My kids love Pop Tarts. And, I admit, I have spent many mornings leaning on the Pop Tarts crutch. But seriously... Pop Tarts are GROSS. I buy the added fiber variety because it makes me feel like I am at least feeding my children productive junk. But the key word here is... Well, "junk". There are certainly worse things I could feed them, but still.I grew up very anti-breakfast. My grandma was in charge most mornings (mom worked, dad wasn't in the picture) and she'd feed my brother and I whatever we'd accept just to get some food in us. I grew up thinking that a "soup and sandwich" meal (my brother's favorite AM combination) was a reasonable breakfast. Personally, I just never felt hungry in the mornings, so I preferred to eat nothing at all... Which drove grandma crazy! My grandma loves feeding people. She's the best.
A wakes up many mornings and her first request is rice. Now, grandma TRIED to get us to eat "real" breakfast foods, she just wasn't always successful. Of course, now any time I visit her I am dying for one of her delicious fried egg sandwiches. You live and learn. Anyways, I had occasionally eaten white rice with milk and sugar for breakfast, so I figured surely A would accept that. No. She just wants rice.
Rice, all by itself... is not a breakfast food! I don't care who disagrees! It isn't. So, in my frustration at this, we always reverted to the old stand-by. The Pop Tart.
Goodbye, Pop Tarts. We're not friends any more. This week, I have started a new trend in this house. I had a realization: The only time you ever see a family enjoying a breakfast of Pop Tarts on TV is on Pop Tarts commercials. And even Pop Tarts commercials usually feature an unruly teenager rushing off to school and grabbing the the thing as it flies out of the toaster on his way out the door. Seriously, that just isn't real. I'm not saying that sitcoms or movies or OTHER commercials are necessarily real, either, but I'm just saying... Well, that Pop Tarts are gross. And messy. And unacceptable!
I have been cooking my children REAL breakfast foods for the past several days, and quite frankly I've really enjoyed it. I made them green pancakes with bananas, strawberries and sprinkles yesterday and after eating half of her serving (which was pretty huge), A told me she was done. On the way out the door to take her to Yochien, she asked me for a Pop Tart. I about cried.
No more Pop Tarts! I have one foil baggy wrapped pair of pop tarts left in our pantry and I will keep them there till they expire (November 14!) and then I'm tossing them and not looking back. My kids definitely deserve better than a crumbly couple sheets of cardboard with a thin layer of strawberry jam in the middle. Gross. Plus, I kind of don't have a good excuse for such laziness. It's not like I am doing anything else!
I only eat one kind and that is the smores and only if it is toasted. Oh and I have to REALLY be in the mood for them which is rare. I agree that they are gross. I came across some recipes for some homemade ones online a while back. Try making them and you might be able to change A's mind and convert the sugary pop tart into something a little bit more healthy.
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