Egg-Cellent Ideas for Back to School
Seven turns four in a couple of weeks. Four. That’s kind of hard for me to comprehend, on several levels. For one, where did the last four years go? On the other hand, I can’t even remember life before him. What did I DO all day? On days off, what on Earth did I DO to fill the hours?
I can’t remember.
What I do know, is now that he’s about to be four, he is enrolled in a local Pre-School. Three days a week, three hours a day, starting in early September. I know he’ll be okay, despite the fact that he’s spent the better part of the past four years basically hanging out with, well, me. He did go to daycare from time to time…so this should be okay. I really want him to get a socialization head start before Kindergarten starts, as I owe that to him. School isn’t all about the learning, it’s about interaction.
I’m both nervous (I’ll miss him!) and thrilled ( I’ll have 9 hours a week to work on my own things!), but I am really happy to see him so excited to go. However, this Pre-School adventure will be a bit of an adjustment for us both. Namely – our sleeping habits.
Seven and I have StayInBed Disease. Jon is up and off each morning by 630, and then little man tiptoes in with his little blanket and Perry the Platypus to curl up with me for a couple of hours. Some days, we are eating a lazy breakfast at 10. This isn’t going to work once school starts, when Seven will need to be up and ready to go for a busy day of learning and playing with other kids at school.
Ugh.
So, I’ve been trying to come up with some things that will make mornings a little easier. First, I’ve DVR’d his favorite TV shows, so that we don’t have to wait until 10 for them to come on. Now, he can sit down at 815 and watch Phineas and Ferb with his breakfast, before we leave for school.
Speaking of breakfast, I imagine my laziness will change the breakfast line-up. Gone will be the mornings of homemade pancakes and French toast…we just won’t have time. (As I am probably NOT going to get out of bed early enough to make them.) So, aside from feeding him Pop-Tarts and Toaster Streudel, I’ve been looking for morning time savers that will fill him up and keep him energized…and this is my favorite.
Baked Scrambled Eggs. It’s so easy, and just perfect for rushed mornings. Any muffin tin would do, but I am fortunate in that I own a Nordicware pan that has little phrases on it, which make the eggs a little more fun! All I do is preheat the oven to 350, scramble a few eggs with salt and pepper, then spoon the eggs into each slot. Then they bake for a few minutes until set. Of course, it varies how long you need to bake them, based on the size of your tin, so just watch them for signs of doneness. Eat the ones you want to that day, then freeze the others in Zip-Loc bags for a quick and easy, protein-filled breakfast later on. A quick turn in the microwave oven will have them eating a healthy egg filled breakfast in seconds on those hurried days!
For Seven, to make fun little breakfast sandwiches, I let him toast the bread while I rewarm the eggs. I’ve found that the cuter the food, the more apt he is to actually eat it, so, we use round cookie cutters to make little sandwiches with the egg and toast. You can also do like we’ve done here and cut out a circle of bologna, or ham, to add to the eggs and toast, or, you could melt a little bit of cheese over the egg, throw on a piece of bacon, tomato…whatever your kid will eat…but it can all be pulled off in less than a minute thanks to the eggs being already prepared.
A minute? Yep, even I can do that on a lazy morning. And I’ll feel pretty darned good about it, too…as I know eggs are good for him, will give him energy, and keep him satisfied for those days at school!
Do you have any Morning Savers? Any suggestions for ways to make morning life a little easier? I’m all ears! I’d also suggest checking out the Incredible Edible Egg Facebook page – they’ve got some tips for quick breakfasts you might like!
*Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by the AEB. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
