Breakfast ideas

Don't beat yourself up...frozen waffles aren't the worst thing you could feed your kid for breakfast! We make smoothies in the morning....orange juice, banana, frozen strawberries and some whey protein powder is a favorite! Really yummy and you can do it on those on the go mornings. Try making pancakes with some extra nutrition. I make the just add water kind and then add some canned pumpkin or pureed sweet potato, wheat germ or flaxmeal and viola, delicious and healthy for you. Try them with Cary's sugar free syrup. You can also make a big batch and freeze them or refrigerate to be heated up in the toaster for another morning or tasty after school snack. Also, to spice up regular oatmeal, try this variation. 1 C. skim milk, 1/3 C. brown sugar(or splenda), 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, 1/2 C. canned pumpkin(not pumpkin pie filling), bring it to a gentle simmer and add 1C. whole oats. Cook a few minutes until creamy, then add 2 tsp natural pbutter, chopped nuts, dried fruit and a little more milk! Yummy and full of vitamins and fiber! Good luck:)

My son likes oatmeal...the slow cook kind still only takes a few minutes in the microwave. I then put out a bunch of things and let him add what he wants (well, I physically do the adding, since he is still small, but you get the idea). Dates and nuts, coconut, some honey, cinamon. If you make the oatmeal with skim milk, it's got extra nutrition. However, if you use milk, stop the microwave after every minute or it will foam over in the microwave.

Also, whole grain toast (or just bread), peanut butter, and sliced bananas makes a great on the go breakfast.

My son also really like fruit and yogurt. Maybe some fruit and yogurt and some granola thrown on top for crunch.

my kids alwasy liked this one. melt 1/4 stick of butter in a skillet. tear 4 corn tortillas into one inche pieces and add to the skillet. stir and cook them until soft. add 4 eggs and salt and pepper to taste. my son is very eticulous about what he eats. he is a runner and a wreslter and here are some of the things he eats. oatmeal the real kind, with banans, baked apples, cinnamon raisins, dried cranberries or blue berries or fresh fruit if we have it, with peanut butter and honey. he has it different every day. or all grain toast with peanut butter and jelly. he also eats a lot of egg whites, about 6 of them every monring. he makes omelets or scramble sthem with fresh veggies, fresh fruit salad, he also has me buy the boneless skinless chicken breasts and puts them in a baggie with low fat salad dressing( different types) and puts them in the freezer. he pulls one out and while it thaws in the refirgerator it marinates. he sometimes cooks one in the lean mean grilling machine and has that for breakfast. cream of wheat, egg sandwiches, toast bread put mayo onit and top it off with two over medium eggs. also granola from the health food store. he puts that over yougurt and adds fresh fruit. and of course he always has his protein drink smoothie but your son is probably too young for that. i have coffee

These are all great suggestions. Also, breakfast doesn't just have to include breakfast food; I sometimes make chicken and broccoli stir-frys or BLTs on whole-wheat bread with apple slices on the side.

Karina Bland is raising her 9-year-old son in Tempe with a lot of love, humor and support from her friends and family. A longtime journalist covering child welfare and education issues for The Arizona Republic, she blogs about raising good kids.

Thanks for all the great suggestions - I am going to try them!
I read a post here a few months ago about the "terrible" things people feed their kids for breakfast and I remember I felt bad because a lot of the items were things I served!
I know frozen waffles aren't the worst thing ever, but I figured I should try and do better.

Just a few more suggestions. I like sweet for breakfast, but know that, if I do that, I crash mid-morning. These are all quick breakfast solutions that he may like and that you might feel good about serving.

Chop up a variety of dried fruits (apples, apricots, prunes, etc.) and store the mixture with raisens. Buy just bran flakes, and mix it with the real fruit (sans sugar) with low-fat milk. You can get it 2-3 servings of fruit into that one bowl, and the bran flakes will keep him full until lunch.

Get some (low sugar) natural strawberry preserves. Take a piece of wheat toast, and spead a thin layer of cream cheese, and then a layer of preserves on it. I've done it with with apple and peach butter in place of the strawberry preserves.

Start with low-fat plain yogurt. Add in strawberry preserves and banana slices; a little granola is good, too.

For a high-protein triple whammy: toast two pieces of wheat bread and use a little bit of margarine on each. Spray a skillet with non-fat cooking spray. On one side, put in a portion of turkey ham and cover it with low-fat American cheese. One the other side, fry a healthy (i.e. cage-free, etc.) egg; break the yolk just before the white is done (I like mine goopier, so I wait to break the yolk). The ham will be hot and the cheese melted at the same time that the egg is done. Pile it all on the wheat bread.

Whenever you prepare meat for dinner, set aside a little for breakfast. When you bake potatoes (which is cheaper and healthier than using packaged products), stick an extra one or two taters in, and store them in the fridge. Spray your skillet with non-fat cooking spray, and toss some meat and cut up baked potato in with a healthy egg (that you'll beaten with a fork into a froth). I usually toss in some minced or chopped onion. Right before the egg is done, sprinkle cheese over the top. Serve as is or in a warm tortilla.

If you've got good griddle, you don't have to feel guilty about pancakes. There's a Heart-Smart Bisquick that rocks. You can mix it up (or double it), and store it in the fridge. Instead of syrup, pancakes are great wrapped around nuked breakfast sausages or layered with preserves.

I make a lot of pies, etc., from fresh fruit (depending on what's on sale). I cook the fruit in a saucepan (about half-way), add fruit juice and very little sugar, and thicken it with a couple of tablespoons of flour. I make more filling than I use; we microwave the rest to have over ice cream or pancakes. Depending on the fruit, I often put a layer of cream cheese at the bottom of the pie or tart. If you do it rght, you can offer your son "dessert" for breakfast, and serve something that's better nutrition than any of the prepackaged breakfast bars or cereals you could buy.

I applaud what you're doing. The more you can do to get him to identify real food that he likes, the less apt he's going to be to like less-healthy alternatives.

Turkey bacon and sausage is really good.

There are recipes for wheat waffles which might bring some familiar into his breakfast.

Cereal isn't bad either as long as you stick to the high fiber, non-sugary types. I love the Kashi brand ones personally.