“What do you eat for breakfast?” asks my sister.
“What do you eat for breakfast?” asks my friend.
“What’s for breakfast, Mommy?” ask my daughters.
Boy. This meal draws a devoted cast of followers.
Although my mom just asks, “What in the heck do you eat?” Anyway.
You’ve got a 15-minute breakfast allotment. Can you survive a grain-free diet-modification program like GAPS with 10 kids who have to be at school by 7:50 am. Okay. Three kids even by 8:00 am.
Yes. The only things we miss are oatmeal and toast.
Aside: I will say, every now and then I just want an “easy” meal the kids love. Oatmeal. It’s supposed to be healthy. Don’t feed oatmeal to my oldest daughter and try to do math. One of you will end up screaming or crying. But it refreshes the resolve to remain no-grain/low-grain here in our household. And the more I see the hyperactivity food pattern in my own house, the more it blows my medical mind, motivating me to keep up my reading. Oatmeal and red food coloring seem to be the worst culprits here. Not sugar. But I’m still “observing.”
Back to topic.
Without respect for expediency of preparation, I will list the grain-free/GAPS/SCD-legal foods we have eaten for breakfast since June. We’re not deprived here. Granola cereal with “milk”. Check. Pancakes. Check. Eggs. Check. Donuts. Check. Granola bar. Check.
1. Fresh fruit
2. 24-hour homemade yogurt sweetened with a splash of vanilla, honey, and fruit: Although dairy doesn’t suit everyone’s body, if it’s tolerated–it sure is great! (I’m sorry about the crying in the background, that’s just my husband and I.) GAPS/SCD requires the yogurt to be fermented 24 hours to remove most all of the lactose and also to alter the casein protein, which is a pesky little structure. It sounds awfully frightening to make your own yogurt, but it actually isn’t! And if you make a large batch of it one weekend, you have breakfast for a couple of weeks! Store-bought yogurt is not sufficient. At least none I can get my hands on. Fermentation times way too short. Sugar. Preservatives. Colors. My kids were shocked by the “sourness” of the longer fermentation time, but we eased the transition with some bananas, honey, and vanilla. They’d much rather have it than not have it. We drive an hour to buy farm-fresh milk every now and then, and we do “pasteurize” it ourselves. Benefits to risk ratio. And saw too much bad stuff on our pediatric’s rotation.
3. Nuts and dried fruit, sometimes mixed as a trail mix: Throw some all together in a baggie and GO!
4. Grain-free granola with coconut milk, almond milk, or homemade yogurt:
5. Grain-free granola bars/balls: Not particularly fast to make, per se. But easy to make ahead and pull out for the car ride. And my kids definitely like it when I make these. And my husband, too. Sadly, they don’t last long because they like them so much. So hide them if you want to save them for a fast breakfast. Lara Bars are great cheats for those who tolerate them.
6. Coconut flour pancakes: Make them ahead of time. Double or triple the batch you made on Saturday and Sunday. Throw them in a baggie or cover a plate of them in plastic wrap and toss ’em in the fridge. On the way out the door for school, smear them with strawberry (legal) jam, roll them up, and stab a toothpick through through each one (Preferably the most adorable, cutest little toothpick you can find–or stick a sticker on the top of a plain Jane toothpick. Keep the stickers in the kitchen cupboard by the toothpicks so it’s not inconvenient!)
7. Almond flour pancakes. Here’s our recipe (click).
8. Waffles: Another great double or triple the recipe. On Monday morning, reheat and eat. Or slather with nutbutter and jam and hit the van. Here’s our recipe (click).
9. Pumpkin dessert (yes, pumpkin pie):
10. Pumpkin bread and muffins: An absolute favorite of ours.
11. Blueberry bread and muffins: http://www.mygutsy.com/gaps-banana-blueberry-bread/
12. Banana bread and muffins: http://www.mygutsy.com/coconut-flour-banana-bread/
13. Zucchini bread: A real winner! My kids like it and so did the preschool kids I baked it for several times. I have used both recipes listed and both are great! We skip the topping in the first recipe. Tried it and didn’t suit the kids. DO NOT OVERBAKE.
- http://www.unrefinedkitchen.com/2011/08/30/coconut-flour-zucchini-bread-with-crumble-topping/
- http://www.againstallgrain.com/2012/04/24/almond-flour-zucchini-bread-and-a-giveaway/
14. Bacon: Elaine Gottschall from the SCD felt bacon once a week with the tiny bit of sugar would be okay. I still search for sugar-free if I can find it. It’s tough to find, but it is out there. US Wellness Meats has it. We also buy it uncured.
15. Sausage: You can find some sausage links (microwavable even, although GAPSters do not approve of microwaves) made by Applewood that are suitable. However, certainly the cheapest way to get your sausage is a pound of ground beef and/or pork, some spices, and your own two hands. Mix it all up, patty it up, and fry. My kids and husband like the homemade sausage. They amazingly eat the leftovers even better! There’s also an awesome sausage at Whole Foods (we don’t have one of those anywhere close). I have just ordered some from US Wellness Meats to see how it is.
16. Roasted vegetables: My favorite breakfast. Not so much for my kids.
17. Broccoli soup
18. Squash soup
19. Smoothies: Really fast if you don’t worry about clean-up. Convenient if everybody has a sippy cup with a straw. Horrible if not. I’ve got a mini-van to prove it. Be creative with your smooties: coconut milk, 24-hour yogurt, coconut water, herbal tea, almond milk, pineapple, banana, strawberries, nutbutter, chocolate if you can, mango. You name it. A good smoothie should never taste the same twice.
20. Leftovers from the night before: zucchini noodle lasagna, roast, sausage, soup
21. Scrambled eggs: We whisk them with a bit of water. Not milk.
22. Fried eggs
23. Quiche with bacon: We’ve used almond flour crust. Coconut flour crust. And no crust at all.
24. Hard boiled eggs
25. Omelette with vegetables and bacon: My favorite is cooked spaghetti squash and onion in it. But my kids don’t really like that.
26. Almond flour biscuits, alone or with jam
27. French toast made from a coconut flour bread:
28. Coconut flour crepes filled with warm fruit sweetened with honey, typically bananas, and sprinkled with cinnamon
29. Mock baked French toast casserole: I just found this recipe and love it! We devoured it. It is like bread pudding! Simple beyond description. We used ghee in it. I baked it in the 8X8 pan.
30. “Donuts”: We found a donut pan at the local kitchen shop. I use muffin batter for the donuts.
31. Almond flour scones: I adapt a recipe from Elana’s Almond Flour Cookbook. I use honey, coconut oil, and I leave out the chocoloate chips. They are great! Great with the chocolate chips, too. Obviously. Recipe reprinted here on this website:
Any questions, comments, gripes, or complaints, let me know. I have omitted recipe links for some of the items above because I have adapted recipes to suit our family. There are dozens of recipes out there on-line for most of the items. I will also try to share mine eventually as time permits. Or you can e-mail and ask: thehomeschoolingdoctor@gmail.com. I’m really curious to see if people find breakfast foods a barrier to a low-grain/no-grain lifestyle. As with wheat-products, I find myself having to refrain from falling into too much reliance on almond flour. And that seems to happen more with this sub-freezing weather.
The HSD 