(ARA) – In an ideal world, your entire family would sit down every morning to a tasty, hot breakfast. At least that’s the ideal you may imagine if you’ve heard or read enough times about how important breakfast and family time are.
Most of us, however, live in a very busy world where there’s not a whole lot of time for breakfast every day. So, on days when you do have time to make breakfast – and the even rarer days when everyone in the family is there to share in the meal – you want breakfast to be as fun and enjoyable as possible. Ready-to-eat options like frozen waffles can help make it easy to serve your family a hot breakfast, but what about the element of fun?
Making breakfast a fun event requires thinking beyond the breakfast bowl – and the cereal that goes in it – to achieve just the right blend of original ideas and can’t-miss fare. Here are some ideas for turning breakfast time into fun time for the whole family:
Breakfast play date
Half the time the kids bring a toy to the breakfast table anyway, so why not turn breakfast into a morning play date for them? Invite your child’s best friend for a sleepover and then encourage them to “play” with their breakfast food the next morning. Kids can play by helping to prepare fun foods. Or, for a really sweet time, serve their pancakes with Mrs. Butterworth’s syrup in one of three limited-edition spring bottles. From dress-up to game day to a beach party, each of Mrs. Butterworth’s limited-edition spring bottles provides consumers with access to a different collection of 20 accessories downloadable at www.Facebook.com/MrsButterworths with the code found on the back of the bottle. Blank dress templates also are available at Mrs. Butterworth’s Facebook page so everyone in the family can be a designer this season. It’s a fun, breakfast-themed twist on paper dolls. The limited-edition bottles will be sold in stores for a short time this spring.
Picnic in your PJs
Most kids – and many adults – love a picnic. Why not get the whole family outdoors in their pajamas for a breakfast picnic? As soon as the weather gets warm, the kids will want to be outside all the time anyway, so start their day off with breakfast outdoors. Prepare picnic-friendly breakfast items such as mini egg souffles, sliced fruit and breakfast pastries the night before so prep time in the morning will be quick and easy. Rained out? No problem – just toss your picnic blanket on the living room floor and serve your breakfast spread there. Take advantage of your indoor status to get creative! Try a PB&J French toast with syrup instead of jelly.
Kids cereal is brightly colored for a reason – kids love colorful things. Why not serve a rainbow breakfast that incorporates all kids’ favorite colors into a fun meal? Brainstorm with your children to plan a menu that features items in every color of the rainbow. For example, fresh strawberries could represent the red part of the spectrum, while blueberries serve as the blue item on the menu. Orange juice is an obvious choice. Brighten up pancakes by adding a few drops of food coloring to the mix before pouring the batter on the griddle.
Reverse breakfast
Since the purpose of breakfast is to get some fuel into hungry stomachs after the night’s “fast,” there’s no real reason why your family has to limit themselves to traditional breakfast fare. Nowhere is it written into law that children must eat quiche for breakfast when what they really like is scrambled eggs. Nor is it required that kids chow down in the a.m. on cereal when what they really crave is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Plenty of “dinner” foods can also be adapted for breakfast, such as breakfast burritos. Think of ways to turn your family’s favorite dinner foods into something that will be fun for breakfast.
You may not always have time for an elaborate breakfast, but when you do, getting creative and thinking outside the breakfast bowl can turn the meal into a fun, nurturing way to start the day.