Family

Family

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Breakfasts

The 4 Moms are talking breakfasts today and I thought I would put in my 2 cents worth as well.  Join them over at Raising Olives, Life in a Shoe, Smockity Frocks and The Common Room.

Breakfasts are fairly easy around here these days as I don't cook them!  Yes, I have trained my children to handle breakfast cooking around here! Really, it is very nice  and one day you too, can have children who will cook breakfast for you IF you take the time to work with them in the kitchen and let them have the freedom to experiment and make messes.  Just make sure you teach them to clean up as well.  I'm still working on a few of them and constantly repeat the mantra that I heard as a teen working at McDonald's, "CLEAN AS YOU GO! "  It really does make a difference!

Several years ago we adopted a menu plan for our breakfasts and we have since diverged from it, but the same plan covers the basics.

Sundays-cinnamon rolls--Devin (22) now makes these every few weeks and freezes them.

Mondays-homemade muffins and eggs

Tuesdays -toast and cereal--(toasted bread, bagels or English muffins along with granola or grits)

Wednesdays-waffles and bacon or sausage (currently discontinued as our Belgian waffle maker broke)

Thursdays-toast and cereal

Fridays -pancakes and bacon or sausage

Saturdays-homemade biscuits, bacon or sausage, eggs and grits

This is the general plan, but the kids are free to change if the mood swings them.  No mixes are used and we even make our own homemade syrup.  My Granny always made what she called Hot Syrup with just sugar and water, but ours is flavored with maple and vanilla.  Here's the recipe!

Hot Syrup


3 cups of sugar
1 1/2 cups of water

Bring the sugar water to a boil.  Add a teaspoon of vanilla and/or maple flavoring.  You can also add a tablespoon or two of molasses.  Let boil for just a few minutes.  Overcooking will result in stringy syrup!!  We keep leftover syrup in a pint jar in the fridge and just reheat for another day.

4 comments:

Tami said...

Anita, I love the idea of a basic breakfast menu to work from. At our house, the general rule is that everyone fends for themselves for breakfast and lunch, and I take care of supper. But the breakfasts the kids come up with themselves tend to be more easy than nutritious. This is a great idea. Thanks for posting.

Headmistress, zookeeper said...

We've made our own syrup sometimes, too. I really like it with a bit of cinnamon in it.
Thanks for linking!

Laurel said...

I haven't made breakfasts in years. My kids have been trained, and the big ones all know how to put on quite the meal.

Breakfasts (as all meals) are a family meal at our house. We don't have any "fend for yourself" meals around here.

We don't do any cold cereal breakfasts, as the cost is too great and the cereal leaves my kids hungry mid-morning.

Our kids rotate between ...

Whole Wheat Pancakes (they grind the wheat in the morning)

Whole Wheat Waffles (a favorite)

Coffee Cake (one of my Big Boy's specialties)

French Toast (my 14 y.o. daughter loves to make this)

Baked Oatmeal (NOT your plain jane oatmeal)

Breakfast Burritos (my 17 y.o. son's fave)


... just to name a few. Our breakfast are filling, inexpensive, and nutricious. Couldn't ask for anything more.

Laurel :)

April D said...

Breakfast is the biggest challenge around here. My kids don't LIKE cereal, won't eat oatmeal or french toast, and LOVE waffles/pancakes--two things I despise making.
We try to do big batches of waffles and muffins and have them in the freezer to pop out and reheat. That helps, but some would STILL rather have last night's dinner leftovers. ICK!
Thanks for your ideas.

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