Thanks to all 73 of you who entered to win Pistachios. The winners are:
Janine, Eliece, Brittney, Mary Kathryn, and Janet
Breakfast Cereal
Tatiana wanted to know my opinion of breakfast cereals.
My kids love cereal. (obviously I named my 10 year old cereal boy for this blog). Luckily, they are easy to please and will eat any cereal I buy. I love cereal because its pretty easy to clean up, and they can get it themselves.
There are three things worth considering when choosing a store bought cereal.
- Amount of sugar (look for cereals with less than 4 grams or 1 tsp per serving)
- Amount of fiber (kids need 5 grams plus their age in an entire day. So let this number be determined by how many other fiber sources there are.)
- Presence of whole grains (look for the words whole grain )
Each is important, and may differ depending on your priorities. Our priority is low sugar because I feel like we get enough fiber from other sources. We buy lots of cheerios and my kids love to put yogurt on top rather than milk.
Consumer reports ranked these cereals as the healthiest: Cheerios, Kix, Honey Nut cheerios, and Life for being both low in sugar and high in fiber. Then the article goes on to tell us there is as much sugar in Sugar Smacks as in an entire glazed donut from Dunkin Donuts. Sugar Smacks and Golden Crisp were more than 50% sugar! This is a must read article.
A letter I recieved from the General Mills folks stated 75 % of kids do not get the recommended levels of Vitamin D and calcium. They have added this to some of their cereals including Kix. At about 100 calories per serving, they can provide at least 10 of the vital nutrients. You can visit growupstrong for more information about the General Mills options.
So bottom line is read your labels!! Look for less than 4 grams of sugar, and as much fiber and nutrients you can stuff into your little kids cereal bowls.
Menu planning
Breakfast truly is the most important meal of the day. Don’t forget the fruit!! Its so easy to make your entire breakfast from grains, but balance is also key. So my orgjunkie menu planning for this week is for breakfast.
Monday: Scrambled eggs, zucchini bread (I made it last night), and orange slices.
Tuesday: Smoothie and a muffin (made on weekend and frozen)
Wednesday: Cereal day!! Cheerios, yogurt, and fruit on top, plus 100% Orange Juice.
Thursday: Pancakes with strawberries on top.
Friday: Fruit salad/ yogurt and whole wheat toast with Simply fruit (jam).
Saturday: Oatmeal
You don’t need to be locked into traditional breakfast foods. My husband eats leftovers from dinner, and just today the flip flopper had a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich for breakfast.
Any more ideas? What other healthy breakfast would make a good start to a child’s day?
Janine, Eliece, Brittney, Mary Kathryn, and Janet
Breakfast Cereal
Tatiana wanted to know my opinion of breakfast cereals.
My kids love cereal. (obviously I named my 10 year old cereal boy for this blog). Luckily, they are easy to please and will eat any cereal I buy. I love cereal because its pretty easy to clean up, and they can get it themselves.
There are three things worth considering when choosing a store bought cereal.
Each is important, and may differ depending on your priorities. Our priority is low sugar because I feel like we get enough fiber from other sources. We buy lots of cheerios and my kids love to put yogurt on top rather than milk.
Consumer reports ranked these cereals as the healthiest: Cheerios, Kix, Honey Nut cheerios, and Life for being both low in sugar and high in fiber. Then the article goes on to tell us there is as much sugar in Sugar Smacks as in an entire glazed donut from Dunkin Donuts. Sugar Smacks and Golden Crisp were more than 50% sugar! This is a must read article.
A letter I recieved from the General Mills folks stated 75 % of kids do not get the recommended levels of Vitamin D and calcium. They have added this to some of their cereals including Kix. At about 100 calories per serving, they can provide at least 10 of the vital nutrients. You can visit growupstrong for more information about the General Mills options.
So bottom line is read your labels!! Look for less than 4 grams of sugar, and as much fiber and nutrients you can stuff into your little kids cereal bowls.
Menu planning
Monday: Scrambled eggs, zucchini bread (I made it last night), and orange slices.
Tuesday: Smoothie and a muffin (made on weekend and frozen)
Wednesday: Cereal day!! Cheerios, yogurt, and fruit on top, plus 100% Orange Juice.
Thursday: Pancakes with strawberries on top.
Friday: Fruit salad/ yogurt and whole wheat toast with Simply fruit (jam).
Saturday: Oatmeal
You don’t need to be locked into traditional breakfast foods. My husband eats leftovers from dinner, and just today the flip flopper had a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich for breakfast.
Any more ideas? What other healthy breakfast would make a good start to a child’s day?