Even a busy mom with small kids can effortlessly entertain in style! Read on for my ideas and tips on how to host a beautiful brunch!

kids hanging in the kitchen with goldendoodle | Poplolly co — My kids love to help out and make a mess in the kitchen!

I love to host beautiful meals in my home. I can still remember what that was like… before kids. The food, the table set up, the ambiance. But, as anyone with kids knows, entertaining looks veeery different once you have kids! Not only are you tired, but the sad reality is we spend more time cleaning than dreaming up yummy meal ideas or table arrangements. Friends with kids our ages still have a pretty early bed time so I thought- why not have everyone over before we all get super tired! Mornings are awesome with kids and brunch food you can usually make ahead. We recently hosted some friends for brunch, and it was a blast. So if you’re wanting to host, but pooped out by evening then host a beautiful brunch instead!

how to host a beautiful brunch with kids | Poplolly co — My daughter Violet helping prep the strawberries.

Kids are usually in great moods in the morning, and most kids love breakfast food! My kids love pancakes, waffles, french toast eggs, cereal, parfaits… I could go on and on. So this is like the one meal I can make when hosting where I don’t have to think of two separate meals for the kids and the adults. Whew!

When you want to host a beautiful brunch finding something you can make ahead is key.

Even though its morning a lot can still go wrong when you have kids! 🙂 Someone could be up all night and therefore keep YOU up all night making for a slower, more groggier morning than you anticipated. This actually happened to me when I hosted this brunch! So having a frittata or quiche that’s been assembled the night before really helps. James and I have been following a ketogenic diet (for the most part) 😉 the last year and a half so I found this keto sausage frittata recipe to make. I love that this recipe called for sun dried tomatoes and capers! A frittata is a great way to feel like your still getting to eat decadent brunch food without consuming all those carbs. It’s like a quiche without the crust! Win! For my super easy keto chili recipe check out this post here.

Another easy tip when hosting a brunch with kids is to let them build their own breakfast… cue parfaits.

Kids love being in control of their food. Well lets face it, they just love being in control period. And the key here is lots of options. I like to start off with a healthy yet still sweet greek yogurt. For these parfaits I used Trader Joe’s honey flavored greek yogurt. Then I made my own keto whip cream. I just poured a pint of whipped cream into my Kitchenaid and added a couple tablespoons of Swerve and vanilla extract. Which is basically a sugar-free powdered sugar substitute. Blend it on high until you see what looks like cool whip! This usually takes about 3-5 minutes.

For this parfait station I let the kids add in three different types of berries and three different types of granola. My older girls had fun making little labels for everything! See, they’re already learning the art of setting up for a good party! ha! It’s all in the details I tell ya!

We used plastic champagne glasses to make kid mimosas. My daughter Violet came up with her own recipe for a “kid mimosa” by combining orange juice with a splash of lime LaCroix. Cute!

And finally french toast! French toast is another breakfast item you can totally make ahead. Maybe not the night before but at least earlier that morning- just keep them warm in the oven at about 250. I’ve ruined my kids by exposing them to the absolute deliciousness of Nutella on french toast. Oh man have you tried this? I like to add some cinnamon to my french toast egg mixture then top the finished product off with Nutella. Sooo crazy good! With all the parfait toppings out that also makes for more great options for the french toast. You’ve got your whipped cream, berries, Nutella- or even powdered sugar! Lucky kids right? Well the adults loved it just as much.

My daughter Everly consuming waaaay too much sugar here! Homemade whipped cream on top of Nutella french toast, wowzers.

I like the idea of only having to “hands-on” make a couple things, and letting the rest of the meal be things you can just place into containers. This allows you to spend the rest of your time gathering flowers or clippings from your yard so you can prettify your setting and host a beautiful brunch!

I also put together this brunch charcuterie platter with all things Trader Joes! They have a lemon ricotta cheese right now that tastes just like cheesecake! Seen in pic… honey, truffle marcona almonds, spicy pecans, dried bing cherries, almonds, dates, salami, olives, goat cheese and brie. And of course a baguette had to go with all of this!

I hope you are inspired now and encouraged to host or entertain in style even if you have little kids. It can be exhausting when they’re small and they outnumber you!!! But just remember this is a season and as crazy as it is it’s also very beautiful. We just have to embrace the “crazy” and realize we can still do “all the things”- it just may look a little different and that’s ok too! For other mom hacks check out my posts here and here!