A good start to the day ensures the rest of the day is in a school bag! And what could be a better start of the day than a healthy breakfast. Breakfast certainly is a very important meal of the day and acts like an energy booster. It helps your children and you prepare mentally and physically for the day. Mostly, kids who eat a healthy breakfast perform better at school and also are active and happy at home. Otherwise, kids lose focus in their daily activities and become irritable.
Best Breakfast Ideas for Kids
Kids are moody and they do get bored with similar things quickly. For your growing children who are curious about new things in life, we as parents should be ready with different kinds of breakfast for kids. Here are a few ideas that can make a difference:
Egg-in-a-hole: How about some coloured capsicums with the fillings of delicious peppered eggs? It will appeal not only your children’s eyes but also their tummies.
Banana and Almond Butter Open Sandwich: Bread is replaced with bananas and butter can be of your choice! This makes an easy and quick, early snack giving your kids enough nutrition to power their morning. It is filled with the goodness of nutrients, much needed for your children’s muscles, bones and their overall body and mind.
Overnight Oats Pudding with Berries and Chia Seeds: You’ll need to put some effort the night before for a healthy bowl of pudding the next morning. It is just about pouring the three ingredients into a jar and setting it in your fridge the night before for a totally delicious and wholesome breakfast. Given its ingredients, this is one of the best breakfast ideas for kids. It is gluten-free, vegan (if almond milk is used), dairy free, and takes less than a minute to prepare.
Quinoa Crumble Bars: The base in itself is wholesome – made with granola and quinoa. Almonds, butter, chocolate chips and ground flax seeds make for a hearty, protein and vitamins rich breakfast. When you serve it, kids will not stop drooling over it.
No Junk Muffins: How about some maple syrup instead of refined sugar or any other artificial sweetener? With a good blend of apples, dried berries and maple syrup, these muffins make a great place in the fruit as well as sweetness department. This is a healthy alternative to the average muffin – perfect for kids.
Easy Breakfast Recipes for Kids
Egg-in-a-hole:
- Prep time: 5 mins
- Total time: 30 mins
- Serves: 4 pepper cups
Ingredients:
- 4 small multi-coloured bell peppers
- 4 large eggs
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Chopped fresh herbs
Method:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Slice 2 inches from bottom of each bell pepper to make shallow cups. Keep the tops aside for another use.
- Place bell peppers on a baking sheet. Crack 1 egg into each pepper. Season with salt and pepper.
- Bake for about 25 minutes until whites are firm.
- Yolks can be still a little runny.
- Sprinkle with chopped fresh herbs of your choice and relish!
Banana and Almond Butter Open Sandwich:
- Prep time: 5 mins
- Total time: 5 mins
- Serves: 2
Ingredients:
- Banana – 1
- Almond butter – 2 tablespoons
- Raw honey/maple syrup – 1 tablespoon
- Toppings of choice: Walnuts, raisins, almond flakes, sesame, chia seeds
Method:
- Lengthwise, slice the banana.
- Mix almond butter with sweetener of choice preferably maple syrup. Avoid artificial sweeteners
- Layer it up.
- Enjoy this nutritious recipe!
Overnight Oats Pudding with Berries and Chia Seeds:
Ingredients:
- Gluten-free instant oats – 1/4 cup
- Chia seeds – 1/4 cup
- Vanilla almond milk – 3/4 cup
- Mixed berries – 1 cup
- Raw honey – 1 teaspoon
Method:
- Mix oats, chia seeds, and almond milk into a moulded glass jar or a mason jar, stir it well.
- Seal with a lid.
- Refrigerate overnight.
- In the morning, take your pudding out of the fridge.
- Top it up with fresh berries and some honey.
- Serve fresh!
Quinoa Crumble Bars:
- Prep time: 30 minutes
- Total time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Serves: About 12 bars
Ingredients:
- Granola – 1 1/4 cups
- Cooked cooled quinoa – 1 cup
- Coarsely chopped raw almonds – 1 cup
- Ground flaxseed – 1/2 cup
- Salt – 1/4 Teaspoon
- Raw honey – 1/3 cup
- Melted coconut oil or peanut butter – 1/4 cup
- Vanilla extract – 1 teaspoon
- Mini chocolate chips, dried pomegranate seeds or a mix of both – 3/4 cup
Method:
- Take a large bowl. Mix quinoa, granola, almonds, flaxseed and salt.
- Stir and mix well.
- Fold in chocolate chips and pomegranate seeds.
- Stir in honey, coconut butter and vanilla extract and mix well with a spoon. Place this mixture in the microwave for 45 seconds. Allow to cool slightly.
- Pour it over dry ingredients and mix until entire mixture is moistened. (not too moistened, though)
- Place a 9×9 baking dish with plastic wrap. Firmly press the mixture into the pan.
- Evenly top it off with a spoon and pack it as tightly as possible.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. This step is very important to get crispy bars.
- Cut the bars into 12 squares and remove them out of the pan.
- Relish these nutritious quinoa and granola bars.
No Junk Muffins:
Ingredients:
- Apples – 2
- Eggs – 3
- Self-raising gluten-free flour – 100g
- Cinnamon – 2 tablespoons
- Maple syrup – 2 tablespoons
- Olive oil / coconut oil – 80-120ml
- Dried strawberry pieces – 50g (1.8 oz)
Method:
- Preheat oven to 200°C.
- Add maple syrup, cinnamon and olive oil to eggs and whisk it.
- Stir grated apples into the egg mixture with the strawberry pieces.
- Fold in the self-rising flour with a spoon.
- Spoon into muffin tins (ensure they are greaseproof)
- Bake for approx. 20 minutes, until golden and cooked in the centre.
- Put a knife in the centre of a muffin to check if they are cooked.
- If cooked, it should come out clean.
We all know that most kids are fussy when it comes to eating healthy food. But try these recipes at home. They are sure to make a difference!
