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Healthy and Kid Friendly Breakfast Recipe Ideas

Breakfast – The most important meal of the day, as you break your fast from the previous night, i.e. after a gap of 9 – 10 hours. Hence, breakfast should be healthy and wholesome.

“Many studies have linked eating breakfast to good health, including better memory and concentration, lower levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol, and lower chances of getting diabetes, heart disease, and being overweight.” ref – WebMD

Breakfast scenes two years ago – Getting kids to sit and have a proper breakfast is the toughest task in a mother’s life. I had these toughest three years when little missy would refuse to eat or drink anything in the morning. The breakfast scenes became a daily horror and her little tummy would stay hungry for many hours. However, a little over three years, she showed some mercy on her sobbing mother and the food started staying inside until it got digested. Ever since then, we are having a proper breakfast every single morning.

What they want to eat?

You give them the choice and the first reply would be – not now! Healthy food and dishes churn out from home kitchen would be on the lowest fold of the list even when they mention what to eat. If you commit a mistake of asking them – ‘What do you want to eat today at breakfast?’ the answer will put you in further misery. ‘Give the same thing again Mom – cereals and milk, scrambled eggs, or whatever!‘

Didn’t I tell you – Motherhood is the wackiest job on the Earth! Being the mothers of these smart kiddos, now even we know a few hacks to turn the junk food into healthy and quick delicacies.

Quick and Healthy Kid Friendly Breakfast Recipe Ideas

Healthy Idli or Veggie Dosa

I always keep freshly made idli/dosa batter in my refrigerator. Kids love these fluffy rice balls and yummy crisp dosa, plus its easy to make early in the morning if you are handy with the procedure. Make plain idli, serve with butter or coconut chutney. I avoid going with elaborate ‘sambhar’ exercise in the mornings. Dosa is easy to make on the hot griddle, and to make it extra healthy, add mixed veggie mash as inner masala.

Veggie/ Eggs burrito or Rolls

We love finger food, and this is one of the best breakfast ideas of wholesome food in the morning. These rolls can also be given in the child’s tiffin box as it’s non-drippy and easy to make in early rush hours.

I prefer the filling of green vegetables like cauliflower, green peas, corn, methi (fenugreek) sabji, cabbage, etc. You can also make paneer (cottage cheese) or scrambled egg rolls. Stuff the filling into whole wheat chapati, add a little tomato sauce and voila delicious roll/ burrito is ready to be gorged on.

Vegetable / Cheese Sandwich

This is my personal favorite, and I can have a sandwich in breakfast every day! Make sure you use brown bread or multi-grain bread over the regular. Sauteed mixed vegetables or well washed raw veggie, like – cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, beetroot (blanched), capsicum. Add cheese slices (make sure you use a healthy cheese like goat cheese or low-fat cheese).

You can prepare paneer bhurji and use instead of veggies to make a paneer-grill sandwich.

Pro Tip – Slight grill the sandwich, as it brings nice buttery aroma and enhances the appetite.

Poha/ Puffed Rice

Most famous Indian street food – Indori Poha a healthy and super easy to make breakfast dish. ‘Jhat-phat’ breakfast! Poha is healthy and is made out of rice also known as flatted rice. Quick to prepare and easy to digest, plus its super delicious. Our Poha recipe has potatoes, peanuts, onion, coriander leaves and coconut for garnishing. It’s a healthy mix and can be given in the kid’s tiffin also.

Many people deep fry the potatoes and peanuts, but I prefer boiled potatoes and roast the peanuts. Add these with all other ingredients in little oil garnish with green leaves, freshly grated coconut and a pinch of lemon juice.

Methi Thepla –

Indian breakfast list in incomplete without remembering Methi (fenugreek leaves) thepla. This is comfort food, and best food to carry in kid’s tiffins. You can take wholegrain flour, fresh methi leaves, low fat curd to knead fresh dough. Adding additional veggies like carrot, raddish, onion, etc adds up the flavor.

I often make thepla in the morning breakfast, and serve with fresh homemade curd. You can also serve thepla with tomato ketchup or have with chai.

Stuffed Paratha

I am born and in North India, hence paratha is something which is tuned into my upbringing. It’s a different story that I love gorging on all those delicious stuffed parathas with homemade butter and curds. There are various options for filling and make yummy parathas – Onion, Paneer, Aloo, Mooli-Gajar (carrot and radish). I bring seasonal preferences for stuffing the parathas like winters call for Gobi paratha. Ajwain-namak paratha is comforting and can be paired with hot ginger tea, (Carom/Caraway seeds)

Missa paratha (mixed) Sattu paratha (gram flour filling) or you can mix fillings based on your taste and preferences. For health and nutrition, I use multi-grain flour with ragi, millet, quinoa, soy, and wheat flours.

These are few that I make religiously and repeatedly! (didn’t I share the love of parantha) Easy to make and wholesome. I roast the paranthas in homemade desi-ghee (clarified butter).

Oats and Veggie Cutlets

Everyone love cutlets, especially when you make those funny quirky shapes with kids. I don’t try my hands on baking (read horrible baker), but these cutlets come really well out of home microwave convection oven. Just a little prior preparation and quick choices make this dish come handy at rush hours.

Check the recipe here – Tarla Dalal, vegetable cutlet recipe.

All you need is boiled potatoes, green peas, carrots, beans, corn, coriander leaves, soaked oats, and some quirk to make funny shapes. You can also add SOY for added nutrition from soy protein. You can shallow fry these cutlets in a non-stick pan or bake them in the convection oven, serve with mint chutney or tomato sauce. Oats is filled with health benefits, high in fiber mixed with all the vegetables it brings crispy cutlets.

Also read 10 Best Gift Ideas for Children’s Day

These are just a few of the breakfast ideas that bring up smiles on the kid’s face. Easy to make, and I bet kids cannot say NO to these yummy dishes.

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