Aug. 23--If ever there were an occasion to branch out from cold cereal and milk, it would be the first day of school.
This is it for most Tulsa Public Schools kids, and many other suburban and private school kids have already started their school year. But it's not too late to set a positive tone for the school days ahead. One way of doing so is by sitting down to a healthy breakfast.
Yes, it's hard enough to find time to sit down for dinner, much less during the craziness of the morning rush. But, even if it's just once a week, sitting down to breakfast can create a good start to the morning, especially when good food is at the heart of it.
We talked to Kara Howard, the busy mom of 3-year-old Kinley, about her daughter's breakfast routine.
"Breakfast is hard," she said, "because there are so many things like doughnuts, muffins, bagels, pancakes, biscuits that have zero nutritional value. It is best to have something that at least has protein in it to last until lunch."
Howard isn't a fan of breakfast cereals, she said. Some are loaded with sugar, and the healthy ones often aren't filling enough, she said. Instead, she gives her daughter plain oatmeal with a little natural peanut butter.
"I definitely think breakfast is the most important meal and the one that moms can monitor the most," she said.
Better choices
Here are some of Kara Howard's tips for healthy breakfasts kids will actually eat.
--Light cottage cheese
or Greek yogurt with fresh blueberries
--Hard-boiled egg with wheat toast
--Wheat English muffin with natural peanut butter and jelly
--Smoothie made with Greek yogurt and frozen berries
--Plain oatmeal with natural peanut butter
--Homemade breakfast bowl
For the breakfast bowl, Howard scrambles a half dozen eggs and a half dozen egg whites. She then cooks a package of turkey sausage and mixes it with the eggs and light grated cheese.
"It usually lasts a few days, and I think of it as my homemade Jimmy Dean breakfast bowl," she said.
Natalie Mikles 581-8486
natalie.mikles@tulsaworld.com
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