Great Days Need Great Starts

Okay, you've chosen your curriculum, set your schedule, and planned your lessons.  You are ready for school to start...or are you?  All your hard work getting the materials ready might not mean anything unless you get you and your student ready to succeed.  Your best chance for success starts with a nutritious and delicious breakfast each day that will wake you both up and fuel your bodies & brains.  There are a few cold cereals out there that actually pack in a lot of vitamins and minerals, but why settle for over-priced, soggy cereal that had to have nutrients added to it, when you can get your nutrition straight from the source?  With three kids of my own, I know that healthy homemade breakfasts that fill you up can be time consuming and expensive.  I've scoured the web and found some mouth-watering ideas to start each day right, without busting the budget, or cutting into your beauty sleep.

Breakfast wraps like this peanut butter and granola wrap are a

very portable way to do breakfast.  Get creative and wrap just

about anything up in a whole wheat tortilla (or in an egg white

omelet).  Here are some ideas to get you started.

Oatmeal doesn't have to be hot, or boring for that matter.  Use this

overnight oatmeal recipe from Betty Crocker to find ways to jazz

up your baby bear's porridge.

Kids love waffles, but most moms don't like the gallon of syrup &

inevitable sugar rush that comes with them.  Making a tasty Carrot 

Cake Waffle Breakfast Sandwich will surely satisfy everyone.

"You know what ELSE everybody likes? Parfaits! Have you ever

met a person, you say, 'Let's get some parfait,' they say"...you

know the rest.  Parfaits are delicious.  Breakfast parfaits made

with either yogurt or cottage cheese, like this Mango Avocado

 Breakfast Parfait, are sure to be a crowd pleaser.

Like oatmeal, rice can frequently be thought of as a boring

breakfast.  If you get creative and think outside the box, you can

come up with some new and flavorful ways to have rice for

breakfast.  My Chocolaty Rice Cereal is a special treat that will

wake up your taste buds.

Not all muffins are created equal.  Some are more like dessert, and

others try to be so healthy that you might as well eat raw grains.

Blah!  Either way, they are loaded with carbohydrates.  These

Morning Muffins, on the other hand, are made with more egg than

flour, and contain only 7 grams of carbs.  Make a whole pan and 

have breakfast all week.

What quick and healthy breakfast list would be complete without

smoothies?  Smoothies are so versatile, they can be made to suit

even the pickiest eater.  Peanut butter banana smoothies were my

go to food when my sons went through their picky phase.  Boston 

Magazine recently published a colorful list of 12 healthy breakfast

 smoothies that will start your day off right.

Okay, so quick breads might not be the healthiest item on my

list,but they sure are good.  They don't have to be all that bad,

though.  There are simple recipes to make healthier quick breads,

like this pecan topped pumpkin bread.  My Recipes compiled a list

of 5 irresistible healthy quick breads to give you some ideas.

I hope this list of ideas for delicious and nutritious breakfasts help you and your family start each day right.  If you have any great breakfast ideas that I didn't mention, please post them in the comments below.

Karissa