Breaking with Breakfast

I have spoken often about how meal time with children can be tough. Sometimes my kids will pack in food like they have never been fed before and I am amazed at their appetites. Other, more often times, they will take a bite or two and ask to leave their seats. This typically coincides with a meal that I have been in the kitchen for 2 plus hours preparing before beautifully presenting it at the table.

I am always looking for creative ways to pack in protein that do not require twenty steps, and that are appealing to my toddlers’ fickle palates. They need to be easy to prepare – especially during breakfast when we are ALWAYS rushing to get out the door to class.

This is our breakfast staple.

During a recent family trip to Mexico, my kids looked at the pancakes I had prepared for the fifth day in a row with disdain. The option of blueberries or chocolate chips was not even enticing. ‘I want something else,’ Bryce cried. My children are total salt feens, and spying the bag of leftover tortilla chips we had been munching on all week, I had a million dollar idea. After letting them crush the chips up into a bowl – a good 10 minute activity – I let them mix the eggs with a spoon – another five minutes. I had both a project and a meal my toddlers were enthusiastic about eating.

I call it, ‘Mexican Matzo Brei,’ but my kids call it simply, ‘Chip Eggs.’ Essentially, after soaking crushed tortilla chips in eggs, I make a scramble with shredded cheese and serve it to them like breakfast nachos. They think they are having junk food for breakfast and I am happy knowing they are eating a healthy serving of eggs and cheese (with a side of sodium). Like all things in my life lately – it is purely about compromise.