But I don’t eat breakfast! I’m sure you have heard the saying, “Breakfast is the Most Important Meal of the Day” and it’s certainly true especially when it comes to children. Countless studies have shown that children who eat a balanced breakfast are more alert in school, perform better and in many cases are less prone to bad behavior than children who don’t eat breakfast. These are pretty good reasons why your kids should eat breakfast and you’ll enjoy the same benefits too.

Here are some quick and easy breakfast ideas for you and your kids:

Eggs are classic breakfast food because they versatile and nutritious, plus most kids like them. Start the day with simple scrambled eggs, you can add a little chopped ham, cheese, chopped tomatoes or mushrooms. Soft or hard boiled eggs with slices of whole grain toast will down well too.

This is my favorite! While store bought muffins aren’t always the most nutritious, if you bake your own you can add fruit or grated vegetable and a little honey for a naturally sweet breakfast muffin. You can also replace half of the amount of white flour for healthier whole wheat flour. And don’t just stick to sweet muffins, try a savory muffin such as cheese and ham. Bake them the night before for a quick and healthy breakfast.

Fresh fruit with yogurt and cheerio dip make a healthy fun breakfast for kids. Using a rolling pin crush a handful of two of whole grain Cheerios in a plastic bag and transfer to a bowl. Fill another bowl with yogurt and let your kids dip the fruit pieces in yogurt then in the cheerio mixture. Whole grain Cheerios have a lower sugar content then many of the cereals on the supermarket shelves.

Prepare a basic pancake batter the night before, cover and refrigerate. In the morning all you need to do is heat the grill and your whole family can enjoy delicious homemade pancakes. Serve with a little maple syrup or jam and some fresh fruit on the side.

Make up some extra waffles on the weekend, freeze them for quick week day breakfasts. Reheat in the toaster!

Split a couple of bagels in half, top with a little pizza sauce, grated cheese and some chopped ham for. Place under the grill for a few minutes and you have a nutritious breakfast pizza. You can also use English muffins or pita bread.

Whole wheat wraps are a great alternative to toast and cereal. You can make a scrambled egg breakfast wrap with a little bit of ham or cheese added to it or you can add a little cream cheese and turkey or even make a breakfast pizza burrito. Spread a whole wheat wrap with peanut butter, roll around a banana, slice or eat as is.

Remember breakfast doesn’t have to always consist of the traditional toast, cereal and eggs, you can experiment a little to keep things interesting. And don’t put too much pressure on yourself to always make the perfect family breakfast. If your kids really aren’t hungry at breakfast time a simple banana and a glass of milk will give them an instant boost.

The most important thing is that your child starts the day with one or two nutritious foods.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose or whole wheat flour

4 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon Watkins baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon Watkins ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon Watkins purest ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups milk (2% or skim)

1 cup pumpkin puree, fresh or canned

2 beaten eggs

2 tablespoons Watkins Original Grapeseed oil

Directions: Measure all dry ingredients and place in a large bowl. Mix together until well blended.

Directions: Measure all dry ingredients and place in a large bowl. Mix together until well blended.

In another mixing bowl, add the wet ingredients. Mix wet ingredients together with a wire whisk until fully combined.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir only until combined. It’s important that you don’t over-mix the batter, yes it should be lumpy!

Preheat a non-stick skillet or cast iron griddle on medium heat. If you aren’t using a non-stick pan, spray with cooking spray or add a teaspoon or two of oil to the pan, so pancakes don’t stick.

Using a ladle, pour about ½ cup of batter to the skillet per pancake. Allow to cook until bubbles form on top and edges look dry, then flip and cook on other side. Cook for a couple minutes more until browned.

Serve with maple syrup or your favorite pancake toppings. Makes about 12 pancakes.

Basic Pancake Recipe

If you prefer regular pancakes here’s the recipe!

2 cups flour

2 cups milk

2 eggs (beaten)

2 tablespoons Watkins original grapeseed or vegetable oil

2 tablespoons sugar (optional)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon Watkins Vanilla

Directions: In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until blended. Add milk, beaten eggs, oil and vanilla, stir until just combined. Preheat lightly greased griddle or frying pan. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into pan per pancake. Cook until pancakes begin to bubble. Flip once and cook for 1 to 2 minutes longer. Serve with maple syrup, jam or fruit. Makes approximately 8 pancakes

It’s not hard to make pancakes from scratch! This recipe has been added Real Food Wednesday list on Kelly the Kitchen Kop’s blog.
How do you like your pancakes?

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

2 teaspoons Watkins baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 teaspoon Watkins cinnamon

4 large eggs, beaten

1 cup milk

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 cups cooked mashed pumpkin or 1 15 ounce can pumpkin

Directions:

Sift together the flour and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the baking powder, baking soda and salt and stir to combine all the ingredients together. In a separate bowl add the milk to the beaten eggs and mix slightly. Pour in the buttermilk and melted butter. Mix to incorporate. Fold in the pumpkin and mix until all the ingredients are incorporated together and mixture is smooth. Add the dry ingredients to the smooth mixture. Blend together making sure all the dry ingredients are moistened well. Heat the waffle iron. Pour a scant amount of the batter onto the waffle iron and cook according to the waffle iron directions. Set the oven temperature to 200 degrees. When the waffle is done place it on the preheated oven rack to keep hot. Continue cooking the waffles until all the batter has been used. Serve with warm Apple Spice Breakfast Syrup, recipe below.

Apple Spice Breakfast Syrup

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup apple cider, unsweetened or apple juice

1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed

5 Watkins cloves

1/4 teaspoon Watkins cinnamon

Directions:

Place the apple cider into a saucepan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and stir until starting to melt. Add the cloves and cinnamon. Stir often cook the mixture for 15 minutes or until it begins to thicken and is reduced to just shy of 1 cup of liquid. Serve warm over pancakes or waffles.

Did you know? You can substitute cooked, mashed squash in any recipe that calls for pumpkin. You’ll find the best tasting spices in the Watkins US catalog or the Watkins Canadian catalog.

Ingredients:

2 pounds lean ground turkey
2 tsp Watkins poultry seasoning
1 tsp. Watkins black pepper
1/2 tsp. Watkins ground ginger
1/2 tsp. Watkins cayenne pepper
Watkins grapeseed oil

Directions: Place the turkey into a large mixing bowl. Add the poultry seasoning, pepper, ginger and cayenne pepper. Mix with your hands until completely incorporated together. Shape the mixture into 2 inch balls or patties about 1 inch thick. Place a tablespoon or so of grapeseed oil into a large skillet and place over medium heat. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the meat balls till the pan is half full, brown the sausage balls on all sides by gently shaking the pan so they can roll around. Cook balls for 5 – 8 minutes or until cooked through. If making patties brown for about 5 minutes, turn the patties and continue cooking 5 minutes longer or until the meat is not longer pink.

Makes 16 -24 sausage balls or 8 patties.

Nutritional Information: (Approximate Value for 2 patties) 85 calories; 5 g fat; 1 g saturated fat; 45 mg cholesterol; 25 mg sodium; trace carbohydrates; trace fiber; 10 g protein

Using Watkins poultry seasoning and other spices makes it quick and easy for you to have perfectly spiced delicious sausages every time!

Pancake Syrup With Molasses

1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
3 cups water
2 Tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoons Watkins Maple Extract
1 teaspoon Watkins Butter Extract
1 teaspoon Watkins Vanilla Extract

Directions: Stir together water and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil, remove from heat and add molasses and extracts. Stir well to combine. Syrup will thicken when cool. Makes 28 oz. Use warm or cold, store syrup in refrigerator.

Basic Pancake Syrup

1 cup granulated white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon Watkins Maple Extract
1/2 teaspoon Watkins Butter Extract (optional)

Directions: Stir together water and both sugars in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil, remove from heat and add extracts. Stir well to combine. Syrup will thicken when cool. Serve warm or cold, store extra in the refrigerator.

Tips from the kitchen:

• Make your syrup ahead, it keeps well in the fridge for an indefinite length of time.
• Let the syrup cool a bit before pouring it into a storage container or bottle. Hot sugar syrup can cause a very bad burn.
• Place the contain you wish to fill in the sink for easier filling and clean up if you happen to have a spill. A funnel will help you prevent over pour and spills.
• For a thicker pancake syrup, boil the sugar water for a 2 – 5 minutes before adding the extracts.
• Try substituting honey for some of the sugar for a different taste or if you wish to reduce your refined sugar consumption.
• To serve syrup warm, reheat in the microwave for 30 – 60 seconds. Be careful not to make it too hot especially if children will be serving themselves.
• For cinnamon syrup, add 1 teaspoon of Watkins cinnamon with the extracts.

You can order Watkins Vanilla extract, maple extract, butter extract and other gourmet extracts in the online catalog. Please leave a comment and let us know which pancake syrup recipe you prefer.

Ingredients:
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 teaspoon Watkins maple extract
12 slices of bread (crusts trimmed)
1 1/2 cup whole milk
6 Large eggs
1 teaspoon Watkins vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions: Combine corn syrup, butter and brown sugar in a saucepan and simmer gently until the sugar melts then stir in maple extract. Pour the syrup mixture into the bottom of a greased 9×12 inch pan. Place the bread slices in a double layer over the syrup. In a separate bowl beat together eggs, milk, vanilla and salt. Pour egg mixture over bread. Cover the dish and let stand overnight in refrigerator. The following morning, preheat over to 350 °F. Uncover the pan and bake for approximately 45 minutes or until egg is set. Serves 4-6. Serve with bacon, ham, sausages or fruit.

You’ll find maple and vanilla extracts in the Watkins US catalog or the Canadian catalog.

Tips from the kitchen:

• Want a different taste? Substitute other Watkins extracts for an entirely new flavor.
• Use whole grain bread for a more hearty breakfast and white bread for a lighter meal.