Nourish ~ A Less Ambitious Endeavor

Welcome to Nourish: 31 Days of Family, Food, and Faith. This is Day 15. To see the rest of the series click here!

I had grand ambitions earlier this year about serving a warm, filling, fun, special... read: nourishing breakfast to my family every Sunday morning.

My thought was to help make Sunday breakfasts stand out from the usual week day fare. 

I did a fine job for nearly 2 months and then, I just could not keep it up. 

I'd either be too done in by whatever Saturday activity we had done or I'd completely forget to have something ready until late Saturday night and eventually my desire to nourish became a drudgery. 

So, I stopped.

You know what happened? 

They didn't even notice. My Man and I had quite a chuckle over it especially as the last few Sunday mornings had involved a mad dash by him to the donut shop before the kids awoke. (Donuts count as special but hardly as nutritious!) I had been, at times, staying up way too late or getting up very very early to make special happen and the kids didn't even notice. 

Honestly, it was a relief. 

Something in me still needed to put a little more into them on Sunday mornings than a cold bowl of cereal. I think much of my desire had to do with loving the thought of my children in years to come talking about "those special Sunday morning breakfasts that Mom used to make for us." My desire was also practical; we often don't get home from church until nearly 2:00 so whatever is for breakfast needs at the very least to be filling.

On any given Sunday for breakfast, you are now likely to find oatmeal. Oatmeal in a big pot which gets tossed on to the stovetop less than 5 minutes after I've risen from bed. 

{Here's a trick, I make oatmeal in a quantity that requires multiplying fractions. Not fun before coffee. So I write the quantity for our gang big and bold to save time and effort.}

While the oats cook, I set out the fix in's and then wake up the natives.

Fix in's might include: 
dried cranberries
cinnamon 
raisins
blueberries
brown sugar
honey
pecans
walnuts
sliced bananas
chopped apples
peanut butter
and 
milk or cream

As each groggy kid comes to breakfast, they can dip out a bowl of oats and "have it their way". It's warm, it's a bit special, it's easy and fast. Made to order for a time-flying Sunday morning.

Little bowls with polka dots do up the fun a little, but so will a couple of coffee mugs full of nuts and sugar. Set out bowls, spoons, and fill the juice cups for your gang, they'll understand that you were thinking of them first thing in the morning. I don't know about you, but knowing that I was thought about and anticipated certainly makes for a nourishing start to a groggy morning.