Whether you send your kids off to school early each morning, homeschool your kids, don’t have kids, have kids too little for school, have adult children living with you, have kids who are grown and living on their own (did I catch everybody?) – we all need a good breakfast. Most of us need a breakfast that is fast and easy. We’d also like it to be nourishing. And filling. And tasty.
So how can we get mornings off to a great start?
Have a plan! It doesn’t need to be elaborate, it doesn’t need to take much time. Simply think ahead toward what will be filling and nourishing for your family. Make a list of some favorites. Here are some of ours:
- Applesauce Bread, served with eggs and fruit
- Scrambled Egg Sandwiches, served with fruit smoothies
- Baked Oatmeal Cups, served with berries
- Easy Breakfast Casserole, made ahead of time, served with fresh fruit
Pull it out of the freezer! So many great (and inexpensive) breakfast foods can be made ahead of time and frozen for healthy convenience. Some of our favorite breakfast freezer foods are:
- Breakfast Burritos, served with grapes or oranges
- Whole Wheat Waffles, topped with berries
- Pancake Sausage Muffins, served with applesauce
- Giant Breakfast Cookies, served with fruit and yogurt
If you haven’t tried freezing muffin batter so that you can quickly bake muffins without any effort, you’ve got to try it. It’s my favorite time saving, freezer cooking method yet!
Make it the night before! I have found that while I’m making dinner for my family in the evening, I often have a few extra minutes while I wait for water to boil, meat to brown, or vegetables to steam. During those few minutes, I try to do some prep work toward our breakfast for the next morning. Read more about this idea here.
No time to make breakfast in the evening? How about after you get the dinner dishes cleaned up, you set out bowls, spoons, and Homemade Grape Nuts Cereal or Easy Homemade Granola?
What do you do to make healthy breakfasts simple at your house?
I can’t wait to reveal our new Let’s Do This! Getting Ahead in Your Real Food Kitchen eCourse and the {Healthy} Make-Ahead Meals and Snacks eBook on Monday! With these resources, you’ll be equipped with loads of recipes that will help you get ahead, save money, and save time – all while feeding your family healthy food. From breakfast to dinner to snacks – you’ll have all kinds of new recipes, ideas, and guidance to help you get ahead in your real food kitchen!
I make my own gluten free granola. I make it plain. Then each person can add his/her own goodies to it. Nuts, fruit, etc. Filling and delicious and I don’t have to cook!
Same with us. Love it!
We always set the table for breakfast right after dinner – one less thing to do in the morning. One of our favorite breakfasts is your baked oatmeal. We actually prefer it mixed up the night before and baked in the morning – perfect for those busy Sunday mornings. The frozen muffing batter has been a huge success as well – it is especially nice when you have overnight guests. Your website has been such an inspiration to me – we have a ways to go, but we are eating so much more healthy than ever before. Thanks for all you do.
Cant wait to get this!!!!
Following your idea of frozen muffin batter….love that concept. The muffins plus oatmeal in the morning works for us! And my kids like the treat of muffins!
Overnight oatmeal or cream of wheat (or rice) in the crockpot. Hard boiled eggs or scotch eggs made ahead.
Personally, I really don’t like breakfast foods, I would much rather have a bowl of reheated leftovers from the night before. So I always make a meal slightly bigger than necessary, since leftovers are never a problem!
I am really looking forward to your new books coming out on Monday. I am really trying to get our finances in order by cooking more at home and “make ahead” meals are exactly what I need so we do not have to eat out when things get real busy. Thanks for all you do.
Crystal