Time is a rare commodity on school days; Devansh and I are both crunched for time in the mornings. Devansh has to have his breakfast at 7 in the morning. He gets about 10-15 minutes to finish it and I get about 10 minutes to prepare it. I prefer to not send him to school on just a glass of milk. I also prefer to not send him with readymade, sugar- and preservatives-laden, and possibly GMO-laden options like cereals. But I am not one of those moms who can get up at 5:30 in the morning and start preparing elaborate breakfast and tiffin. So I rely on my tried and tested, simple and quick breakfast recipes. All these breakfast recipes contain milk as I don’t give Devansh milk along with his breakfast. These recipes don’t require a lot of chewing, as kids—especially smaller ones—take time for chewing food like parathas. I will also share with you tips that can help you prepare ahead of time and save your cooking time. Hope you find these healthy breakfast recipes for kids useful on school days.
Sweet Potato, Carrot, and Semolina Porridge Recipe
You can even call this sheera with carrot and sweet potato if you like. This tops the list of Devansh’s favorite breakfast dishes and he can easily have this every single day. On a lot of days I don’t have sweet potatoes, so I add only carrots in this sheera/porridge and my kiddo loves it. Made with beta-carotene and vitamins-rich carrots and sweet potatoes, breakfast doesn’t get healthier than this.
Time-Saving Tip:
On weekends pressure-cook enough carrots and potatoes that you would need during the coming week. Mash them and freeze them in airtight, freezer-safe containers. You can use the mashed carrots and sweet potatoes while cooking on weekdays.
You can find the Sweet Potato, Carrot, and Semolina Porridge Recipe here.
Finger Millet / Ragi Porridge Recipe
This is second on my list of most used healthy breakfast recipes. I have heard many moms say their kids don’t prefer porridge but so far at least my almost 5 year old eats this; touch wood!! This works out well for me as he is kickstarting his day with calcium- and iron-rich ragi (nachni) and I don’t need more than 5 minutes to prepare the porridge.
Tip:
If you are using readymade ragi/nachni flour make sure you are using organic one. While making readymade flours, more often than not grains are not washed before they’re powdered. As a result a lot of pesticide residue lands up in the flour.
You can find the Nachni / Ragi Porridge Recipe here.
Mango Oatmeal Recipe
For this recipe, I would suggest sticking to the mango season and using fresh mangoes instead of canned ones. Many kids including my own don’t like plain oatmeal. But Devansh likes mangoes, so this is one way to get him to have oatmeal.
Time-Saving Tip:
Pulp a mango the previous night and refrigerate it. You can then make the mango oatmeal in the morning in 5 minutes flat.
You can find the Mango Oatmeal Recipe here.
Rava / Semolina Banana Sheera Recipe
This is my husband, Kalpesh’s recipe. We can up the nutrition quotient of the usual sheera by simply adding vitamins- and minerals-rich bananas to it; this hardly takes about a minute or two more. You can find the recipe of rava banana sheera here.
Time-Saving Tip:
You can roast half or one kg rava/suji beforehand and keep it in an airtight container. You can then use it in sheera or upma as and when required.
You can find the Rava / Semolina Banana Sheera Recipe here.
Sweet Potato Porridge Recipe
This recipe is great way to begin the day with sweet potatoes which are high in vitamin content, folic acid, and dietary fiber. Since they’re mashed and cooked in milk, it doesn’t take much time for kids to finish this breakfast, making it ideal for school days.
Time-Saving Tip:
Pressure-cook sweet potatoes and mash them the previous night. Freeze them to be used in this or the Sweet Potato, Carrot, and Semolina Porridge Recipe.
You can find the Sweet Potato Porridge Recipe here.