Not too long ago, a mom shared a story in our members-only Facebook group over at Kids Cook Real Food about her daughters surprising her.
Even though they had been doing a great job learning cooking skills through our video lessons for kids, she wasn’t sure they were ready to attempt a whole meal on their own.
Until one Saturday when no one woke her up in the morning, and she came down for breakfast to find that they had made Instant Pot oatmeal all by themselves.
They did it perfectly and taught mom a little something about raising expectations and lowering barriers.
It’s every parent’s dream, isn’t it? To wake up to breakfast already made?
Ok, true – if we’re really dreaming, let’s have the kitchen cleaned up, floor swept and a load of laundry folded and in drawers – but we’ll keep this challenge realistic.
Today I want to challenge you to teach your kids one breakfast recipe, and we’ll give you some cool examples, like this one:
My favorite part about this breakfast is that it can be made ahead and popped into the oven at breakfast without any work.
Of course, making something ahead means you gotta be planning ahead, just like we talked about already during this challenge when we dove into reasons kids should meal plan (which included make-ahead breakfasts) and some practical strategies to figure out your best meal planning system.
Grab your kids and try some of these yummy breakfasts!
Preschool: Buttered Toast OR Banana-wiches
Different families will have different taste preferences, supplies available and time. I’ve offered three choices that fit the preschool skills, choose ONE and see what your little ones can do!
Supplies Needed:
Toast: bread, butter or nut butter, butter knife, small plate, toaster
Banana-wiches: bananas, nut butter or cream cheese, butter knife, small plate
Easy Button: Pouring milk on their own cereal
Procedure:
For toast: the adult should make the toast and allow the child to butter it or spread nut butter. Try to make sure the butter has had time at room temp to soften and that the nut butter is also spreadable. (Put the tightly closed jar in a bowl of warm water to soften if it’s quite hard.)
If making banana-wiches: you’re looking for a sandwich of banana slices and nut butter or cream cheese.
- Step one is to allow the child to slice the banana with a dull knife.
- Demonstrate first and show the child how to peek over their knife to see how thick the slices are.
- Be sure to have the child up above the plate so they can see what they’re doing.
- Instruct the child to lay all the slices flat, and then they can practice their spreading skills and top each banana with another slice of banana – a banana-wich!
Easy Button:
If you eat cereal or oatmeal at breakfast, your preschool-aged child can practice pouring their own milk. Just put it in a creamer pitcher or one-cup liquid measuring cup so it’s just their size. We demonstrate careful pouring skills in Beginner Class 6 of the Kids Cook Real Food eCourse, but it’s a lot to explain in writing! Just be sure to demonstrate how to pour with two hands and carefully.
Early Elementary: Grain-free Quiche OR Monkey Salad
Supplies Needed:
Quiche: (Get the recipe below)
Monkey Salad: bananas, nuts (your choice: cashews, walnuts, almonds), coconut chips or shreds (unsweetened), (optional: raisins, milk), cutting board, dull knife, bowls
Easy Button: Healthy bread, butter, toaster
These recipes are included in our My Kid Made This Challenge and they can be accessed directly through your Plan to Eat account:
Procedure:
- For Quiche: Follow the recipe carefully with your child. You can put the whole thing in the fridge overnight and bake it in the morning.
- For Monkey Salad: Make sure your child feels comfortable slicing bananas with a dull butter knife (I recommend showing them how to use a cutting board if they never have before. Slicing in the air is difficult!) Simply slice bananas and mix with nuts, coconut, and optional milk in a bowl. A great alternative to cereal!
Remember to enter the recipe contest for the giveaway — see below!
Easy Button:
No time to make a whole recipe or learn a new one? Your early elementary kids can still make their own breakfast if you’re ready to let them loose with the toaster. Teach your kids how to use it safely and you’ll add to their independence (and your chances to sleep in on weekends)!
Upper Elementary: Simple Oatmeal or Baked Oatmeal
Supplies Needed:
Oatmeal: rolled oats, pot with lid, spoon, optional milk, raisins or other dried fruit, coconut oil, cinnamon
Baked Oatmeal: rolled oats, yogurt or milk, coconut oil or butter, eggs, maple syrup or honey or sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, vanilla, raisins, 2 apples or applesauce
Easy Button: bananas, nuts (your choice: cashews, walnuts, almonds), coconut chips or shreds (unsweetened), (optional: raisins, milk)
Procedure:
- Choose the recipe you’ll use (Get the baked oatmeal in your Plan to Eat account or on my blog – apple cinnamon, cherry almond, or pumpkin pie).
- Work with your child to help them read the recipe all the way through. Make sure they understand the steps.
- How to make oatmeal: Measure oats and water into a pot, using twice as many cups of water as oats.
- Bring to a boil with the lid on, then simmer for 10-20 minutes (depending on how big of a batch you’re making).
- Stir regularly so nothing sticks to the bottom.
- The oatmeal is done when all the water has been absorbed and you can easily scoop out a glop.
- Serve with coconut oil, cinnamon, dried fruit and milk.
- Teamwork on the measuring (unless they’ve already been taught careful measuring skills like we work on in the Kids Cook Real Food eCourse).
- I recommend having the adult put the baked oatmeal in the oven. Try to only teach one new skill (maybe two) in any given kitchen session so it doesn’t feel overwhelming to the child!
- The first time through making any recipe, expect to teamwork with your child. Both these recipes are simple enough that once they’ve seen it once, they should be able to do it independently the next time!
Easy Button:
No time for cooking in the morning? Making monkey salad is super easy and should be a cinch for your upper elementary kids. See the directions on the Early Elementary section above, and enjoy!
What do Kids Need to Know to Make Recipes Successfully?
When you’re dedicated to real food, it quickly becomes a challenge to find healthy, delicious recipes that don’t include something to cut. Rather than avoiding those recipes, rather than doing the cutting yourself, let’s teach kids to use knives safely and properly and truly unlock fruits and vegetables to them!
Sounds a little scary, I know – that’s why I’m pumped to share my 10-minute knife skills and safety class with you for FREE! Sign up here…
FREE Knife Skills Class for Kids
Born and raised in Michigan by a mom who still makes bread from scratch, Katie Kimball can often be found in the kitchen or behind a computer helping families stay healthy without going crazy atKitchen Stewardship. So that more families can realize the dream of breakfast in bed made by their children, she and her 4 kids created theKids Cook Real Food eCourse, video lessons that bring over 30 basic cooking skills to a kid’s level in a fun way. She actually only gets breakfast in bed on Mother’s Day and her birthday, but she has high hopes for all of you.
Let’s have a little fun!
To motivate us parents and celebrate a month of welcoming our kids into the kitchen, Katie has put together 9 easy-to-make recipes that are available through your Plan to Eat account. Make any one of these recipes with your child, post it to our photo contest below, and you could win our $259 prize package!
Join us!
Let’s get our kids into the kitchen and teach the next generation to appreciate healthy food! And as always, if you have any questions, please email us at [email protected].
