I so enjoy listening and talking with mom's about what makes their life better or easier and getting wise advice on everything from discipline techniques to healthy cooking.
I need women in my life to give me their mom tips because for one, I (shall I say the word... hate) or maybe reallllly dislike, reading parenting books. I read my bible and fiction, other than that I get about 2 chapters into any type of "self-help" book and am totally bored. I learn best by just hearing some wise advice that I can apply immediately.
Like when my girlfriend shared that I could try pinching the back of Nehemiah's hand when he does something naughty as a new discipline technique that works well for her son. Might sound harsh to some parents, but my kiddo is tough and needs creative discipline, so I was open to trying it. Wow. Worked like a charm. And this technique works great at the store or at home. Now I can say, "Do you need to be disciplined Nehemiah?" and he will point to the back of his hand and say no and actually stop doing the naughty behavior. That was a good mom tip for me.
I had a lady at Wal-Mart try to give me lots of mom advice and I didn't heed a single word. You know what will work for you and what won't. Her best advice was to water down my kids pop. Since we don't give our kids pop, which yes, I did tell her and she was completely shocked, that really wasn't going to go into my "put that into practice" file. (I will say that they have shared it with their daddy and tried Pepsi or a cherry limeade, but I have not had any kind of pop (besides the yearly frosty mug root beer) in about ten years. But in general I would take a stand that children should not have pop or sugar drinks. Stick with types of milks, 100% juices and water. And even then, we do water down their juice, 50/50.)
All that winded intro to say, I feel like I finally have a mom-tip that I want to share. This has radically changed my life for the better. Over the last month our breakfast routine has drastically changed and I must share it with you because this may help you as well!
Baking in bulk for breakfast.
We all know that we eat leftovers for lunch or dinner, but for some reason I have never done it for breakfast. Well, not anymore! I used to stick to the routine of cereal, yogurt, oatmeal, waffle, then repeat, but now I have much more to offer because I am baking in bulk and freezing it.
Here are some whole wheat apple cinnamon muffins (3 whole apples inside). I made up the recipe (I use allrecipes for inspiration, just type in apple muffins and put together one that will work for your family) and I served them warm with cream cheese.
Breakfast pizza. One of the kids favorites! I use a basic whole wheat pizza crust recipe (no salt though because of the added meat on top) and top it with egg, sausage, cheese or anything else I feel up too. We eat it that day and usually have about 20 squares left over. I freeze it in a bag and then for breakfast we can put it in the toaster or microwave/oven.
My super favorite. This is great leftover from the fridge. Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal. I posted a full description of my love for this on my blog.
Make waffles or pancakes and double the batch and freeze them. Pop into toaster, cover with peanut butter, banana's, nuts, honey, all natural fruit preserves, what-have-you and enjoy! This way you know what is in these puppies. No oils (I use apple sauce), no preservatives, whole wheat, added good stuff like wheat germ or flax, I love to mash up banana's into them, add berries, or the best we did last week were boil then mashed two whole sweet potatoes into the waffles and covered with my maple glaze! Oh yes. I think fruits/veggies should go on the plate but I am also all about being sneaky too!
Ham and cheese bake. Or make a quiche with broccoli, my kids looove quiche! Cheese (you can add cottage cheese too) and any veggies or meats and they are wonderful reheated. I usually use Great Value deep dish frozen pie crusts for mine if not from scratch. They are the only ones without partially hydrogenated oils.
About baking in bulk for sweets. Yes, these are "healthy" as sweets go. But we have eaten these over the last week and I feel good about it because I know the ingredients and they too have oats in them and apple sauce.
For some really yummy things, still bake in bulk and share with neighbors or freeze for when your body is screaming for a thousand calorie dessert. We made a delish marshmallow bake. When you are baking healthy 75% of the time, who cares about the rest right?! These have graham crackers, coconut, sweetened cond milk, butterscotch chips, marshmallows and caramel, then baked. See what a naughty sweet reward for all that healthy cooking!
How else has this helped me in the mornings?Making fresh fruit smoothies every morning with breakfast for the kids and myself. My body almost has to have it now since doing it almost every morning during the Daniel Fast.
Not cooking/preparing something has freed up my time to blend up some fruit and serve it each day without feeling rushed or stressed. Next on my list is a juicer. I would love to juice!
My favorite is a version of a smoothie is this recipe. I omit the sugar and throw in pineapple and an orange. Sooo good. This morning I did -o.j. water, ice, frozen mango, 1/2 banana and some yogurt. Wow, amazing. You can add oats, nuts and protein if you so wish.
I feel good about getting our mornings off to a right start and serving healthy from scratch breakfasts with fruit smoothies.
We will continue to add to our repertoire (I have seen stuff like full veggie omelets, haven't served those yet) and we love nuts and granola, so that is next on my list to home make as a snack and as a breakfast cereal.
Your mom-tips are appreciated, so please share!
And if you have great breakfast ideas (or meals in general) please share those too!
Some of my favorite cooking blogs:
Lynn's Kitchen Adventures (used her idea for my own baked oatmeal)
Finding Joy in my Kitchen (tons and tons of things)
Debbie Does Dinner (her squash bake will be made soon)
Angie's Healthy Living
Working on... Titus 2:5, "Be self-controlled and pure, be busy at home, be kind..."
The Perryman's
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