breakfast on the go

We eat breakfast on the go in the car during week days. DH and I eat
oatmeal from a cup. the kids are in carseats so that may become very
messy. I would like to give them breakfast bars of some kind. Most of
them are just as sugary as candy bars. could anyone offer any
suggestions? Right now they only drink chocolate milk in sippy cup. i
would like to add a small bar or snack to their breakfast.

Banty...

You need a recommendation for an alarm clock, not a snack bar.

Sue...

I'm not a fan of those breakfast bars, so I personally would not use them.
Our family needs a higher protein content in the morning so I make bacon
and/or any other breakfast meats the night before and cook eggs in the
morning. If you plan ahead, breakfast can be very quick. We have pancakes
with peanut butter on them, etc.... You may have to get up a little earlier
to accomplish this. What is the daycare situation like? Could you send in
packets of oatmeal or a breakfast sandwich in with the kids to eat there? At
the ages of your children, I think eating a good breakfast is not going to
be easy and the mess it makes is not a good thing either. Good luck.

Banty...

We have on hand sconces or English muffins or something of the like, and also
packaged pre-cooked bacon (from Sam's club) that only needs a minute in the
microwave. Breakfast in five minutes, with milk, protien, carbos.

And an alarm clock. At 13, my son does it for himself. Earlier, I made sure I
had it for him.

I think the eat-as-you-go habit is one that lends itself to fast food and
eventually skipping meals. And a messy car.

dragonlady...

My first suggestion would be to get up a little earlier. . .

However, if you aren't going to do that, my mother used to make really
healthy oatmeal cookies (gorilla cookies -- and I'm sure I've spelled
that wrong) for breakfast for the mornings my younger brother and sister
had to get their own breakfasts. They were sort of hand-held granola,
but with a fairly low fat content. That and a glass of milk was as
healthy as a bowl of oatmeal with raisins.

But I would probably advise cutting out the chocolate, at least on a
daily basis.

dragonlady...

After I typed this, I remembered where else I'd seen recipes for making
your own bars: on "Good Eats", my favorite cooking show.

Go to the Food Network website (I think it's foodnetwork.com) and look
up Alton Brown and protein bars. What I remember is that they looked
pretty easy to make, lasted a while, and were healthier than anything
you would buy at any grocery store -- even health food stores.

tedneeley...

OP here. Thanks for suggestions. I'll check out Alton Brown's recipe. I
love his show. His books are a great read too by the way.

About chocolate milk, I use the term very loosely. I add may be half a
tea spoon of chocolate powder to one glass of whole milk. Just for the
color :)

Welches...

If it's just for the colour I'd drop it. Put it in a sippy cup that they
can't see the colour. There's no point in giving them extra sugar for no
benefit. In fact I'd be more inclined to keep the chocolate powder if it was
the flavour and the only way of getting them to drink milk.
Debbie

Welches...

We put dry cereal in a pot and give them a drink of milk with it. They have
muesli cereal, and we'll add raisins to it sometimes. (but they havebeen
known to have shreddied wheat and wheetabix like that too)
Debbie

Penny Gaines...

I'd be inclined to give them 'dry' cereal (eg cheerios) in a small cup,
and perhaps some cubes of cheese or something like that. Maybe some
raisons or other dried fruit as well.

Tracey...

My kids often take some cereal in a ziploc bag, and a banana.

Nikki...

I'd probably go with homemade if it was an everyday thing. I used to
commute too so I understand why you'd want to eat in the car.

I did a lot of snack packs with dry cereal, raisons, crackers sometimes,
etc. I would have done more fruit if mine would have been fruit eaters.
Cheese and deli meat would even work although they aren't usually breakfast
foods. I didn't do a lot of cheese because mine wouldn't eat it but even my
limited experience tells me string cheese is best - the other stuff gets
mashed into the seats ;-) Frozen yogurts worked. I use the sugary kind that
comes in a tube and froze those. For the more health conscious you can
freeze any kind of yogurt - the tubes were just much less messy.

Whole wheat tortilla's can hold lots of things (peanut butter, scrambled
eggs, breakfast meats, cheese, various spreads, etc.) and aren't all that
messy because you can wrap them up. Mine got enough milk in at other times
so I generally only did water in the car because of the mess factor.

My dh did more of the cereal bars, granola bars, pop tarts etc. They are
awful to clean up after. You can vacuum up the dry stuff :-)

Irene...

Things I've done fairly regularly are cereal in a ziplock baggy as
finger food (how healthy it is depends on your cereal choice), cheese
sticks, or bananas. (I suppose all of those together make a better
balanced meal, but my kids aren't likely to eat that much all at once
in the morning!)

Jeanne...

I second the banana and string cheese. Also cut up apples and little
bagles. If you're really brave, try drinkable yogurt. We don't have
much luck with Cheerios but I've seen lots of other children eating
cereal of some sort from baggies.

I try to stay away from processed foods because I'm not sure about the
amount of sugar (and other stuff) in these things.

Ds went through a granola bar stage, but I didn't encourage them,
since, as you noted, they aren't particularly good for you. There are
also some South Beach Diet snack bars that are pretty good as far as
providing protein without all the sugar, tho they get pricey unless you
hit a good sale. I also like the ZonePerfect bars (esp. the vanilla
yogurt covered ones), but they get messy, and are also probably a
little high in the sugar.

Oh, yeah - our chocolate milk is regular milk with a tiny bit of
Ovaltine in it. ;-)

Barbara Bomberger...

Muffins (or mini muffins).

Homemade breakfast bars (a gazillion recipes out there)

Instant breakfast, assumign they hve had juice or something of the
like.

Slice apple and a cup of chereos.

Healthy trail mix if its not a choking issue.

Half a banana for child (you would have to do a wipe up on the way to
daycare, admittedl)

toypup...

We get up at 6am. It takes me until 7:30 to get everyone ready and out the
door (and that's having packed all the bags and lunch the night before). I
give dry cereal, granola bars, bread, cheese, apple slices and water for the
car. In order to have breakfast, we'd have to wake up at 5am. For many
reasons, that is not an option for us.

darth_breather...

We used "Instant Breakfast" - a flavored milk drink with extra milk
solids. The kids' doctor recommmended it. We always have a box or two
around for emergency food.

shinypenny...

I'm not a morning person myself, and the truth is I can't stand the
thought of eating anything before 10 AM. I don't even like handling
food early in the morning! I completely understand the value in
sleeping in an extra hour.

I don't remember the ages of your children, but I've found it
particularly helpful to start early teaching them to fetch their own
breakfast in the morning. Yes, there's only so much a younger child can
do, but no harm starting early! Even if it's simply pouring the cereal
into a bowl, and then mom finds a minute to pour the milk for the young
child before she jumps in the shower.

toypup...

If I'm pressed for time, the last thing I want them to do is prepare their
own breakfast. I'd save that lesson for a day that I have time to get them
to clean up after the mess they make.

FWIW, my kids wouldn't eat a breakfast if I didn't offer it to them. So,
they wouldn't really want to make a breakfast, either. If I were to tell DS
to make a breakfast or go without, he'd go without (or eat chocolate chip
cookies).

toto...

If you get a small pitcher, the child can pour his or her own milk
too. You just have to help at first and let them practice.

Nikki...

Those small glass bottles with the measurments on the side for vinegar and
oil salad dressing are perfect for this. I still use one for my kids and
they are older. They have a narrow spot that little hands will fit around,
a small opening for pouring, and hold enough for my kids needs.

Barbara Bomberger...

Or leave a tupperare glassa in kids reach in the fridge.

And let kdis dress themselves, with the undestanding that when you
ring the dinner bell (or whatever your signal is) thats how they go
out the door.

MsLiz...

Tupperware has (at least way back when, had) some really cute tiny
pitchers, well acutally I think it was supposed to be a creamer. I
would put cereal in small tupperware cereal bowls with lids, have the
milk in the tiny pitcher and he loooooooooved getting his own food.
Then there's my dd who, unless I make it, she'll find any reason not to
eat. Kids are all so different that it's hard to believe that they're
from the same planet at times.

But then again, in our house breakfast is never a sit-down-share-a-meal
affair; we save that for dinner instead.

For example, we might set up the programmable rice cooker the night
before, and kids help themselves to a bowl of rice and grab a
hardboiled egg (cooked in a batch on the weekend) or yogurt cup. Or you
could cook oatmeal in the crockpot overnight so it's ready in the
morning to just serve and eat (we don't do this because only two of us
eat oatmeal, but it's an idea!). Home-made muffins are another good
one. And of course, cereal (we leave the boxes where the kids can reach
them). DD11 has also been known to prefer cold leftover pasta or mac &
cheese for breakfast.

As they've gotten older, they've learned how to use the toaster oven
themselves so they can make bagels or cheese toast. And now they are
also competent at scrambling up their own eggs and cooking bacon in the
microwave. The only supervision needed these days is when DD11 wants a
bagel, since she has braces, we need to help her cut it up in
bite-sized pieces.

When I was their age, I was also responsible for fetching my own
breakfast: I used to make eggs, bacon and toast for my dad and me,
since we were the ones up first. Those are some of my fondest memories,
silently sharing breakfast with just my dad (we both didn't like to
talk in the morning) while the rest of the house still slept. (But now
I'm rambling...)

Ericka Kammerer...

Not to gainsay your experience, but is there any
way to compress that timeline? For instance, why would
you have to get up an hour earlier to do breakfast? It
doesn't take us an hour to do breakfast. Also, an hour

Banty...

Oh, I don't know. Maybe it does - I was thinking that I want breakfast at
toypup's house! ;-)

Ericka Kammerer...

Now there's a thought! I do enjoy a tasty
breakfast with all the trimmings... ;-) We do that
for dinner, though, because I just can't get into
cooking at the crack of dawn (which, for me, is 7am ;-) )

Best wishes,
Ericka

dragonlady...

I remember my brother talking about getting up at the crack of noon . . .

Back to the topic, though, both DH and I have to eat breakfast to feel
good, and eating low carb many of the "fast" options are no longer
available to us. However, even eating bacon and eggs for breakfast most
mornings, it doesn't mean getting up an hour early. Whoever is up first
throws the bacon in the pan and heads for the shower. The bacon cooks
itself while we get ready, with an occassional check. Scrambled eggs

Chookie...

How long are you cooking this bacon for???

cjra...

Is Australian bacon like English bacon? If so, it's very different from
American bacon. American bacon - even the super 'lean' stuff is mostly
fat, and it takes a long time to cook off anyway, much longer than
English bacon.

bizby40...

Hah! When I was in England, I couldn't stand the bacon, partly
because it seemed so soggy and uncooked to me. Blech!

cjra...

I liked it, but I had to not think of it as 'bacon' but as ham.

But I wouldn't walk away from American bacon no matter
how long it took. Too much popping and sizzling and grease
shooting everywhere for me to feel safe.

cjra...

Yeah, I'm paranoid there'd be a fire.I never walk away from the gas
stove when the flames on period, regardless of what's cooking (the oven
yeah, 'cause the flame is enclosed for the most part). Our all wood
house would sizzle in minutes.

And of course there is the cat....

Bizby

C - a survivor of the Great English or American Bacon? Debate.

take less than 5 minutes to cook. We eat while we read the paper (the
only meal of the day where reading material is allowed at the table.) I
doubt if we get up more than 10 or 15 minutes earlier to make breakfast
possible -- and, like I said, that's for bacon and eggs.

However, we are NOT feeding kids at breakfast time any more. One of
mine can't eat until she's been awake for at least an hour, and one just
doesn't like to eat until she's been awake for a while. When the oldest
was small, she started day care VERY early, and ate breakfast there.
After that, I was home during the day, and they could eat when breakfast
seemed reasonable. If we'd had to drive somewhere every morning -- and
been in the car for a while -- I probably would have tried to find a way
to feed them breakfast in the car, too.

and a half to get everyone ready seems like a long time
time to me. I'm *not* a morning person, so I'm always
looking for ways to get things moving faster. But even
on the mornings when both DH and I have to shower and
get dressed for work, we get up at 7:00am to have everyone
out the door (with breakfast) by 8:10am (and that's with
two kids doing piano practice before school). If my
older kids were younger and I was doing it solo, I'd
shower the night before, get up myself at 7:00am to get
dressed, and get the kids up at 7:15 and still have
plenty of time for the kids to get dressed and breakfasted
before school. But maybe others are doing more stuff
before they leave the house?

Best wishes,
Ericka

Banty...

Barbara...

I assume that Toypup's kids are quite young, so the time stated
includes waking them, getting them washed and brushing their teeth, and
dressing them. I remember in those days, it would sometimes take 10
minutes to get a single sock on One, as if the seam wasn't *just so* it
would hurt him.

Banty...

That's what she says she does between 6:00 am and 7:30 am. An hour and a half;
not being a morning person, that's no surprise to me..

It's that she says that she have to get up *yet* an hour *earlier* to get
breakfast that has me dreaming of Belgian waffles from scratch, fresh cut
strawberries, and Canadian bacon.... ;-)

Banty ('cept I can't have the waffles no more .... :( )

Stephanie...

Thanks. Now I'm hungry.

Thankfully, One is able to compact his morning routine much better
these days. DH gets up at 6:25 to daven before he showers; I'm up at
6:30. One's alarm rings at 7, but we usually can't drag him out of bed
until 7:10. We have to be out the door at 7:37 to make the school bus
(leaving time for slow elevators, as we live in a building). Neither
DH nor I eat breakfast at home, but One eats a bowl of cereal.

I guess I don't see breakfast in the car as so bad, particularly if its
a long trip. Some ideas -- cereal (do they still make those little

Ericka Kammerer...

Oh, I don't see it as the end of the earth either.
We do it on occasion. I was just reacting to the notion
that it's not *possible* to eat breakfast at home because
it takes an hour and a half to get everyone ready without
breakfast, and it would take an additional hour to add
serving breakfast into the mix. That just sort of
surprises me.

Sue...

It surprises me too and I cook some kind of breakfast every morning for my
girls. One child gets up at 6 to get the bus at 7 (she is into all the
primping that girls do) and the other two girls get up at 7 to go to school
at 8:15. Breakfast, from cooking it, eating, and cleaning up takes about 1/2
hour. I tend to make things like eggs, bacon, pancakes, waffles, oatmeal,
leftovers, soup, etc...... I do make things the night before to make things
easier in the morning too though (like bacon). Granted I am using frozen
waffles and pancakes, but even if I made them from scratch, you can make
them ahead of time.

Marie...

What kind of soup do you make for breakfast?
I love making pancakes, but I can't accomplish eggs and bacon in the
morning. Oatmeal is ok to make also.

Sue...

Shamelessly, sometimes just the canned soup. Many times though Joel will
make homemade soup and we will have that. Kara isn't much into breakfast
foods, so lots of times she will eat leftovers from dinner. I do have to
make sure that her breakfast is higher in protein. Bacon I cook the night
before or I would not have time for that.

Ericka Kammerer...

I'm going to have leftover chicken and rice chowder
for breakfast this morning...when I get around to it ;-)

Sue...

Yum, that sounds good. Did you make it yourself?

Ericka Kammerer...

Actually, this one was from Let's Dish, so it
would be more accurate to say I assembled it myself ;-)
But, I have a couple of really easy, quick soups that
I use a lot in the winter, if you like.

Sue...

I still need to check out the Let's Dish you mentioned before. But, yes, I
would love any recipes you have. I love homemade soup.

Ericka Kammerer...

Well, these are almost embarrassingly easy, but
good (I think, anyway):

Corn Chowder

- Chop up as many pieces of bacon as you think advisable
and fry them up in a soup pot. Drain off most of the
bacon grease.
- Toss in cubed potato and chopped up onion (if you're in
a real hurry, you can use the bagged breakfast potatoes
with onions) and some chopped carrots (and anything else
you like) and saute those just a bit with the bacon.
- Add chicken broth (I use one of the large cartons of
low sodium broth) and whatever herbs/spices you like
(I'll usually go with basil and oregano, salt, white
pepper, maybe some marjoram) and simmer until the
veggies are tender.
- Add some corn (I usually use frozen, but fresh is
great if you've got it handy).
- You can add some cooked chicken if you like.
- When it's done, taste and adjust the salt and pepper
if necessary. Then add a can of evaporated milk (I
use skim) to make it creamier.

You could use rice instead of potato if you like. You
could also add celery, but my family doesn't like it.

Chicken Stew

- Dump a large bag of frozen mixed veggies in a pot.
- Add a large carton of chicken broth.
- Add herbs/spices (I usually use poultry seasoning,
salt, and white pepper).
- Simmer until veggies are tender.
- Add diced, cooked chicken and simmer until warm.
Add a little more water along the way if you need to.

(If you want to do dumplings, cook them in the
broth at this point.)

- Shake up some flour and cold water (maybe 1/3 cup
flour and a cup of water?) and add it to the stew
to thicken it. Cook at a boil for a good minute or
two to get the flour taste out.
- Add a can of evaporated milk.

Serve over dumplings or biscuits (love it with dumplings,
personally, but biscuits are nice too).

Like I said, terribly simple but tasty and warm.
If you need to, you can make either in moments with
prepared foods (frozen veggies, buy cooked chicken,
etc.). I even made chicken stew in early labor to
feed the troops--it's that easy ;-)

Sue...

LOL.

Thank you so much. I absolutely love corn chowder and wanted a good recipe.

Ericka Kammerer...

This one isn't super thick and creamy, since
I'm just not willing to introduce that much fat into
the process. If you want it thicker without adding
much fat, you could thicken with the flour and water
slurry before adding the evaporated milk. And, of
course, you could use cream instead of evaporated
milk ;-) But, if you use milk or cream, you have
to be careful not to let it boil too much afterwards
or the soup will curdle or separate. The evaporated
milk doesn't do that as easily. It's even nicer if
you thicken with a butter/flour roux, but that takes
another pan and I'm lazy ;-) I think this one is
a good compromise between having a nice, rich,
flavorful soup without having something that I
have to save for a special occasion. Some people
will also add creamed corn to the recipe, which
will add some thickness and creaminess, but I
don't like that as much.

Sue...

Ah thank you for the secrets. I will add them to the other post. Thanks
again.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Marie

dragonlady...

It may depend on issues with the kids.

There are several folks in my family (my daughter being one of them) who
cannot eat until they've been up and about for at least an hour. (If
they eat sooner, they are very likely to throw up.) I could see that
sort of problem making the morning schedule more complicated.

MsLiz...

You just totally described me. I have never in my life been a
breakfast person. I gag easily and to this day, avoid it like the
plague.

But I can't imagine why it takes an hour and a half to get everyone
ready without including breakfast in that hour and a half -- unless

Welches...

Chowder?

Ericka Kammerer...

Thick, creamy (usually) soup.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Debbie

that's an hour of morning meditation and exercise, and a half hour of

MsLiz...

ROFL!!!!

and a half hour of

getting the kids up and moving! Still, fixing and eating breakfast,

MsLiz...

I HATE waking my daughter with a passion. I ask my husband to do it
whenever possible. It usually takes one or both of us going into her
room at least 4 times. I have really tried various tactics...getting
mad is one of them and standing there until she gets out of bed. I
have tried to make it funny too and nothimg works. I've shined lights
in her face, opened up windows, flash lights on and off. A real freak
show I might say. Even her going to sleep earlier is worthless.
Unless she gets 12 hours (not bloodly likely these days) of sleep, she
is a bit of a bear in the morning. BUT, no matter how grumpy she is;
she still eats :-)

Still, fixing and eating breakfast,

under normal circumstances,shouldn't take an extra hour.

MsLiz...

I make her breakfast and pack her lunch in less than 15 minutes...takes
her about 5 minutes to eat. And that's an "egg in a hole breakfast".
It takes less time when it's just a bowl of cereal.

Best wishes,
Ericka

snack cups with a sliding cover?); yogurt; instant oatmeal in a cup
(only takes a couple of minutes in the microwave, and can be brought
along); fruit; mini bagel with cheese or nut butter (if allergies are
not an issue).

cjra...

On an occassional basis it's no big deal. I guess my concern is that
this habit is indicative of our Fast Food Nation, which I don't think
is particularly healthy, esp if the habit is starting from the earliest
ages.

dragonlady...

WHERE you eat -- or even eating on the move -- isn't an indication of
any sort of problem. WHAT you eat may be -- and several folks here have
offered suggestions of things that are just as healthy (and home made)
as what they might eat sitting at the table at home.

cjra...

Just a difference of opinion. I do think *where* or rather *how* you
eat is incredibly important to maintaining healthy eating habits. The

Nikki...

So how is eating fast, perhaps earlier then you are really hungry better
then eating at a slower pace during a time when you'd not be doing anything
else (maybe a bit longer after waking up so you are actually hungry) better?
Just because of the location?

The first scenario seems like eating on the run more then the second.

concept of eating on the run is _part_ of what has contributed to the
epidemic of obesity in our society (the other part is WHAT is eaten).

Barbara Bomberger...

As i understand it the idea wasnt to eat on the run. The idea was to
utilize a very long commute as breakfast time. I do this regularly,
and actually eat almost the same thing as I would at hom.

I do have to stand up and brush myself off after eating that muffin in
the car. But other than that, I really dont see the advantage of
eating a muffin at the table, assuming other meals are healthy,
leisured and part of family time.

Ericka Kammerer...

Actually, I don't really agree with that. I think
it *does* matter how one eats, at least how one eats regularly,
since I'm sure everyone is occasionally in a bind where a
sit down meal isn't possible. I think that the rituals
surrounding eating affect our relationship with food and
ultimately affect how we make choices about what we eat,
how much we eat, and so forth. In general, sitting down
and eating a meal sets one up for a better and healthier
lifetime of eating. That doesn't mean it's a disaster if
one occasionally eats on the run, but I would be cautious
about even doing one meal a day on the run if it were every
day.

Best wishes,
Ericka

dragonlady...

I suspect there is some truth to that.

I know I eat better when I take the time to sit at the table and do the
ritual meal thing.

shinypenny...

I agree I eat better when I sit down with people; unfortunately, I also

Ericka Kammerer...

You can sit down at the table even when you're
eating alone.

tend to eat *more.* This is well-documented that sharing meals does
have a way of making you eat more calories than if you ate alone. One

cjra...

Not if you serve the same size portions.

Banty...

Yes. what is this - everyone is sitting around a big plate of couscous?

That's a key to health - having normal portions, creating expectations for
normal portions.

shinypenny...

The theory here is that when couples start cohabitating, a woman who'd
normally be satisfied with, say, a salad or a low-fat meal, finds
herself cooking meals that are more rich & calorie-dense, higher in
meat and fat, etc, to meet her husband's higher caloric requirements.
Men have higher muscle mass so they can easily eat more calories
without gaining weight. Since the couple is cooking together and
sharing meals, oftentimes, the woman ends up following his diet - he'd
probably starve if they followed hers! It doesn't *have* to be that
way, of course, but newlywed/new relationship weight gain is pretty
common.

Then there's also social pressure - he may encourage her to sit and
linger, have one more bite, etc. Maybe she's not even hungry, but he
wants her company at the table, and feels weird if she isn't eating, so
he encourages her to take a plate too. Even the best of us may just
find our willpower crumbles and we find ourselves saying yes to foods
we normally could resist, if it's waved in our face.

Meals for more than one person tend to be more of a production as well.
On your own, you might simply make a quick sandwich. Cooking for a
sit-down family meal, you're more likely to include more variety. And
variety in itself tends to encourage humans to eat more, even when they
are already full. This is why there's always room for dessert if
someone shows you dessert. Even if you can't eat another bite of steak,
the dessert is something new and different, so your appetite gets
kick-started again. We're designed that way intentionally - it's a
survival thing.

If it wasn't for my DH, I would not have any salty snacks or ice cream
in the house. But he can indulge in this sort of stuff because he's so
active, without gaining weight. It's in the house. That ups the chance
for me to be tempted. I'm usually pretty good, but I'm an imperfect
human being. Especially when he brings the Java Chip to bed and offers
me a "taste".... ugh. Willpower crumbles.

In my first marriage I ballooned up within the first year because I
matched my ex's diet. Even when I started dieting, it was difficult
because he'd guilt me: "Why aren't you eating the meat??" With my
current DH, I've been more careful. He really can't stand eating
without my company. At restaurants he often orders dessert and insists
I take a bite before he does, and that's frequently my downfall!

My strategy at home is to serve myself one reasonable portion, and eat
slow - I drag it out long enough that he's finished his second helping
before I'm done my first. At restaurants, he's finally gotten used to
me stopping at halfway mark. If he's still hungry, he eats the rest for
me. If he's not, I bag it for lunch the next day.

But maybe this is just YMMW sort of thing. I find if I sit down and eat
slowly, I eat a lot less. Without really thinking about it, I take the
time to let my body digest and decide if it's still hungry...if I'm
eating on the go, more often than not I eat the whole thing then regret
it!

toypup...

Nah. I definitely eat more at a sitting than on the go. When I eat on the
go, I lose weight, because I only eat enough to satisfy hunger. When I sit
down, I eat because the food is good or maybe I don't want the cook to feel
bad. Okay, I don't try to finish my plate for anyone, but some people just
like to cook, then I feel that I have to try a little of everything they
make and that's more than I would normally eat.

MsLiz...

Same here. If I eat while working on the computer, I tend to shove
handfuls of almonds in my mouth (and sometimes unconsciously). As far
as the well-documented theory about sharing meals and gaining
weight...........whenever I dated and went out to dinner and even in
the beginning of my love relationships; I always ate less than normal.
In fact, I think I eat less when I eat with people, in general. I will
eat a HUGE salad in a HUGE bowl when I'm alone and when I'm out, they
don't offer those HUGE bowls. Often a salad will arrive and everyone
comments "wow, that's really big" and I"m thinking "it is???" I always
lose weight when my in-laws visit because they eat out 3X a day and I
get so disgusted by the stuff they eat, that I lose my appetite and can
barely force myself to eat. I have one of those really, really
sensitive stomachs that react to any type of emotion. The first thing
that goes is my appetite. But I make up for it once all is back to
normal :-)

toypup...

The problem usually is the food that's eaten on the go. (now I didn't say
*always*..). Portable foods tend to be the caloric and fatty. It also lends
itself to a habit of snacking.

toypup...

That's true. At least for us though, we don't snack on the go. Okay, maybe
the kids do have a bite of cereal now and then, but it's usually done around
snack time and we happen to be in the car. We just don't snack mindlessly.

of the reasons couples gain weight when they first get married -
because they're sharing meals together!

dragonlady...

I didn't say "sit down with people" -- I said "sit down at the table".
And that's really all I meant.

shinypenny...

Oh.

I think it's a good practice to eat at the table, using a plate and
silverware and stuff, even when you eat alone.

shinypenny...

That's true, and I agree, but I'm also thinking back to the time when
my kids were very young and more interested in getting up from the
table than sitting there to eat. And I'd find myself running after them
with one more spoonful, or allowing them to carry off their bread
because I was just happy to see them eat something.

If the OP's children are in that stage, perhaps being strapped into a
car seat encourages them to associate eating with sitting still?

jen

P.s. We do not eat in the car. It grosses DH out, even if we're on a
long road trip he'll insist on taking the time to go into the
restaurant instead of the drive-through. When the kids were younger,
yes, I'd feed them in the car (not meals but snacks) because back then
we lived far away from everything and driving was a necessity to get
anywhere. Better to have them happily munching, than crying with hunger
while I'm trying to drive.

That's all I really meant -- eating while literally "on the run" makes
you less mindful of the fact that you are eating, or what you are eating.

However, I think that eating in the car isn't the end of the world for
this issue.

For us, the "morning ritual" involved decidedly NOT talking to each
other -- even when the kids were small, they knew better than to attempt
idle chatter with Mom in the morning!

Ericka Kammerer...

But several studies also find that people who
eat mindfully are less likely to be overweight than
those who eat on the run/in front of the tv/while
standing in front of the 'fridge/etc.

toypup...

I agree that eating mindlessly would be a bad habit, but I don't think
eating in the car is necessarily mindless eating. I eat on the run all the
time, but I eat because I'm hungry. I'm not one of those to snack in front
of the tv or anywhere else for that matter. If I'm eating on the run, it is
the actual meal I would have eaten, but maybe less, because I'm in a hurry
and it's not easy to eat the full meal when I'm pressed for time. It's not
the same as having a bag of chips in the car that we snack on constantly
just because we're in the car. For the kids' breakfast, they eat cinnamon
bread or cereal or whatever else I would have fed them in the portion I
would have fed them at home. It must not be so bad for my weight, since I'm
not at all overweight and neither are the kids. The food is no less
healthy. You may argue that it will cause problems down the road. I would
stop doing it if it became problematic but I do not wish to make it an issue
when it isn't one ATM.

Best wishes,
Ericka

I think as long as the family can sit down and share *one* meal a day
together, you're doing great. That's our goal, and for us, it's dinner.
Breakfast? No way. We all get up at different times and are hungry at
different times in the morning. DH and DD#1 both need to eat within
minutes of waking. DD#2 can't stomach anything until a half hour has
past. I take a few hours.

Plus none of us are very good company in the morning. We'd just all
have our nose in the newspaper or read the cereal box if I forced us to
sit down every morning!

But then again, I may be really bad about this one. When we have
company, I have to force myself to do the good hostess thing and chat
over coffee with my company. I really hate making conversation with
anyone first thing in the morning.

However, I like to think it would be possible to find a way to minimize
those problems and still have breakfast in the car, if that was what
worked out best for the family.

Barbara Bomberger...

I dont agree with this at all, but frankly even when we werent
commutting we did not all eat the same thing at breakfast nor did we
sit at the table. I have a variety of healthy choices available for
breakfast, assisted smaller children when they needed it and every one
feeds themselves and puts the dishes away.

And franky, in this house, if we DID sit down and eat together, there
would be no rituals or conversations.

If I had to spend 45 minutes to an hour in the car every morning with my
kids, it might make sense to ALSO use that time as breakfast time. It

MsLiz...

Right there, your words, "if I had to spend 45 minutes...", my thought
is that it's a choice. I'm guessing that this family (OP) has chosen
this lifestyle. I agree that eating in the car is not the worst thing

Caledonia...

I would wager that few people consciously choose to commute 90
minutes/day -- perhaps they've chosen this only as much as one would
choose to be employed, or have health insurance....a choice, to be
sure, but in many cases alternative 'choices' are unappealing or
infeasible.

cjra...

It's still a choice. In LA, where I'm from, commuting 90 mins one way
is very common. Many will argue necessary, but one needs to think of
*why* it's necessary? Very often the concept of more house but more
commute is appealing while less house/little commute is not. But it's
still a choice. A necessary one? I'd argue no, but most would argue
yes.

Stephanie...

In all things there is priority associated with different stuff. For us,
living in a rural community was a priority. Not much house. Of course we
don't have much money. NO house would have been affordable in town.

So when you factor
- backyard
- safety
- neighborhood
- accessibility to grocery

and a ton of other things I can think of on a priority list, I can see why
someone would choose this. I can see why not commuting is a priority for
you. But I can see other priorities that would not make one an evil nasty
rotten parent.

cjra...

eh, who's an evil nasty rotten parent?????

Stephanie...

Total tongue in cheek from a brain wasted person. Sorry.

I simply argued in response to the notion that it wasn't a choice, that
there is, in *almost* all cases, a choice. You make that choice based
on your priorities.

Caledonia...

See, when I lived in the Bay area, the choice was 'affordable rent' or,
well, not. The option of buying a home and the whole big/small house
tradeoff wasn't even an option (except for a co-worker, who bought
outside Gilroy and commuted to Oakland...).

Banty...

toypup...

Yes, yes, yes. I have to do all that. DS can do most of it himself, but I
still have to give him his meds and brush his teeth after he's done doing
it, because he mostly chews the toothbrush. Also, he's a dawdler. I sent
him to his room to get dressed once and ten minutes later, I come to his
room to see him daydreaming in bed naked.

Well, when I lived in the Bay area, I moved out :)

And this goes to the choice - although there are scads of jobs for me there, in
the field where I had experience and I had just received my PhD, I chose to make
the rest of my career *elsewhere*. Because of the whole housing cost problem in
large part. As well as the commute. (BTW, when I did work there, I commuted by
train from Palo Alto to San Jose - yes it was possible! May still be.)

dragonlady...

It is -- but by the time I drove to the train station (or took the bus)
and then took the train, it would be a commute of at least an hour, not
counting the time to get to wherever the job was in Palo Alto -- and I'm
not willing to do that if I can help it. And, since you moved away, the
COST of mass transit has gone up alarmingly -- I don't know what it
would have been, but not cheap.

(My last temp position was a 10 minute commute -- while I don't expect
them all to be THAT close, I have sort of an internal limit of 45
minutes each way, unless the job pays REALLY well. There are drawbacks
to temping, but there are also benefits, and, right now, I can be
choosy.)

dragonlady...

yuck! I just turned down a temp job because the San Jose (Willow Glen
area) to Palo Alto commute was too much for me!

Banty...

CalTrans.

(Is it still CalTrans?)

dragonlady...

Sure -- but by the time I drive to the Caltrans station it's STILL a
long commute. (For enough $$, I'd do it anyway -- and use the time on
the train to knit or read.)

Banty...

?

Thought you were in E. PA?

Blame the folks on the penninsula who wouldn't support the original plans for
BART.

bizby40...

When DH bought his first house (which later became ours),
it was a 15 minute commute to work. When I had DD, I
looked for good day care that was not that far out of the
way, but didn't find it. I finally had to drive almost 1/2
hour in the wrong direction to get her to the sitter. Suddenly
my commute was more than 45 minutes each way each day.

So the longer commute really wasn't a choice. And it
would have been rather ridiculous to move into a new
house just to shave a little time off of it. Besides, DD
was only at that day care 2.5 years, and I've had 3
or 4 different jobs since then.

cjra...

I guess we just differ on the concept of choice. I happen to think a

Ericka Kammerer...

I agree that social changes that help people
realize they have choices are also a good thing. That's
not the same thing as saying that everything can be
fixed with a change in attitude...and therefore there's
no social responsibility because all anyone has to do
to better their lot in life is change their attitude.
(Not that crja said that, but it is the natural conclusion
that many people draw from what she did say, hence my
addendum.)

cjrohr31...

Thank you for making that clarification. That certainly is *not* what I
was suggesting, recognising choice is only one step along the way. An
important one I argue, and one that may require help in obtaining, but
one of many.

But I guess I see how one could interpret it that way.But then those
sorts aren't likely to change their minds anyway.

Ericka Kammerer...

Well, that's probably true ;-) No one could
accuse me of avoiding tilting at windmills on occasion!

Best wishes,
Ericka

Best wishes,
Ericka

choice between 'lousy" and "less lousy" is still a choice.

bizby40...

Well, I rather assumed that you were at least talking
about *reasonable* choices! And I truly did not
have any reasonable choices for day care without
going so far out of my way. There were 0 licensed
providers on this side of town. The one and only
unlicensed one I found, I tried for 5 weeks (*way*
longer than I should have) had my child spending the
entire day crying and not eating. So it's not like
it was a snobbish "only the best for little Muffy."

bizby40...

In case it isn't clear, the "tried for 5 weeks" refers to
how long DD went to that day care, not how long
I spent looking for it.

Bizby

I'm not arguing you should do anything different! I merely took issue
with the concept that people 'don't have a choice.' One could say I
didn't have a choice to take a less than suitable position for my
career because I married DH who wanted to stay in this city and there
were few positions available for me. But I had the choice to marry him
and make that sacrifice :)

dragonlady...

In the LONG term I'd tend to agree -- but in the short term, the choice
is sometimes between "eating" and "not eating".

cjra...

Fair enough.

I wonder how much that applies to those on this group. I mean....first
thing I'd do is ditch the computer if I couldn't afford to eat! (and I
have been in a position where I had to literally count pennies to eat
and had to sell stuff off)

Caledonia...

Nah. Even when we were doing that, we still had a monitor and a modem.
(For reasons unknown to man, we've dutifully moved the trs80 with
us...sigh.)

Sue...

Our computer would be the last thing to go since I work at home from it and
need internet access. Our computer is my bread and butter. :o) Since hubby
has lost his job, it will be interesting to see what we can cut and what we
can't. Since we were living on bare bones as it is, I'm not sure what else I
can do. If anyone has any ideas, I am all ears.

dragonlady...

When DH lost his job, I registered with a temp agency, and did as much
typing and filing as I could stand while he looked for work from home
and became the primary Designated Parental Unit. (I also continued my
20 hour a week part time job, which I was able to do evenings and
weekends.) However, that could not have been a long term solution -- it
just kept enough $$ coming in to keep our heads above water. Plus, I
didn't have the stamina to continue to work 60 hour work weeks for very
long, and he doesn't have the skill set/personality type to be home full
time for very long. (And his professional skills don't include the
sorts of things that can get decent money for the sorts of "day labor"
that *I* can make money at.)

I'm temping again now for different reasons, and I find I kind of enjoy
it again. It's satsifying to be able to go into an office and help them
catch up, but I don't get pulled into any office politics or any of that
stuff. So if you have decent word processing skills, it's one idea.

When Dad lost HIS job, I know Mom started spending one day a week
volunteering at the food coop, so she could get a further discount on
food there.

It really IS hard to figure out what to cut out -- what is truely
discretionary and what is not. Some things are relatively easy (cable
TV), some are discretionary but you don't WANT to renige on (the church
pledge fits this category for us) and some are things that *I* don't
think of as luxurys (delivery of the daily newspaper, coffee) but that
we really CAN live without. I spent most of my childhood watching my
parents struggle with these choices, as my Dad worked in an industry
that had frequent lay-offs, and an occassional long strike. I know
where they came down on things (no matter how tough things were, we
always got the newspaper and one weekly news magazine; when things were
better, we sometimes had as many as 3 daily newspapers delivered. But
the coffee might be really, really weak.) Mom and Dad worked hard to
keep us off welfare, though there were times when we got food stamps or
commodities foods for a time.

And sometimes, the short term seems to go on forever.

Where I live now, commuting is the norm but it's not reached LA
proportions yet (it's getting there), but rather than choose 'big house
in the suburbs + 30+ minute commute on a good day, we chose
smaller/older house in town with little commute. For awhile I made the

Sue...

I wasn't going to get into this discussion as I find this stuff very
frustrating; however, above just grinds my nerves.

Why do you automatically assume that because someone's work is 30+ hours
away is because they wanted a big house? That is so judgemental of you. We

cjra...

It has been stated REPEATEDLY by members of my community, on another
chat group I was on (which deals with home ownership), and many many
many people I've talked to personally.

I didn't say it applied to all. But it is cited ALL THE TIME by people
who have made that choice. Perhaps it's not at all true in your area
and you personally know no one who's made such a decision, but I do,
and base my statement entirely upon what people have clearly stated,
not my assumptions.

Barbara Bomberger...

And I would bet most places on the east coast its just the opposit.
the further twoards, for example, Washington DC one goes, the higher
the house prices. In your case we made the choice to pay for the
expensive brownstone and live without wheels most of the time, but
thats not a choice many can make

have a small house and my husband communted to his job 45 minutes away. We
have chosen this house because the schools are good, the house is small, the
houses where work is are very expensive

choice to commute 1 hr each way, but decided to take a lower paying job
(which also suited my career) within walking distance.

I realise alternative choices may be unappealing - where I used to work
the area was lousy and I wouldn't want to live near there - but it was
still a choice. Then again, like slow food I'm a big proponent of
better urban planning and smart growth, so that the commute issue which
puts more and more cars on the road for longer, consuming more fuel and
releasing more pollutants is important to me. That is, however, not

Caledonia...

Likewise it's important to me -- although our choice of town (ergo,
school system) was influenced more by that amorphous 'quality of life'
factor for our kids, so the current 1 hour commuter rail trip was
barely a factor. As a kid, I went to some awful urban public schools,
and looking back, I can't feel that it was all worth it b/c my parents
could take the bus to work (we couldn't have afforded to move anyway;
moot point, really).

toypup...

Yes. I was a student at a gang-infested school. It would be nice to think
we could stay and make it nice, but it would take the whole school of
idealistic parents for that, which we don't have, and I wouldn't want to
sacrifice my children to prove a point.

cjra...

Just to be clear, making urban schools better isn't about 'proving a
point.' It's about improving the community, something everyone benefits
from.

Caledonia...

True -- and it's a laudable goal. I'm more aligned w/toypup her,
though, as this goal which would benefit everyone would take a long
time and have some short-term pain (or frustration, or eventual
failure). It's not admirable and is pretty self-serving to say that I'd
prefer to let my children skip this (in the most ideal setting,
short-term) process -- but there it is. There are still a lot of other
things one can focus on which would be of benefit to everyone (access
to health insurance, anyone?), without having my children experience
something I wish I hadn't.

cjra...

That's reasonable. There are some parts of town I wouldn't choose to
live in because I couldn't see a possibility of improvement in the
nearish future. We've got 5 yrs before it's a concern for us. There are
other districts which have the 'best' schools but I wouldn't choose to
live there because there are other issues I find problematic with their
schools. Fortunately our district, while not the best, is not violent
and has lots of potential. That many young couples of like mind are
moving into the area and starting families helps.

All that said, it may become a non-issue as we may move out of the
country by the time the first kid is into 1st or 2nd grade. But still,
in the meantime we're working on becoming involved in the community and
the schools to encourage improvement as even if we leave it is still
worth the effort. The district will never be like the wealthy
districts, but IMO that's not a bad thing.

I realize that I'm choosing a short-term good (small rural town, small
school system) over a long-term good ('just getting 1 car off the
road...') -- but like shopping at Wal-Mart, I also realize that I truly

Welches...

LOL
It takes us 20-30 minutes to get us, plus both girls, up, dressed,
breakfasted, pack lunch made (including often buying the bread from the shop
opposite) and #1 to school. Breakfast is either cereal or porridge, with a
drink of fruit juice.
I have done it in 7 minutes with just #1 when we all overslept and only had
that time.
#1 is very good at making her own breakfast, and she's been doing her own
(and often #2's, and occasionally daddy's too!) for nearly 18 months now, as
long as we leave the bowl out, because the bowl is stored too high for her
to reach. She still needs some help dressing, particularly now when she
wants to wear tights. On non-games days she needs more help as I save the
easily dressed uniform for when she has games.
Debbie

am lucky to *have* a choice -- for many people (cleaning staff, for
example -- to choose a kindred example from my youth), it's really
*not* a choice, imo.

the most popular opinion in American suburbia ;-)

Caledonia...

If a town was incorporated in the early 1700's, is it still 'suburbia'?

Banty...

They get taken over by suburbia...

Banty...

dragonlady...

No -- San Jose, near the Willow Glen area. Since the job I took in
Mountain View took up to an hour and a quarter to get to, I know Palo
Alto would consistantly take over an hour.

dragonlady...

Agreed -- and I continue to vote in favor of bringing BART here. But,
with any luck at all, by the time THAT happens, we'll be out of here.

Or pigs will fly.

I agree. Most often, what folks say they 'have to' really translates into 'want
to'. Or even, 'what everyone else does'.

cjra...

And even if it's a choice to buy a plane seat for a baby or not go to
see FIL ;-)

Banty...

Yep.

and to point that out does not mean one is making "large assumptions" about
anyone ;-)

I will state it's still a choice, even if the options stink and I don't
like them.

And that the sprawl is a huge problem from many points of view.

But people *do* make homes in much smaller houses than they can 'afford' for any
number of very good reasons, and it's a choice very available.

dragonlady...

There are choices -- and then there are choices.

I know too many times when families have made "life style choices" that
were undermined by circumstances beyond their control.

And there are times when you just have to make the best of the way
things are right now, and make plans for a future change. Just this
week, I turned down a temp job because the commute was too much for the
$$ offered -- but I can do that this week. If they don't find somthing
closer for me, in a week or two I might have to accept a longer commute,
since we can't afford for me to stay unemployed for too long. (And,
with DH looking for work out of the area, looking for a permanent job
isn't possible.)

I'm reminded of one of my favorite jokes: If you want to give God a
good laugh, tell her your plans.

is the world, but it can set up some not-so-great eating
habits/associations. CAN, not necessarily WILL. On the other hand, if
the time is spent with the family conversing and there not being a DVD
player on (tee hee, this reminded me of an older thread) then this
family time together can actually be advantagous.

It

would allow a few more minutes of sleep, and give the kids something to
do in the car. As long as we still sat down to dinner together, I can't
see it as that big a deal.

MsLiz...

I agree.

Nikki...

I used to have a long commute to get anywhere. Eating in the car was a life
saver. Why get up earlier to eat at home only so the kids were bored in the
car and too hungry before lunch because they ate so darn early. There is
nothing for a 2-3yo to actually do in a car so eating worked great for us.
They got food, something to do, and it was a much more efficeint use of
time.

Some kids eat slow. Some kids have no desire to eat the first hour they are
up. It isn't always about just getting up earlier when you have 30-45
minutes of just riding around in a car anyway - what is the point. I also
don't see any intrinsic value in being able to scarf breakfast down in 5
minutes. Getting in the habit of eating in 5 minutes has just as many draw
backs as eating in the car IMO. Probably more so for little kids. My kids
had no problem switching to eating at the table when we no longer commuted
long distances. I doubt it would have been as easy to get them to slow down
although I don't know because eating to fast is definatly not a problem I
have to address with my kids, lol.

In general, I'd prefer all meals at the table, too -- but I don't think

toypup...

I don't think my mere presence is enough. We'd need a bunch of like-minded
parents there, which is very difficult to do. I don't want to spend time
there letting my kids wallow as I try to change the system. Changing the
system takes time, more time than I'm willing to let my kids wallow. By the
time the system is improved, it's too late for my kids. I'd rather have my
kids start off right. Of course, the community benefits from improving
urban schools, but my kids come first. I want them in the best school for
them, not a substandard one I hope to improve.

that eating breakfast in the car daily needs to be viewed as the
beginning of a slide into unhealthy eating.

MsLiz...

And as you said...it's WHAT you eat moreso than how you eat. One thing
that I'd avoid in this whole bring-it-with-you meal is to keep the fast
food/convenience food out of the mix and try to keep the plastic bags
to a minimum. I"m a fan of using tupperware and waxed paper over
plastic bags and aluminum; both for health reason and for recycling
reasons. Just my two cents. :-)

Irene...

One reason I've been using the ziploc bags is simply to reduce
spillage. They seem to be easier for the kids to maneuver without
dumping the entire thing upside down. Not that we haven't had
accidents, but they are relatively infrequent. Other than that, I do
try to avoid the bags where I can. I'm sure once the kids are older,
they will be able to reseal a plastic container when they put it down -
but at that point, we'll have a completely different morning routine,
anyhow.

An hour??

We fix breakfast in five minutes; it gets eaten in about that time again.

Ten minutes.

toto...

While I can fix breakfast in just 5 minutes, my grandchildren are very
slow eaters. It takes them both at least 20 to 30 minutes to finish
their food even if we are shoveling it in. This has to do with issues
of chewing and swallowing with both of them and with their sensory
defensiveness.

Barbara Bomberger...

I can fix it in five minutes, but we dont necessarily eat it that way.

toypup...

Yes, that's the problem. DS is extremely slow at eating. And setting a ten
minute limit wouldn't get him to eat more than the couple of bites he would
have eaten anyway. We might as well skip breakfast that way, and it
wouldn't upset him to skip breakfast. Besides that, we are not early
morning people, so getting up is very difficult. It takes DS 15 minutes of
laying in bed before he's ready to get up and get ready. We could drag him
out kicking and screaming, but then he wouldn't have breakfast in that
state, which would defeat the purpose of getting up early for breakfast.