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Back to School Breakfasts: Quick & Easy
It's back-to-school, or homeschooling
time! Whichever way you are going with your kids, schooltime means back to
a structured schedule and back to the morning routine of gearing up for the
day! Get the kids and yourself off to the right start with a cheap, delicious,
home-cooked breakfast.
Quick and Easy Ideas
These are for those days when you wake up late, the kids are going slow,
or you forgot to start something the night before. Whatever the reason, when
you are pressed for time, you can still have a great breakfast!
Fruit Shakes
Try to keep some peeled bananas in the freezer (in ziploc bags.) There are
tons of combinations to make. Serve with toast, muffins, cold cereal, or
more fruit. Though these are filling, kids will get hungry later on. If they
are in school, make sure they have something to go along with these so they
don't starve before lunchtime.
Here are a few shakes that go great with breakfast and are fast:
Monkey Milk - blend a banana and 1 cup of milk, add a little yellow
food coloring
Purple Cow - grape juice and milk blended together
Julius Shakes
Basic recipe:
1 cup juice
1 cup water
*1 egg white (pasteurized)
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup ice (crushed is best)
Blend at high speed. Serves 2.
Note: The egg white is to make the drink frothy, which it is famous
for. You can omit the white, or use that powdered egg white (I think it's
called meringue powder) that is sold in the Wilton baking section of most
stores.
* Per the FDA: You can safely use eggs that are pasteurized in the shell in recipes that call for raw eggs. Pasteurized eggs may be found in the refrigerator section of your local supermarket and are labeled "pasteurized."
Here's what I do
I wait for a sale on eggs, then get them home, separate into whites and yolks
and freeze. I freeze the whites in small ice cube trays. I put the yolks
into juice cans with 1/2-tsp salt and once frozen, put in a Ziploc-type bag.
When I want to make a Julius or meringue, I take out the white in cubes and
throw them in.
Variations
Try any juice. Some of my favorites are pineapple, strawberry, lime or cranberry.
Try mixing different kinds too. Cranberry and orange would be great together,
and there are so many juice blends at the store - experiment to your heart's
content!
Fresh Fruit
They even come in their own wrapper! Slice apples, bananas, and orange sections
for slow and/or little kids. Not filling alone, so serve with toast, muffins,
instant oatmeal or cold cereal. Our favorite speedy fruits are grapes, bananas
and berries.
Eggs, Bacon and Toast
I can make eggs, bacon and toast in about 5 minutes. I buy the turkey bacon
and have one of those microwave bacon trays with the grooves on them to drain
the fat. I microwave 5 strips of bacon for 2 1/2 minutes on high, then turn
once and microwave for another 2 1/2 minutes. The turkey bacon has very little
fat and doesn't shrink. While the bacon is going, I put some toast in the
toaster, and scramble up some eggs. Easy and classic!
Horse Chow (from
Simple
Food for the Good Life)
I had doubts about this recipe until I tried it. My kids now love this. Horse
Chow is a combination of raw oats and dried or fresh fruits. You can also
add nuts and seeds as well.There are about a million combinations. It's
delicious, healthy and cheap. I road-tested this one several times before
considering it for this article. The kids like to add their favorites, and
eat this fast, uncooked oatmeal/granola.
Here is the basic recipe:
4 cups rolled oats (old-fashioned, not instant)
1/2 cup raisins
juice of 1 lemon
dash of salt
a little vegetable oil to moisen
Mix all together and eat.
Note: Everything but the oats is optional. I substituted blueberries
for the raisins, which was great! We have also added apples and cinnnamon,
and done strawberries with some milk. You can serve this with any fresh or
dried fruit, and add a little milk. It then becomes a quick version of Muesli,
a favorite European breakfast.
Instant Oatmeal (homemade version)
Did you know you can make your own instant oatmeal? Here is one we came up
with out of desperation:
Kim's Oatmeal-in-a-hurry
Per person:
1/2 cup instant or "quick-cooking" oatmeal
1/2 cup water or milk
1/4 cup or less of sugar (to taste)
dried fruits of your choice- raisins, blueberries, cherries, apples, apricots,
dates, etc.
fresh fruit if you like- bananas, berries, etc.
spices - cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, depending on what combination
you are making
Squirt of honey, jam, or chopped fruit for garnish
1. Combine all, according to taste. Microwave on high 1-2 minutes, until
oatmeal is thickened. Garnish as desired (with honey, syrup, chopped bananas,
marshmallows, sprinkles, whatever!)
Possible combinations - apples and cinnamon, pumpkin pie (use canned
pumpkin or pumpkin pie spice), peaches and cream, strawberries and cream,
peanut butter and jelly, tropical (bananas, pineapple, mangoes, dates, coconut,
whatever you have), lemon-blueberry, maple syrup and brown sugar, maple syrup
and pecans.
Someone sent this one to me:
Oatmeal Packets (from Make Your Own Groceries by Daphne Metaxas Hartwig)
Serving Size : 8
3 C Quick-Cooking Oats
Salt
8 Plastic Sandwich Bags
Put 1/2 C. oats in a blender and whirl at high speed until powdery; reserve
in a small bowl and repeat procedure with an additional 1/2 C. oats. If you're
using a food processor, powder the 1 C. of oats in one motion. Into each
sandwich bag put 1/4 C. unpowdered oats, 2 T. powdered oats, and a scant
1/4 t. salt. Store in a box or airtight container.
To serve: Empty packet into a bowl. Add 3/4 C. boiling water; stir and let
stand for 2 minutes. For thicker oatmeal, use less water; for thinner, use
more water. (I microwave for 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 minutes or until done on high)
VARIATIONS
Apple-cinnamon: To each packet add 1 T. sugar, 1/4 t. cinnamon, and
2T. chopped dried apples.
Sweetened:To each packet add 1 T. sugar
Cinnamon spice: To each packet add 1 T. sugar, 1/4 t. cinnamon, and
a scant 1/8 t. nutmeg.
Raisins and brown sugar: To each packet add 1 T. packed brown sugar
and 1 T. raisins.
Wheat germ: To each packet add 2 T. any kind of wheat germ
Fruit and cream: (This is my own to satisfy the kids) To each packet
add 1T. dry milk and 2T dried fruit or fresh fruit after cooking or jam.
Cold Cereal
Ok, I'll readily admit that even after being frugal for so long, we still
buy cereal. Cold cereal is our "emergency food" for those really stressful
mornings! We like to stock up when the prices are low and we have coupons.
Once, we found Chex on sale for 99 cents and had a bunch of $1 off coupons.
We bought 128 boxes of Chex for $1.28! (We had to pay the 1-cent tax per
box). We did everything we could think of with Chex - party mix, muddy buddies,
etc. We gave boxes away to friends and cases away to the local mission. My
husband bragged that he could have taken a bath in Chex if he wanted to!
We still get a good laugh from that.
My point is, keep an eye out for great sales and keep the cereal coupons.
I don't always have time to clip coupons, but I always try to clip the cereal
ones and keep them in my purse. We have stocked up on Wheaties, bought for
25-50 cents a box with double coupons on sale, as well as Honey Comb, Raisin
Bran, Rice Krispies, etc, all for under $1 a box.
Kids love to shop for cereal, so make them practice math at the supermarket
by giving them the coupons and a budget. I tell them they can only spend
up to $1.99 a box, and if they can get something for under $1 a box, they
can get more. Teach them frugality as a game, give them the challenge, and
you will be surprise what they come up with! They may wind up to be more
frugal than you!
Snackmaster Turnovers
If you have a "snackmaster" or "sandwich maker", you can make these really
fast. Just butter up to piece of bread, and add a filling. For breakfast,
we like to put in a beaten egg and some cheese, with chopped veggies optional.
You can use sweet fillings too, such as pie-filling, but I would recommend
those as snacks or desserts instead of as breakfasts.
We've even done these as bacon, egg, and toast pockets. These "breakfast
sandwiches" are hot and delicious, and only take a few minutes to make. The
egg will cook right in between the bread. It usually takes a few minutes.
Precook the bacon in the microwave, or use bacon bits. You could also try
lunchmeat in these, or make an italian version with some pepperoni and tomato
sauce. Voila! Breakfast Pizza Pockets!
MORE IDEAS
Yogurt
Dress up plain yogurt with fruit and honey, or use jello mix to flavor.
Presto- neon, cool-looking yogurt. Top with chopped nuts, dried or fresh
fruit. Serve with muffins from the freezer.
Cottage Cheese
Place cottage cheese on toast and top with canned fruit. This is known as
a "Weight Watcher's Danish". Mandarin oranges or crushed pineapple work really
well.
Leftovers
Leftovers can be great for breakfast! Here are a few ideas:
Rice or cooked grains - heat and serve just like oatmeal, with your
favorite dried or fresh fruits, nuts, etc..
Mashed potatoes - make birds' nests! Plop small mounds of potatoes
on a greased cookie sheet, making a well in each mound. Crack an egg into
each well and bake for about 15 minutes at 375, until the egg is cooked through.
Leftover meat and veggies - make omelets, or put into a tortilla with
some scramble eggs. You then have yourself some breakfast burritos. I keep
tortillas in the freezer for emergencies as well!
Soups - great for breakfast on a cold day. Serve with toast and eggs.
Biscuits and breads - serve with jam, or make breakfast sandwiches.
Put some leftover gravy and reheated meat on top for a quick, filling breakfast.
Noodles - Heat with some butter, toss with Parmesan, add any leftover
veggies. Pasta Primavera for breakfast! Tell the kids they are eating brunch.
Add scrambled eggs if they are not convinced.
With a little ingenuity, you can make quick breakfasts for less. Remember,
work smarter, not harder!
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About the Author
Kim Tilley, a tightwad at heart, is a wife, a mother of three active boys. Frugal by force and
later by choice, Kim cut her income by 60% to stay at home with her children
and discovered that anyone can live better for less. Her work has appeared
in print publications such as The Tightwad Gazette. In her free time, she
entertains herself by chasing kids and finding ways to create something from
nothing!
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