You’ve heard it time and again: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It kick-starts your metabolism and gives you energy to stay alert and focused. If you’re a parent, though, sometimes it’s challenging to get your young ones to eat something before school.
Here’s a solution: Feed kids quickly and healthfully with a muffin-cup meal. Simply set up six baking cups (compostable paper ones work fine, or try some colorful silicone reusable cups), and fill each cup with a different healthy kid-friendly meal, such as:
Menu Ideas
- Plain roasted almonds
- Blueberries
- Mandarin orange segments
- Banana chips
- Pistachios
- Whole-grainwaffle segments (Option to add maple syrup to one of the cups for dipping)
- Avocado (may want a fork handy for this one – we love the Real Kids’ silverware from IKEA)
- Halved cherry tomatoes
- Snap pea segments
- Pepperonis
- Marcona almonds
- Cubed cheese
- Hard-boiled egg slices
- Granola bites
- Turkey sausage
- Blackberries
- Avocado
- Smoked salmon
- Mix in nontypical breakfast foods, too, like shaved carrots, cucumber slices and sunflower seeds.
Not just for breakfast
There’s really no wrong time of day for a muffin-cup meal. These kid-friendly meals are ideal for using odds and ends before soccer practice or making a quick fix on blue-sky evenings when not even the grown-ups want to come inside. At dinner, try heavier fare that can still be picked up, like shredded chicken, raw veggies, shelled edamame and fingerling potatoes.