6 healthy breakfasts for children

We have all heard that for children it is essential to have a good complete and balanced breakfast to start the day with energy and have a good school performance.

But the truth is that it is not always easy, many children wake up without an appetite, they do not feel like the healthy breakfasts that we offer them with our best intentions or we simply walk in the morning in a hurry.

First let’s see what they should have for breakfast.

How to prepare healthy breakfasts for children

A good breakfast should be made up of: whole wheat bread, oat flakes or other cereals, whole wheat flour in preparations such as muffins or pancakes or, for example, sweet potatoes or other root vegetables.

liquids: at night the body dehydrates and in the morning you have to drink. We can offer the little ones water; flavored water with lemon verbena, lemon, orange…; different infusions such as forest fruits, rose hips, rooibos…; vegetable broth; homemade vegetable drink, or, for example, cereal coffee or cocoa with a healthy sweetener.Complete carbohydrates: They are the main source of energy, but it is preferable to give them whole grains, because their absorption is slower and glucose spikes are avoided.Protein: It must not be forgotten, especially in children, because it not only satisfies them but above all plays an important role in their growth and immune system. In this case, a glass of oat milk and a couple of cookies are not worth it. On the contrary, we can include nuts and seeds, nut creams, vegetable pates such as hummus; tofu or other vegetable proteins…
If it costs them, We can prepare bread or pastries at home and replace part of the flour with almond flour or other nuts, or add hemp seeds, nutritional yeast or a teaspoon of nut cream to vegetable yogurt, cereals or a smoothie. We can also try including protein-rich cereals such as quinoa or amaranth.And there should never be a lack of fresh fruit or vegetables. It is better to prepare smoothies with whole fruit or give them pieces of fresh fruit than fruit juices, which are high in sugars. In addition, we can offer you vegetables in the form of green juices or vegetable pieces in sandwiches or, for example, in a tofu scramble.

What if my son doesn’t want to eat breakfast?

In this case we can try to offer them fun breakfasts that will surprise them. Who said that you have to have toast or cereal for breakfast? Why not play around with different savory breakfasts and try preparing the same ingredients in different ways?

Actually we can offer any healthy food. Have you got some quinoa and baked vegetables left over? Why not offer it to the little ones for breakfast. Do you love homemade vegetable burgers? Well, we can make more and eat them first thing in the day too.

The important thing is to talk to the little ones and ask them what they want. Because they still don’t like the breakfast we offer them, no matter how healthy it is, and instead of mushy porridge they prefer something dry like granola or cookies or even want something salty in the morning.

If the children are not really hungry when it is time to get up, we can prepare a breakfast that can be taken to school or eaten on the go. This option includes all kinds of complete sandwiches, cookies, biscuits or homemade bars, fruit smoothie in a thermos… It is also important that they do not eat dinner too late and go to bed early so that they wake up hungry.

6 breakfast recipes for children

And here you have different breakfast ideas for the little ones in the house.

1. Crunchy Cereals with Chocolate and Almonds

Cereals are one of the most popular breakfasts among children. And although it is advertised as a healthy breakfast, many of the packaged cereals are prepared with refined flours, dyes, additives and sugar. Instead we can prepare this crunchy cereal at home, without any of that.

Ingredients (1 tray):

1 cup of any whole wheat flour or its mixture such as buckwheat, spelt, oats, millet 1 cup of fine rolled oats 1/2 cup of almond flour 4 tablespoons of yogurt 1/2 cup of coconut oil 1/2 teaspoon baking yeast 1 pinch of salt 1/2 cup of brown sugar or coconut sugar1 egg or 1 tablespoon ground flax1 teaspoon cinnamon or vanilla extract4 tablespoons flaked almonds or hemp1 handful raisins, chocolate chips (optional)

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. If you are going to use the flax egg, in a small bowl combine the ground flax with 3 tablespoons of water and let stand. In a bowl, combine the flours, rolled oats, sugar, yeast, salt and spices. Add the oil, yogurt and egg or flax egg and mix well. Add the nuts and chocolate or dried fruit and mix well. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Divide the dough into 4 parts, make balls and then some thin snakes. Slice each as thinly as possible with a knife, then slice each slice in half to make bite-sized pieces. Place on the tray. Bake about 10-15 minutes until they start to brown. Let cool and store in a boat.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes

2. Oatmeal and peanut bars

Oatmeal is a very complete food and ideal for breakfast for children. It is rich in minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, fiber and provides a stable source of energy.

Instead of the bowl of oatmeal We can always prepare these bars that are ideal to take to school, since they are easy to transport and also contain peanut butter, which not only gives them an irresistible flavor, but also provides protein.

In this version they also contain chocolate, but depending on tastes we can use in nuts and dried fruit instead of chocolate.

Ingredients:

150 g fine rolled oats 125 g oatmeal 1 teaspoon cinnamon a pinch of salt 90 ml maple syrup 90 g natural peanut butter 45 g coconut oil 60 ml oat drink 100 g chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 180ºC.In a small saucepan, combine maple syrup, peanut butter and coconut oil and heat over low heat to blend well. Add the oat drink and mix. In a bowl mix the oat flakes, flour, cinnamon and salt. Add the liquid mixture and mix. Let cool a bit and add the chocolate chips. Pour the mixture into a mold previously greased with a little coconut oil or lined with parchment paper, flatten well with your hands and bake for 25-30 minutes until it starts to set. Brown. Let cool and cut into bars.

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3. Mexican burritos with tofu

Another technique to make the little ones have breakfast is surprise them with different breakfasts. Of course they have to be balanced and easy to prepare, like this burrito that meets the standards of a balanced breakfast.

The only thing that we have to prepare is tofu the day before or in our batch cooking. This one wears a mild marinade with spices inspired by Mexico, but if the children are very sensitive to spices, we can prepare a simple macerate with only tamari, oil and nutritional yeast.

Ingredients (2 servings):

200 g of tofu2 wholemeal tortillas½ avocado1 heart1 tomato

To marinate the tofu:

2 tablespoons soy sauce 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast 1 clove garlic ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika ¼ teaspoon cumin ¼ teaspoon coriander

Preparation:

Wrap the tofu in paper or a kitchen towel, put a weight on top and let it dry for at least 30 minutes.In a deep plate, mix all the ingredients for the marinade.Cut the tofu in half lengthwise and then into quarters to get 8 slices. Cover with the marinade and leave to marinate for about 30 minutes. Put the tofu on a baking tray and bake at 200ºC for 25-30 minutes. Flip halfway through. Let cool and store in a container. In the morning prepare the burritos. Heat the tortillas. Cut the tomato and avocado into slices and chop the leaves of the heart. Put in each tortilla a little of the heart, a few slices of tomato, avocado, a couple of slices of tofu and wrap well.

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4. Toast”pizza“

whatPizza for breakfast? Why not. But don’t be scared. We do not propose to set the alarm at five in the morning to knead the dough, but to make a pizza express with bread and see the smile on the faces of the little ones.

In this recipe we use smoked tofu and spinach to provide protein and vegetables and create a complete breakfast, but we can add other ingredients such as mushrooms, corn, broccoli or any other ingredient that the little ones like.

Ingredients (2 servings):

2 slices of wholemeal bread olive oil 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce 50 g of smoked tofu 8 leaves of spinach 2 tablespoons of vegan cheese for pizza

Preparation:

Preheat oven on program grill.Toast the bread in a toaster. Meanwhile, chop the tofu and spinach. Drizzle the bread with a little olive oil and brush each slice with 1 tablespoon of the tomato sauce. Sprinkle the spinach, chopped tofu and cheese on top and gratin in the oven for about 5 minutes until the cheese melts.

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5. Chocolate Hemp Smoothie

Well, what if after trying everything our children really they are not hungry and do not feel like chewing in the morning? No need to throw in the towel.

We can try to prepare a milkshake; but not just any one, but a complete and nutritious shake. For the contribution of carbohydrates we can add oat flakes or cooked quinoa; for the contribution of protein, nuts and seeds or creams, and if we feel like it, fruit and vegetables.

Here we present a simple chocolate shake with hemp seeds, rich in protein, vitamin E, calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium and omega-3 that help with concentration. Also we can add half a banana or a couple of spinach leaves.

Ingredients (1 shake):

250 ml of water or vegetable drink 2 tablespoons of hemp seeds 2 tablespoons of oat flakes 1 tablespoon of cocoa 1-2 dates a pinch of vanilla a pinch of salt

Preparation:

We beat all the ingredients. We tested the flavor and if we need more sweetener, we add another half date.

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6. Millet and raisin cake

Eat whole grains for breakfast It brings many benefits, since they provide vitamins, minerals, energy gradually and fiber. Wheat, spelt and oats are the classics for breakfasts, but it is convenient to introduce different cereals to children to take advantage of the particular benefits of each one.

Millet is especially rich in calcium (has the highest content of cereals), iron, magnesium and antioxidants. The classic way is to take the cereals in the form of porridge, but we can play with other ways such as preparing them in the oven.

In this recipe we use raisins, walnuts and cinnamon, but we can flavor the cake with other flavors. We can add pieces of fresh fruit such as apple, pear, banana, berries, or nuts and dried fruit such as dates, apricot dried apricots, coconut, etc.

Ingredients (4…