You, the readers who comprise the community here at Of The Hearth, often ask thought-provoking questions in your comments and emails. It’s likely that these questions are shared by many readers, so I’ve decided to answer some in posts. I hope you will contribute by adding your input in the comments!
Leslie in Florida asked the following:
I have four children, so my home is a busy place. I know you’ve said before that you try to avoid feeding your family processed sugary cereals, but what are some other breakfast options that don’t take long to prepare? I’ve looked at a couple of your breakfast recipes, but they are things that must be prepared ahead of time. What healthy options are there that can be prepared quickly on the mornings they will be eaten?
I first discussed breakfast cereals in August of 2013 in the Cereal Killers post. In short, many boxed breakfast cereals are so packed with sugar that you might as well be eating a cupcake for breakfast. One way I avoid feeding these to my family is by preparing and freezing breakfast foods (e.g., mini breakfast stratas, honey wheat butterhorns) when I have time so I simply have to reheat them on busy mornings.
As Leslie noted in her question, you have to have some time available to prepare the foods ahead of time if you are going to use this approach. She doesn’t have this time, so she needs healthy breakfast options that can be prepared quickly for immediate consumption. What foods fit this bill? Here are a few ideas.
Healthy, easy-to-prepare breakfasts
- Oatmeal. Oatmeal makes a fabulous breakfast! It is incredibly nutritious and takes only minutes to prepare. You can dress up oatmeal with dozens of different toppings (click here for ideas).
- Toast. With a little creativity, you can transform toast—a bland breakfast staple—into an exciting feast. You can stick with traditional toppings such as jam or peanut butter and banana. You can get a little adventurous and try toppings like cashew butter and honey or cream cheese and thinly sliced pears. You can also get really adventurous and give toppings like mashed avocado or ricotta cheese and sun-dried tomatoes a try. If you have a little extra time, try whipping up cheesy baked egg in toast (it’s a favorite of mine). The possibilities are limitless!
- Eggs. It only takes about 15 minutes to prepare hardboiled eggs. If you can manage this as you go about your morning tasks, then you can prepare these for a tasty, protein-packed breakfast. Scrambled eggs or fried eggs are great options, too. They only take a couple of minutes to prepare and can be seasoned and topped in diverse ways.
- Yogurt and fruit. A bowl of yogurt topped with fruit helps you start the day with protein and vitamins. Be sure to choose yogurts that don’t contain artificial sweeteners, artificial food dyes, or lots of added sugars. Add chopped nuts for additional flavor, texture, and nutrients!
- Healthier boxed cereals. Not all boxed cereals are packed with sugar. According to the Environmental Working Group, the following cereals are decent options: Quaker Oats Oatmeal Squares Cinnamon, Post Shredded Wheat, Post Grape-Nuts Flakes, Kellogg’s Mini-Wheats, General Mills Cheerios Original, General Mills Kix Original, and Post Honey Bunches of Oats with Vanilla Bunches.
I hope a couple of these ideas work for you and your family, Leslie!
Do you have additional ideas? Please use the comments section below to share them with Leslie (and the rest of us who face busy mornings).
Shared at the following link parties:
WholeHearted Wednesday, From House to Home, Shine Blog Hop, Inspiration Spotlight, Weekend Wind Down, Making Your Home Sing, and Coffee and Conversation.
Thanks for sharing your great breakfast ideas! I love it when “easy” and “healthy” are paired together! I have recently been making larger batches of different kinds of oatmeal, then I put them in single serve containers in the fridge. In the morning, they just need to be reheated in the microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes, and they are ready to be eaten! Love how quick, easy and healthy it is!
Hi Judy,
Oatmeal is great! I love your approach of storing it in single serve containers so it is ready to go. Great idea!
I am with you on the cereals. I save those for desperate days when I’m just too tired or busy to do anything else. Even then we skip the ultra-sugary kind and try to stick to things like plain chex or plain cheerios (not the flavored varieties that come with much more added sugar). Making things ahead of time is definitely a huge piece of having things ready for busy days.
We certainly resort to cereals on certain days, too, Heather. On these days, sticking with the less sugary ones is the best we can do!
My husband pretty much can’t live without his shredded wheat or cheerios, so I usually don’t make anything too fancy for my breakfast (since it’s just for me). A lot of times, I really like mashing up an avocado on toast. A handful of months back, I started using self-rising flour and love how easy it makes things-within a few minutes, I can whip together a small batch of pancakes (no sugar added, it’s just a little bit of oil, flour, milk, and an egg) to eat with peanut butter and bananas! Another favorite of mine is to make a quiche at a different time (they only take a couple minutes of prep work before hitting the oven) and eating the leftovers cold or heated for a quick, healthy breakfast.
Hi AnneMarie,
Avocado on toast sounds great and quiche sounds especially delicious! I love making quiches of different flavors. 🙂
Nothing new or unusual about this but I like to just add granola to my yogurt. I don’t care for the texture of pain yogurt so the granola meets that need. And for times when toast is an option, even though we are trying to be healthy here, cinnamon sugar on it gives the cinnamon which is known to be good for fighting off colds and such, which also would make it good on oatmeal or in pancakes
Granola is a great addition to yogurt!
Wonderful suggestions! Breakfast (and a good one) is so important to how I function in the day. I either fly or crawl based upon what I consume.
These are wonderful suggestions!
Thanks for sharing (and for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop).
Wishing you a lovely day.
xoxo
It makes such a difference, doesn’t it, Jennifer?
Great list. We love doing english muffin sandwiches. Egg, english muffin, maybe a slice of cheese. Done 🙂 Also, if I’m feeling ambitious on a Sunday, I’ll make a ton of waffles, with fruit mixed into the batter, and then freeze the waffles. They are ready for the week!
We love breakfast sandwiches here, too, Ann. I hope you get the waffles made!
Super post – I’m always looking for low-fuss breakfast ideas! I also do muffins on Sundays to freeze, or at least make up the dry mix to have on hand. I also like to prepare oatmeal or breakfast casseroles the night before…makes a healthy breakfast easy peasy 😉
Thanks for sharing this on Coffee & Conversation!!
Breakfast casseroles prepared the night before are great! Thanks for stopping by, Pat!