(10 seconds each to read and are almost that quick to prepare)
By Lisa Messinger
Food and Cooking at Creators Syndicate
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Have the nutritionists yelled that loudly enough for you and from high enough mountaintops? If stacked, the studies keep proving that are about as tall as a steep hill themselves ---
including the many that show kids who eat breakfast, especially featuring protein and whole grains perform better in school. The good news is adult research provided identical results. So, you can sit in your breakfast nook boning up on the latest studies (all since the 1950s have pointed to the same conclusions), like a New York City School District's 2010 one on breakfast biters being better learners or you and your kids can share a little pre-school chitchat and split-second breakfasts you'll all love, like a honey-sweetened breakfast pudding made from quinoa (which is the highest-protein whole grain) or cinnamon pancakes brimming with grated zucchini and carrots.
Food preparation and cooking can be easy, nutritious, inexpensive, fun - and fast - as the following split-second family-friendly sensations prove. They take just
10 seconds each to read and are almost that quick to prepare. They are delicious proof everyone has time for tasty home food prep and, more importantly, the healthy family time in the kitchen that goes along with it! Another benefit: You effortlessly become a better cook, since
there are no right or wrong amounts. These are virtually-can't-go-wrong combinations, so whatever you - or your kidlet helpers - choose to use can't help but draw "wows." Here's a breakfast menu that should help make any week more productive:
MONDAY
High-Powered Pancakes
Grate zucchini and carrots into your whole-grain pancake batter and also add cinnamon and golden raisins. Serve with a glass of milk (kids should have some milk, of course, with every meal, but we'll list it in spots like this where it - 2 percent or skim are best choices for adults - accounts for some of the protein that you'll want to be sure to get for yourself as well!)
TUESDAY
Wrap Up Extra Energy
Place no-sugar-added peanut butter and all-fruit spread in a whole-wheat tortilla, top with banana slices and cinnamon and broil until peanut butter and fruit spread are just beginning to melt. Serve with milk.
WEDNESDAY
Quick, Pass the Quinoa
Mild-flavored quinoa is the highest-protein whole grain. Prepare according to package instructions and make a breakfast "pudding" by combining cooked quinoa with honey, almond slivers, finely chopped apples and pears, dried cherries, cinnamon and a speck of butter or no-trans-fat margarine for additional creaminess.
THURSDAY
"Eggciting" Stuff
Prepare an egg sunny-side-up. Meanwhile, toast a slice of multi-grain bread. Spread a speck of butter or no-trans-fat margarine on toasted bread, tear it into squares and place in a bowl. Add cooked sunny-side-up egg and mash it slightly so egg yolk runs and egg white gets chopped among bread pieces. Sprinkle lightly with black pepper, bottled toasted sesame seeds and curry powder.
FRIDAY
Granola with a Twist
In a parfait glass or tall glass layer no-sugar-added granola with no-sugar-added vanilla yogurt, whole or ground flax seeds, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, finely chopped strawberries and a dollop of no-sugar-added strawberry all-fruit spread; repeat layers.
SATURDAY
Macho Muffin
Scoop out the inside of a medium-sized raisin-bran muffin, leaving about a one-quarter inch wall. Combine no-sugar-added berry-flavored yogurt, cinnamon, fresh blueberries and a few peanut halves. On a microwave-safe plate, microwave on high for 10 seconds. Drizzle very lightly with sugar-free chocolate sauce and all-fruit berry spread.
SUNDAY
French Toast with a Latin Accent
Set aside whole-grain bread. Prepare French toast egg wash as usual and add a few dashes of packaged taco seasoning - or, better yet, a salt-free Mexican seasoning blend. Add a few finely diced chili peppers to egg mixture, if desired, which when handling experts recommend wearing latex gloves and not touching your eyes during or afterward. Cook French toast as usual and serve with thoroughly cooked soy-based "chorizo."
QUICK TIP OF THE WEEK: Ramen-style noodles are some of the least expensive and fast-cooking foods on the planet. They are also fun and almost addictive - to which many a hungry college student who whips them up daily can attest. If you thought of them as less than nutritionally stellar, you might consider leaving out altogether the high-sodium flavor packet that often comes with them - or perhaps just using half or a third instead. Supplement with choices from your own salt-free spice rack, including curry powder or Italian seasoning blend. Add packaged pre-cut fresh vegetables and shreds from a store-bought pre-cooked rotisserie chicken and you've got a satisfying, family-friendly meal.
Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food and nutrition writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the National Council Against Health Fraud and author of seven food books, including the best-selling The Tofu Book: The New American Cuisine with 150 Recipes (Avery/Penguin Putnam) and Turn Your Supermarket into a Health Food Store: The Brand-Name Guide to Shopping for a Better Diet(Pharos/Scripps Howard). She writes two nationally syndicated food and nutrition columns for Creators Syndicate and had been a longtime newspaper food and health section managing editor, as well as managing editor of Gayot/Gault Millau dining review company. Lisa traveled the globe writing about top chefs for Pulitzer Prize-winning Copley News Service and has written about health and nutrition for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, Reader's Digest, Woman's World and Prevention Magazine Health Books. Permission granted for use on Dr.Laura.com.
