Sometimes I think I might be coming to the end of this series on what "I don't buy" because I have trouble thinking of what to write about but then I will rack my brain and think of something else or as in this case someone will remind me of something else that I don't buy.A reader of this blog wrote the other day wondering what I did about cereal. I have never bought it much as I wasn't used to having cereal as my parents didn't buy it while I was growing up. For a while though I did get in the habit of buying it now and then when I found a coupon and a sale that went together. I am back to the not buying it though. For one thing I just haven't been couponing very much at all but part of the reason I haven't been couponing is also because I decided that a lot of the things I got with coupons where premade foods like cereal that I really didn't think we necessarily a healthy edition to our diet (though I did often get Kashi cereal which is somewhat healthy, but still...) and so I am back to my homemade breakfasts.
Breakfast can be a challenging meal. Often it is a hurried one as people need to go somewhere. Since we homeschool I am sure our mornings are more relaxed than many but we do still eat with Ken before he heads off to work so breakfast does have to be done in good time. On weekday and Sunday mornings making a breakfast that takes an hour or so is just not an option. My goal is to be able to make breakfast in 10-30 minutes (usually around 15).
So my general morning routine is to get up and dress (I shower at night), have my quiet time with God and then wake up the kids and make breakfast. Since I don't prefer to get up super early the breakfasts need to be quick.
Here are the ones that work for us. I am listing them in regards to the amount of time they take me to get breakfast on the table.
10 minutes (give or take a little)
- Oatmeal. This I do try to soak the night before. We love it with fruit, honey and milk or we like even more if we have cream to go on it. (This isn't a breakfast Ken prefers - as he likes to have quite a bit of protein- so we eat this more the times he has to miss our family breakfast or if we have some sort of breakfast leftover that he likes and then we enjoy our oatmeal.)
- Eggs and Toast. I generally have homemade bread on hand at all times which we make toast out of and put peanut butter and jam on top. For quick breakfasts we make scrambled eggs (usually with cheese and sometimes with baked potato cut up in it, leftover fried hamburger or veggies) which I scramble right in the pan as I cook them.
- Breakfast Burritos.
- Granola (made in advance of course).
Cornmeal mush (which honey and milk or if we are eating it with fried eggs then I like butter and salt and pepper on it.- Homemade Cream of Wheat. This is made be simply by boiling water and then stirring in my coarsely ground wheat flour and cooking a little. We eat this with honey and milk or real maple syrup makes another wonderful sweetener. (This is another Kids and me sort of breakfast.)
Homemade baked goods like muffins or cinnamon rolls if they are made the day before or another time. Sometimes I will make a lot and then freeze them. This is usually paired with eggs.- Applesauce
Yogurt / smoothies- Granola Bars (made previously)
15 minutes
- Pancakes with peanut butter and syrup (most of us like the real maple syrup and one holds out for what we call the fake stuff.)
- Crepes with fresh fruit
- Fried eggs with toast or some other bread.
- Golden egg on toast (if I boil the eggs the day before).
- Boiled Eggs (with something else)
25 minutes
- Hash browns (with eggs) - Kens favorite.
- Cooked rice with honey, cinnamon and milk.
- Biscuits and gravy
30 minutes or more - Coffee Cake with cheese slices and fruit (I do have a recipe where you can mix it up the night before and then refrigerate it before baking).
- Pumpkin Pudding with whipped cream
- Doughnuts
- Fresh baked goods like muffins, cinnamon rolls, pumpkin or zucchini bread.
- Puff pancake with fruit
- Waffles (the family loves waffles but these do take a while and I struggle with having a waffle iron that works well without sticking).
Those are our breakfasts and what has worked well for us instead of buying cold cereal. It is much cheaper and better for us so I am always happy about that.
What do you all do for breakfasts? I do truly enjoy hearing new ideas!
I am linking this to Frugal Friday at Life as MOM.
8 comments:
We ate lots of cold cereal for many years, but a couple of years ago we cut it out of our diet. As a result, my kids no longer desire snacks during the day. To me this is an added benefit of making hearty and healthy homemade breakfasts every day.
The only thing I thought of that I do that you didn't list is baked oatmeal. I bake it and cut it into squares and wrap and freeze them. They can then be thawed and eaten at room temp or heated in the microwave. Your breakfast item list is a lot longer than mine! Oh - I make and freeze breakfast sandwiches as well. Those are a bit more expensive. Great ideas you have! As far as things you don't buy, did you already write about mixes? I can't remember. I premix muffin mix etc. and keep in my pantry and have also started keeping things like homemade fajita seasoning mix made also.
Thanks for your list ~ getting away from cold cereal is a goal I've had for awhile ... the family loves it when we have a cooked breakfast ~ I just have to figure out how to make it happen more often in our busy morning schedules :)
Our breakfast is based on tomato bread or cakes which I have made. These days, for example, there is no shortage of fruit crumble. Yesterday I made 6 apple, apricot and cinnamon ones plus banana bread. We also eat yogurt, cheese and plenty of fruit. Here these ready made cereals are considered quite a luxury which personally I buy seldom. My fave to start the day is warm, crusty french bread and a handsome pile of black olives.
Have a nice day.
good ideas for eliminating cereal. We try to do the oatmeal during the weekdays and have more hot breakfast during the weekends
We usually keep homemade granola on hand, but DH and I both prefer something with a little more protein for breakfast. Usually scrambled eggs with sausage and/or cheese, eggs and toast, or some sort of custard, usually pumpkin.
On Sunday mornings we usually have biscuits and gravy.
We love pancakes and waffles, but don't eat them much for the same reason we don't like cereal.
We don't eat cereal either. Our breakfasts are complicated by the fact that my boys can't eat eggs. If they could, we'd probably eat a lot of those! In addition to a lot of the items you mentioned here, we also have a lot of smoothies, and I also try to get them to eat yogurt in one form or another at either breakfast or lunch.
I am trying to eliminate cereal also. But I have to admit on school days it's so quick... But with summer here I feel like I can eliminate it and hopefully it will be forgotten! :)
Your list is fabulous! We have yogurt and fruit w/ homemade granola and homemade egg mcmuffins - english muffin with an egg and cheese.
Thanks for sharing your list!
Post a Comment