Day 14, Breakfast Blitz! (93...Free!)

**Edited to say that I plan to keep adding to this post so check back for more breakfast ideas... ;)

I whined about this awhile back, but just in case you missed it...

BREAKFAST IS A MAJOR SHORTCOMING AT OUR HOUSE!

It's every man, woman, and child for him/herself. (And it would be every dog for herself if Sara the dog knew how to unscrew her doggie food container.) Generally speaking, most people grab cold cereal with milk. Although we try to limit ourselves to cereal at or below 10 cents/ounce, that is becoming harder and harder to find. Anakin loves cereal and usually fills his bowl to overflowing...with Dad and Lizzi close behind...so one box of cereal doesn't go far. In additional, the nutritional value of most cereals is quite unimpressive.

So what's a family to do???

PLAN! I'm ready for a plan! I implemented it yesterday and have succeeded for TWO WHOLE DAYS. ;) I figure if I post it here, I'm more likely to stick to it, so here goes...

I made several categories of breakfast foods. Each day of the week, I plan to select an item from a different category. You'll recall that 'LilDude needs gluten/casein free food, so you'll notice that the list is geared in that direction. On the few selections that include gluten or casein, I'll modify for him.

Eggs (w/ toast & fruit)

• scrambled
• over easy
• hard boiled
• breakfast burrito w/ homemade salsa
• quiche
• egg skillet breakfast ( recipe below)
  

Hot Cereal

• steel cut oats
• Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal (gluten free, Bob's Red Mill)
• Easy Oatmeal Recipes (crockpot overnight is one option)
• baked oatmeal (recipe below)

Cold Cereal

• homemade granola (More With Less Cookbook)
• store (ugh!) cereal, if 10 cents/oz or less

Smoothies/Fruit

• fruit smoothie
• seasonal fruit & yogurt

Other

• gluten free pancakes (Bob's Red Mill)
• rice cakes w/ peanut butter
• gluten free biscuits (Bob's Red Mill--I add raisins and sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar)
• hash browns (from leftover mashed potatoes)
  

I'll continue to add to the list as I think of new ideas. If you have good breakfast recipes that can be gf/cf modified, I'd love to know about them. Here's what we've had so far this week:

Monday: Egg Skillet Breakfast
Tuesday: Baked Oatmeal
Wednesday: g/f biscuits (& spoonful of peanut butter) w/ fruit
Thursday: Baked Oatmeal
Friday: Scrambled Eggs/salsa, toast


Egg Skillet Breakfast
I diced a small zucchini and a green pepper. I fried these in a skillet along with small chunks of sausage. After the veggies were tender, I added scrambled egg mixture (enough for our family, eggs beaten with a small amount of rice milk) and cooked until done, turning several times. I added cheese after removing 'LilDude's portion from the pan. Served with salsa, optional.

Baked Oatmeal
2 beaten eggs
4 c. oatmeal
1/2 t. salt
1/4 c. olive oil
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 c. rice or almond milk
2 t. baking powder

Mix all ingredients together. Put into greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Serve with milk. Optional: add chocolate chips or dried fruit before baking.

My kids LOVE this dish. This morning, Anakin had seconds and asked if we can have it more often.