Breakfast: Tiny commuter edition

May 8, 2023 10:57 AM

What are some on the go breakfasts to give to kids (and parents) who commute.

Next fall munchkin is starting school. For the first year, we have to drive to a bus pick up point that is 30 minutes away (possibly more like an hour during rush hour). My current plan of how the morning will go is:

-Get up and get kid up, tooth-brushed, and dressed
-Immediately get into car and drive to the pick up point to get there about 30 minutes early
-Eat breakfast at pick up point

We absolutely can't miss the bus, or it is an additional highly time consuming drive between the bus pick up point and the school.

I'm kind of at a loss about what to prep for breakfasts. Right now, we have toast every morning. Kiddo likes toast and butter, but I suspect that won't work as well for this purpose due to crumbs.

I would prefer answers that are as easy as toast prep wise and relatively tidy. I am realistically not going to make specialized muffins, egg roll-ups, etc. nor am I likely to make batch breakfasts for a whole week every weekend.

posted by donut_princess to Food & Drink (13 answers total)

Toast & butter or PB&J would probably work just fine. Bring a couple of large kitchen towels/tea towels with you to use as napkins to keep clothes clean, and reconcile yourself to the occasional car vacuuming to pick up any stray crumbs (or eat outside when the weather is nice enough).

You could also do a breakfast bar (Clif Bar, Kind Bar, granola bar or whatever is to Kiddo's taste), though they're more expensive and more highly processed. The nice thing about them is that they're shelf-stable, so you could just chuck a couple of boxes in the car and not even have to worry about prepping/packing anything in the mornings.
posted by ourobouros at 11:10 AM on May 8, 2023

I've done overnight oats in cars before.
posted by vunder at 11:23 AM on May 8, 2023

Toast is our classic car breakfast. Similarly, English muffins.

You might find that with the additional demands of school your kiddo needs something a little heartier. If nut allergies aren't a concern, nuts are a nice, portable way to get some protein and fat in the mix. String cheese works for some kids too. I believe someone also makes squeezy yogurt sticks but that'll depend on your kid's tidiness. Some things that are impossibly messy now, may not be in two years. So if your commute situation stays the same, be prepared to revisit periodically to account not just for changing tastes but for growing skills.
posted by eirias at 11:27 AM on May 8, 2023 [2 favorites]

Toaster waffles, dry cereal, cliff bars are what my kid eats for car breakfast.
posted by pintapicasso at 11:29 AM on May 8, 2023

Toasted Eggo in a paper towel, a gogurt, and a bite-size fruit like berries (pre wash them at the start of the week then just scoop up a snack cup and run).
posted by phunniemee at 11:44 AM on May 8, 2023

My toddler eats these oat pancakes every morning on school days:

- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 2 ripe bananas
- 3 eggs

Blend in a blender until smooth then pour the batter on a hot greased pan and cook until set (flip so you cook both sides).

Optional mixings to blend in: pumpkin purée + cinnamon, nut butters or pumpkin seed butter, ground flax seed, or drop whole blueberries in the batter while the pancakes are cooking on the stove.

I make 1 or 2 big batches on the weekends with different flavours, then freeze (I cut up little squares of parchment paper to separate the pancakes in my container in the freezer so I can easily grab one at a time). They’re yummy and low mess and very nutritious.
posted by rodneyaug at 11:49 AM on May 8, 2023 [5 favorites]

Drinkable yogurts are always handy (Stonyfield, Siggi’s, Dannon Danimals all come in kid-sized portions). I’ve always found them less messy than squeezables, but YMMV.

If they like eggs, there’s a new genre of egg bites that are now widely available—Three Bridges (sold at Target), Organic Valley, and some smaller egg producers make them, but TJ’s are significantly cheaper. Just microwave for under a minute and stick in a little container or baggie to take along.

There are many other types of portable cheese in addition to string mozzarella—cheddar and jack sticks and rectangles, BabyBel mini-wheels.

I guess this has been a pretty dairy-centric list... In the realm of fruit, grapes and pre-peeled (seedless) clementines/mandarins. A couple of Fig Newtons (or any of a dozen imitations) are a smaller alternative to a full breakfast bar.
posted by staggernation at 11:52 AM on May 8, 2023

My car breakfast is often a protein waffle sandwich with either bacon or peanut butter, or apple slices with with peanut butter dip.
posted by answergrape at 12:03 PM on May 8, 2023

I would also suggest that this is not the ideal scenario for berries (and definitely not cherries), especially if you don’t have leather seats.
posted by staggernation at 12:03 PM on May 8, 2023 [1 favorite]

I make car brunch for my kiddo every Sat between morning activities. I use a bento box and put in whatever is on hand. It does not take long at all to do. They love the variety. For example this week: grapes, cubed challah and a mix of cheeses we had in the fridge, dried mandarin slices and almond chocolate. I’ve also done PB and J, but I cube them like little finger sandwich bites so they can easily pick up and pop it into their mouth. We have a new car and no disasters yet.
posted by inevitability at 12:29 PM on May 8, 2023

Re: mess, when I was a kid we had trays that hung on the back of the front seats which corralled both crumbs and toys on road trips. My mom made them by asking at the grocery store for the cardboard tray things soda arrives at the store in, and then covering them in contact paper. They hung on the front seats with string threaded through holes made with a hole punch. I assume you can also purchase such things
posted by hoyland at 12:39 PM on May 8, 2023

Toast is messy, but what about untoasted bread, for little triangular English tea sandwiches. There are far less crumbs in them. When I was little, I loved the classic cucumber sandwich, but also those with fish paste or chicken spread. Actually I still like them a lot. Jam and cream cheese could be OK too, but tends to be more messy. Find or bake a wholegrain sandwich loaf for better health outcomes.

My kids sometimes had just a banana and a glass of milk for breakfast, but they would be having lunch at eleven, so it was fine. Banana, milk and some almonds would be more filling, nutritious and still simple and relatively clean. An apple, cut into boats and served with a container of peanutbutter, is even simpler. You can buy those little one cup bottles for the milk. Since you are bringing them home rather than putting them in the lunch bag, you can buy glass bottles that are much easier to keep clean.

A surprising succes was cold pizza, the mornings after we'd ordered pizza in for dinner. Again with a glass of milk. Cut it up in little pieces to minimize the mess. You could also buy frozen mini pizzas for the purpose, and heat them the night before (you don't want to be baking in the morning).

About the milk: I am not personally a fan of milk. But my kids liked it, and it gave sustenance and much needed protein and fat (small children need fat for neural development) and helped them feel content till the lunch break, whereas a carb-heavy meal might lead to a sugar spike and make them feel uncomfortable. Keep the whole breakfast in a cooler till you reach the pick-up point, some kids don't like room temperature milk. Vegan milks might work but they contain some sugar.
posted by mumimor at 1:36 PM on May 8, 2023

I guess my question is, if you are driving to the bus stop, can kid get out of the car and eat the breakfast? That would reduce/eliminate the problem of crumbs in your car.
posted by Night_owl at 6:15 AM on May 10, 2023