The Breakfast Squeeze

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

Have you ever had one of those mornings where maybe you wake up late, causing a stream of chaos and craziness to follow you throughout your morning routine?  Maybe you were so caught up in getting ready and getting everybody out the door that you didn’t notice you were still wearing your slippers until you got to the grocery store? 

I can very honestly tell you that this has happened to me on more than one occasion!  It’s no secret that I am not a morning person, so making sure that I get out of bed and am ready for the day in time to see the kids off to the bus and get Colin ready for preschool is sometimes a little more challenging than it should be.  It’s days like this that I am thankful that my older children are early risers and are usually ready for the day with breakfast in their stomachs by the time that we need to leave; oftentimes they also make sure that Colin has been served oatmeal or a bowl of cereal to eat, which is a big help!  The only problem, then, is that I am rushing out the door without having given myself enough time to sit down and enjoy my breakfast.  What do I do on these crazy days?  Considering the fact that I am almost seven-months pregnant, skipping breakfast is absolutely not an option for me, so when the schedule gets really crazy, I do what I can to grab something on my way out the door and enjoy it in the truck!  More often than not, this results in me taking some of my favorite cereal, pouring it into a plastic bag and eating it dry with a bottle of water on the side.  I have learned in a hurry that if this is my breakfast plan for the day, it’s pretty important to choose the larger size cereals such as Corn Pops or Froot Loops to eat, since they are so much easier and less messy than other cereals.  My kids have a tendency to make fun of me when I have my cereal this way, but I have found it to be quite efficient and won’t let a little teasing stop me from enjoying my breakfast!

Another option I take is to grab a couple of Pop Tarts (toasted, yes please!) or a Nutri-Grain Bar and a piece of fruit to eat in the truck.  Instead of teasing me, my kids usually ask why they didn’t get to have these delicious snacks for breakfast that morning, to which I reply the commonly used (and much despised) phrase, “When you’re an adult, you can eat anything you want!”

If I was to break down and be completely honest, though, I would say that my biggest temptation on a rushing-around sort of morning is typically the Rice Krispie Bar or Special K Bar that is quite frequently sitting in a 9” x 13” pan on my counter top.  I think I would even have to go so far as to admit that I choose those over my other options more often than not … I just choose to hide them a little better from the kids so they can’t see what delicious treat I’m devouring that morning, as I know that they would quickly protest and start to find reasons as to why they should be allowed the same breakfast as I have. 

Though the rushing-around sort of mornings are definitely not my favorite, it’s a relief to know that there are quick breakfast options that I can take on the go!  What do you do for breakfast when you’re in a time crunch?

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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.  All you have to do is leave a comment on this post to enter.  To get a second entry, you may either tweet or blog about this post (including a link to the giveaway) and leave a second comment here, including the URL of your tweet or blog.  This giveaway will run from 9:00am PST (11:00am CST) today, Tuesday August 31, 2010 through 5:00pm PST (7:00pm CST) on Monday September 6, 2010.  The winner will be chosen using www.random.org.  To view the official sweepstakes rules, visit www.blogher.com/kelloggs-rules-4.

Make sure to visit the BlogHer Reviewer Round Up page to check out what other bloggers had to say and to take advantage of 23 more chances to win a $100 Visa Gift Card! BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page.

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.

Week Three Winner!

Congratulations to Karine T. who is this week's winner of the $100 Visa Gift Card!  I will forward your information on to BlogHer and they will contact you to get the card out to you!

Favorite Breakfast Cereals

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

It’s no secret that my family eats a lot of cereal in the mornings.  I find this to be especially true once the school year commences, as this is when everybody’s schedules go a little bit haywire.  Due to the fact that our two oldest children are in middle school, our next child is in elementary school and our youngest is in preschool, we all end up on a different schedule during the week.  Claire and Iain (the middle schoolers) get on the bus at 7:15am, while Ellis (the elementary schooler) does not get on the bus until 8:30am.  On top of that, Colin’s preschool doesn’t start until after lunch, so we’re all up and moving at different times of the morning.  Cereal is our easy, fast option and it is one that I love because I know the kids are taking in enough food to get them through the morning while still enjoying something healthy.  The type of cereal in our home changes on a regular basis, though it’s not uncommon to find Rice Krispies, Corn Pops, Apple Jacks or one of the many different varieties of Special K in our pantry.  Our kids love all flavors of Special K; in fact, they love it so much that it’s hard to keep it in stock at our house!  As a parent, I love that they enjoy this cereal so much because I have confidence in knowing that it is a healthy option for them, and ensuring that they eat healthy meals is something that is so important to me.

 These just happen to be a few of the favorites in our house!

When I think about my own childhood and the things that I loved to eat growing up, cereal truly is one of those things that rates pretty high up on my list.  I absolutely loved (and still love!) cereal and would eat it for as many meals as my parents would allow!  I have always preferred the classics like Corn Flakes or Rice Krispies.  While I still love those cereals today, my tastes have broadened beyond eating them just for breakfast cereals, as I now also enjoy making them into Rice Krispie bars or Special K bars!  No matter how I have them, though, they always hit the spot and oftentimes take me back to the simple times of my own childhood, which is a journey that I always enjoy taking!

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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.  All you have to do is leave a comment on this post to enter.  To get a second entry, you may either tweet or blog about this post (including a link to the giveaway) and leave a second comment here, including the URL of your tweet or blog.  This giveaway will run from 9:00am PST (11:00am CST) today, Tuesday August 24, 2010 through 5:00pm PST (7:00pm CST) on Monday August 30, 2010.  The winner will be chosen using www.random.org.  To view the official sweepstakes rules, visit www.blogher.com/kelloggs-rules-3.

Make sure to visit the BlogHer Reviewer Round Up page to check out what other bloggers had to say and to take advantage of 23 more chances to win a $100 Visa Gift Card! BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page.

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.

Week Two Winner!

Congratulations to Jennifer from Keeping Up With Kaegan - she is our $100 Visa Gift Card winner for this week!  I have forwarded your information on to BlogHer, so expect to see an email from them soon!

Summer Fun

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

As the summer comes to a close, I find myself continually asking my kids what they want to do before the school year starts again.  After much contemplation, we came up with a list that was agreed upon by all parties, which is not typically an easy thing to accomplish!  Some of the things on their list include going to the Minnesota Zoo (where we have a family membership, so there is almost a feeling of guilt about needing to get there as often as possible), visiting some of the local parks, visiting cousins who live nearby and taking that one last camping trip before the summer is over.  I’m really happy with the things that they’ve chosen, as they’re all activities where the kids truly are active and running around, which is something that is always promoted as a big positive in our home.

We started making our way through their list this past week, starting on Monday with a visit to the Minnesota Zoo.  Due to the fact that the temperatures were hanging in the 90’s and the humidity was providing a sweltering boost to the temperature, we decided to only hit up a couple different indoor exhibits where there may be a hint of air conditioning.  We went through the Minnesota Trail as well as the Tropical Trail, and boy oh boy did the kids have a wonderful time!

While on the Minnesota Trail, we got to stop by and see the coyotes during their lunch time, the wolf den and the bald eagle.  While some of these animals are ones that we see at home, the kids still had a really great time!

We enjoyed the Tropical Trail as well, naming several of the characters from “The Lion King” and taking our photos in the monkey display.  

Claire has a special love for otters, so she really enjoyed this display, though I think we all could have done without the smell!

With a few hours at the zoo under our belts, we decided that it was time to head back home, as the heat was seemingly too much for us after awhile.  We will likely head back there during a weekend next month when the temperatures are more reasonable and when Monte can join us as well!

We’ve also accomplished seeing some cousins, as we headed to my sister, Tanya’s, home on Tuesday for a fun day of swimming, playing Apples to Apples, baking cookies and playing Wii.  Due to some severe weather that was headed our way, we ended up staying later than I anticipated, as we didn’t want to be travelling in the midst of the storms, but it was time very much enjoyed and I wasn’t at all bothered that we were there longer than planned!

What’s left on our list?  We have a couple of favorite parks to visit and a camping trip to plan and it’s been my promise that we will accomplish all of it before my kids have to go back to school.  I can’t wait for these fun activities!  What’s on your agenda before school starts?

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Here's the really 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.  All you have to do is leave a comment on this post to enter.  To get a second entry, you may either tweet or blog about this post (including a link to the giveaway) and leave a second comment here, including the URL of your tweet or blog.  This giveaway will run from 9:00am PST (11:00am CST) today, Tuesday August 17, 2010 through 5:00pm PST (7:00pm CST) on Monday August 23, 2010.  The winner will be chosen using www.random.org.  To view the official sweepstakes rules, visit www.blogher.com/kelloggs-rules-2.

Make sure to visit the BlogHer Reviewer Round Up page to check out what other bloggers had to say and to take advantage of 23 more chances to win a $100 Visa Gift Card! BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page.

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.

Winner!

This week's winner of the $100 Visa Gift Card is cmjhawaii.  Congratulations!  I have forwarded your info onto BlogHer and they will be contacting you to find out where to send the card.

Another opportunity to win is coming up again soon ... stay tuned! :)

The Breakfast Routine

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

With six people running around our house on any given day, breakfast is somewhat of a chaotic event!  During the summer, however, we do have a far more laid-back routine that we follow.  Being the fact that Monte leaves for work so early, he typically grabs a banana and his cup of coffee and is out the door, making his breakfast routine pretty simple.  The rest of us are the complicated factors!  During the week, my mornings almost always start out with Colin coming into my room (usually around 7:00 or 7:30am) to let me know that he’s ready to eat.  After a quick trip to the bathroom, I find myself in the kitchen trying to find out what my four-year-old is ordering for breakfast that morning.  Monte and I do our best to make sure that the kids get to enjoy their breakfast, and with that we eat a lot of cereal in our house!  My kids absolutely love Frosted Flakes, Cocoa Krispies, Froot Loops, all flavors of Special K as well as the simplicity and deliciousness of Rice Krispies; we even splurge on the occasional Pop Tart.  I’m pretty positive that my kids think these cereals are their little taste of Heaven on Earth!  Cereal is a pretty common factor in our morning routine, especially since there are so many of us.  While some days the kids ask for something such as oatmeal or eggs for breakfast, truly I would say at least five out of seven days they get to enjoy having cereal.

What happens on those remaining two days, then?  Well, Saturday is an especially wonderful morning filled with a tradition that has been going on since long before I lived here; Saturday is pancake or waffle morning!  Every Saturday morning we make either pancakes or waffles for the kids (who am I kidding, there really is no “we” in that, as Monte almost always does the preparation and cooking for this!) as well as a side of bacon.  While this is something the kids just love, I am not a fan of pancakes and I really don’t like bacon at all, so I still typically still enjoy my cereal on Saturday mornings! 

Sometimes during the school year the kids convince me of their extreme need to have pancakes for breakfast, so on occasion I do get up way too early and prepare this warm breakfast for them.  This happened to be one of those particular mornings where Claire was up and enjoying pancakes around 6:00am!  I'm just thankful that she's in the picture and not me, because I think I would have looked far more tired than happy!

Our Sunday routine often turns into a fend-for-yourself type of morning again, as we’re usually rushing around to get ready for church.  What does that look like?  A whole lot of cereal!  With a large family, we are looking for the fastest and easiest approach to breakfast, without creating a huge mess of our kitchen.  With two other meals on the plan for the day, it’s always appreciated to have at least one meal go by that doesn’t require a ton of clean-up afterward!  If the kids don’t opt for cereal on Sunday morning, it is replaced by a bagel or toast with a side of fruit.

No matter what day of the week it is, the one common factor that we work with is simplicity.  What’s the common factor that drives your families morning routine?!

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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.  All you have to do is leave a comment on this post to enter.  To get a second entry, you may either tweet or blog about this post (including a link to the giveaway) and leave a second comment here, including the URL of your tweet or blog.  This giveaway will run from 9:00am PST (11:00am CST) today, Wednesday August 11, 2010 through 5:00pm PST (7:00pm CST) on Monday August 16, 2010.  The winner will be chosen using www.random.org.  To view the official sweepstakes rules, visit www.blogher.com/kelloggs-rules-1.

Make sure to visit the BlogHer Reviewer Round Up page to check out what other bloggers had to say and to take advantage of 23 more chances to win a $100 Visa Gift Card! BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page.

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.