The Secret to a Great Breakfast

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Imagine living in a home with four kids, one more on the way, an amazing husband and a very crazy schedule.  You would find yourself busy from the time your eyes pop open until the time your head hits the pillow at the end of the day, whether it be driving your kids to sports, making dinners, helping with homework, playing games, cleaning the house or one of the other hundred things that remain on your never-ending “To Do” list.  Then imagine, in the midst of all of this chaos, a break; imagine a day where you get to sleep in and leisurely make and enjoy your breakfast, get ready for the day and decide what that day holds for you.  In our home, this beautiful break in the schedule falls on Saturday, and it is always a very welcomed change!

On Saturday morning, Monte and I usually roll out of bed around 8:00am, which is a wonderful change from our normal rising time of 6:00am!  We head out to the kitchen, make some coffee, pour a glass of juice and start fixing breakfast for the kids.  Since our kids spend the entire week taking care of preparing their own breakfast, we like to treat them to something special on Saturday mornings, and that something special is almost always pancakes!  Pancake preparation is an art that Monte has mastered, so I most often leave it to him to take care of breakfast.  We spend the better part of the morning serving up pancakes to our hungry brood, helping Colin cut them up, making sure the syrup gets passed and they are all sufficiently fed.  Once our herd has moved out from feeding time, Monte and I will then prepare breakfast for ourselves and sit down to some peace and quiet.  Oftentimes Monte will sit and enjoy the remaining pancakes that our kids didn’t eat, topping them with applesauce.  He claims that this secret is entirely delicious, but in the times I’ve tried it, I most definitely have not enjoyed it!  I am not a pancake lover like the rest of my family; I don’t know if it’s because the syrup is too sweet and the applesauce isn’t enough, or if it’s just because of the sheer quantity of them that I’ve had since Monte and I were married and I moved in with the family, but pancakes are just NOT my thing!  Depending on my mood I will either make myself eggs and toast or pour myself a bowl of cereal.  I know that some of you must be wondering how I can really enjoy cereal when I eat it the other six days of the week, but I truly do!  I’ve always been a fan of cereal for any time of the day, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner, so enjoying it on our relaxing Saturday is not something that takes away from the beauty of the morning, but instead it adds to the flow.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, our secret to a great breakfast has nothing to do with what we’ve prepared or how we’ve prepared it, but rather our great breakfasts come because it’s the one morning of the week that our entire family is together and relaxed and there is practically NOTHING that can beat the feeling of harmony in our home on those mornings!

Ellis, having already finished his breakfast, is heading to enjoy his book, pajama clad and all!

Do you have a secret to a great breakfast that you can share?

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Here's the fun part!  With this review, I get to give away a $100 Visa Gift Card to one of you fabulous readers!  It's incredibly simple to enter, and you can have up to two entries, here's how:


- To enter, leave a comment about your secret to a great breakfast.

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Mom's Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids' cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients.  To learn more about the program, visit www.loveyourcereal.com.