Breakfast Foods

Breakfast Ideas

McKenzie Pediatrics 2024

Before we get to some great breakfast food options, a few words about some bad ones. Most of the time when children tell us what they ate for breakfast, it was something unhealthy such as:

• PopTarts™ or some other toaster pastry.
• Breakfast cereal (most though not all are made from unhealthy ultra-processed ingredients, chemical flavorings and colorings, and sugar).
• Sugar-dense packet oatmeal, which is often so highly processed as to have little nutritional value.
• Toaster waffles (again, usually made from very unhealthy ingredients, and topped with pancake syrup, which is just high-fructose corn syrup combined with unnatural “natural flavors”.
• Pancakes (usually nothing more than birthday cake for breakfast, made from the same ingredients and often topped with fake maple “pancake syrup”).
• Drive-thru “fast-food” breakfast meals, again made from very unhealthy ultra-processed ingredients
• School breakfast, which again is almost always pancakes or waffles made from cheap, ultra-processed ingredients and topped with high-fructose corn syrup disguised as “maple syrup”.

We’d like to offer a list of better options. But before we do, a few reminders:

• There is no law in the U.S. which states that breakfast foods may only consist of cereals, oatmeal, pancakes, waffles, or eggs & bacon or sausage. Think outside of the cultural box many Americans have put themselves into. Most cultures outside the US include fruits and vegetables in their breakfast meals, and very few cultures emphasize ultra-processed carbohydrate foods the way we do.
• Yes, mornings can be hectic. It is tough for working parents with several children to have time to prepare a healthy breakfast in a limited amount of time. So, make things in advance! Examples include breakfast burritos (that can be quickly reheated in the microwave) assembly-line style on the weekend, or overnight oats in Mason jars the evening before.

Here are a few better breakfast options:

• Always try to include fruit (fresh or dried) with breakfast.
• Vegetables for breakfast are great! Spinach or kale with scrambled eggs or in breakfast burritos, for example. Tomatoes and mushrooms (yes, neither is technically a vegetable) are a mainstay in British breakfasts. Cucumber slices work great for dunking into yogurt. Carrot sticks and sliced red bell peppers with hummus is a very nutritious breakfast.
• Yogurt is a great healthy breakfast food, but it is important to purchase the right yogurt. Plain, full-fat, unsweetened, unflavored yogurt please! Most yogurts today have added sugars, chemical preservatives and flavorings. Serve plain yogurt with fresh fruit, raw honey, nuts, and or low-added sugar granola or muesli. Mason jars of these ingredients can be made ahead of time on a weekend, ready to grab-and-eat!
• Breakfast burritos are another easy make-ahead, heat-and-eat breakfast food. Buy whole grain or corn tortillas and fill them with options including black or pinto or refried beans, cheese (avoid pre-shredded if possible), scrambled eggs, avocado slices or guacamole, diced unpeeled and sauteed red potatoes, chopped organic lettuce or spinach or kale, and organic salsa!
• Healthy one-pan casseroles are another easy idea to make ahead on a weekend, to dish out for breakfast and quickly reheat in the microwave. Use whole grain pastas, or organic rice or quinoa as the base grain then add in all sorts of vegetable and seasoning options, and top with organic cheese if you’d like. There are thousands of great recipes for one-pan casseroles available on the internet!
• Your Instant Pot or crockpot is likely another under-utilized kitchen appliance when it comes to making one-pot meals overnight that are ready to dish out for breakfast!
• Finally, breakfast doesn’t need to be large or complicated. Many children and adults prefer to have something small to start their day, rather than a big meal. For example, having a charcuterie board of fresh fruits, nuts, seeds, olives, and cheeses set out allows children to eat the amount they prefer. A piece of dark chocolate (70% or higher) can be a nice finishing and healthy “treat” for them.

Most children do not start their day off right with good food, which means their brains and bodies are not starting off their day ready to learn and be happy and active. Most schools do not offer nutritious foods for breakfast (and on top of that they offer sugary “chocolate” milk to drink!) so try your best to avoid having your child eat breakfast at school. With a little preparation on the weekend, it is relatively easy to make sure your child gets a healthy start to their day.

Sure, packaged foods are convenient and may be low-cost up front compared to healthier foods. But make no mistake, these ultra-processed foods that rule the grocery store aisles WILL cost more in the long-run, as they almost inevitably lead to anxiety, depression, impaired learning, fatigue, nutritional deficiencies, obesity, early fatty liver disease cirrhosis, type 2 diabetes, and so on….and all the health care costs that result from these diet-related diseases that are rampant in our modern society.

Thanks for reading!