I was getting tired of the daily “what do you want for breakfast” exchange and accommodating different requests, so I sat down with my kids a few weeks ago and together we came up with a weekday breakfast schedule.
What you’re not going to find on our schedule: cereal and milk.
I prefer my kids start their day with substantial protein and healthy fat options. There is a tremendous amount of processing involved to create extruded breakfast shapes with some synthetic vitamins added in to please the label readers. And downing it with non-fat or low-fat milk doesn’t supply the necessary fats it takes to absorb whatever vitamins might actually be there.
Working with my family’s preferences, this is what we came up with and I’m sure it will evolve over time. I let them default to eggs anytime they want and add a smoothie to supply high quality protein and fats. This has made a big difference in our hectic weekday mornings. Now if I could only get my youngest to reschedule her “bad hair days”…
Breakfast Schedule
Mondays: Whole milk plain yogurt and fruit
Tuesdays: Cheese sandwich (gluten-free bread)
Wednesdays: Homemade almond-flour waffles (kept frozen from the weekend)
Thursdays: Eggs (any style)
Fridays: Yogurt and fruit
Saturdays: This is my “no cooking day” (Sabbath observance). I put out a buffet type breakfast that may include cheeses, smoked salmon or gravlax, herring, yogurt, veggies, fruit, olives, leftover challah bread, leftover quiche or apple crisp, and whatever else can be found in the fridge.
Sundays: I make almond flour waffles, dutch oven pancakes, or almond flour pancakes – and always double the batch to freeze for weekdays.
Twice a month I prepare overnight slow cooker oatmeal – I try to save that for mornings that I know will be especially rushed.
If I have homemade grain-free granola in the fridge – that can be an option with raw milk or yogurt.
For smoothies I blend 3/4 raw milk, coconut milk, or yogurt, with 1/4 cup frozen fruit, a dash of vanilla extract, a little honey to taste, a tablespoon of coconut oil, and sometimes I add in farm fresh egg yolks.
I’ve also been known to give my kids homemade ice cream or frozen yogurt or even some berries with freshly whipped raw cream.
Also remember that there is nothing wrong with having leftovers for breakfast. This is something I’m trying to get the kids to do more often. Starting their day with a leftover hamburger or turkey breast beats out a cheese sandwich in terms of nutrients any morning. They’re still not buying that idea – though some days they do tend to eat some of their lunch while I’m preparing it so I know there is hope…
My husband and I end up doing eggs more often than the kids (I like to add some quick sauteed greens to mine) or even just an avocado with some scallions or homemade pesto. When I don’t have time to eat I may just warm up some chicken broth and take it with me in a travel mug or juice some greens (I try to remember to take a spoon of coconut oil on those minimal breakfast days).
Please share your breakfast ideas. What are your favorites? What’s your go-to breakfast on hectic mornings? Are you getting a nutrient dense breakfast in the morning?
More Breakfast Ideas:
10 Healthy Breakfast Ideas | Kelly the Kitchen Kop
The Surprising Truth about This Favorite Breakfast Food | Mercola
Breakfast Foods | Nourished Kitchen
Seven Kid Approved Healthy Breakfast Ideas | Wellness Mama
40 Healthy Breakfast Ideas | Divine Health from the Inside Out
Boxed Breakfast Cereal is Toxic | The Healthy Home Economist
Breakfast Recipes | Eat Nourishing (a recipe sharing site devoted to real food!)
This post is linked to Sunday School | Butter Believer and Real Food Wednesday | Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
I made a similar breakfast schedule when we stopped buying cereal. I have about 10 options written down, and I just choose from them when I make up our weekly menu. Most of the items are made ahead and either on the counter (i.e. muffins) or in the freezer (like your waffles). This helps too since I’m NOT a morning person and really shouldn’t be cooking then! 🙂
I like the idea of having more options, but my kids really like the schedule knowing Mondays they have yogurt, Thursdays are egg day etc…
This is a great idea! I have been trying to stick to one of these, too. I only have one child, a toddler, so it’s not so much that I’ve been catering to many kids but that I need help deciding what to eat! It is also helpful for my husband to know if he should wait for me to cook breakfast or make something on his own. He’s not an oatmeal fan, so on oatmeal days he’s on his own. 🙂 I also love the idea of a no-cook breakfast buffet for sabbath. Thanks for the tips!
Great idea regardless to start your toddler now on the schedule.
I add breakfasts to my weekly menu plan – we always have protein for breakfast, eggs are always available and once a week I make some kind of muffin/waffle or pancake. I try to offer something raw, either fruit or raw milk, or kombucha too. I am definitely gonna check out the almond waffles! (actually very excited about them!)
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I wish my kids liked eggs more. I finally got them to have it once a week – until they acquire that taste, I’ll continue to add the yolks to their smoothies a few times a week. What other proteins besides eggs do you give them?
What a marvelous way to make mornings go smoother. I LOVE your overnight oatmeal recipe. great idea for rushed mornings. Bookmarking that to try soon.
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I would love to try raw milk but can’t figure out how to get it in the metro NYC area. Any suggestions?
Ofira, I’m not familiar with raw milk availability in NY. Your best resource would be to contact your local Weston Price Foundation Chapter Leader; http://www.westonaprice.org/local-chapters/find-a-local-chapter#ny. They’ll be able to guide you.
Please let me know if you need more help.
Breakfast is my worst meal with my kids. I am pretty laid back about dinner. If they don’t like what I made they can have some yogurt, cheese, fruit or what ever else they can find! I really want them to eat a good breakfast before school so I find myself making more than one thing. This morning I made 1 fried egg, 1 grilled cheese on sprouted bread, fried in butter, rice cereal and a pancake that I had in the freezer so it only had to be popped in the oven. I think the kids can smell my desperation that they go to school well fed.
I will be going to get a new blender today in the hope that maybe they will all be happy with a smoothy!
I have become a huge fan of your blog! Knowing that you really are a busy mom, who is able is to achieve so much in the kitchen has gotten me off of my soap box of “I don’t have any time” and my new mantra is “I must be able to do more”. I do cook often, but I take short cuts too. Your breakfast entry was very interesting to me, I ADORE the Breakfast Schedule. If I can get my daughter on board it will make my life much easier.
My daughter prefers leftovers for breakfast, she does not like traditional breakfast food, which is KILLING me. I have been going NUTS trying to find things for her to eat in the morning as opposed to always having dinner for breakfast. I breathed a sigh a relief when I read you were trying to get your kids interested in leftovers!! I really thought leftover turkey meatloaf was crazy, now I do not feel so nutty.
I also really enjoyed your entry on the basics you keep stocked. I do not keep a Kosher kitchen, but your entry gave some interesting ideas. We all have our basics and seeing yours has brought a new dynamic to mine. Plus my daughter has so many allergies, that I find your entries can eliminate those things that she is allergic to but give us ALL an interesting meal, as opposed always making a separate meal for Zoe.
Anyways this post is long enough….let me just say thank you for taking time out of your already busy day to do this, its much appreciated!
Marcia
Thank you Marcia for taking the time to write this! Good luck with Zoe.
I have enjoyed a few of your recipes that I tried. I was wondering if you could suggest some school lunch ideas for a kindergartener for the week of Unleavened Bread? Thanks.
You could do lettuce wraps, turkey and pickles rolled up, tuna or cheese with homemade almond flour crackers, chicken strips with cut up veggies, trail mix, fruit… there’s so much you can do! Try searching for “paleo lunches” online – there’s plenty of ideas out there.