Thursday, January 20, 2011

Tricky No More!

It's true that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Numerous studies have shown that what children eat for breakfast effects their school work and concentration. FYI, those same effects don't stop when you become an adult. I don't know why we thing we can get by on something as empty as a doughnut and then wonder why we are irritable when going into work.

The truth is that when you eat sugar for breakfast you soon crash. One of my favorite studies on the subject involved a group of kindergartners who were given a sugary breakfast cereal and then asked to draw a giraffe. The pictures looked like blobs. Then on another day they were given a breakfast that was protein based without all the sugar. When asked to draw a giraffe that day, they did! Another study along these lines measured IQ scores. The same children actually had a significantly higher IQ score on the day they didn't have sugar.

So please know that even though your kid's (or your) breakfast cereal markets themselves as a whole grain with protein, it's still crap. That's not a very professional word but if the shoe fits! Besides the fact that cereal is HIGHLY processed (even the "healthy" organic kind), stripped of all naturally occurring minerals, and difficult to digest, it still has lots of sugar and little natural occurring protein. And if your cereal boasts a "high protein" label, you can bet you are eating a Frankenstein food.

Okay, I really got off from where I was going with this post but here is my segway to get back on track. Once you take cereal out of the breakfast equation, people are lost at what to prepare for this meal. Which I understand because cereal use to be my comfort food.

I'll dedicate the next few posts to a few breakfast ideas that work around here. We are going to take the "tricky" out of your breakfast menu!

Just recently I tried the Heavenly Homemaker's pancake and sausage muffins and they were a hit with our family. There is no sugar in the baked muffin it's self (outside of the carbohydrates naturally occurring in the grain and buttermilk) and it has the added benefit of protein from the sausage. Best of all, it's portable which is a big plus for my husband who forgets about breakfast until he is walking out the door. You can of course serve them with syrup as the pancake portion of the title indicates. But if you don't share the full title with your family you may just slip one by them! But if you must use syrup just add a smidgen.

Next up will be my make ahead breakfast casserole recipe.

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