5 Time & Money Saving Breakfast Ideas

It is the first meal we eat when we get up in the morning. After a long night of sleep, we can’t do without it if we want to get our bodies going. No, I’m not talking about coffee. I’m referring to breakfast. Here are some ideas for a quick and healthy breakfast that don’t require a drive-thru window.
Image via Wikipedia

1. Have a piece of casserole. It takes time to cook eggs and bacon for breakfast. No one wants to ruin their clothes with the mess it can create. On Sunday night, get breakfast done early. Put together a casserole using your favorite ingredients. Fewer eggs are needed in a casserole than when frying or scrambling them for breakfast each morning. Depending on the size of your family, the casserole may last two to three mornings.

2. Yogurt. Yogurt is a healthy and economical breakfast choice. When you are eating on the run, grab a container of yogurt and some dried or fresh fruit. Cutting up fruit on top of the yogurt adds carbohydrates to fuel you for the morning in addition to the calcium and protein in the yogurt itself.

3. Breakfast shake. This is even quicker and can be ingested while driving without taking your eyes off the road or both hands off the wheel. Put together some frozen fruit favorites, ice cubes, yogurt, and unsweetened juice in a blender. Pour into travel cups to keep it cold (the kind with lids and straws makes it easy to avoid spills in the car). Everyone can grab a cup on the way out the door. The nutritional effect is about the same as yogurt (or better if you add lots of yogurt), but without the spoon.

Image by Dead Air via Flickr

4. Pigs in a blanket. This is the homemade version - much healthier without all the preservatives and trans fats of the store-bought kind. Whip up a batch of pancakes and freeze them in short stacks of three. A package or two of frozen link sausage is needed to create this quick and economical meal idea (local and hormone-free if at all possible). Thaw out a stack of pancakes. Heat up three sausages in the microwave. Wrap a pancake around each sausage. Voila! You’ve got an instant pig in a blanket. Eat it as you watch the last of your favorite morning show or as you walk to the bus stop. It can be eaten in the car without too much fuss or mess. For a sweeter taste and less mess, add a little maple syrup or honey to the batter when making the pancakes.

5. Breakfast sandwiches. In the evening, while you are getting things ready for the next day, grill up a few breakfast sandwiches. Choose whatever you like: natural turkey slices, sulfate-free ham slices, cheese, tomato, bacon, etc. When the sandwich cools, cut it into bite size pieces and put it in a container. In the morning, just grab a container; pop it into the microwave for fifteen or twenty seconds and breakfast is served.

These breakfast ideas are time saving and money-saving too. They make use of items you might buy normally and also whatever you have around the house to create delicious fare for a morning rush. No more excuses for skipping breakfast or swinging into the fast food restaurant every morning!

Recipe - Summer Berry Breakfast Smoothie

For nearly the past 10 years, throughout the summer, I have smoothies for breakfast almost every day. I got into the habit when I lived in Texas, and the bounty of fresh fruit was nearly continual (I often had smoothies year-round there). After I moved to Ohio, fruit was less plentiful, but still abundant in the summer, so this became my summer routine. As are most of my "recipes" that I have come up with myself, measurements are merely figurative, and ingredients can vary widely.

Image via WikipediaBelow is a basic idea of my "typical" summer breakfast, but feel free to make your own additions, subtractions, and substitutions, and adjust quantities as desired. I use different types of berries on a regular basis, or sometimes combine several. Before peach season, I leave out the peach and add more berries. Depending on the size and amount of the fruit used, this can make anywhere from 2 1/2 to 4 cups, but usually runs right about 20 fl oz, or just under 3 cups. You can also use frozen fruit (I often use a combination of fresh and frozen - e.g. fresh banana and peach with frozen berries.) - I will often stock up on berries when they are on sale, and wash and freeze them in ziplock bags so I can easily pop them in smoothies later.

For those who want more bulk to their breakfast, you might try adding flax or chia seeds, protein powder, or more coconut oil. I am not big on breakfast anyway, and sometimes it is all I can do just to drink the whole thing, so this is plenty for me, and I don't get hungry until right around lunchtime.

Summer Berry Breakfast Smoothie (serves 1 -- or 2 small eaters)

Banana, peach, and strawberry.

Ingredients:
1 ripe banana
1 ripe peach
5-6 large ripe strawberries
1-2 handfuls blueberries or blackberries (optional)
6 oz plain yogurt (I use my own home-made, from fresh, non-homogenized milk I get in my CSA share)
1-2 TB honey or agave sweetener
1 TB organic extra-virgin coconut oil (or more, as desired)
1 TB chia seeds (optional)
6 oz fruit juice (I have used everything from orange to grape, but my favorite is orange-pineapple combo)

Directions:

• Peel banana, break into sections, and place in bottom of blender or food processor.
• Wash peach well, cut into segments, and place on top of banana.
• Wash berries well, remove stems/hulls (if applicable), and add to container.
• Add yogurt, honey, coconut oil, chia seeds (if using), and juice. Add more juice if desired. I like to add juice just until it fills up all the air holes in the container, but doesn't cover the fruit entirely.
• Blend/process until smooth (I use a nifty contraption called a Ninja - which I LOVE! It is much faster, neater, and easier to clean than a blender. Plus it's not as noisy, and does a better job - you don't have chunks left over like some blenders leave behind in the bottom.)
• Pour into a glass and drink immediately. (These don't seem to taste very good after refrigeration - you need to prepare right before drinking. I haven't tried freezing them, but might be tasty.)

Let me know what you think, and feel free to suggest your own additions below!