Breakfast has always been my favorite meal of the day. Maybe because I love eating anything I can cover in butter and jam. When I was a little girl, my parents would take me to Cracker Barrel and I would amaze bystanders with the sheer volume of biscuits a tiny 4-year-old could eat. Having a child with a severe gluten allergy has significantly diminished my biscuit consumption, but I still love breakfast.
These are some of our go-to breakfast meals:
Eggs and Bacon: Farm fresh eggs and local bacon….can’t beat it. Sometimes we mix it up and have sausage. We fry the eggs or scramble ’em with veggies from the garden. And with coffee, fresh veggie slices, or a side of toast (GF for Benjamin), you just can’t beat it.
French Toast: Gluten-Free bread just doesn’t have the same texture as the real thing. In order to make it more palatable, I often make French Toast for Benjamin and add extra eggs so that there’s plenty of protein. I mix farm fresh eggs, whole milk, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and a tad vanilla extract. Dip the bread in and then fry it up in bacon grease on the stove.
Fried Rice: When we were first married (and still in college) Daniel worked at two different Asian restaurants and learned a few tricks. When we have extra rice leftover from dinner, he will add eggs, onions, and whatever vegetables he can pull out of the garden. Mmmmm. Add a little Sriracha sauce on top and you’ve really got something. Sometimes I’ll have Daniel guest post and give you his secret recipe.
Steel-Cut Oats: Benjamin loooooves what he calls “porridge,” especially on chilly mornings but he can chow down on it in mid-July, as well. We get our oats from the bulk section of our food co-op and it makes a super cheap meal. I always add milk and a little bit of honey or maple syrup on top and we garnish with whatever fresh or dried fruit and nuts we have on hand.
Also: Green smoothies (when we’ve got lots of baby greens in our garden), Yogurt/Granola parfaits, and Gluten-free pancakes.
Although I wouldn’t call our breakfasts “leisurely” since we’re trying to help Daniel get out the door and off to work, they are a special time for us to cook together, reconnect, and enjoy some family time with delicious food. On a good day, we’ll even make it through the morning’s Scripture reading. Our kids wake us up at the crack o’ dawn so, there’s plenty of time to let those steel-cut oats simmer before the sun comes up!
What are some of your family’s favorite breakfasts?
You must have Daniel share his recipie! Austin and I have tried a few times to make fried rice and it just never tastes right.
Also, I walked out of the house this morning and it was almost chilly! Hoping fall is making a permanent appearance!
I will! I’ll ask if he can soon. He made it for breakfast today with peas, carrots, and green peppers and it was so good!
Lately we’ve been making a simple quiche or some breakfast cookies (the healthy maple pecan ones from 110daysofrealfood.com) on Sunday so that we have something ready to eat or just heat up on Monday and Tuesday mornings. Fried rice sounds great right about now, especially with some bacon!
Have you ever tried Mystic Monk coffee? I love their Decaf Organic Mexican roast at breakfast, plus the money goes to the Carmelites in Wyoming for their beautiful monastery.
Mmmm, that sounds delicious! I’ve never tried Mystic Monk, but I’ll check it out. Thank you!
Hey! We are mostly grain free here – it seems the baby has a wheat sensitivity and my husband can’t have grains with his Crohn’s. We use the advice from Nourishing Traditions to soak the oatmeal over night in milk or yogurt and man, is it good! I never ate oatmeal my whole life, and I crave this stuff! Also, I go Spelt bread which is a heritage wheat and I grind the flour myself so it’s not processed. We also do it with sourdough start and it helps break it down. Spelt in and of itself is not GF, but this process helps a lot…Sorry, I just get so excited about cooking! I’m certainly not trying to be pushy.
Totally understand about the grains. With B’s severe gluten allergy and my gluten sensitivity, I am not taking any chances with Lucy! I’m not introducing gluten til she’s 2 just to be safe. I get the nourishing traditions newsletter but I’ve never done the soaked oats. That sounds awesome. And I don’t think we can do Spelt b/c of the gluten thing, but I’m sure that would make it much easier to process! How cool!
Greek yogurt with sliced almonds and various berries or strawberries for warmer weather; Brownberry’s Healthnut bread to-make French toast, with cinnamon, sliced almonds, berries and real maple syrup for colder months….mmmmm