Busy school mornings require quick and hearty breakfasts. These protein-packed omelette waffles are so easy to make, and they will give your kids the fuel they need for a great day of learning. It’s just two weeks until I send Little Man off to kindergarten for the first time. I can’t believe I’m a mom of a school-aged kid! When did I get old?

The good news: I think we’ve got pretty much everything prepped. He has a backpack and lunch box. We made him a nifty (easy) clothes organizer to make sure he wears reasonably appropriate and matching clothes each day. We’ve talked about first day jitters and how much fun it will be to make new friends. He’s excited for the change, and so am I.

The bad news: I have no idea how he’s going to make it from breakfast until lunch without his beloved morning snack time.

This kid is ALWAYS hungry. As in, if he’s not actively playing with something super interesting…he’s telling me he needs food. And judging by his height to weight ratio, he needs every calorie he gets.

We’re not big snackers at home, but we do have one morning snack and one afternoon snack each day, in addition to our three main meals. This routine has always worked well for us, but it’s about to go out the window for Little Man because he’ll be at school.

Hopefully he’ll be so busy learning and playing that he won’t think about his stomach, but the change in schedule has made me aware that I need to make sure I send him to school tanked up on healthy, protein-packed food that will last him till lunch time. Cereal and milk just isn’t going to cut it for this kid…much as I love the convenience.

So I’ve been brainstorming ways improve our breakfast routine, looking up ideas and recipes for quick and easy breakfasts that will keep Little Man full for hours.

We already have several good breakfast options–like our favorite breakfast burritos and our hearty “Mountain Man” breakfast skillet–but I wanted more. I especially wanted to figure out some more protein-packed options for busy school mornings.

I started by looking up which breakfast foods have the most protein per serving. Did you know that Greek yogurt has 18 g of protein in a six ounce serving? Whoa. Other good sources of protein are cottage cheese (14 g), ham (14 g), nuts (6-7 g), milk (8 g), cheese (7-8 g), and oatmeal (6 g). For a more complete list of protein content in common foods, see this handy chart.

Now that I knew what I was looking for, I went hunting for recipes that were rich in the foods on my list. Here are some of the best protein-packed breakfasts I’ve come up with so far.

Protein-packed breakfast ideas for busy mornings:

• Favorite breakfast burritos
• Mountain man breakfast
• Mini frittatas
• Mini German puff pancakes
• No bake granola bites
• Applesauce oat muffins
• Greek yogurt breakfast bowls
• Greek yogurt pancakes
• Breakfast banana split
• Easy overnight oats (6 ways)

One other fun idea I tried this week was the concept of omelette waffles. I’ve seen them floating around the Internet for a long time, but we hadn’t made them before. We’ve been missing out!All you have to do is take your basic omelette ingredients and jazz them up by cooking them in a waffle iron instead of a pan. So simple!

They only take a few minutes to make, are totally adaptable to individual tastes, and make for really easy clean up. My boys especially loved dipping them in ketchup. School morning winner!

This week, we made ours with spinach, tomatoes, and cheddar cheese. I love how the cheese kind of grills against the waffle iron and gets a little crispy…reminiscent of the edges of a grilled cheese sandwich. Yum. You can use whatever toppings you like for your own omelette waffles: peppers, onions, ham, bacon, sausage, etc. I’m looking forward to doing some experimenting in the near future.

Enjoy!

Omelette Waffles

Notes: The possibilities for toppings are pretty much endless in these waffles. Try things like cheese, spinach, tomatoes, onions, peppers, bacon, sausage, ham, etc. Just make sure you chop everything up small enough that it cooks into the waffle rather than sticking up and out of it. 

Yield: One large waffle (4 squares)

Ingredients:

• 4 large eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup milk
• a dash of salt and pepper, if desired
• toppings of your choice (*see note)

Directions:

1. Beat together eggs and milk with a dash of salt and pepper.
2. Chop up your desired toppings.
3. Spray waffle iron lightly with cooking spray. Pour egg mixture into waffle iron. My large waffle iron was pretty full by the time I poured all the egg into it. If you have a smaller iron, you may have to cook in multiple batches. Be careful not to overfill.
4. Sprinkle toppings over the egg mixture in the waffle iron. Close lid and let it cook. Serve immediately.

Source: Adapted from Kirbie’s Cravings

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