Breakfast

This might be a silly sort of post, but I don't think it hurts me to go ahead and remind myself what I often try to forget: cold cereal is a big waste of money!  Why? Because it isn't particularly nutritious? Because they tend to be higher in sugar and lower in protein than we aim for in a well-balanced meal to start the day for our families?  Because unless you're buying jumbo boxes at Sam's you will go through several full boxes of cereal in one morning if you have 7 hungry children eating?! Well...yes, but I'm pretty lazy and I could get over those objections if only my children would eat a bowl of, say Cheerios, and not be hungry five minutes later!!!  

Enter Auntie Leila.  Please tell me you have met her on her blog Like Mother, Like Daughter. If you haven't already discovered that she pretty much knows everything there is to know about running a big family (without being superwoman), you can just pop over there and read all she has to say about meal planning, and breakfast in particular.  She's saving me the trouble of writing that post that tells you that your kids need to eat something substantial in the morning.  What I'm here to write is that it's worth it.  

Good Old Fashioned Cream of Wheat

 It's worth it for me to drag myself away from my morning coffee and my ever failing attempts at lingering over some morning prayer or planning or journaling time and just go into that kitchen and get something hot and nourishing brewing.  Eggs are probably the best breakfast food ever.  Pancakes can be made with extra eggs. My brother-in-law makes "protein pancakes" with ten eggs and scoops of protein powder in them! I've added extra eggs, but haven't done powders yet.

Lest you think I'm actually a "good mom", let me tell you that I do let my kids put brown sugar on their oatmeal and Cream of Wheat.  Do you see the line of bowls hidden in the background? There should be seven or eight there, depending on if I plan on having any!

 Why is it worth it? Because once fed, my children will quiet down for a few minutes.  That is how I finish my morning revelry of prayer, planning, e-mailing, and coffee.  Once fed, my children will obey orders to get ready for the day.  We can then try mightily to make daily Mass on time.  If they have cold cereal, they will be hungry by the time we come home.  We might have to stop for bagels on the way home.  We might have pbj's and apples (in other words, lunch) being eaten as I begin our home schooling day around 9am.  If we've had a nice hearty meal, I actually have a chance of getting straight to work with no added mess.  We might eat lunch at a normal hour.  And that  makes me a happy lady. So, cook in the morning, easier rest of the day. 'Nuff said.

This guy was with me making breakfast this morning.  He blinked, but still...too cute!