Earlier this week, Kate at Cooking During Stolen Moments posted about giving her kids ice cream for breakfast occasionally. Reading her post, I remembered that I had done a post on the same subject a few years ago on my old blog. I had moved a draft of it to this blog, waiting for the right time to post it again. Now seems to be the right time.
Edited on 10/20/10 to current nutritional information per the products' websites.
Edited on 10/20/10 to current nutritional information per the products' websites.
This morning Kat asked if she could have ice cream for breakfast. At first I told her no and offered her other things, all of which were refused. Then I mentally compared a small bowl of ice cream with a doughnut and decided it couldn't be any worse for her nutritionally. I was right. Here's how a bowl of ice cream compares to some other, more traditional, breakfast foods.
FYI, the information for the doughnut was just a generic Google search. The rest of the figures came straight from the product packaging or product website. The ice cream we had was homemade from a mix and probably nutritionally a little different than store bought or homemade without a mix. I threw in a couple of tablespoons of dry roasted peanuts for a little protein, but those aren't included in the information (much like the syrup isn't included with the waffle's info and the milk isn't included with the cereal).
1/2 cup vanilla ice cream
Calories - 120
Fat - 3 g
Carbs - 21 g
Protein - 3 g
Cholesterol - 10 mg
Sodium - 40 mg
Calcium - 10%
1 glazed donut
Calories - 180
Fat - 8 g
Carbs - 25 g
Protein - 3 g
Cholesterol - 0 mg
Sodium - 250 mg
Calcium - 0%
2 Eggo waffles (1 serving, before adding syrup)
Calories - 190
Fat - 7 g
Carbs - 27 g
Protein - 4 g
Cholesterol - 15 mg
Sodium - 370 mg
Calcium - 10%
1 oz. Honey Nut Cheerios (before adding milk)
Calories - 110
Fat - 1.5 g
Carbs - 22 g
Protein - 2 g
Cholesterol - 0 mg
Sodium - 190 mg
Calcium - 10%
1 Pop-Tart (frosted strawberry)
Calories - 200
Fat - 5 g
Carbs - 38 g
Protein - 2 g
Cholesterol - 0 mg
Sodium - 170 mg
Calcium - 0%
While I don't really consider any of these to be an ideal breakfast, they're foods most of us probably give our kids (or eat ourselves) from time to time. I don't think the ice cream is any worse a choice than any of the others.
I think eating anything for breakfast is better than eating nothing, so I'm not going to worry about a bowl of ice cream now and then.
So, what do you think? Did ice cream fare better or worse than you expected? Did the nutritional info here change your mind about serving ice cream for breakfast? Do you ever serve your family any of the other food items listed here?
FYI, the information for the doughnut was just a generic Google search. The rest of the figures came straight from the product packaging or product website. The ice cream we had was homemade from a mix and probably nutritionally a little different than store bought or homemade without a mix. I threw in a couple of tablespoons of dry roasted peanuts for a little protein, but those aren't included in the information (much like the syrup isn't included with the waffle's info and the milk isn't included with the cereal).
1/2 cup vanilla ice cream
Calories - 120
Fat - 3 g
Carbs - 21 g
Protein - 3 g
Cholesterol - 10 mg
Sodium - 40 mg
Calcium - 10%
1 glazed donut
Calories - 180
Fat - 8 g
Carbs - 25 g
Protein - 3 g
Cholesterol - 0 mg
Sodium - 250 mg
Calcium - 0%
2 Eggo waffles (1 serving, before adding syrup)
Calories - 190
Fat - 7 g
Carbs - 27 g
Protein - 4 g
Cholesterol - 15 mg
Sodium - 370 mg
Calcium - 10%
1 oz. Honey Nut Cheerios (before adding milk)
Calories - 110
Fat - 1.5 g
Carbs - 22 g
Protein - 2 g
Cholesterol - 0 mg
Sodium - 190 mg
Calcium - 10%
1 Pop-Tart (frosted strawberry)
Calories - 200
Fat - 5 g
Carbs - 38 g
Protein - 2 g
Cholesterol - 0 mg
Sodium - 170 mg
Calcium - 0%
While I don't really consider any of these to be an ideal breakfast, they're foods most of us probably give our kids (or eat ourselves) from time to time. I don't think the ice cream is any worse a choice than any of the others.
I think eating anything for breakfast is better than eating nothing, so I'm not going to worry about a bowl of ice cream now and then.
So, what do you think? Did ice cream fare better or worse than you expected? Did the nutritional info here change your mind about serving ice cream for breakfast? Do you ever serve your family any of the other food items listed here?
8 comments:
Now that you posted the info, and I see it with my own eyes, I'll probably be a little more flexible with the icecreamforbreakfast argument! Yep, even with teens, we still have this come up from time to time! Especially with teen daughter!
Good Post!!! :)
I saw a typo, so I corrected that and also looked at the current nutritional info online. I made a few changes, but nothing was greatly different.
I let my son eat half can of black olives for breakfast once when he was little. He just wasn't eating ANYTHING and wanted to fit them on his fingers...
I would gladly "settle" for a bowl of ice cream for breakfast with my 13yo. My struggle is getting him to eat ANYTHING before going to school. It drives me nuts!
In the last two weeks I've been able to get him to drink a Carnation breakfast drink everyday but 3. I felt like a major accomplishment had been made!
McVal and Lisa B: I get it. Kat is a hungry girl when she wakes up, but I'm just not. Any morning I manage to eat anything, no matter what it is, I feel like I've done something special. I've been this way since I was a teen.
My exceptions are when we go camping (I'm always hungry for breakfast then) or on the rare occasion we go out to eat. Maybe it's because someone else is doing the early morning cooking.
I love it! I brought boxes to my mom when I was a kid and showed her the same thing to justify my breakfast choice. She laughed and said okay.
I was not surprised, we tend to give something (or someone) a bad rep when it is not justified. Good for you in researching and answering accordingly, Good Job Mom!
PS sometimes it is mom that gets a bad rep when it is not justified :)
Ok, I'd let my kids have ice cream for breakfast and I'm sure I have at some point in the past but it wasn't a reg. thing. Any way you can get calcium in a kid I am all for. 8-)
But the problem with ice cream would be that they wouldn't eat ONLY a 1/2 cup serving...it would be more like 1/2 the container!lolol
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