The Breakfast Club

 If you fine folk are anything like me, you've probably been led to the point of near- hysteria trying to decide what to serve your kids for meals, especially at breakfast time. 

When kids reach about 1.5 years of age ( about the time they're able to handle different food textures without gagging), it becomes a bit easier to feed them from the same meals you're cooking the rest of the family, bar anything too spicy or dense. That's all fine and well for lunch and supper when one tends to prepare dishes or pots of food that can accommodate the varying tastes of a family, but things can get tricky when you're trying to prep a balanced breakfast for small kids of various ages (and tastes!).

Personally, I try to steer clear of anything processed, sugar- filled or carb-heavy to start the day off, and I try to keep it light yet filling enough to sustain them for a few hours until snacktime. This is not to say I'm a healthy food nut on ANY level, but I am conscious of at least attempting to serve them a good all-rounder of a breakfast, in order to get them off to a good start. 

When Adam was little, I'd feed him baby cereals and (occassionally) cheese slices for breakfast. The baby cereal eventually turned into rice crispies, cornflakes or his favourite breakfast staple, Pronutro, as he got older. Being a new parent at the time, I didn't often experiment with things that were necessarily healthier, not really wanting to veer away from the things I knew he'd like. I had the idea I was saving time and money by not preparing food he may refuse to eat. In hindsight however, I definitely should have tried out more foods, so that he could have developed healthier tastes. 

Nevertheless, I tried to do things differently the second time around, by feeding the twinnies either apples or bananas when they started eating solids, and then the same fruits, grapes or a citrus option, low fat fruit yoghurt, oats and milk, and a half a slice of toast as they got older. This daily breakfast can vary depending on what's in the food cupboard from day to day, but generally, I'll stick to a fruit and either a cereal or yoghurt as the mainstay of every breakfast. I'll add either toast or cheese slices, or  cheese or jam toast as an accompaniment to the meal if they still seem hungry after. This usually seems to keep them happy for a while.

Some days, I strike it lucky and come across something on sale at the grocery store, which I then serve for breakfast. Last week, I found some sweetmelon and winter melon slices for R20 a pack, which have now tied us over 3 days of breakfasts! The twins love fruit, so any tropical fruit is like the biggest treat for them 😂

So, to any parents who are confused about what to serve at breakfast time, my advice would be to experiment with and rotate different foods, but to always attempt to incorporate fruit and oats, or a sugar- free cereal as the base of each breakfast. That's what's seemed to work for me and my kids anyhow.

 Even if you have an older kid who is more set in their food repertoire, it's good to still attempt to find new, healthier alternatives wherever possible for them to try and hopefully enjoy. 😉 

Till the next x