Does breakfast scare you?

The lazy mornings of summer are over, or close to it depending on your areas school schedule. The rushing around, trying to get everyone out the door and to the bus and work on time is now upon you. You know what they say about breakfast don’t you? Something about it being the most important meal of the day.

So, what do you feed your kids on a busy school morning? Cold cereal? A quick piece of gluten-free toast with a bit of peanut butter or perhaps cream cheese slathered over the top? For some kids, that is enough. For my kids, they’d be eating their lunch at their first break of the day and starve the rest of the day.

Your teenage kids especially need that added nutrition, added bulk, added food...get the point? They are HUNGRY! I have three teenage appetites in my house. Keeping them all full for more than twenty minutes can be a huge challenge some days. Toast and fruit just isn’t going to cut it here folks, no matter how much I wish it would.

Our schedule may be a bit different from many of you, we are a homeschooling family and only have to leave two days a week for outside classes. That being said, we still have a schedule that we keep and school still has to start on time or nothing will get done. Add to the normal getting ready for the day activities, we also have farm chores that need to be done in a timely manner as well. So, we are no stranger to the crazy hustle of a morning with a deadline to leave or do something.

The best way I found to combat the craziness when it comes to breakfast is to have a menu plan for breakfast. Included on this menu are also our dinner plans and even at times, lunch and snacks. I’ve covered ideas to get you started keeping a weekly menu plan. While a detailed one may seem overwhelming to some, trust me, it helps!

On my menu plans, I list what I need to do the night before in order to be ready for our morning meal. Some days there is nothing to do, some days I need to soak oats for the next morning, prep pancakes or waffles or mix up my soaked baked oatmeal to be baked when I get up. Even a meal that takes a half hour to bake is not a problem if I do as much as I can the night before.

Veggies can be chopped for a skillet breakfast, batter can be mixed up and waiting for me in the refrigerator. Planning makes any meal easier to put together. Even just getting up and not having to think about what you will feed your kids is a blessing! If you have older kids, they can join in and help make breakfast if it’s all laid out for them.

Another big bonus to planning your breakfast ahead of time is that you won’t have the dreaded, “Who used the last of the eggs?” question at 6:30 in the morning! That is worth a bit of planning, don’t you think?

Any favorite breakfast food can be planned ahead, most can even be prepped ahead and some even mixed up and stored in the refrigerator. It just takes a bit of planning. Sending your kids off to school and you off to work with a full stomach is a good way to start the day! All it takes is a bit of planning. Get out a calendar and start making your menu plan for the week. Trust me, you won’t be sorry!