3 Tricks to Get Picky Eaters to Love Breakfast
Has fighting with your picky eater about breakfast become a morning ritual? Children often turn their noses up at healthier fare (oatmeal, anyone?) and how many parents have lost the battle between sugary cereal and whole wheat toast?
Never give up, never surrender, Mom and Dad! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and research has long shown that children who eat a healthy breakfast have higher test scores, fewer absences, and remain properly fueled up for their active days.
We’ve come up with a few strategies to get that picky eater of yours to love breakfast:
Serve pizza for breakfast
Who doesn’t love pizza, anytime? Use a Rustic Crust Ultimate Whole Grain ready-made crust and create a breakfast pizza. Bake our crust first, then add a topping of scrambled eggs and cheese, with a few veggies to add flavor and color. Ta-da! A healthy breakfast that’s fun to eat (and fun to prepare, with a little help from your young’un.)
Create breakfast art
Use a toasted frozen waffle as a canvas, and provide your child with sliced bananas, strawberries, granola, and other items (even whipped cream!) to make a ‘food face’ on their waffle. Kids love to take part in making a meal – why not let them use their imaginations while they’re eating healthy?
Join the fun
Everyone touts the importance of family dinners, but a family breakfast fuels everyone up for the day! Why expect your child to eat healthy when you hit the door with a travel mug of joe in one hand and a stale doughnut in the other? Take the time to create a healthy meal – eggs one day, oatmeal the next, pancakes on the weekend – and join your children at the table to set a great example.
No matter the meal, a healthy breakfast should be on the menu most mornings. Other quick tips?
Remember to be flexible (if your child prefers a peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich to that bowl of whole wheat cereal, so be it), and make sure you all have enough time to prepare and eat that good breakfast (no gobbling allowed!).
The entire family – picky eater included — will soon start each day off with smiles all around, and that’s a very good morning indeed.