Real Food Tips: 22 On-the-Go Breakfast Ideas

School started for us this week so it’s time to say goodbye to our leisurely summer breakfasts or even eating breakfast together at all…at least in my family. There is no way I could stomach food at 6 A.M. in order to eat with my daughter, but if she’s going to have a good day at school she has no choice. According to Parade Magazine, “Children who eat breakfast perform at nearly a grade level higher than those who do not.” So don’t even consider allowing your kids (or yourself!) to skip and instead implement some of these non-processed “on-the-go” breakfast ideas, which have been broken down into three categories:

Make, Freeze, Reheat…

There are quite a lot of breakfast foods you can make in advance, store in the freezer between sheets of wax paper, and then quickly reheat on a busy weekday morning. Just be sure to supplement these homemade breakfast ideas with some fresh fruit!

1. Whole-grain banana pancakes

   

2. Whole-grain waffles (make it into a waffle sandwich with cream cheese, raisins, & cinnamon in the middle!)
3. Whole-grain biscuits with pieces of cooked bacon & cheddar added to batter
4. Homemade breakfast burritos (with scrambled eggs and cheese on whole-wheat or corn tortillas) frozen in individual bags or containers
5. Whole-grain breakfast cookies made with pecans (or pumpkin seeds as a nut substitution)
6. Whole-grain fruit muffins or zucchini muffins
7. Whole-grain banana bread (pictured)
8. Smoothies frozen in reusable freezie pop holders (these are an exception in this list because they don’t have to be heated up!)
   

Prepare Night Before…

With a little preparation the night before these breakfast ideas could come together fairly quickly before running out the door.

9. Hard boiled eggs
10. Little baggies of fresh berries, sliced apples or other fresh fruit
11. Homemade granola bars
12. Fruit smoothies (with or without peanut butter) that you can store in an insulated Thermos cup in fridge
13. Oatmeal that you reheat in morning
14. Cereal with milk if you set out all the supplies at night including bowl, spoon, napkin, cup and a whole-grain cereal like homemade granola
15. Individual portions of homemade trail mix (nuts, seeds, raisins, dried apple rings, and dried apricots)
16. Little baggies of whole-grain cereal like store-bought corn puffs or shredded wheat

Grab and Go Morning of…

These are some great pre-packaged “real food” items to have on hand for those mornings where there is literally not a second to spare. Hopefully these ideas will convince you to leave those highly processed “milk and cereal bars” at the store!

17. Lara Bars (pictured – these bars have no added sweeteners and the “cashew cookie” variety only has two ingredients!)
18. Bananas or apples (with or without those store-bought individual packets of peanut butter)
19. Little boxes of raisins
20. Individual pre-packaged bags of freeze dried fruit (like Funky Monkey brand from Target or Crispy Green from Earth Fare)
21. Small prepackaged bags of nuts found in baking aisle
22. Applesauce squeeze packets

For some “real food” school lunch ideas check out this link: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/category/children-adapting/school-lunches/