My school morning routine and this week’s meal plan

My School Morning Routine

One of the biggest obstacles to eating healthy is usually time. Many families in the UK sacrifice breakfast because they say they just don’t have time.

Dutch kids are some of the happiest in the world and research has concluded that one of the reasons is because they have a family breakfast together.

Now, I don’t want this blog post to come across as smug and righteous but I do believe that 1) kids need breakfast and 2) if you stick to a routine you can find time. Ironically, I hate routines but once you have kids you just have to start adopting them, otherwise nothing gets done.

Getting six people ready in the mornings has become a bit of a military exercise in our house, so I thought I would share with you what we do. Hopefully our routine may help you work out a plan for your mornings.

6.oo am – Our alarm goes off

6.10 am – We are lucky that usually only one of us has to leave the house to do the school run so that person hops in the shower. The other parent will then go downstairs to let the dog and cats out for a pee, give the dog breakfast, lay the table for breakfast, probably empty the dishwasher from the night before, make a cup of tea!

6.30 – 7.00 am – We enjoy a cup of tea in bed! If we both have to leave the house though, the other parent will jump in the shower during this time.

7.00 am – Wake the kids up and get their breakfast orders! Hubby and I then get breakfast ready. Mealtimes in our crazy house can often resemble a café with 6 different orders. Usually there are combinations of eggs (boiled/scrambled), toast, fruit, yogurt, granola, cereal and COFFEE!!!

We usually eat breakfast together around 7.15/7.20am, assuming the kids have fallen out of bed.

7.30 am The two younger kids get dressed into their school uniform. I pack their school lunches, school bags and games bags ready to leave. (I usually prepare their packed lunch and sort out their uniform and PE stuff the night before).

7.40am Everyone’s in the car and off to school!

Once everyone’s gone this gives the remaining parent time to tidy up breakfast and maybe sneak in some exercise!

Obviously our routine probably won’t work for you but once you find one that fits your lifestyle it does make life easier in the mornings.

Some other tips that might work for your routine: lay the breakfast table the night before, prepare a takeaway breakfast to eat on your commute or when you get to work. Getting teenage kids to eat breakfast is usually impossible so I try to provide them with some snacks to take with them to eat at break-time, which is when they’ve usually woken up sufficiently enough to feel hungry.

I hope you find this insight into our routine helpful. Do you already have a morning routine that incorporates breakfast? I’d love to know what your routine is – tell me in the comments below, on Facebook or on Instagram.

This week’s meal plan:-

BBQ marinated chicken fillets and BBQ corn on the cob, courgettes, tomatoes and roasted baby potatoes
Paprika pork steaks, Portobello mushrooms, sweet potato wedges and pineapple coleslaw.
Curried turkey and vegetable pie with salad
Creamy chicken and tomato pasta
Spicy beef burgers with salad

I hope you have a super week. Why not sign up to the New Leaf Newsletter here to get regular updates, recipes and articles.