Breaking away from storebought cereal--breakfast ideas needed.

[miss_thenorth]

I hate the cost and the ingredients in alot of storebought cereals. So, we are breaking away from storebought, but the kids are having withdrawals. We do french toast, pancakes, bagels, eggs, toast, my homemade oatmeal, homemade granola, gonna make some waffles tomorrow. English muffins ( i will eventually get around to making my own, but I haven't tried them yet.) In the summer we do alot of fruit smoothies. Do you guys have any other ideas that we might try? The kids are really missing their honey nut cheerios. I broke down and bought a box the other day, and told them it had to last them two weeks. Eventually I'll stretch that box to last a month, but we need other breakfast ideas that they might possibly get excited about. Looking forward to hering what you might come up with.

 

[Beekissed]

We grew up on oatmeal and I remember how good it tasted to swirl brown sugar into it, canned milk and then dip homemade bread, toasted and buttered, into it. My mom also used to fix Cream of Wheat, Cocoa Wheats, Ralston, etc. Now she and I really love the recipe we use for creamy, garlicky grits.....YUM!

Homemade bread and raw honey is always a favorite of ours for a quick breakfast, as well.

 

[MorelCabin]

We love cream of wheat here!

 

[PamsPride]

Breakfast burritos.
Tortilla shell filled with scrambled eggs and sausage. Can also add in shredded cheese, green peppers, and onions. We make a bunch at one time. Then we wrap them in foil and put them in the freezer. We put them in the toaster oven in the foil or you can take them out of the foil and stick them in the microwave for a couple minutes.

 

[Beekissed]

You know, that brings to mind something else my mom used to make. She would make apple turnovers and just fry them, freeze them on a cookie sheet and bag them up for the freezer. They were handy to thaw out and eat cold or hot when we kids were on the go in the mornings.

 

[keljonma]

I got this recipe from a Jackie Clay article in Backwoods Home Magazine

Better than grape-nuts cereal
3 cups coarsely ground whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat germ (optional, use 1/2 cup more of whole wheat if you choose not to add wheat germ)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk
2 Tbsp. malted milk powder (optional)

Combine all ingredients. Stir well with a spoon. Dough will be very sticky. Pour onto greased cookie sheet, pressing to 1/2" thickness with a metal spoon. Dip the spoon in water, or spray with Pam to keep cereal from sticking to spoon. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Will be firm but not crisp. Turn the oven off. Remove pan and cut into strips about 1"x5" and flip each strip upside down. Return to the warm oven until dried thoroughly. About another 1/2 to 3/4 hour. Cool down the strips. Grind each strip in meat grinder using the coarse disc, then place in a wire strainer. Shake to separate the coarse from the fine crumbs. Use the coarse crumbs for cereal, the fine crumbs use as if they were graham cracker crumbs in desserts or even a graham cracker crust.

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Crunchy Granola
Yield 2 pounds
Preheat the oven to 350F

1 1/4 cup boiling water
1 cup sunflower or corn oil
1 1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
6 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 1/2 cup raisins
1 cup hazelnuts or walnuts

In a large heatproof container, mix together the boiling water, oil, honey and vanilla.

Put the oats, sesame seeds, wheat germ and coconut into a large baking pan. Gradually add the honey mixture, stirring all the time, so that all the dry ingredients get coated. This may be easier to do with your hands.

Bake for 15 minutes, stirring the mixture a couple of times. Then reduce the heat to 275F and bake for 1 to 2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes or so, until the granola is crisp and golden brown.

Cool, then mix in the sunflower seeds, raisins and nuts. Store in an airtight container.
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Bircher Muesli
Serves 1

2 T rolled oats
1 T sweetened condensed milk
3 T cold water
A little grated lemon rind
1 T lemon juice
1/4 pound grated apple OR 2/3 cup berries in season
1 T crushed hazelnuts

Put the oats, milk, water, lemon rind and lemon juice into a bowl and mix to a creamy consistency.

Add the fruit. According to Dr. Bircher-Benner, the whole apple should be used, skin, core and seeds.

Spoon the mixture into a serving bowl. Sprinkle with the crushed nuts.

NOTE: This is the original muesli invented by Dr. Bircher-Benner for the patients in his famous natural health clinic in Zurich. He used condensed milk because that was the only kind that was safe when he was practicing at the end of the last century. You can replace this with ordinary milk or plain yogurt if you like, though the condensed milk gives a pleasant, almost jellied texture which ordinary milk and yogurt do not. Dr. Bircher-Benner served his muesli to his patients for their evening meal, with thinly sliced whole meal bread, honey and herb tea.
---

FRUITY BAKED OATMEAL
3 c. quick oats
1 c. packed brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 c. milk
1/2 c. melted butter
3/4 c. chopped peeled tart apple or canned unsweetened apple slices
1/3 c. chopped fresh, frozen or drained canned peaches
1/3 c. fresh or frozen blueberries

In bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
In another bowl, combine eggs, milk and melted butter. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir in fruits.

Pour into a greased 8 inch pan. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cut into squares.
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German Goetta (Mush Scrapple)
Goetta is of German origin, similar to mush and almost identical to what the Pennsylvania Dutch call scrapple.

1 pound Ground Pork
1 pound Ground Beef
8 cups Water
2 1/2 cups Oats, Steel Cut
1 large Onion, sliced
1 to 4 Bay Leaves
2 tsps Salt
Pinch of Pepper

In a large pot with a lid, boil the water. Add salt, pepper and oatmeal. Cover and let cook for two hours, stirring often.

Add the meat, onion and bay leaves, mix well. Cook for another hour, stirring often. Remove bay leaf (leaves).

Pour into bread pans- size of pan does not matter. Refrigerate overnight.

Slice the goetta and fry it until crispy or just until heated through. Goetta may be served with pancakes and eggs, on sandwiches, or in place of meat at dinner.

Note: Two tsps of Savory may be substituted for the onion and bay leaf.

 

[farmerlor]

Another quick freezer and microwave or oven idea is sausage biscuits. I go into high production and do dozens of these at a time but then I have a lot of kids. Just make some big biscuits. Take a roll of sausage while still halfway frozen and cut it into slices. Fry them up put cheese on them or not and put the breakfast sandwiches together and freeze them. The bigger kids love these for lunch, snacks or breakfast because it's something they can make themselves in minutes.
Another good thing is to make some of those oatmeal bars with fruit in the middle, slice them into granola sized bars and drizzle a little frosting over them. Better than pop tarts any day.
Don't forget some yummy homemade yogurt with that yummy homemade granola.
Homemade cinnamon rolls, homemade cinnamon sticks, or homemade donuts can satisfy that need for a sweet breakfast and all can be made ahead and frozen or made the night before.

 

[gettinaclue]

We also freeze ham biscuits.

Has anyone mentioned cooking a whole bunch of pancakes at once and freezing them for later? I think I may have missed it.

 

[Wifezilla]

Who says you have to eat certain foods for breakfast? Eat whatever you want. In the summer, we have quite a few left-over BBQ breakfasts

If the kids are stuck on traditional breakfast foods, quiche, bacon, sausage, sweet potato hashbrowns, etc...

The most important nutritional component to breakfast is PROTEIN. Make sure they are getting enough and try not to rely so much on carbohydrates. They will have more energy and be less hungry later in the day if they get enough protein.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Thanks! Those are all great ideas! I didn't say it in my post, but i do make bulk pancakes, and bulk french toast, and I'm making bulk waffles tomorrow. Extras go in fridge or freezer for reheating.

My son is a creature of habit, and he has been eating cereal for breakfast since forever. He will eat oatmeal and french toast and scrambled eggs, but prefers his cereal. He was starting to eat cereal for snacks too, so I put the brakes on it, and said no more!! My kids don't like creme of wheat, or Red River cereal (which I love).

Keljonma--have you made the almost grapenuts or the muesli? I have made granola, and granola bars, but curious about these--since they are cereal. I think I might try a small batch to see if ds likes them.