June Cleaver probably would have served weekday morning breakfasts that were so plentiful and varied that Ward would have absolutely beamed with husbandly pride each morning, as he watched his children consume homemade pancakes and waffles, bacon and sausage and eggs, and freshly squeezed orange juice.
I don't know about your household, but as my girls got older, it was all I could do to get them to pause briefly enough to spread cream cheese on a bagel that they would eat on the way to school. Besides which, I didn't want to weigh them down with a cholesterol-laden meal that would cause them to fall asleep in geometry class.
However, I was adamant that they eat something before leaving for the school day although, to them, breakfast was secondary to meeting up with their friends. I learned that if there was something available that they liked, they would at least take it with them (after drinking the glass of milk, on which I insisted).
So I began to make recipes the night before that consisted of "to go" foods. (See Bacon-Fried Cornmeal Cakes and Native American Indian Bread, two of our favorite breakfast meals. The kids' favorites because they loved the tastes, and my favorites because they were quick and easy to make.)
School day breakfast-and-lunch creativity is different from other culinary pursuits, because you have to do it. The following tips won't teach you how to prepare a multicolored vegetable terrine that will please both the eye and palate of your school-age children, while providing them with a nutritionally balanced meal. But they will help you get some food into your kids' bodies in the morning.
1. Think real, not hopeful. Your kids will only eat what they want to eat, regardless of what you put out for the morning meal. Since the most expensive food is that which gets thrown away, you may as well purchase exactly, and only, what they will eat.
2. Think seconds, not minutes. Most parents preparing breakfast for their kids have their own jobs to get to, or their own duties at home to get done, and time on a weekday morning is at a premium. The food for breakfast must be "grab and go," especially when your kids are high school age. This brings us to:
3. Plan ahead. That is, prepare breakfast the night or even day before and heat it up in the morning. Both the Bacon Fried Cornmeal Cakes and Indian Bannock Bread (see links above) work well made ahead and reheated.
4. Be nutritionally realistic. Most kids are not likely to eat a tofu sandwich on sprouted whole-grain bread for breakfast. While you may wish for them to consume only highly nutritious, whole-grain natural foods, it is preferable for them to have a relatively nutritious and filling breakfast than run out the door without eating. And remember that even if their breakfast and lunch are not complete nutritionally, dinner can be packed with the elements missing at their earlier meals. The important thing is to send them off with a tummy filled with a hearty breakfast.
Bonus tip: A glass milk with either of the above linked recipes will ensure the meal has complete protein. If your kid's can't or won't drink milk, include some seeds or nuts as they, with the oats or cornmeal, combine to make a complete protein.
See the following recipes for more Cajun and Creole breakfast treats:
A Variety of Cornbread Recipes