I’ve been talking about my re-entry into the world of healthy food obsession. Breakfast is really important, but our mornings are also packed. So breakfast at my house on weekdays usually includes fresh fruit, eggs of some kind, and bread (I just have a smoothie myself). All things that can be made and cleaned up quickly and efficiently.

Sometimes, though, my kids love to have a heavy, “traditional” breakfast. This requires a lot more effort and usually involves nutritionally horrible things like sausage or bacon, and lots of ‘fake’ foods like “maple-flavored” syrup.

A long time ago I decided to rid my house of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). It was easier and harder than I thought. Easy because there were healthy substitutes for everything, and hard because it was in EV.ER.Y.THING. I became a label reader because I decided to keep three harmful things out of my children’s diet (HFCS, color-number dyes, and anything hydrolized or hydrogenated).

But I digress. I often make my kids hashbrowns (with real, actual potatoes that I grate myself – including the peel) or healthy pancakes, and I can buy grade A maple syrup at Sam’s (or any grocery store really – I just have found the best deal at Sam’s). Did you know that maple syrup is actually quite good for you (in small amounts)? It is also a great sweetener for things like smoothies or baking.

This weekend I tried a new recipe. Here it is:

Good-for-you French Toast

1 cup milk of your choice (we used almond)
2 Tbsp oats (the original recipe called for a quarter cup of quick cooking oats, but they have no nutritional value so I used a smaller measure of rolled oats)
1 small banana (I used 1/2 because I’d cut into one the day before and wanted to use it up.)

Blend these together in your blender until smooth. Then mix in:

1 tsp cinnamon
1 TBSP flax seed meal

Pour over 6-8 slices of bread in a shallow dish. Allow to soak for a min or two.

I cooked these in a skillet sprayed with olive oil. They did turn out to be quite delicious, and all three of the children ate with relish. I will say, however, that the amount of oil required to keep it from sticking to the pan was generous and the meal was so heavy we could all only finish one piece at the most. If I make it again, I will be baking them instead of cooking them in a pan. I served it with berries, which was yummy.

How do you incorporate healthy breakfast at your house?