If your house is anything like ours in the morning, chances are it’s very hectic. My goal every morning is to brew my coffee before the kids wake up, but that rarely happens! Getting my daughter off to school and my husband to work is no easy task with a 2-year old and 6-month old hanging on me, so breakfast has to be fast and easy, but healthy, too. Here are a few ideas to help your mornings run a little smoother.
Tip: Prep whatever you can the nigh before, if possible. Or, make large batches of something that will hold well in the refrigerator so all you have to do is reheat. This will reduce the prep/cook time in the morning and will also reduce your stress level (hopefully)!
English Muffin Egg Pizzas
(Recipe courtesy of Real Simple)
Ingredients:
- 4 English muffins
- olive oil
- tomato slices
- 2 hard-cooked eggs, sliced
- grated mozzarella
- oregano
- kosher salt
How to:
- Make Hard-Cooked Eggs.
- Toast 8 English-muffin halves and place on a cookie sheet.
- Drizzle each with olive oil, then layer on tomato slices, hard-cooked egg slices (1/2 an egg each), and a little grated mozzarella. Sprinkle with oregano and kosher salt.
- Broil 5 minutes or until the cheese melts.
Cereal Muffins
(Recipe courtesy of moneymindedmoms.com)
Ingredients:
- 2 cups cereal (you can use any kind, but bran cereals work best)
- 1 1/4 cup milk
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup softened margarine (or butter)
- 1 cup flour
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup raisins (or other dried fruit or nuts)
How to:
Add milk to cereal. Let stand until soft. Add egg and margarine. Beat well. Mix in flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Bake in muffin pan at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Yields about 12 muffins.
Breakfast Casserole Bites
(Recipe courtesy of 100daysofrealfood.com)
Ingredients:
- 2 pieces whole-wheat sandwich bread
- 8 eggs, farmers’ market or organic recommended
- ½ cup milk
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 4 oz grated cheese, organic sharp cheddar recommended
- ½ lb cooked and crumbled breakfast sausage or bacon, local or organic recommended
- Also need: Foil muffin holders for baking
How to:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Distribute 12 foil muffin holders into a muffin baking pan. If the foil holders are lined with paper either don’t use those or make sure they are on the outside as shown in the picture.
- Cut the sandwich bread into half inch squares and evenly distribute them on the bottom of the muffin cups.
- In a mixing bowl or large measuring cup that has a pour spout thoroughly whisk together the eggs and milk. Add a few dashes of salt and pepper if desired.
- Evenly distribute the egg mixture into each muffin cup. It’s okay if the bread pieces float to the top.
- Sprinkle an equal amount of both the grated cheese and the crumbled bacon (or sausage) into each muffin cup on top of the egg mixture.
- Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until eggs are set. Enjoy or freeze (in-between sheets of wax paper) for another day!
French Toast Cups with Sausage + Apples
(Recipe courtesy of thenoshery.com)
Ingredients:
FRENCH TOAST CUPS
- 6 slices of whole wheat bread
- 3 eggs
- 1 Tbs brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- pinch nutmeg
APPLES & SAUSAGE
- 1 cup diced apples
- 1 cup (8 oz) breakfast sausage
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3 Tbs brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- pinch nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
How to:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and butter a muffin pan.
Using a cookie cutter, cut circles out of bread slices about 3 inches in diameter. (I do not have a cookie cutter so I use the lid to my tub of orzo pasta and just cut around the edges ;D) Whisk eggs and spices together. Dredge bread circles in egg mixture and remove any excess egg.
Press bread circles into the muffin pan, bake in the oven for 12 – 15 minutes, until brown.
While bread is in the oven prepare breakfast sausage. In another hot skillet melt butter, stir in brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Add apples to brown sugar mixture and cook until apples begin to soften and sugar mixture caramelizes. Combine sausage and dripping with apples, stir.
When french toast cups are done, allow to cool for a few mintues, remove from pan using a knife to separate from the pan. Fill french toast cups with apple and sausage mixture, drizzle with maple syrup and serve.
Berry Yogurt Parfait
(Recipe courtesy of pbs.org)
Ingredients:
- 4-6 cups nonfat or low fat vanilla yogurt
- 4-6 cups strawberries, blueberries, chopped peaches, bananas, and/or other small fruit
- 4-6 Tbsp. granola, store-bought or homemade
How to:
In tall glasses (sundae glasses are ideal if you have them), layer 1 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt with 1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries and/or blueberries (thawed, if frozen) and sprinkle 1 Tbsp. granola on top. You can get creative by making several layers of the yogurt, berries and granola, smoothing the surface after each addition.
