My Best Healthy Breakfast Finds From Pinterest

My kids are so picky at breakfast time! They don’t even seem hungry when they wake up. I always find them playing or reading! Often, I have to find them and drag them to the table. It’s really annoying because I love breakfast and it is the most important meal of the day. I really want my kids to be full and happy for the first part of the school day. But it’s been hard to convince them to eat more than sugary cereal every morning.

I never say die! I am very stubborn and tried several recipes until I found ones that were healthy and that they would actually eat!! As a mom, I feel like a champion when the kids like a recipe I’ve found. Anyone else silently fist-pump the air when their kids smile and say “I like it”? Just me?

I relied mostly on Pinterest finds, as a lot of us do. Some were a fail – the breakfast burritos were HUGE, took too long to make and were quite expensive in the end. I convinced them to eat them but it was a struggle. I am going to work on a smaller, cheaper version of them. A lot of the breakfast cookies were dry and heavy- more like eating an edible lump of dirt, so most of them were a fail. And there were some others that I didn’t even note because they were that unsuccessful.

But there were a few that we keep going back to! So I thought that I would share, since Pinterest can be a bit of a jungle and not all finds are good ones.

Here are some of our favourite Pinterest finds, plus a few that we do on our own. As I made this list, I had to laugh, because all of the kids fave Pinterest finds have oatmeal in them! Sooo….if you don’t like oatmeal, I’m sorry. I do some plates on my own that don’t require a recipe and don’t have oatmeal, so maybe skip to that list if you’re not an oatmeal fan! A couple of these don’t taste like they have oatmeal in them, so give them a try even if your kids don’t like bowls of oatmeal.

These recipes do contain some sugar, but the amount per serving is still small enough to satisfy me. The best part is that my picky kids liked them, felt full all morning and were in a better mood after eating.

Pinterest Finds:

(Each breakfast title is a clickable link to the recipe)

1. Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal – I just made this and we really enjoyed it! The kids don’t like the walnuts on the top, but you can leave those off. We are huge banana fans and I was full all morning after one serving- although I did eat mine with the walnuts, which was probably a factor. 
2. Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal – This is one of our faves!! I have made this over and over. I am sorry if you are allergic to peanuts and peanut butter, because this is delicious. The kids love that it has “icing”, even though it is just peanut butter. We use all-natural peanut butter and it doesn’t melt very well, so I just put the peanut butter on top like you would with toast. Definitely recommend this one. The woman that created the recipe says it is “one for the week” but in our house of 4 people, it lasts 2 days! 
3. Healthy Applesauce Oat Muffins – Huge thanks to the creator of this recipe on Pinterest- Lauren is a genius. I’m gluten-intolerant, so I made these with Robin Hood Gluten-Free Flour and it still worked perfectly. Isabella doesn’t like raisins (or any added fruit) in muffins, so I made half with raisins and half without by spooning out half of the batter into the muffin tin, then adding the raisins and spooning out the rest. They both required the same baking time, so I was lucky. This morning Isabella was asking if she could have more than two! I might need to triple the recipe next time. (And, btw, I said no to her and made her eat applesauce and drink more water to feel full. I think it was her taste-buds talking and not her stomach! Haha). 
4. Hulk Muffins– I found these spinach banana muffins on JoyFoodSunshine- the same site that I found the PB baked oatmeal. Thanks, Laura!! She has the trick of calling them “Hulk muffins” to her kids because they are green, so I stole that and did the same. And it worked! The kids tried them and loved them. They would never have tried them if I had told them are spinach banana muffins. Isabella and Hunter got a kick out of the bright green colour and ate a few before I told them the ingredients. By that time, they were so in love with them that they didn’t care that there were “weird” ingredients in them. These muffins seem to keep them full for the longest amount of time. 
5. Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookies – I tried a LOT of breakfast cookie recipes before I found this one. Most of the most popular ones on Pinterest were too heavy, cakey, sweet or dense for us and the kids barely made it through a batch. I had to compost some of them because they went bad! Isabella said that some of them just “sat in her stomach like a rock”. Then I found this recipe on Kristine’s Kitchen! I think it’s the applesauce in them that makes them so palatable. We have made this recipe several times and they freeze really well.
6. Homemade Freezer Pancakes – Yes, you can use almost any pancake recipe, but I find they don’t reheat very well after they’ve been in the freezer. Most pancake recipes my kids won’t eat after being frozen and I was sick of buying Eggo waffles. I finally found this recipe and tried it with success. A lot heartier, they stand up to being reheated for days afterward. Now my kids can have pancakes for breakfast any day of the week- I just insist that they have some peanut butter on it so that they get some protein in them.

Other Options:

1. Fruit/veggie, cheese and meat plates: This is not only for appetizers when you have people over! Buy two or three of your kid’s favourites and make a plate the night before. Stick it in the fridge in a container or wrapped up on a plate. In the morning, pull it out and set it between your kids. Let them choose what they want and eat it off of smaller plates. Mine find this very fun. I love to give them low-sugar, low-sodium crackers with jam or pb on them, two kinds of sausage or meat and cheese plus apple and orange slices. These are our faves, but use whatever is in season or your favourites. You can also buy frozen berries and fruit and defrost them overnight in the fridge and serve that with a spoon on the side as your fruit option. Or cut up veggies! I was surprised when my kids went crazy over carrots, peppers, and cucumbers alongside the other breakfast options. Play with it and find out what your kids will eat- don’t limit yourself because your kids will surprise you.
2. Yogurt and berries: Flavoured yogurt is FULL of sugar (and not all natural). I am trying to wean my kids off of it. Instead, we use plain yogurt and add our own flavour combinations. Hunter is very resistant since his first love is anything sugary. (Isabella is my salt kid). I have had success with plain Greek yogurt, a little splash of vanilla extract and defrosted frozen berries. Some days, I can add some chopped nuts on top with no complaints. It keeps them full and feels like a treat in the morning.
3. PB and J sandwich: Sandwiches don’t have to be for lunchtime only! Isabella hates the texture of toast so I make her a sandwich instead. I mean, what’s the difference between two pieces of toast and a sandwich? Her favourite is a grape jelly and all-natural pb sandwich.
4. Cheese Sandwich: Hunter occasionally loves a good cheese sandwich in the morning. It can be just cheese chopped up and put between two slices with a little bit of Hellman’s mayo, a grilled cheese, or a cheese and pickle sandwich. I just want them to have full bellies and be happy at school all morning! When cereal doesn’t fill that hole, we turn to sandwiches. Also- rye bread is your healthiest option for bread, according to my mom’s health classes and the internet. Read the labels! You’ll have to agree.
5. Leftovers: Let your kids raid the fridge!! Leftover turmeric fritters, soup, salads, stews, chicken, tacos- whatever you have, let the kids know that they can ‘have at it’ during breakfast! Why not? They will feel full, have had protein and be happy kids all morning at school, ready to learn. Hunter hasn’t taken me up on it but Isabella used to love cold turmeric fritters with a glass of milk in the morning.

Notes:

• As I said before, we tried breakfast burritos but I tried a recipe that made HUGE burritos full of a million ingredients. Even cut in half, they were enormous. The burritos didn’t freeze very well, as promised, and were too messy.  If I try them again, I’ll have to make size and ingredient modifications since the kids didn’t like the texture of the egg and ham in them. When I figure it out, I will definitely share!
• I am gluten-intolerant and dairy sensitive so made all of these recipes with gluten-free oats, soy or almond milk, and gluten-free flour so that I could enjoy them, too.

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