Breakfast – the most important meal of the day, right? Then why do I habitually take off in the morning with nothing but 2.6 cups of coffee sloshing around in my gut?
Because I’m rushed! That’s why! Okay?
I’m sure a lot of you are in the same boat. But when it comes to my kids – I want to make sure they have some sort of healthy breakfast in their tummies. They need that nourishment as they head off to school or spend the day exploring, learning and playing.
(Man, I wish I was a kid again)
Anyway – we found seven healthy breakfast recipes from around the web that aren’t quite as easy as cereal or toaster waffles. However, they are still simple enough that even the busiest parent should be able to handle them.
And they’re actually pretty fun too. Your kids will be amazed at your breakfast-making abilities!
1. Breakfast Popsicles
Popsicles? For breakfast? You bet your sweet bippy!
If you want to completely blow your kids’ minds, try this easy and healthy breakfast idea. We got it from the mother-daughter food blogging team at Caramel Potatoes.
You need some good yogurt, some sliced up fruit and some of those popsicle molds. If you don’t have those – you can just use cups with a popsicle stick or spoon stuck inside. But I bet your kids will like it a lot better if these breakfast popsicles actually look like popsicles.
Prepare them the night before and just hand them to your kids in the morning. They can even eat them in the car if necessary. You’ll be giving the little ones some fruit and protein to start their day.
- Get complete directions at Caramel Potatoes
2. “Cat in the Hat” Parfaits
This recipe also uses yogurt and fruit, and it’s another fun one. Your kids will really love it if they are fans of Dr. Seuss’s Cat in the Hat character or the PBS children’s television program.
This healthy breakfast suggestion gets its name from the Cat in the Hat’s telltale, red-and-white striped headgear.
It’s nothing more than layers of fresh strawberries and yogurt. The catch is you’ll need tall, slim glasses to pull off the giant top hat look. Of course, any type of parfait like this would be easy. So get creative!
You’ll see this Seuss-inspired idea in a few places. Blair, at The Seasoned Mom, switches out the yogurt in favor of protein-rich ricotta cheese with vanilla, which makes them strawberry cheesecake parfaits.
- Find more breakfast ideas like this from The Seasoned Mom
3. Egg in a Pepper
I love this idea! Not only will your kids think it’s cool – it’s also a great way to serve fried eggs if you’re hosting breakfast or brunch.
This healthy breakfast trick comes to us courtesy of Trusper.com. It’s extremely easy – as frying an egg doesn’t take much more than few minutes.
All you need to do is slice up a bell pepper and use it as a sort of mold for your egg. So you’ll probably need to make sure the bell pepper ring is thick enough to hold an entire egg.
If you’ve got different colors of bell peppers, then this will really be an eye-catching morning meal. Season to your liking and serve to the family!
- Get more from Trusper.com
4. Brain Power Smoothies
My kids love smoothies. They ask for them all the time. Thanks a lot Fresh Beat Band with your Groovy Smoothies!
If you’ve got time to throw some stuff in a blender in the morning, you’ve got time to make smoothies for your kids.
Plus, the screaming sound of the blender will wake everyone up so nobody is late for school!
This smoothie recipe comes to us from the always-health-conscious Wellness Mama. It has banana and vanilla, plus whatever else you want to add for flavor – from strawberries to coco powder.
Wellness Mama calls it a “Brain Power Smoothie” because it also contains coconut oil and coconut milk, which provide beneficial fats that can promote good cognitive function. This smoothie recipe also helps nourish the skin!
Not every kid likes the flavor of coconut. But your youngsters can still get nutritional support from Essential Fatty Acid products as well as children’s supplements formulated specifically for supporting brain health.
- Get the complete Brain Power Smoothie recipe at WellnessMama.com
5. Smiley Face Bagels
If you want kids to eat something – make it into a face. I mean, who doesn’t like pretending to be a face-chewing scary monster? That’s why kids like biting the heads of animal crackers too.
In this case, the face is made up of vegetables. Veggies often get ignored in the morning, but they can certainly be part of a healthy breakfast.
This is an idea we found from Real Simple magazine – and it is simple. Want to make it even easier? Give your kids the cutup vegetables and have them assemble their own faces!
- Get a discounted subscription to Real Simple from Magazines.com
6. Kicked Up Breakfast Quesadilla
Parenting.com gives us a breakfasty twist on quesadillas by way of contributor Ashley Rodriguez. If Taco Bell can serve breakfast – why cant you?
Take some thinly sliced apples and some cheddar cheese. Place them in between two tortilla shells. Then you can either microwave the quesadilla or cook it up in a skillet for a crispier version. I’d recommend the latter.
This will take a little extra work than some of the other recipes, but it’s still a quick one. Even with the skillet version – it shouldn’t take much more than 5 minutes.
- Get the complete recipe from Parenting.com
7. Banana Pops & Sandwiches
Take the concept of ants on a log to a whole new level with this fast and fun breakfast idea.
Just split a banana lengthwise and spread peanut butter or almond butter on the flat side. Then top it with raisins, nuts and seeds.
Chris, from Tales of a Kitchen, mixes tahini and a natural sweetener like raw honey, agave nectar or some organic maple syrup into her almond butter. She uses this as a morning pick-me-up. And bananas are a nice way to get energy while the nuts give your kids protein.
Check out the Functional Foods category at Natural Healthy Concepts to find other ingredients, including healthy nuts from NOW Foods.
Another way to do something similar is to core an apple. Cut big round slices, and use the apple as two slices of bread with all the gooey goodness and crunchiness in the middle.
For banana pops, you can put the entire banana on a stick roll it in some granola or another healthy cereal. You may not even need peanut or almond butter to get the cereal to adhere to the fruit.
- Get the complete recipe from Tales of a Kitchen
Now it’s your turn! Tell us how you make a healthy breakfast despite the busy schedule in your home.
We love hearing your ideas too!
