Kids Cuisine

I confess — breakfast gets very little attention in our house.  Most mornings my children eat cold cereal with milk.  During the school year my daughter occasionally eats waffles, and very rarely an egg and toast.  Every once in a while the bagels and fruit make an appearance, and even more rarely pancakes or French toast.  A few weeks ago we went out for brunch and I ordered my favorite breakfast, Huevos Rancheros.  My daughter eyed my plate warily, wondering why on earth I would want salsa and tortillas for breakfast.  I was alarmed.  She has no idea the possibilities available to the humble egg, and so I’ve put before myself a goal of cooking more breakfast options for my kids.

One possibility is simply called Sunshine Toast (among many other names).  Sunshine toast is simply a piece of bread with a hole cut out of the middle, grilled, and then an egg is cracked into the center.  My mom used to call it Toad-In-The-Hole.  No matter what you call it, my daughter was thrilled — it was fun to eat, and she was excited I made her a fancy breakfast.  Her only suggestion was to scramble the egg next time, as she is not the biggest fan of a runny egg yolk.

Our favorite right now though is our spin on Huevos Rancheros, the Over-Easy Tostada. We begin with a tortilla that has been crisped in the oven, either corn or flour works well, but we prefer the corn.  On top of the tortilla, a thin smear of refried beans serves as the base for our egg.  An egg cooked over-easy is placed on top of the beans, and then salsa, sour cream, and fresh tomatoes complete the ensemble.  This whole assembly is lifted to the mouth and eaten in a very messy fashion.  The possibilities here are really endless – cheese, lettuce, and bell pepper immediately come to mind as potential toppings.  No doubt cilantro would make an appearance if we had some.  The Over-Easy Tostada is a delicious and nutritious way to start the day any day of the week.