Menu Monday--A Change of Pace--Breakfast :)

During my boot camp orientation, I lied. The instructor was asking how many different breakfasts you prepare. I was about to speak and heard words like 'one', 'two' and 'one'. I shyly mumbled 'six' and she looked at me in shock--I continued to mumble I had kids that were always wanting something new so I had to keep it varied. Right then I was glad I did not say the truth because honestly I have 12-16 go-to breakfasts in my rotation. I am not sure why I was scared to admit I have such a large variety--probably because the rest of the room had a variety of cereal and toast.

I've never been able to go 'small' on breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day. A good, balanced breakfast will make or break your day--too much sugar and you get hyped up only to drop by noon, too much fat and you feel bloated for the rest of the day. 

I also have this thing against a 'cold' breakfast. I pretty sure my kids would look see me as an alien clone if I fixed cold cereal for breakfast. I just find cold cereal better suited as a quick after school snack or even a snack after dinner. A mushy box of flakes drowning in bowl of milk just doesn't work for me.

I also firmly believe breakfast plays a role in our children's school work. Kids are so sensitive to foods. If you hand them off to the school full of fruit loops or pop tarts, you should expect to spend many an afternoon at the principal's office discussing behavior. I remember when Miley was younger and she was having 'talking' issues on certain days. Her teacher being of the same food mindset as me, linked it to breakfast. So for two weeks, she recorded her behavior--attention, grades, listening--while I recorded what she ate before school. Any morning she had a high carb breakfast like french toast (made on multi-grain bread even!) or breakfast muffins, she had behavior and listening issues while when she had protein rich breakfasts like scrambled eggs with spinach and chicken sausage or an Italian frittata, she did amazingly well. And when I just added more egg white and less maple syrup to the french toast along with some chicken sausage, she had a better day!

It was amazing. 

So this week, I am going to share breakfast with you. Because we have a few busy mornings, there are also a couple get up and go meals. 

I hope you can find a few things in your menu and encourage variety for the most important meal of the day! (The prep work to these is fairly simple--if you have any questions, please email me at verybusymomwith4@gmail.com)

Monday: Red pepper egg white omelet with cheddar cheese and small scoop of ranchero sauce

Tuesday: Steel cut oats with walnuts, dried cranberries and (real) maple syrup (I eat this A LOT)

Wednesday: Broiled whole grain muffin with scrambled eggs, sauted spinach, cheddar cheese--put together like a sandwich and it's a meal to go!

Thursday: Italian frittata with sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese, pesto and basil

Friday: Yogurt bar--start with PLAIN nonfat yogurt and serve with granola, nuts, fruits, honey (this is a bit sweeter than most breakfasts but I am going to be hosting breakfast after a sleep over!)

Saturday: French toast (be sure to use real maple syrup!) with berries and chicken maple sausage

Sunday: Migas  (I do not fry the tortilla strips but I am sure it would be very yummy!)

For more recipes be sure to check out Jen at Chive Talkin' :)