Breakfast Ideas

Someone please help me come up with a good breakfast rotation for my family. We have been stuck in a yogurt and/or boxed cereal rut for years, and I'd love to come up with some nutritious, simple ideas.

The kids LOVE oatmeal, but I have a hard time dedicating time to cooking breakfst when my attention is already divided between starting the woodstove, overseeing toileting and dressing, packing lunches, and making sure that Agent 002 gets outside in time for his school bus.

Instant oatmeal just doesn't pass nutritional muster, nor do frozen waffles or toaster pastry.

I occasionally make and freeze muffins or waffles, but not often enough to rescue us from our breakfast rut.

I tried letting the apliances do the work for me and packed steel cut oats, apples, raisins, and lots of water into the crockpot.

Yuck! I won't bother passing on our crockpot oatmeal recipe. Mr warillever and I ate our servings, grateful for a warm, if not wonderful, breakfast; the kids despised it. Even Little P left a half-empty bowl.

Muffin Tin Monday Thinly Unplugged

banana, carrots, green beans, banana

pan-fried potato, green beans, carrots, pan-fried potato
sukhariki, broccoli, broccoli, sukhariki

"Sukhariki" is one of the few Russian words in common usage in our household. It translates as "crouton," but we use it more like toast.

This batch was cut thin from the remnants of last Friday's french bread. I tossed the bread with olive oil, kosher salt, oregano and garlic powder. It was baked at 300 degrees for precisely the amount of time it took to slice the vegetables. I don't always bother with oil, and we vary the spices according to our whim.

I hope that the Unplugged families will appreciate my lame attempt at integrating this week's theme -- thin -- into our lunch. Except for the broccoli all of the foods were exceptionally thin.

It is also our first time participating in Muffin Tin Monday. The girls really liked having a new presentation for our frequent "bits-and-bobs"lunch, so we may do this again next week.

Recipe: Kielbasa Stir-Fry

This is mr warillever's favorite dinner. I have cooked it once a month since I found it in the May 2003 issue of Light and Tasty. Over time we have adjusted the original recipe to our family's tastes and budget.

• 1 package turkey kielbasa*
• 2 small onions, quartered and separated
• 3 carrots cut into matchsticks**
• 2 tablespoons chicken stock***
  
• 1 large can unsweetened pineapple, cubed****
• 2 tablespoons Wondra or cornstarch
• ginger*****
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce

Stir fry kielbasa for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown. Remove kielbasa; stir-fry carrots and onions with one cube of chicken broth.*** Drain pineapple, reserving the liquid. Return kielbasa to the wok and add pineapple cubes. Heat through.

Combine pineapple juice and soy sauce with enough water to make it total 3/4 cup of liquid. Mix in Wondra and ginger until smooth. Add to the wok. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve over sticky white rice.

* Do NOT use regular kielbasa! When fried it becomes very greasy and saturates the vegetables. I cut the kielbasa on the diagonal, then cut those in quarters to form bite-size pieces.

**The original recipe called for 1 cup of shredded carrots. I have found that shredded carrots get too mushy. Cutting into matchsticks is time consuming, but really makes a difference in taste. I also increased the amount of carrots in order to stretch the recipe a bit further.

***I freeze chicken broth into ice cube trays whenever there are chicken bones lying around. You can easily use water or skip this step entirely, leaving the kielbasa in the pan as you cook the veggies.

***An 8oz can is too small; a 20oz can is too large. If you allow the children to eat one ring each as you cook it will be just right.

****The original recipe calls for 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of ground ginger. I grate about 1/2 inch of frozen ginger root. "Real" ginger makes a real difference.