Tomato Soup - It's Not Just For Breakfast Anymore

I am not a morning person. I grudgingly do what I have to, but I often succumb to what Chris calls ‘Morning Rage,’ wherein anybody with half a brain and a yen not to be decked with a flying bagel stays out of my way until I have drank at least half of my coffee.

Coming by it honestly, my children do not seem to be morning children. I wish this meant that they were happy to slumber until 9 am, but unfortunately, it does not. What it means is that my 6-month old likes to poop at about 7 am, setting off a chain of events that inevitably wakes me, the cat, my 3-year old and then Chris, in that order. Now, I admit that I often send Chris downstairs with the (grumpy) children and (annoying) cat while I catch a few more winks, but twice a week we all have to scramble out of bed to get ready to take Bee to nursery school.

I greatly dislike these mornings, as it means that a myriad of tasks must be performed at peak efficiency while my brain is still functioning at a level just slightly slower than a banana slug.

By time I have gotten myself and two children dressed, Bee’s little bag packed with whatever items she is attached to that day (plus a pull-up), and found my keys, all without the benefit of my still-brewing coffee, well, by then I’m all out of tricks. The last thing I have the capacity for is arguing with a toddler over why sitting down and eating a good breakfast is more important than watching Bo on the Go. So I don’t.

Relax, relax, it doesn’t mean that she skips the most important meal of the day. On the contrary, I am a stickler when it comes to a good breakfast. I just realized that I had to break out of the (cereal) box and get creative. On days when we have nowhere to go first thing in the morning, that means that Bee can have pretty much whatever she wants for breakfast, so long as it is healthy. Lately she has been requesting tomato soup, cold. Gross, but fine by me. (I only keep organic, low sodium tetra-pack tomato soup on hand, so I don’t think there are any health repercussions in indulging this weird request.)

The problem is, we don’t have time to sit down to soup for breakfast on school days. So I came up with options to help relieve the stress of busy mornings while still ensuring that Bee began her day with a nutritious breakfast. I can’t imagine having to get both kids ready to go like this every morning, but I know that there are plenty of you who do it. I can’t necessarily give you what you really need – someone to come over and make you coffee – but hopefully these healthy, fast, mobile options for breakfast will help make the crazy mornings smoother.

Kgirl’s Morning Mayhem Breakfast Options:

- Almond butter roll-ups. Add the jam if necessary, and roll, rather than stack the bread. Little kids find this much more exciting than a sandwich, and are therefore more likely to eat the damn thing.

- Toaster pancakes. Make a double load of ‘em for Sunday breakfast, and freeze the extras in pairs. Stick a couple in the toaster and off you go. I always add fruit to sweeten my flapjacks, negating the need for syrup. You don’t want maple syrup on them if they will be eaten in the car. Trust me.

- Cheese strings. I’m not a fan of cheese strings, mainly because they are more expensive than just buying a block of cheese, and I hate the extra packaging, but in a pinch they are still full of calcium and protein, so not a bad breakfast option. I go for the white cheddar sticks, which are at least free of artificial colours.

- A good ol’ fashioned banana. Nature’s candy bar. But with potassium.

- Dried fruit. Yes, there is lots of fructose in dried fruit, but it’s not processed sugar, and there is also tons of complex carbohydrates, iron, calcium, fibre, magnesium, vitamin A and vitamin C in most. Go for apricots, sultanas, figs, prunes and that old standby, raisins, for dried fruits that pack the biggest nutrient punch. BUT – stay away from packaged dried fruits that contain sulfites if your child has allergies or asthma.   

- Homemade muffins or breads. I bake muffins at least once a week. They are easy, Bee loves to help, and the thing about making them yourself is that you control the ingredients. I always cut way back on the sugar, trade half the oil for apple sauce if the recipe calls for more than 1/4 cup, and I always add dried, fresh or frozen fruit to make the muffins even healthier (and tastier).  Here is my current favourite muffin recipe:

Kgirl’s Fruity Bran Breakfast Muffins
(Adapted from The All New Good Housekeeping Cook Book, by Susan Westmoreland. Hearst Books.)

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
12 muffins

- 1 cup milk (I have used skim and soy – doesn’t seem to matter as far as yumminess goes)
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 cup all bran-type cereal (not flakes)
- 1 cup flour (I use whole wheat)
- 1/8 cup of sugar
- 1 tbsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. Salt
- 1 cup fresh or frozen fruit (really good with blueberries or raspberries)

- Heat oven to 400.

- Beat milk, oil, molasses, egg and cereal together with a fork. Let stand.

- Meanwhile, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add cereal mixture and fruit to the flour mixture. Stir only until flour is moistened (lumps are good).

- Spoon into prepared muffin tins. Bake approx. 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean of batter (there may be fruit on it; that’s ok.).

- Cool while you find your kids’ shoes, then grab a couple and beat it, or you’ll be late.

SoundBITE
Don’t be afraid of molasses (or treacle, as it is also known as). A thick, syrupy by-product of processing the sugarcane into granules, molasses is an excellent source of iron, calcium, magnesium, vitamin B6 and potassium. And it tastes good on bread.

Comments

[kittenpie]

Can I come eat breakfast with you?

[nomotherearth]

The Boy LOVES muffins, so thanks for the recipe.

And what is with Bo on the Go anyways?? I can't stand the show, and we have to watch it every day...

[crazymumma]

Put some tofu in the muffins as well, and get yourself a timer on your coffee maker.

[daysgoby]

We do smoothies. Toss a bunch of cut-up fruit and some milk in the blender, put the glass jar (or whatever you call the blendy bit) in the fridge - and in the morning - clip the top of the blender onto the motor, and voila!

Yummy, cold-without-needing-ice smoothies, made without making Mom's (my) eyeballs bleed!

(And they work in sippy cups too.)