B is for Breakfast on a Dream Morning

**This is a sponsored post.  While I was sent free samples of the products to try I received no other compensation and all opinions expressed are my own.**

It's funny how the threefootcooks, hubby and myself all have different ways we like to wake up in the mornings.

Bear's and hubby's dream mornings are pretty similar. They like to get up early, watch some television while waking up, have breakfast and then get ready for day ahead.

Bee on the other hand is fully awake as soon as she gets out of bed.  She will get changed into her clothes for the day, eat breakfast and want to start playing or go to kindy straight away.

My ideal morning would involve a late wake up, a cup of tea while watching breaky television in bed, a leisurely breakfast made by someone else and then I might be ready to start the day.

We might very occasionally get our dream mornings on a free weekend but our regular weekday mornings are always more of a rush to get ready for kindy and work.

To make our mornings a little less hurried, I find the right breakfast options are essential.  They need to be quick and easy to make and filling to see us through until lunch (or morning tea in the girls' case).

With the cooler weather lately I am loving Uncle Tobys Oats Quick Sachets.  The sachets are a convenient and tasty oats option, perfect for busy parents and their kids.  The Quick Sachets are easy to prepare in the microwave and mess-free which fits with my essential criteria above. 

The Uncle Tobys Oats Quick Sachets are made from wholegrain oats which I find keeps me fuller for longer making me less tempted to eat snacks mid morning.

And there is such a great variety of flavours in the Quick Sachets range.  All made with no artificial colours of flavours.  The Fruit Variety pack with Apple and Cinnamon, Apple and Raspberry and Apple and Honey, is deliciousness in a bowl.  I can't wait to get started on the Berry Variety pack next with the Strawberry, Blueberry and Triple Berry flavours. 

I really like how the Oats Quick Sachets have actual pieces of fruit in them.  Certainly simpler than having to add fruit to a bowl of plain rolled oats on a busy morning.

Click on the following link for more information on Uncle Tobys Oats Quick Sachets.

While I might not get my ideal morning everyday, using Uncle Tobys Oats Quick Sachets will certainly get me closer to a more relaxed and calm breakfast routine.

P is for Plain and Simple Pancakes

Why plain and simple? 

Because sometimes the simplest version is the best.  Even at only 4 and 3/4 years of age Bear and Bee know this recipe off by heart. 

Sometimes too much effort is required to follow a 'fancy' recipe.  Especially first thing in the morning.  

And apart from tasting good these pancakes use basic pantry staples. No buttermilk. No having to let the batter stand.  And that's important when catering for drop of the hat pancake requests.  It's also useful too if you have unexpected guests drop in for afternoon tea.

Whisk together the egg and sugar.

Stir in the flour and milk.  Mix the batter well but don't worry if there are a few small lumps still visible.

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium high heat.  Brush with a little butter or use a cooking spray and place spoonfuls of the pancake batter into the pan.

Wait for mum to stop taking photos so you can sneak a taste of the pancake batter!

When bubbles start to appear on the surface of the pancakes flip them over and cook for another minute or two or until cooked through and golden brown on both sides.

Remove the pancakes from the pan and keep warm on a plate covered with a clean tea towel.
 
Repeat with remaining pancake batter.

You can go wild with the toppings.  For us it's plain and simple again - Maple Syrup.  Sometimes with crispy bacon on the side.  But you could add fresh strawberries or blueberries, honey, jam, preserves, whipped cream, chocolate topping or icing sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice.

It's a good idea to double this recipe to make sure you have plenty of pancakes to go round. Download the printable recipe card from here.

And check out this post on Fun Ways to Pack Pancakes for Lunch from Keeley McGuire: Allergy Friendly Fun Lunchboxes for ideas on adding pancakes to your child's lunchbox to use up any leftovers.


And there you have it. Plain and simple pancakes that should be anything but plain to eat.

F is for Father's Day Breakfast

Here in Australia, Father’s Day is celebrated on the first Sunday in September.  Which means I am trying to decide on gifts for hubby and grandad (it’s grandad’s birthday the day before too!), find things Bear and Bee can make for their dad as well as coming up with some kid friendly recipes for them to help prepare.

After much internet searching, pinterest exploring and magazine reading I have narrowed it down to 2 recipes – 1 for breakfast and 1 for lunch that Bear and Bee can help make.  As you may know from a previous post French toast is always a big hit in this household, so when I came across this recipe for French Toast Kebabs on the Martha Stewart website I knew that was what we had to have for Father’s Day breakfast.  Everything tastes better on a stick right? (Especially if you are 2 and a half!).  As for the Father’s Day lunch recipe, you will have to wait until my next post.

Now onto breakfast - I adapted the original recipe to suit our tastes and also to take advantage of the fruit that is in season here.  This is what I came up with:

Ingredients

4 eggs lightly beaten

6 tablespoons of milk

2 tablespoons of natural yoghurt (this is optional, you can add slightly more milk if necessary)

Pinch of nutmeg

½ loaf of unsliced bread (any type white, wholemeal or wholegrain is fine), crusts removed and cut into 2cm cubes

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter or low salt margarine

2 bananas, peeled and sliced about 1cm thick

1 punnet strawberries, washed and hulled

Maple syrup

Bamboo skewers

Here’s what we did:

Cut up the bread and the fruit.

It's a na-na!

 

Whisked together the eggs, milk, yoghurt and nutmeg.

Our egg cracking skills are improving.

Whisking together the eggs, milk and yoghurt.

Grating the whole nutmeg

 

Added the bread cubes to the egg mixture and stirred gently.

(The following steps need to be completed by an adult)

Heated a large frypan over medium heat and melted 1 tablespoon of butter.

Drained half of the bread cubes a little and placed in the pan.  Cooked until browned on all sides, turning occasionally with tongs or a spatula.

Removed cooked toast from the pan and placed onto a paper towel lined plate.

Repeated the above steps for the remaining bread cubes.

Threaded some toast and fruit onto the skewers. Make sure the toast has cooled a little before your child touches it.

Served with maple syrup straight away to a happy daddy.

What are you planning to cook for Father’s Day?

F is for French Toast

Every weekend we try to have a cooked breakfast on one morning – usually Sunday.  Lately Bear and Bee’s favourite dish has been bacon, French toast and maple syrup.  Sometimes we substitute pancakes for the French toast.  Bear loves dipping the cubes of toast into the syrup one at a time.  Bee likes to start with the bacon.

Making French toast is a great cooking with children activity for the girls and not too difficult first thing in the morning.   Breaking eggs is Bear’s speciality while Bee takes control of the whisking and dipping the bread into the mix.

There are many variations of French toast available if you do an internet search and it’s a reasonably healthy recipe for kids.  Some include cream in the egg mixture or use fancier bread like brioche but we keep ours plain and simple (except for a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg!).

 French Toast Recipe (for two adults and 2 children)

6 slices of thick sliced bread (wholemeal or white but day old bread is best as it soaks up more of the mixture)

4 eggs

8 tablespoons of milk

Pinch of nutmeg

Butter or margarine 

Bear is getting better at not dropping shell in

Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk lightly.  Add the milk and the nutmeg and whisk again.   

Bee practising buttering the bread

Butter the slices of bread on one side (On reflection I am not sure why we do this.  My mum always did it this way when we were kids). 

Melt a small amount of butter in a frypan over medium heat.  Meanwhile soak a slice of bread in the egg mixture. Carefully turn bread slices over to make sure both sides are coated.  When butter is melted and foamy, add the soaked bread and fry on each side for 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown.  While the one slice of bread is frying, soak another slice of bread.  It is best to do them one at a time or they will get too soggy and difficult to pick up.

Serve the French toast with bacon, maple syrup, honey, jam, vegemite etc. 

Pouring and Mixing

Aside from the cooking which is best left until they are older, children can help with most of the steps of this recipe.  Get them to break the eggs into a bowl and whisk them, pour in the premeasured milk or measure out the milk if they are old enough and butter the slices of bread.

Bee dipping the bread

A great start to your morning!

What is your favourite breakfast recipe to make with your child?