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This morning both my kids were woken up early by a rude telemarketer calling for the person who used to have our phone number.  We've already had this number for over three months, but I still get several calls a day for a certain Ms. Smith.  Poor thing must've been in a heap of trouble!  Anyway, thanks to her, today everyone got up on the wrong side of the bed an hour earlier than usual. 

When I asked Alex what he wanted for breakfast, he couldn't think of anything so he told me "surprise me."  I should've taken this as a hint that he wasn't hungry yet, but instead I decided to make him a bowl of Raisin Bran, since that was what he begged me to give him for lunch yesterday.  When I presented it to him, he burst into tears and yelled, "THAT'S NOT WHAT I WANTED!"

When I was growing up, we pretty much always had cereal or instant oatmeal for breakfast.  We were each was responsible for getting dressed and ready and then we'd each shuffle up to the kitchen counter to eat before piling into the car to head for school.  I actually love oatmeal, so this was never a problem for me.  It was also the only meal I got to pick out myself, so I never complained that my mother rarely made a big hot breakfast.  Oatmeal is still my breakfast of choice seven days a week.

Imagine my surprise now when my husband gives me a hard time for not making a hot breakfast for our kids.  He thinks growing boys and girls require eggs, bacon and homemade pancakes several days a week.  To this I say, basically, no.  I'm still up several times a night with the baby, so the idea of actually cooking in the morning is not high on my list of ways to become Mother of the Year.  Not to mention the fact that I usually wait to finish the previous night's dinner dishes until after I've had a few cups of coffee the next morning, so there's no way I'm making an even bigger mess in the kitchen before I even start my day.

So here are Alex favorite breakfasts, none of which takes more than about three minutes to prepare.  Served hot (but not too hot) on a paper plate:

1)  Fortified store-brand toaster waffles.  I am a huge label-checker when it comes to my kids, so to make it into my freezer and subsequently my kids' bellies, these have to be preservative free and have no artificial flavors or colors.  I serve them with butter and 100% pure maple syrup (which costs an arm and a leg, but is sweet and strong enough that you don't need to use much of it.)

2)  Trader Joe's brand frozen French toast.  I love shopping at Trader Joe's because everything is cheap and everything is natural.  Their French toast is almost as good as my own home-made. 

3)  Instant oatmeal.  Alex loves maple and brown sugar flavored oatmeal, so I usually buy the big Quaker box and make it myself in the microwave.  I always use milk instead of water just to add some calories, fat and extra calcium.  He loves it.  My secret is to put most of the brown sugar right on top after you cook it.  That way the kid thinks it's just swimming in sugar.  If you want something even easier, you can go with the oatmeal that comes in the packets, but be careful because even Quaker brand maple and brown sugar has artificial flavoring.   The apples 'n cinnamon and cinnamon and spices ones, though, are all natural.

4) Trader Joe's brand frozen banana waffles.   (They have several different vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free varieties as well, but it's my feeling that growing kids need fat, wheat and a healthy dose of buttermilk.)

5) Whole wheat cinnamon toast.

6) A bowl of cheerios with a sliced up banana in it.

Occasionally on the weekends, I'll make a big batch of pancakes and then freeze several of them for future breakfasts.  This usually happens on the days when I've been allowed to sleep in.  What do you serve for breakfast?