Kid-Friendly St Patrick’s Day Pancake & Fruit Breakfast
For a fun and healthy St Patrick’s Day pancake breakfast or treat that kids will love, try these yummy Green Pancakes made with spinach, banana, and cinnamon along with a Rainbow Fruit Tray.
This is a meal that your kids can get their hands on and help you throughout the process. This will not only help them be interested in trying the dish that they made, but also provides your child with a meal that includes many great vitamins and minerals.
St Patrick’s Day Pancake Recipe - Health Coach Tested, Kid Approved
From being a picky eater as a kid to fitness & nutrition coach and mom of 4, I've learned a few tricks when it comes to getting kids to eat healthy. At times it’s not a simple feat, but the effort is worth it.
The first trick is to get them involved. The more involved in the process, the more likely they are to try new foods that might look a little odd.
The second is to be willing to try something they may not have liked the first time over and over. Exposure to new foods is often the key to getting them to like it. Honest!
Green Pancakes for a healthy kids breakfast
This recipe is not only fun to prepare, but it has tons of delicious nutrients that will leave your child’s body full of good energy and a feeling of accomplishment as a mom.
Eating as many colors of the rainbow as you can is often a good way to eat a balanced diet.
These healthy Green Pancakes are also very versatile. I like to add more protein to my breakfast, because it’s easy to eat breakfast and not feel full, so I added Kodiak Protein Rolled Oats and Fairlife Fat-Free Milk to the recipe so that it has a little extra protein. Feel free to use Rolled Oats and Milk that fit your family’s needs.
Adding spinach to pancakes may seem disgusting to some kids, but the great thing about spinach is its lack of flavor and ability to blend with other flavors. Especially if you highlight that it is a fun color, they won't even notice, because these tasty pancakes take on the flavor of banana and cinnamon.
They may be different from "regular" pancakes, but when you keep introducing it to them, your kids will come around to eating pancakes filled with real foods!
Eat the Rainbow
Start by making the Rainbow Fruit Tray and put it into the fridge until ready to eat with the St Patrick’s Day pancakes.
The great thing about this fruit tray is the ease of substituting the fruit to your family’s taste. For example, you can easily replace Strawberries with Raspberries or Pineapple with Mangoes. The options are endless.
You could even use the marshmallows as an incentive for eating fruits that children may not enjoy as much. Since my children don't love eating blueberries, I'll often give them a variety of fruit with little marshmallows and invite them to eat all the fruit before getting more marshmallows.
Rainbow Fruit Tray
10-20 mins to prepare
Equipment
- Plate/dish
- Various Knives
Ingredients
- Strawberries
- Tangerines
- Pineapple
- Green grapes
- Blueberries
- Marshmallows on the side
Directions
- Depending on the size of the dish and food preference, the amount of fruit needed is flexible.
- Cut up strawberries into the preferenced size and arrange them across the plate
- Peel and arrange pieces of tangerines on the tray next.
- Cut up pineapple and arrange as next layer on the tray
- Place green grapes on the tray.
- For the last layer, place blueberries on the tray and re-arrange the fruit how you want.
- Add marshmallows on the side to look like clouds, and add an extra amount of sweetness.
Mealtime conversation starters
People may feel so similar to you, but when you start talking to them and getting to know them more, you find that each person is unique and it becomes fun to celebrate each person's differences.
One of the best things we can learn from young children is their quest to know why. Kids are curious and open minded. Tap into your child-like curiosity to better help you enjoy the uniqueness of those around you.
Question: How do you know if you are happy?
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Green Spinach and Banana Pancakes
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Ingredients
- 1 cup Kodiak Protein Rolled Oats
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 large banana ripe
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup baby spinach
- ½ cup fat-free milk
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the griddle to medium-high (325-375F depending on the griddle).
- In a blender, blend up rolled oats until they reach a flour-like texture. You might need to pour oats out of the blender into a bowl and back into the blender to get desired texture.
- Add the cinnamon, baking powder, and pinch of salt into the blender, and blend for a few seconds to mix extra dry ingredients into oats. Empty dry ingredients into a medium bowl and set aside.
- Blend together the ripe banana, egg, spinach, milk, and olive oil until completely smooth.
- Return the dry mixture back into the blender and blend for 20-30 seconds until smooth. Always check to make sure the dry mixture doesn’t get stuck in crevices.
- Once the griddle is hot, pour 1/4c batter to make small pancakes. Which will produce about 7 3-inch pancakes.
- Cook for about 3 minutes, flip and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until done.
Notes
Hand Size Portions
Hand Portions
When you look at the nutritional values of a meal to log what you are eating, that is called tracking macros. A lot of people use this method to reach their health goals.
Looking at hand portion size and using this method to gauge how and what you eat is also a great method to help you reach your health goals. Many people who use this method often think this form of tracking meals is easier and more sustainable for a lifetime.
Want to learn more about hand portion size and how to use it to reach your goals? Check out the article How to Get Started with Hand Portion Sizes.
Sweet and inspiring, Britt Nelson is a wellness coach and mom of 4, devoted to helping women redefine what wellness and fitness looks like to them, in a balanced and compassionate way.
When she is not coaching or chasing after her children, you can find her spending time with close friends and family, trying new recipes with one of her brothers, or listening to music, a good book, or a podcast.
Find other articles written by Coach Britt on her coach profile. She will help you ‘tune in’ to your body, and find a balance amidst the chaos.
