Breakfast
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of the American Egg Board.
The cereal aisle can be a daunting place. Amidst all the brightly colored boxes lies a serious choice: which cereal should you feed your family?
Unfortunately there’s no real winner – the “healthy” cereal options can have just as much – or more – sugar than the ones that are obviously loaded with the sweet stuff, it’s just not as obvious.
The point of breakfast is to start your day right and if you have kids, to get them ready for a day of school and learning. A bowl of sugary cereal won’t help that, but a high-protein, low-sugar breakfast can. Research shows that a protein-rich breakfast, such as an egg breakfast, improves appetite control and helps you feel full. This makes it easier for children to focus and learn in school.
As part of the American Egg Board’s Breakfast Swap Challenge, I switched my son’s breakfast to eggs for 10 days. A rather hysterical experiment given his flip-flopping, love-hate relationship with certain foods depending on the day. By the end of the 10 days he was pulling eggs out of the fridge for me –yes, there were a few disasters—and asking for them for breakfast. Of course, that doesn’t mean he always actually ate all of them. But I took care of the leftovers for him. 
In addition to being easy to make, eggs are the most affordable source of high-quality protein per serving, making them a great choice for families on a budget. I’m often shocked by the price on a single small box of cereal, and depending on the cereal, you may not be getting any great nutritional benefits from it.
I tried to mix up how I fixed eggs each day so we didn’t get bored. I was a big fan of the 3 minute breakfast hash, so I often turned to similar recipes. A favorite of the little man’s was my green eggs and ham variation of this 1 minute microwave egg cup. {Broccoli instead of cheese.}
I was also a big fan of this French toast recipe, which really mixes up the day to day variety!
Visit IncredibleEgg.org for more kid friendly breakfast recipes and tips.
Eggs provide a number of excellent dietary benefits, can be easily cooked in a variety of ways, and are very cost effective. The American Egg Board highlights the many benefits of eating eggs in addition to providing tips and delicious recipes. For more information, please visit http://IncredibleEgg.org/.
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of the American Egg Board.
What do you typically eat for breakfast? Your kids?
Recipe
You all probably know by now I have an unhealthy obsession with oatmeal. Well I supposed it’s more like a healthy obsession…oatmeal lowers cholesterol and fills you up with fiber after all. 
Whatever you call it, it’s my favorite breakfast {aside from pancakes…but I put oatmeal in those too…}. To keep from getting bored of the same old thing every morning, I try to mix it up.
Steel cut oats are my top pick; I love the bite of the grain and the hearty texture. I usually make a big ol’ batch of steel cut oats in the crockpot at the beginning of the week, but even that I like to mix up from time to time.
On the meal plan last week? Baked steel cut oats. Just as easy as crockpot oats; just a little twist.
To up the chewy factor of the steel cut oats, I mixed in a handful of oat groats as well.
An hour in the oven, then in the fridge overnight…breakfast for the week is ready and waiting!
To make things even more fun {if you can call breakfast fun?} I made a batch of fresh blueberry sauce to pour on top of the baked oatmeal. Now that’s a good breakfast.
Frozen blueberries, a tiny bit of sugar, and a splash of lemon juice and vanilla make this blueberry sauce both easy and delicious.
The perfect topping to a hearty slice of baked oatmeal.
It would be delicious with frozen cherries or mixed berries too.
I made it even easier on myself and premade a couple blueberry topped oatmeal bowls so all I’d have to do was pop them in the microwave in the morning.
Heck, I might’ve even skipped the microwaving step a time or two.
Not one to eat a bowl of oats the same way twice, some of the bowls got a few additions. My favorite was blueberry smothered oats topped with crunchy, toasted walnuts. I bet it’d be even better with a drizzle of honey or agave…
Pardon me while I go eat yet another oatmeal breakfast. One I definitely won’t get sick of.
by Heather Neal
Keywords: bake breakfast vegan vegetarian
- 1 cup steel cut oats
- 1/2 cup oat groats
- 2 cups almond milk
- 3 cups water
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Combine all ingredients.
Pour into 9 x 13 baking dish.
Bake at 350 for 1 hour.
Remove from oven; let cool. Refrigerate overnight.
Note: oats will look liquid after cooking, they’ll firm up overnight.
Powered by
by Heather Neal
Keywords: breakfast vegan vegetarian
- 1 cup frozen blueberries
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- splash of lemon juice
Combine all ingredients in small sauce pan.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat until sauce gently bubbling.
Use spoon to lightly smash blueberries.
Simmer for ~10 minutes until sauce is thickened.
Powered by
Recipe
I’ve discovered an added secret bonus to silver dollar pancakes {like I needed another reason to make them}: they’re the perfect one-handed breakfast to eat while taking care of a newborn. 
This time I skipped the chocolate chips, a rare occasion in my pancake-making, and went with a fruit-loaded vegan buttermilk pancake.
In case apples in your pancakes isn’t enough apple for you, top the pancakes with more apple chunks. For super apple power, add a dollop of fresh homemade apple butter. Now we’re talking.
by Heather Neal
Keywords: breakfast vegetarian vegan
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup oats
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups almond milk
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4-1/2 cup diced apples
Mix apple cider vinegar and almond milk together. Set aside.
Combine remaining ingredients except apples.
Stir in milk mixture.
Gently fold in apples.
Heat a skillet to medium; cook pancakes several minutes on each side. {Flip when you see air bubbles or the edges start to dry.}
Serve with extra apples on top.
Powered by
Recipe
Last time I posted a pancake recipe I promised I would stop, since you can figure out how to make different combinations on your own. But I said I’d stop after I shared my last 2 favorite pancake concoctions, and so far, you’ve only gotten one. Here’s the other one:
Dark Chocolate Mocha Pancakes!
Dark Chocolate Mocha Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup oats {optional: precooked oat groats}
- 1 1/2 cup almond milk
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 Tbsp molasses
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 Tbsp instant coffee powder {or some leftover prepared coffee}
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Combine dry ingredients.
- Stir in wet ingredients and chocolate chips.
- Let batter rest for 5-10 minutes.
- Bake on griddle over medium heat, ~ 3 minutes each side.
3.1
https://www.sideofsneakers.com/chocolate-chip-pancakes-recipe/ 
If you want to up the heartiness even more, toss in some pre-cooked oat groats or wheat berries. You may need to add a little more liquid.
Top with extra dark chocolate chips.
You might want to make a double or triple batch- these make great snacks later in the day, and they hold up really well in the refrigerator wrapped up in foil so you can indulge in a decadent breakfast the next day without any work at all.
Excuse me while I go polish off the rest of mine.
Pssst…they’re extra delicious slathered in peanut butter.
Recipe
Did you ever notice if you put the word “pie” behind the name of something that decidedly isn’t pie, it suddenly sounds that much better?
Like apple pie oats or cherry pie smoothie.
I need to remember that trick if I end up with a picky eater on my hands.
I don’t know if it’ll work on you now that I pointed out that little trick, but I’m going to give it a try anyways.
Pumpkin Pecan Pie Pancakes! {Did it work??}
You probably don’t need a recipe for homemade pancakes. I’m sure there’s one or two out there on the internet. But you know what? I’m sharing this one anyways. Sometimes you just need some ideas to spark inspiration for your pancake filling. And I’ve got two great ones for you. You only get one today though.
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 Tbsp molasses
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice {or cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and/or ginger to taste...with extra cinnamon!}
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup pecans
- 1/4-1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients from flour to spices together.
- Gently stir in chocolate chips, pecans, and coconut.
- Let batter rest for a few minutes.
- Over medium heat, spoon batter onto skillet in small 4 inch rounds.
- Cook a few minutes on each side. You'll know when it's time to flip them when the edges start to dry and you see tiny bubbles in the center of the pancakes.
3.1
https://www.sideofsneakers.com/pumpkin-pancakes/
They’re vegan and whole wheat, so if you don’t like that kind of thing, ignore that. This is where the “pie” in the name helps- pie wouldn’t be whole grain or healthy, right? 
Mix everything together.
Stir in your “toppings”- it’s chocolate chips, pecans, and coconut today.
Make pancakes.
Eat pancakes.
Hide the rest of the stack from your husband so you can have more as a snack later.
What kind of pancake pie are you in the mood for this weekend?
