Lots of people, especially children, dread eating first thing in the morning, but endless research has shown how important breakfast is. Having witnessed the effects of going without food on tired, listless and irritable kids, I agree that getting them to eat something before they leave the house makes a huge difference, not only to their happiness and well-being, but to the way they behave and perform at school, so it’s worth getting into good habits as soon as you can.

There’s nothing wrong with toast and cereal of course, but there are plenty of alternatives, so try and make breakfast a bit more interesting and less of a chore by ringing the changes and finding out what your children like, what they don’t like, and what they wouldn’t eat if it was the only thing between them and total starvation. If you want them to eat something they haven’t tried before and you’re not sure how they’re going to react, give them the chance to try it first at the weekend, or in the holidays, rather than on a school morning when you’re pushed for time and already have a hundred-and-one things to worry about.

Everyday Breakfasts

Cereal

I think it’s fair to say you can separate cereal into two camps; the goodies, made entirely from whole grains with little, or no, added salt and sugar, and the baddies, which contain a lot of extra sugar, and in some cases as much salt as you’d find in a bag of crisps.

I suppose any cereal has to be better than nothing because they all contain added vitamins and are eaten with milk (and if you get into the good habit of not giving children extra sugar from the very beginning, they’ll never miss it). There’s nothing to stop you reading the labels on every box in the supermarket if you feel like it but, as a general rule, the less fancy looking the cereal, the healthier it’s going to be. Anything frosted, flavoured, coloured, coated in honey or mixed with chocolate chips and other bits and pieces is certain to contain some or all of the things you want to avoid, so here’s a quick guide to your best bets.

PORRIDGE: All porridge, any porridge; from a box, from a bag, or an individual sachet. There shouldn’t be any added sugar in porridge oat cereals, even the one aimed specifically at children, and now porridge can be made in the microwave you don’t even have the bother of cleaning the saucepan afterwards.

KELLOGG’S ALL BRAN: Greatly improved since the days when it tasted exactly like minced cardboard, but if you still can’t bear to eat it on its own (I can’t), make a delicious fruit and bran loaf with it instead (see Wholesome Cakes in Chapter 8: Let Them Eat Cake).

SHREDDED WHEAT: The bite-size version is especially good for kids, and this is one cereal that doesn’t go soggy in the milk.

MUESLI: With or without added sugar, there are so many healthy ingredients in muesli, does it really matter?

WEETABIX: Make it more interesting for children by pouring on a fruit smoothie, or milk flavoured with a spoonful of Nesquik, rather than plain milk. (Take the Weetabix Challenge – you must have seen the TV adverts.)

Fruit

If you haven’t eaten fruit for breakfast before, because you’re worried you’ll be starving long before lunch, give it a try; I bet you find a good helping of fruit (especially with yoghurt) fills you up far more effectively than a bowl of soggy cereal.

In fact, fruit is a really easy option at breakfast time, especially in the spring and summer months, and I’ve found that even children who don’t normally go a bundle on fruit often find a few slices of banana with a small spoonful of yoghurt and honey less daunting than a piece of toast or a bowl of cereal. Not only does it look more inviting, it’s nice to have something sweet when you’ve got a dry, early morning taste in your mouth. (If you’re worried about brushing your teeth too soon after having fruit, eat a small piece of cheese to neutralise the acid in your mouth and protect the enamel, then wait a couple of minutes. The same rule applies any time you’ve eaten food containing a lot of acid; I always gave my children a piece of cheese after a marathon sweet-eating session – of which there were many – and it seems to have worked for them so far.)

Just a few slices or chunks of fruit, or a combination of fruits, e.g. banana, apple, pear, melon, kiwi fruit, grapes or berries, with live yoghurt (natural or fruit) and a teaspoonful of honey drizzled over the top.

Half a grapefruit or an orange cut into segments and sprinkled with a very little sugar. Flash the fruit under the grill to melt the sugar and take the chill off if you like, especially in the winter when cold fruit isn’t so appealing. (If you buy the sweeter varieties of grapefruit you shouldn’t even need to add sugar.)

Tinned prunes. Soft, sweet and easy to eat. Most tinned prunes I’ve come across aren’t even particularly wrinkled, despite what their bad reputation suggests. (Eat five, then if you do ‘Tinker, Tailor’ with the stones, it always come out ‘rich man’.)

Fruit smoothies. The possibilities are endless (see Chapter 7: Can’t Cook? Don’t Cook!).