bowl of cereal to be a healthy start. Sad to say, many of the cereals marketed to children are extremely high in sugar. But choose one low in sugar and high in whole grains, add some fresh fruit, and you’ve got one easy way to ensure kids get enough milk—be it regular, goat or soy.

Protein

Not only will a calcium-rich choice get their day started off right, it will nourish bones and muscles for the whole day. With half a cup of protein—from eggs, milk and yogurt to cottage cheese and tofu, mix-n-match for a whole week of different combinations to get everyone’s day started off right.