Thread: LC and Kids - breakfast ideas

We have a busy home - 6 kids and we homeschool. AND one of my daughters really does not like eggs. My older kids (11, 9, & 8) fix breakfast every morning but usually they fix cereal, oatmeal, baked oatmeal, etc. I ususally eat an egg early in the morning before they get up. Occasionally my oldest will fix eggs for everyone, but this is the exception, not the rule. What ideas do you have that will enable my kids to continue fixing breakfast and move them from the refined carbs first thing in the morning. While I don't care if they're doint "Atkins," I would like to fuel their system with food that is more beneficial and won't lead to a crash, irritability, etc.

TIA!
Cindy

Hi Cindy!

With my two kids (4 & 8) and often having my stepdaughters (10 & 12), mornings can be crazy. I don't have the kids on LC, but I avoid empty calories and processed foods as much as I can. In addition to good ol' eggs, here's some breakfast ideas that I use:

Oatmeal - Soak old-fashioned oats in water overnight in the fridge (1 1/4 C. water for each cup of oats). In the morning, dump in pan with milk to desired consistancy and cook for about 5 minutes. (mine eat this with a little brown sugar and more milk)

Whole Wheat Pancakes - I mix up the dry ingredients in baggies ahead of time, so this is pretty quick to fix in the a.m. I don't use syrup, and instead serve with honey-sweetened plain yogurt (full-fat) and sometimes sliced bananas.

Smoothies - Milk (I use powdered for this), frozen banana, peanut butter, unsweetened cocoa and a little Splenda is a favorite, OR yogurt, fruit (frozen berries or anything around) and a little honey. We get pretty darn creative here. I serve these with whole wheat toast.

Grilled cheese sandwiches - this has been a recent favorite. Throw in some fruit and they are satisfied.

If you haven't yet checked out westonaprice.org, they have some great nutritional info, some specifically for children. They are very down on processed breakfast cereals, even whole grain, and stress that grains should be soaked before eating to make the nutrients more accessible. They also stress that children need full-fat dairy products (although they denounce pasteurized milk). You can take it for what it's worth. I've learned a lot, but so much of what is recommended is either unavailabe or very expensive (unless you have your own farm).

Thanks Sharron and Staci! You both gave great ideas. Sharron, I have been meaning to order your cookbook(s) for a long time, but just haven't done it. Maybe on next month's budget!

Thanks so much!!!!
Blessings,
Cindy

I don't have kids, but a favorite breakfast for me, which they could make themselves, is a "breakfast burrito" - I use a low carb tortilla, fill it with a scrambled egg, shredded cheese, and either a strip of bacon or a couple sausage links. You can add salsa too it you like, or mild green chiles. I warm the tortilla first in the microwave so it's pliable, then fill and roll.

There are some crustless breakfast quiche-type recipes on the Recipes section somewhere, and if you go to the Low Carb Cooking threads, there is a sausage recipe called "breakfast bites" that sounds good - with some cut-up fruit, it would be a good breakfast for the kiddies!

Also in the Recipes section is Maggie's "Sorta Granola" - that is really good sprinkled on yogurt!

I just bought a yogurt maker from Amazon.com for a little over twelve bucks; it makes a quart at a time. I normally won't eat yogurt from the store - it's a "texture thing" with me - but this makes the nicest, thickest, tangiest yogurt and I love it. I add sugarfree syrup to taste (DaVinci Gourmet makes a big line of Splenda-sweetened syrups, if you let your kids have artificial sweeteners) and sometimes some berries and then the Sorta Granola - kind of a complete meal in a dish breakfast.

HTH!

Char

If you live near a dairy farmer make friends w/ them... take juice jugs.. (not gallon jugs they are to hard for them to fill most times, just make sure it has a wider mouth..

I have grown up on a farm and that is how i know this.. also if you know a person w/ chickens... most use their eggs for personal use if yo uask for a dozen or so and give them a dollar or two and bring an empty carton ya might get lucky

and to be honest w/ you a farmer leagly isnt aloud to charge you for unpasturized milk.. i forget what my father said but at least around here they you cant charge for milk.. they can take "donations"

For my kids they love oat meal... and waffles.. (i have seen they have flax seed something waffles... proly better for ya than those cheap o ones i get for my kids just beacuse they wont eat the "weird ones")

Sometimes i will make some kinda fruit bake the night befor so they can have it in the morning they will usualy eat a spoon of it on top of oatmeal..

sometims its just that nasty suggar laiden cereal... (i have bought those 1/2 suggar cereals now tho so cutting it out there) i feed them what i can afford... and i recive WIC.. wich provides set kinds of cereal.. i gota enforce when money is tight they eat cereal.. so it dont go to waste.. so i realy dont know what to sugest other than what i have..

You women are a WEALTH of information! Thanks for sharing your information with me. I will be back later to check out your links, Sharron. I just finished our "first day of school" and need to pull something together for dinner.

Blessings,
Cindy

Hey, anytime! I asked the same sorts of questions when I was thinking about changing my children's diets after I'd learned the dangers of high carbs when I first started out here!

I was on WIC a full 2 years after being on this woe. I actually gave away my cereal. I got kefir grains, and I kefired my juice for special treats. We definitely used the eggs, cheese, milk (kefired some), and peanut butter :fork:

excellent thread, thank you all so much =) i was just dropping by today to check out info for kids on lc! my oldest just got home from summer at his dads house, and despite all the dietary changes we'd made and that i told his dad about, my son is chunkier than ever, no suprise after months of mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and top ramen!

my challenge is to find nick-friendly foods that are nutritious, low sugar and low carb. nick is EXTREMELY picky with his eating, to the point he will go without food all day rather than even taste something he thinks he wont like. and if such a food touches his lips, could be chocolate cake for all it matters, if he *thinks* he doesnt like it, he will literally throw up. mind over matter, indeed. he also tends to suddenly not like a food that he ate just fine last week; got home from his dads yesterday, today he tells me he doesnt like egg salad anymore, and it used to be one of his favorites. his age, by the way, will be 8 next week.

we are lower income as well, and last year i depended on school lunches, but it looks like this year we cant physically afford to go the free lunch route, even if we financially need to! they are just too sugary and carby.

so any more kid type meal suggestions are welcome over here! we are putting him on even more strict low carb than he was on last year since his weight is still increasing, and with an 8 month old around now, i simply dont have time to make special meals for different people anymore.

Erin..that baby pic in your avatar is ADORABLE!!!