Mornings in the average household can be bumpy. Family members are racing around, trying to get out the door as quickly as possible. We all know eating breakfast is in our best interests, but it can be difficult to squeeze the meal in. It is unquestionably easier to groggily throw on your robe, pull out the bowls and pour milk over Count Chocula than to prepare a gorgeous and nutritionally dense breakfast. However, taking those extra minutes in the morning will be exponentially more rewarding for you and your child.

This post was actually inspired by sibling equality. My 14 year old son, Chase, is in Germany and France for the next two weeks on a school trip. He’s traveling the world and sampling interesting and foreign cuisines. I’m envious. While he’s off tasting meals in the world’s fine dining capital in one country, and enjoying the deliciously dense meat and potatoes dishes of another, is it fair to feed my 12 year old processed garbage to start his day? Nein.

Lest you think I’m being too hard on cereals, let’s take a look at the ingredients. Fiber One Nutty Clusters & Almonds, considered by the misinformed as one of the most nutritionally dense commercially available cereals, features the following:

Whole grain wheat, sugar, corn bran, whole grain oats, corn starch, almonds, inulin, corn syrup, puffed wheat, salt, brown sugar syrup, canola oil, wheat flour, graham flour, malt syrup, tripotassium phosphate, natural flavor, molasses, color added, honey, baking soda, vitamin e (mixed tocopherols) and ascorbic acid added to preserve freshness, vitamins and minerals: calcium carbonate, zinc and iron (mineral nutrients), vitamin c (sodium ascorbate), a b vitamin (niacinamide) vitamin b6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), vitamin b1 (thiamin mononitrate), vitamin b2 (riboflavin), a b vitamin (folic acid), vitamin b12.

I count half a dozen added sweeteners. All of those listed vitamins and minerals? Those have to be described separately because the process of making cereal strips out all the nutrition from the “whole grain wheat and oats” they so proudly boast. We don’t want our day to begin with nutrient removed, chemically laced foods.

In the past, I’ve tossed some meat and potatoes in a pan for my young men. Perhaps because my elder statesman was on the road, I felt a need to sweeten the pot for my little guy, both in substance and with affection. It took me about 15 minutes to put together a classic meal with a contemporary twist.

I threw 4 slices of organic, humanely raised bacon into a large frying pan. As it sizzled, I sliced ½ of a Japanese Yam and ½ of a russet potato into small rectangular strips and seasoned them liberally with coarse sea salt. I pulled the bacon out when it was about ¾ of the way cooked and chopped it up. Into the same pan, I added a pat of grass-fed butter and the potatoes.

While the potatoes cooked, I lined his plate with sliced bananas, strawberries and blueberries. When the spuds were cooked through, I added back in the bacon to crisp it up, and then plated it in the middle of the fruit circle. A glass of orange juice finished off my creation.

What benefit did Dane get from this breakfast? Protein and fat, for starters. From kidshealth.org:

The name — fat — may make it sound like something you shouldn’t eat. But fat is an important part of a healthy diet. And little kids, especially, need a certain amount of fat in their diets so the brain and nervous system develop correctly. Experts say kids older than 2 should get about 30% of their daily calories from fat.

How about the berries, which started as a visual add to the plate and turned into a nutritional powerhouse for my son? From everydayhealth.com:

Flavonoid-packed berries, such as blueberries and raspberries, may one day lead to more effective cancer-prevention strategies. Research published in theJournal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis suggests that flavonoids and other compounds found in berries may help reduce colon cancer risk. Because cancer prevention diets generally emphasize fruits and vegetables, including berries certainly won’t hurt. Again, Copperman stresses, any cancer-preventing benefit is enhanced by the inclusion of many different colors of fruits and veggies.

Dane wasn’t the only one benefiting. I sat with him as he ate, and as he beamed at me with his new braces, I felt my chest puffing out. We can derive amazingly high levels of confidence from taking the extra time to provide memorable culinary experiences. Our personal self-esteem is affected in ways we don’t always recognize.

Ever felt truly content while simultaneously feeling less than adequate?

As a society, we expend oodles of energy pursuing happiness. Countless hours reading self-help books, reciting affirmations to ourselves in the mirror, and elevating our moods with pills can still leave us feeling less than whole. A few extra moments devoted to preparing sustenance with a soul is an investment with monumental returns. Anecdotally, at least, it works for me.

Kap