Inspiration: We recently watched Fed Up, a documentary about food choices in the United States, and it was a good reminder that I need to stay focused on feeding my children whole foods. The lack of fiber in many of the processed cereals I had in the house (even though they were vegan and low in added sugar) meant that the cereals were getting turned into energy too quickly to keep my children full for long. Even without added sugar, refined cereals give children an energy spike and then crash. Note added 5/14/15 – just read an interesting article about “Fed Up”: http://nutritionstudies.org/fed-up-with-fed-up/
Some research: A long term study of women’s health showed that eating a bowl of oatmeal a day had the same impact on increasing your longevity as jogging four hours a week. (But, as the video points out, you can do both!) That’s pretty impressive, and other studies on the positive impact of fiber rich plant foods on your health have me convinced that oatmeal is just as good for my children as it is for the women in that study.
Watch the brief video clip about the study here: http://nutritionfacts.org/video/what-women-should-eat-to-live-longer/
Serving suggestions: Old fashioned oatmeal (quick oatmeal has less fiber, and doesn’t save you more than five minutes) has high fiber, 5 grams of protein in 1/2 a cup of dry oats, and is a better breakfast choice. My kids love it with frozen wild blueberries, which are small enough to warm up if you just add them frozen. They have the added benefit of cooling the oatmeal down to a kid safe temperature. Andrew likes sliced bananas on his, in addition to or instead of the blueberries. I can have it ready in about fifteen minutes. My favorite mix-ins are chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, toasted walnuts, fresh fruits and berries.
Don’t dump on the sugar: I am trying to get the boys to eat their oatmeal with only fruits as a sweetener, but it’s still a work in progress. I think if I’d always served oatmeal that way, they’d be fine with it. To keep them oatmeal enthusiasts, I let them pick one sweetener each, either a tablespoon of maple syrup, or a small amount of mini chocolate chips. Andrew will sometimes go without, and at least the oatmeal has the fiber content to help lessen the negative effects of the sugar. My new goal is to keep reducing the sweetener and focusing on using fruit to make the smoothies delicious. The Oh She Glows chia raspberry jam would be great to offer as a sweetener.
I think it’ll be a few years before my kids get excited about tofu breakfast sandwiches or beet smoothies, but in the meantime, oatmeal is a good choice!