Mornings with school-aged kids are busy, to say the least.
Between getting everyone ready for the day and packing lunches, breakfast often becomes rushed. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), breakfast plays a crucial role in blood sugar regulation, brain function, and overall academic performance. [1]
Set children up for success with some of our favorite time-saving and nutrition-boosting breakfast hacks!
Time-Saving Breakfast Hacks for Busy Parents
- Batch-cook pancakes and waffles: An easy way to have breakfast ready in 60 seconds is to make pancakes and waffles over the weekend and freeze them. Pop them in the toaster or microwave in the morning for a homemade breakfast that can be eaten as-is or topped with nut butters and fruit!
- Make smart use of leftovers: Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box to save time! Leftover roasted vegetables can be added to scrambled eggs to add extra nutrition, and cooked quinoa or brown rice can be transformed into a warm breakfast bowl with milk, honey, and fruit.
- Top whole-grain options with healthy fat and protein: Swap white bread, bagels, and muffins for their whole-grain counterparts to boost your child’s nutrition without adding steps. To turn this into an easy complete breakfast, simply add a topping like a nut butter or mashed avocado.
- Prep breakfast over the weekend: Save time by making re-heatable dishes like breakfast burritos, muffins, overnight oats, and egg cups beforehand. This also gives you time to carefully add healthy whole foods like seeds, nuts, veggies, and fruit for the busy weekdays ahead.
- Try DIY breakfast stations: Empower kids to make their own breakfast and save time by creating breakfast stations. Lay out greek yogurt, granola, seeds, and fruit for a DIY parfait, or create a toast station with nutritious spread options like nut butters and cream cheese.
- Master the smoothie: A great way to pack breakfast with nutrients, prep individual smoothie bags by filling freezer-safe bags with fruits and veggies like spinach, kale, berries, and bananas. In the morning, simply blend the contents with milk or yogurt.
- Use bento boxes for on-the-go breakfasts: When there isn’t time to sit and eat, portion out nutritious foods like a hard boiled egg, sliced fruit and veggies, crackers, and nuts into a bento box like this popular Bentgo Lunch Box.
- Utilize a slow cooker: A warm breakfast can be both time-saving and delicious! Prep a slow-cooked oatmeal, breakfast casserole with eggs and veggies, or a quinoa porridge at night so you can wake up to a nutritious, warm meal.
- Get creative with protein: Protein helps keep kids’ energy up and bellies full until lunch, so lean into this by adding small amounts of flax seeds to overnight oats and muffins, using cottage cheese as a topping, serving hard boiled eggs, and adding chia seeds to smoothies.
- Keep a grab-and-go breakfast section of your fridge (or freezer) topped up: We've found it helpful to keep healthy, ready-to-eat options like our SuperFruit® or SuperJuice® Freezie Pops, cheese and crackers, yogurt cups, fresh cut-up fruit, and power balls in the fridge. Simply choose one and go!
Looking for snack inspiration? Check out our 10 After-School Snack Ideas That Kids Actually Want to Eat.
Use our store locator to find DeeBee's SuperFruit® and SuperJuice® Freezie Pops at a store near you!
