The Breakfast Dilemma

After recently checking out a stack of cookbooks from the library, I've been amazed at the number of breakfast meals there are. That may seem strange to some, but I don't eat breakfast, and my family eats either cold cereal or oatmeal. I don't ever remember eating breakfast unless we were on a trip. I want to change this.

In my quest to feed my family better by purging all processed foods, particularly sugars, from our lives, cereal was on the list. We switched to healthier whole grain cereals that used sugar cane or "real" sugar (as opposed to processed) and nothing with enriched/bleached flours. I thought I was doing pretty good, but the sugar content still bothers me. I had set a limit of 5-6 gms per serving and when the husband came home with a 9, I was upset. Don't laugh! (Even though he was wonderful enough to do the shopping--he still can't read my mind! Imagine that!).

The other part of this is that even with our family of four, (three, because I don't eat it) we are going through a box of cereal a day. Thirty boxes a month (at least) at an average of $4.00 per box makes the expense approximately $120.00 a month! For dry cereal. I think we can do a bit better. I did start making our own granola cereal a few months back, and it is heavenly! Healthy granola is about $7/box! To make it, it is only about $3-$4 for a HUGE batch--I would guess about the equivalent of 3 boxes.

It all got me thinking about what I really want my family to eat, and more particularly what I want them to LEARN about food. I don't want it to be about "limits" or "bad" vs "good"--I want it to just be about "good"--period.

So, this has my mind all a-swirly about how to go about this. One thing I realize is that we are looking at another life-change in regards to eating. Not a bad thing! I need to eat breakfast for my own health and energy level (which is sorely lacking) and I need to show them that breakfast isn't the "let's get by with it because you can do it by yourself" meal. This really goes back to training. I was never "trained" in breakfast--in other words, never had it growing up. This family legacy is not what I want to pass on to my children.

In my mind, the process includes looking at the foods as a whole and categorizing them. Seven days a week equals seven types of food: pancakes (whole grain homemade, of course), muffins (also healthy homemade), hot cereal (again...), cold cereal (some--not all--things in moderation AND including my granola), blank, blank, blank. I'm probably too practical/analytical when it comes to examining things like this. This is where I'm at. I've intentionally not included eggs. Realistically, that won't happen. Things that can be made ahead of time and frozen--that works for me! And they eat fruit with every meal, so fruit on it's own does not a meal make--or at least it hasn't. Daily, this is becoming more of a desire and I'm seeing even more reasons to "go there".

I keep thinking breakfast would be a perfect time for family Bible reading, as our evenings are just too crazy. At breakfast, we're all "there" (if not eating). I also just got our Art Calendar (absolutely fabulous--way better and beyond what I expected--in case you wanted to know!) with an art masterpiece a day. This I put on the breakfast bar and already the kids love looking at the picture and discussing it over breakfast. I've also always liked listening to classical music in the mornings. It seems to be a good start to the day. All these things may get our day going better. Right now, mornings can be a bit crazy! I usually spend that time bathing, or gathering myself together (I can give those up, right? haha). I'm just not a morning mover. God's intervention would help, of course, because I think it's gonna be the ole "get up earlier" thing...oohh, I soooo don't like that! The only other alternative is to not care about what time anything gets started or finished in the day. That would bug me worse, I'm afraid.

I guess a good things about looking at this now is that soon the days will get longer, the sun will come up earlier, and all will once again be right with our "clocks". I'm definitely looking forward to THAT! But for now, I'll plan this breakfast thing to death and pray for victory. I'll pray before and during the "planning it to death" too, and I'll try to get out of my own way as well.