Breakfast Ideas for my kids
I have been trying to wean my kids off sugary cereals even though I buy the healthier kinds. This is a list of recipes that I have tried and my kids liked.
Simple oatmeal porridge
I buy organic Bob Red’s Mill oats and simply cook them according to directions, add honey, raisins, whatever my kids want in it. I have recently started substituting regular organic milk with almond milk, adding flax meal and chia seeds. It seems that as long as I add honey to it, my kids are fine with it and still love this breakfast.
Variation 1: I usually cook more and one of the following days I slice a peeled apple (thin slices), saute in a little bit of butter, add leftover oatmeal and heat it up. Then I sprinkle cinnamon on top. My daughter loves it this way, my son does not.
Variation 2: I got inspired by this recipe on Deliciously Ella. My son did not like this either but my daughter and I loved it. I sauted apple slices in coconut oil, added chopped pecans, maple syrup, cinnamon, let it caramelize and added leftover oatmeal to this mixture. It was heavenly!
Banana Chocolate Chip Quinoa Flour Waffles
I followed the recipe except for the chocolate chips which I omitted. I also used whole eggs instead of just egg whites.
Almond pancakes
Ingredients: 1 cup old fashioned oats, 1/4 cup almonds, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 medium banana, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 egg, 1/2 cup almond milk
Grind the oats and almonds in a food processor. In another bowl, mash the banana. Whisk in the almond milk, egg, and vanilla. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet.
I added blueberries into the pancakes when shaped in a pan already.
Whole wheat vegan pancakes
I tried this recipe when I wanted to avoid more eggs one day (Because I used eggs in the meal for my kid’s lunch that day). The pancakes turned out great but I used a lot of blueberries. I think they’d be dry if I did not use any fruit. I doubled the recipe for our family of 4 and it was just the right amount.
Coconut flour pancakes
I wanted to make a different type of pancake so I tried this. My kids liked it but wanted marmalade or lemon curd smeared on top so next time I will completely omit honey or maple syrup in the recipe. The pancakes burn easily, make them on low heat. they are also harder to flip so make them tiny.
Other recipes we tried and liked:
Quinoa Fritters
We sampled them at the New York Botanical Garden. My kids don’t like a lot of grains and always take forever to chew quinoa for some reason. I have made brown rice patties with different kinds of vegetables several times and they liked them, so I figured I had nothing to lose. These fritters were holding together much better than my rice patties. I don’t like recipes that call for specific things I might not have at home all the time but I could see fresh corn could be substituted with frozen corn and other vegetables as well. I also didn’t have red pepper but I just used regular pepper. I chopped a regular onion. I’ll post the original recipe but I crushed frozen corn and fresh carrots in a small food processor and shredded a bit of baby spinach.
1 ear of fresh corn, shucked
1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup minced fresh basil
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
6 tablespoons boiling water
1 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)
Oil for frying (I used ghee)
Toast rinsed quinoa for 4 min over medium-high heat, then cook it. Allow to cool completely (I only did that once, the other time I did not wait and the fritters were fine even when mixed with the quinoa still warm). The original recipe says to pour the boiling water over flax seeds, let them soak, and grate the corn. Mix the ingredients with the vegetables, add the flax seeds, and form patties by making a ball, rolling it in flour and flattening it.
I tweak this recipe a bit. First, I don’t use fresh corn unless I have one–I simply throw some frozen (slightly thawed) organic corn into a food processor, grind it. If I don’t have fresh basil, I use a whole tray of pureed frozen basil from Trader Joe’s. If I have fresh basil I add chopped basil leaves in the mixture but use the frozen basil too. I usually add chopped fresh spinach leaves too.
I use a spoon to scoop a bit of the mixture into my hand, flatten it and place it in the heated pan with a bit of ghee or avocado oil in it—I do not roll them in flour at all and they turn out great anyway. If I think the mixture needs more flour, I add extra flour because it is sometimes easier to make the patties that way.
Stuffed Sweet Potato Crepes
I did not follow the recipe too closely because I did not have any smoke flavor. I also created my own vegetable mixture with millet and the second day I used other grains as well. I think you can pretty much improvise as long as you can make the crepes right. I topped the crepes with a lot of tiny pieces of tomato and drizzled them with avocado/lime dressing. I found an awesome recipe but I tweaked it a little. First, I only used one avocado and it was plenty, second, I added much more water and also orange juice. I suggest you use one avocado and the amount of citrus suggested and then you taste it and add more citrus juice if you like.
Buckwheat Vegetable Pancakes
(from Fresh Food Fast: Delicious, Seasonal Vegetarian Meals in Under an Hour by Peter Berley)
My friend gave me this recipe because my kids really liked the pancakes at her house. It is a lot of food (they are quite filling) and I usually save a bit for the morning when I fry a few pancakes for their lunch. I never pour the yogurt sauce on top, they have a small bowl and dip the pancakes in it. I also never cut them, everybody gets whole pancakes. We eat tomatoes with them.
For the pancakes
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup buckwheat flour
2 ½ teaspoons coarse salt or kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 cups whole milk
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons melted butter or neutral oil, such as grapeseed, canola, or sunflower
3 cups shredded green cabbage (1 small head)
1 ½ cups shredded peeled carrot (about 3 medium carrots)
6 scallions, white and tender green parts only, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill (I almost never have it around when I make the pancakes and they run out fine without it)
¼ cup neutral oil, for frying, such as grapeseed, canola, or sunflower (I always use either olive or avocado oil and it’s fine)
Fresh cilantro sprigs for garnish (I never have it when I make them and it is also fine)
For the yogurt sauce
This sauce came with the recipe, I never make it. I just mix Greek yogurt with Himalayan herbs and salt.
2 cups whole milk yogurt
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
1. Preheat the oven to 250 F.
2. To prepare the yogurt sauce, in a small bowl, stir together all the ingredients until well blended. Chill until ready to serve.
3. To make the pancake batter, in a large bowl, whisk together the flours, salt, and baking powder, in a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, and butter or oil. Pour the wet mixture over the dry and stir to combine.
4. Add the cabbage, carrots, scallions, and dill to the batter and mix well. The batter will be thick.
5. In a large (or 2 small) sauté pan(s) over medium heat, warm ¼ cup of oil. When the oil is hot, pour a scant cup of batter into the pan to form a pancake and fry for 5 minutes. Flip the pancakes and fry for 5 minutes more. As you finish each pancake, transfer it to a rimmed baking sheet and keep warm in the oven.
6. Transfer the pancakes to a clean cutting surface and cut each one into 4 wedges. Arrange 4 to 6 wedges on each of 4 plates. Pour yogurt sauce on top and garnish with cilantro sprigs.
Brown Rice: Not Just for Hippies Anymore
(New York Times article with some simple recipes with brown rice).
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