Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast

It doesn't have to be Dr. Seuss' birthday in order to make your kids' breakfast special. On "Dr. Seuss Day" (as we call it), I chopped some ham, scrambled some eggs and added green food coloring = Green Eggs and Ham. You would have thought I let the kids eat chocolate cake for breakfast. They were SO excited!

It's the little things in life! How could you make your kids' breakfast special this week? Maybe cut their toast into a fun shape. Perhaps put a pinch of colored sprinkles on their yogurt. Or top their cereal with frozen blueberries. It doesn't take much thought or planning to up the fun (and healthy) factor of food. Think of something, and run with it!

Q Bento

Q is the letter of the day. Honestly, this was a bit of a challenge. (But nothing like 'Letter X' will be. Still working on ideas for that one.) Anyways, I crafted several Q foods into a breakfast-themed bento.

The grains portion consists of Quakers oats granola. I made my own granola, but store-bought granola is pretty tasty too! I made sure to include a small Tupperware container of milk in the lunchbox as well. Granola is pretty dry without a bit of milk.

You might think that those nuts in that green silicone cup are macadamia nuts. And you would be right. Except that they are also called Queensland nuts. Macadamia nuts are native to Australia, and one of the regions in which they grow is the northeastern state of Queensland. Hence the name.

The Quetsche plum is the featured fruit of this Q bento. It is also known as the French sugar plum or the Italian prune plum. You know what ... I couldn't find any cute, little plums by any of those names. So my kiddos got a regular ole plum in the their lunch. And they didn't know any different. And don't you tell them either! ;-)

The protein and the dairy components were combined into a Quiche bites made with Queso. I poured quiche batter mixed with cheese into mini muffin tins, baking them for less time than a full-sized quiche. Presto! Lunch-sized mini quiches.

On Thursday, I will post a list of other foods that begin with the letter Q. Perhaps that will inspire your creativity to create one as well!

April Fool's Breakfast

This sunny morning, I decided to make sunny-side-up eggs for the kids.

 Except that it's April Fool's Day, so these aren't just any sunny-side-up eggs.

These aren't eggs at all, much to LoveBug's relief (since sunny-side-up eggs are her least favorite type of egg).

SuperBoy couldn't figure out why the "yolk" wouldn't run when he poked it.

April Fool's! It's a base of yogurt, swirled to look like an egg white. And an apricot half (from a can) carefully placed on top. Tada, and (to my kids), "Gotcha ... again".

Ps. My daughter was hesitant to drink her milk this morning, thinking that I might have pranked the milk as well. Nope, but there's always next year! :)

Make your own Egg McMuffins

I love to healthify (yup, I made up a word) my favorite foods, like the Egg McMuffin. Delicious, but not terribly nutritious. For my homemade Egg Muffins, I opted for a whole wheat English muffin and reduced-fat cheddar cheese - a bit healthier and simply delish.

Here's a list of ingredients that you will need: cooking spray, eggs, shredded cheese, thin ham slices, and English muffins.

Let's begin! Spray a small, shallow, microwaveable container with cooking spray. Scramble an egg, and pour into prepared container.

Microwave the egg for 30-40 seconds, depending the strength of your microwave. Flip, and cook for 5-10 seconds more.

Slightly toast the English muffin halves. After that, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of cheese onto one English muffin half.

Top the cheese with a cooked egg.

On top of the egg, place 1-2 slices of ham.

Sprinkle with another tablespoon of cheese onto the ham. Once the cheese melts, it holds the sandwich together.

Top with the other half of the English muffin.

These delicious breakfast sandwiches are amazing when they are fresh, but the good news is that they freeze well too! Here's how: tear off a piece of a waxed paper, about the size of a 12x12 square. Place Egg Muffin in the middle. Match up the ends of the waxed paper. Fold down the ends around the centered Egg Muffin, until the fold is snug against the sandwich.

Flip the sandwich over, and fold in ends, like you are wrapping a present. Secure with a piece of tape.

Presto! Homemade Egg Muffins.

To eat: remove from waxed paper. Microwave for 20-30 seconds, until cheese has melted. Enjoy the healthified yumminess!

E Bento Brunch

When you think about the letter E, what food pops into your head? For me, it's an egg. Well, actually an Egg McMuffin.

Not wanting to merely make a lunch containing E foods, I created a brunch-themed box, in which everything begins with E.

The main component of this brunch lunch is the Egg Muffin on an English muffin. (Later this week, I will teach you how easy it is to make your own Egg McMuffins at home.) If you will notice, in the main compartment, I placed the McMuffin in a flexible silicone cup. This keeps it away from any moisture of the salad, which would make the English muffin mushy.

Surrounding the English muffin breakfast sandwich, is a salad of Endive, Escarole and Epinards, which is French for "spinach".

For the fruit component, I wanted to find elderberries, but they don't seem to be in season. Instead I opted for an Elderflower Juice box, found at our local IKEA.

As a finishing touch, I added mini Eclairs. These things are the BEST! You can usually find them in the frozen section at the grocery store; I bought the ones made by Delizza Patisserie. They come in a large square plastic box, with about 30 mini eclairs inside. Pack a couple in your lunchbox, and they will thaw by lunchtime. OR throw one in the microwave for a few seconds, and you have a perfect portion dessert for those times when you have the munchies. Less than 50 calories per mini eclair. (Can you tell that I like these A LOT!)

So, that's it for today. Think about what you want to put into your E lunch. AND look for a special post about how to make your own Egg Muffins at home.