 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
By JANET K. KEELER
© St. Petersburg Times, My mother was a short-order cook in the morning. As each kid tumbled into the kitchen in various moods and stages of dress, she asked sweetly, "What do you want for breakfast?" She wore no apron, but by gosh she was the incarnation of Betty Crocker right there in our kitchen. On the menu were cereal, sometimes hot; toast; English muffins; eggs any way, including a simple omelet; bacon or sausage; a variety of seasonal fruits, such as apricots from a backyard tree or tiny strawberries from our struggling plants; juice and milk but no coffee. Grapefruits were already halved and seeded, and a sharp knife had been run around the inside, loosening the juicy flesh from the peel. She reserved pancakes for weekends, but she made fried bologna cups filled with scrambled eggs or Egg in the Hole, even on school days. We talked leisurely at the table while she cooked, ambling off to school well-fueled and well-loved. Who has time now for all that early morning cooking? Not to mention the good cheer. Most of us are out of the house in a hurry with kids and briefcases and gym bags in tow. Still, those childhood memories can haunt even the most together 21st century parent. It's time to shake off the guilt about school-day breakfasts. With parents working, kids going to far-flung schools and the bell ringing as early as 7:15, breakfast is often slapdash. Many kids gobble the first meal of the day in the car, on the bus or in the classroom. Sometimes, breakfast is not eaten at all. For that, a parent should feel guilty. Even after the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 paved the way for school breakfast programs, study upon study has shown that kids who eat a decent breakfast perform better in school. Morning meals are so important that in some elementary schools, students are allowed to eat breakfast in the classroom while roll is taken and announcements are made. "We've made big strides over the past years convincing folks that children need to eat at the beginning of the day," says Gray Miller, Pinellas schools food service director. It makes sense, yet many of us struggle with getting our kids to eat a good breakfast. We spend a lot of time worrying about school lunches when we actually may have more control over breakfast, if they eat at home. Maybe we'll have more luck this school year if we abandon the traditional image of breakfast. (Hillsborough parents can start changing their ways today, the first day of public school there.) What's wrong with starting the day with leftover lasagne or even a piece of cold baked chicken? Just because it doesn't look like breakfast doesn't mean it can't be breakfast. Even schools are cramped for time to feed all the children who want breakfast. At John Sexton Elementary School in St. Petersburg, about 500 breakfasts are served daily, and many of those are designed to eat on the go, says Dolores McCoy, Pinellas schools nutrition education specialist. Though kids like traditional cold cereal-eggs-sausage-pancake breakfasts, many are getting finger fare that's easy to pack in a sack such as breakfast burritos, pizza pockets and cheese toast, McCoy says. Kids who don't eat in the morning, McCoy says, often go a long time with nothing in their stomachs. "Middle school kids might not start school until 9:30 a.m.," she says. "If they don't eat breakfast, they don't get anything until lunch at 1 p.m." Essentially, kids, and most adults, need both carbohydrates and protein to start the day. The more complex the makeup of the food, the longer it provides fuel. For instance, a high-sugar breakfast (doughnuts and juice) is burned by the body more quickly than a meal of fruit, grains and protein (orange juice, toast and eggs). "The deceitfulness of (just eating) carbs is that you think you are full, but you aren't," says Leanne Ely, certified nutritional consultant and author of Healthy Foods: An Irreverent Guide to Understanding Nutrition and Feeding Your Family Well (Storey Books, 2001, $19.95). "To hold blood sugar at a reasonable level you need protein. You need to fuel your body and give it (complete) building blocks." Ely says that individual children, like adults, have different nutrition requirements. For instance, a thin, active child might need more carbohydrates while a bigger kid would benefit from more protein. Either way, she says, watch out for processed food and juice drinks, which can have high amounts of simple sugars, preservatives and artificial flavorings. Overindulgence in grains, cereals and bread especially, also can be a problem. "Our grain consumption has gone up tremendously in the last 100 years, as have rates of obesity," Ely says. "Think about cattle. To fatten them up we give them lots of grain and don't let them move." Eggs, maligned in recent years as carriers of evil cholesterol, remain a popular way to get protein in the morning. Eggland's Best eggs, recently lauded by the Florida Dietetic Association, has developed a more healthful egg by feeding its hens a vegetarian diet. Eggland has changed the nutrition profile of its eggs so that they contain less fat, more omega 3 acids, which fight diseases of aging, and vitamin E. "The closest thing to perfect food is mother's milk, and the egg is second," says Manette Richardson, director of nutrition for Eggland. While Richardson is paid to say those kinds of things, the egg indeed is a nifty way to get good quality protein. Current high-protein diets and studies that say eggs aren't the bad guys we thought they were have made them popular again. Plus, eggs are versatile and can be quickly prepared. It even counts to eat them as the coating for French toast, Richardson says. (Eggland's Best eggs can be purchased at most grocery stores. You'll know them by the little EB stamped on each one.) At the recent Florida Dietetic Association conference at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort and Spa in St. Petersburg, Richardson was serving up peeled hard-boiled eggs on sticks. "Kids love to dip them in salsa," she says. It sounds like a David Letterman bit to me, but if your kids will eat them, go for it. My mother never made anything like that because we were never in that big of a hurry. Breakfast is a trickier proposition for kids today, but a little planning and imagination can make it just as memorable as the good old days. Overnight Oven French Toast
The night before cooking, cut the bread into 1-inch slices and arrange in a 9- by 13-inch non-stick baking pan. In a bowl, beat the eggs, half-and-half, vanilla and baking powder until blended. Pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, heat oven to 450 degrees. Remove bread to a plate. In the baking pan where the bread was soaking, mix the strawberries (thawed enough to separate), bananas, 3/4 cup sugar and the apple pie spice. Top with bread. Sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of sugar and the cinnamon. Bake until toast is lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Serves 8. Per serving: 309 calories, 10 gm protein, 59 gm carbohydrates, 34 gm sugar, 4 gm fat, 134 mg cholesterol, 292 mg sodium. Garden Fritatta
Saute onion, garlic, and tomatoes in oil until tender. Add Italian seasonings, pepper and salt to the beaten eggs and add to onion mixture. Stir in spinach and cheese. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and turn heat to low. Cook for 15 minutes and check for firmness. Cut into wedges with spatula and serve. Makes 4 servings. Note: Can be made in advanced, cooled and refrigerated. Reheat individual pieces in microwave. Source: www.about.com. Egg in the Hole
Tear a 11/2- to 2-inch hole in the center of each bread slice and place the bread in a heated, buttered skillet. (Butter-flavored vegetable spay can be used in place of butter or margarine.) Crack an egg and empty the yolk and white into the "hole." Let the egg fry to desired hardness, flipping once. Makes 2 servings. Source: Fran Krietemeyer. Breakfast Casserole
The night before you want to eat the casserole, layer bread, sausage and grated cheese in a buttered baking dish. Combine eggs, milk, salt and dry mustard and pour over the ingredients in the baking dish. Refrigerate overnight. In the morning, bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Makes 6 servings. Source: www.familytravelguides.com. Banana and Peanut Butter Smoothie
Cut the bananas into chunks. Put them into a blender with the remaining ingredients. Blend to a puree. Thin with a little more milk or water if too thick. Serve immediately. Source: "Smoothies and Shakes" by Elsa Petersen-Schepelern (Ryland Peters & Small, 2001, $12.95) Extra-Small Pancakes
Combine the flours, oatmeal, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Stir to blend. In separate bowl, whisk the milk, egg, brown sugar and vanilla until blended. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until blended. Heat a large non-stick griddle or skillet over medium heat until hot enough to sizzle a drop of water. Brush with a thin film of vegetable oil or spray with non-stick cooking spray. Drop the batter by scant tablespoons for tiny pancakes (use a 1/4-cup measure for larger pancakes.) Adjust the heat to medium-low. Cook until the tops are covered with small bubbles and the bottoms are lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Turn and lightly brown the other side. Keep the pancakes warm on a pie plate in an oven set to the lowest temperature while you cook the remaining batter. Serve in a cereal bowl with warm syrup and sliced fresh fruit. Makes about 36 tiny pancakes or 16 3-inch cakes. Source: "Pancakes A to Z" by Marie Simmons (Houghton Mifflin, 1997).
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times Taste section From the features wire |
