6 Fast and Easy Breakfast Solutions

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day – so why does it always seem to be the one that we compromise on?  Sugary breakfast cereals for the kids pop up frozen pastries or microwaveable pockets.  And for adults, it is even worse.  Toast or a pocketed granola bar traded for a drive through pit stop when time and nutrition are at an all-time low.  So if breakfast is so important, then why are we so willing to let it go by the wayside?  The simple answer, as always, is time. 

Mornings are a frantic half caffeinated whirlwind where getting out of the door with everything we need and both shoes on the correct foot is about as much as we can hope for most days.  Some people are just good at mornings, I am not one of them.  But even those of you who are Masters of the Morning Chaos will love these recipes.  

A Good breakfast needs to be five things; Fast, Easy, Healthy, Inexpensive and Delicious.  Anything that does not meet all of these criteria is a no-go.  With that in mind, these six recipes are an excellent way to get your mornings going; 

Top Tips: Always make sure you have all of your ingredients ready to go before starting any cooking project for easy preparation.

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Breakfast Burritos

I can already hear the caffeine-deprived morning monsters drawing their collective breaths. No, your drive-thru breakfast burrito does not compare as a healthy option, and no, these will not suck up your entire morning to make. Breakfast Burritos are easy to make ahead of time and stored in the freezer for up to two weeks. They are a great way to get a healthy breakfast jam-packed full of different flavors and textures that can be easily customized to different tastes. This Tasty recipe uses bacon, potato, and egg, but the options really are endless. I am more of a black bean, egg, and sausage kind of girl myself.

Top Tips

• Prep all your ingredients before you start filling and set them up like an assembly line, this will help speed up production.
• Choose filling that will not mind being frozen and microwaved. For example, adding too many fresh veggies can release water and make your burrito soggy.
• If you make more than one type of burrito, make sure to label them individually before you freeze. Frozen plastic or wax paper can’t be written on after the fact.

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Chia Pudding

Don’t let those chocolate chips on top fool you, this really is a surprisingly nutritious way to start the morning. And you can set up a batch for the week when you have time and keep them in your fridge for up to 5 days.

Just mix 1/3 cup of milk per 1 TBSP of chia seeds with a little honey or agave to taste and pour into dishwasher safe containers. Add toppings or layer fruit on the bottom to customize.

Struggling to think of your own flavor combinations? Start out by trying these combinations from the Minimalist Baker, who is amazing by the way. Her recipes are always simple yet delicious (though, for the little ones, you might want to skip the turmeric recipe).

Top Tips

• While you can do larger batches, unless you have a larger family I don’t recommend it. These are so easy you can throw them together two minutes before bed. Five days may seem like a long time, but no one wants to find a forgotten chia cup in the back of the fridge.
• Adding frozen fruits to the bottom of your cup is a great way to customize flavors on a budget. But frozen fruit can release a lot of moisture, so try not to go too heavy on the fruit.
• Giving the cups fun Desert themed names can help encourage interest from the kids – peach cobbler and blueberry muffin sound a lot more interesting than apple cinnamon or mixed fruit.

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Individual Omelets

Okay, we’ve already done breakfast burritos, so this one should be a sinch! Basically, they work one of a few ways. Either made individually in the frying pan or, my preferred method, in a bulk batch in the oven for the week.

* Sorry, there isn’t a video for this one. You will just have to use your imagination!

Line a full-size baking tray completely with tinfoil or wax paper in a single sheet. If your tinfoil does not reach the edge of the tray and come up the sides, switch to a smaller tray – yes it is that important. The number of eggs will depend on the size of the tray you use, but generally, it’s one medium-large egg for every four square inches. Scramble eggs with milk and add salt and pepper to taste. I also add paprika and garlic, but that’s just me. Pour the mixture into the pan and bake at 325 F for 8 minutes or until the eggs are almost cooked through.

Layer on cheese and toppings of your choice, fully cooked! I like mushrooms and sausage, but veggies, other proteins, or even just more cheese are also valid options. Don’t get greedy and pile those toppings too high, remember that this is an omelet, so whatever you add now will be doubled when folded. Continue baking for 5-6 more minutes. Remove from the oven and VERY CAREFULLY slide the tin foil from the baking tray.

Give it just a few minutes to cool so that you don’t burn yourself, but fold while still warm. Depending on what you’re comfortable with, you can either roll it like a tortilla-less burrito or cut in half lengthwise and then fold each of those also in half, also lengthwise, to create two super long omelet strips. Cut slices depending on how big you want your portions to be (for the burrito version about 4 inches is usually right) and wrap in wax paper. Remember to label these before freezing!

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Veggie Breakfast Muffins

First off, let me just say that even though I am specifically calling out veggies in this one, there are loads of perfectly healthy muffin recipes out there. Almond butter and banana. Strawberry and cream cheese centers. Bran in every shape and form and even good old fashioned blueberry. I just happen to think that vegetable muffins don’t get the credit they deserve.

Carrot and parsnip are common choices as the vegetables’ natural sweetness help to lower the need for added sugars. Zucchini nut, pumpkin, and even sweet potato are also popular hits. And combing healthier muffin bases with the kids’ favorite fruits is a great way to smuggle veggies into their diets for fussy eaters.

Fiona’s ‘Cooking for Kids’ series had loads of great recipes worth trying out, beyond her fabulous lunchbox muffins. Baking in large batches and freezing can extend that to 2-4 weeks if they are well wrapped. Then just pull out a few at a time as the last batch is polished off or as needed.

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Overnight Oats

Overnight Oats have been having a bit of a moment lately, which is surprising when you consider, well, it’s just oats. Granted, making your own Overnight Oats is a whole lot healthier than their instant package counterparts and the customization is nice. The fact that they are ready to go cold is also great for us Floridians, as a hot breakfast when it’s 90 degrees outside is hardly appealing.

Top Tips

• The Flavor combinations here, just like with the chia cups, really are endless. Frozen fruit opens up out of season possibilities for a much friendlier price tag.
• The really contentious issue with overnight oats seems to be the source of liquid. I use full fat milk, but alternative milks work just as well as long as you adjust for any additional sweetness they might carry.
• Chia seeds give the oats a more pudding like texture, but may not fly for kids who don’t like ‘bits’, so try it in a few cups to start and see how it goes before adding it to an entire batch.

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Mini Quiche

Mmmm… quiche. Those fancy little egg pies we all adore so much. The fact of the matter is that quiche is quite possibly one of the easiest cooked breakfasts out there. Especially if you opt for the healthier ‘crustless’ options. Like, literally, it’s so easy you don’t even need a video for this one.

Just pop some muffin liners in your favorite baking tin, the size is entirely up to you. Mix your eggs with milk, spices (salt, pepper, garlic, paprika, or others) in a blender, and pour it into the cups about 1/3 of the way full. Add in your favorite fillings and bake.

Top Tips

• If you bake too hot the eggs will balloon up and sink, or brown on top before they are done in the middle. 350 is pretty much where you want to be.
• The magic ratio is 1/3 egg mixture to 2/3 fillings. Eggs are meant to be the glue binding the fillings together, not the main component.
• For an extra easy touch, mix your fillings into the blender after you’ve mixed your eggs a bit. This ensures a more even consistency from one to the next and makes this essentially a one-pot dish.

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Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and it’s time we stopped letting it fall to the wayside. Whether its a hot and savory Tex Mex breakfast burrito or a cool and deliciously creamy chia cup, start giving your mornings the respect they deserve and skip the morning chaos by planning ahead with any of these 6 Fast and Easy Breakfast Options.

Got a Fast and Easy Breakfast of your own? Send us your families favorites by reaching out to us on social media, or email us at contactus@thenerdynanny.com

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