At our recent November SMA, Linda Germaine-Miller, our nutritionist, helped the kids prepare a tasty, easy, and nutritious breakfast burrito that the kids enjoyed making as well as eating – and will hopefully make again at home. Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients
One whole wheat tortilla
¼ cup black beans, cooked, or if canned, rinsed well
1 scrambled egg
1 Tablespoon grated cheddar cheese
Chopped cherry tomatoes
Chopped orange or green pepper
Lettuce
Salsa
Preparation
Ask a grown up to scramble an egg. Using a fork, mash up the black beans. Place the tortilla on a plate. Top it with the scrambled egg and black beans. Place the cut up veggies on top of the beans and sprinkle the cheese on top of the veggies. Top this with some lettuce. Roll up the tortilla. Cook in microwave for one minute. Serve with salsa. Delicious!
The key to this breakfast burrito is two-fold: it is easy and healthy. The SMArt kids and their parents heard this message, saw it in person, and will hopefully replicate it at home.
On the one hand, the reality is that everyone is busy, may run late and sometimes skip breakfast. However, another reality is that skipping breakfast can lead to weight gain. Experts concur that breakfast should be eaten EVERY DAY, as a daily breakfast translates into overall healthier nutrition, a lower BMI, and improved academic performance.
To balance these two realities, we recognize that breakfast, especially on school days, needs to be uncomplicated so families do not skip it. Cereal comes to mind as a perfect option…or is it?
The SMArt Kids and their parents were surprised to learn that many of the common big brand cereals are laden with sugar. For instance, one cup of Honey Nut Cheerios has 12 grams of sugar, which is equal to 3 Chips Ahoy! cookies.
The problem with a sugary-sweet breakfast is that the body turns extra sugar into fat and the sugar causes blood sugar levels to spike. When the levels drop, you are hungry again and craving more sugar!
The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a public health nonprofit organization, reviewed nutrition labels for 84 popular brands of breakfast cereals marketed to children. Their top ten worst children’s cereals based on percent sugar by weight are listed here:
1) Kellogg’s Honey Smacks
2) Post Golden Crisp
3) Kellogg’s Froot Loops Marshmallow
4) Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch OOPS! All Berries
5) Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch Original
6) Quaker Oats Ohs!
7) Kellogg’s Smorz
8) Kellogg’s Apple Jacks
9) Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch Crunch Berries
10) Kellogg’s Froot Loops Original
Check your kitchen! If any of these or other sugared cereals are in your home, replace them with a high fiber, low sugar option. It is better to offer a low sugar cereal and let your child add one teaspoon of table sugar than serving a high sugar cereal. A cereal-shopping tip: healthier cereals tend to be above eye level in the out-of-sight, harder-to-reach shelves. So look up when you’re in the cereal aisle – it’s a healthy idea!
