“You can have quality, speed or affordability. Choose any two.” ~ Anonymous
Something similar can generally be said of food. You can have it convenient, healthy, or frugal. Choose any two.
Since I love being in the kitchen, usually I’ll pick frugal and healthy over convenient.
A bowl of cereal may be convenient, but it’s rarely cheap or healthy. Plus, my kids are begging for a snack ten minutes after breakfast on the rare occasions we have cereal.
Here are 12 breakfast ideas that are more healthy (and thrifty) than a bowl of cereal. Some score on all three fronts. I tried to arrange them in order of convenience.
- Reheated Rice, Barley, or other Grain (2 minutes): Any time I serve rice for dinner, my children make sure we save enough for them to have leftovers for breakfast. This makes for a frugal, healthy, and convenient breakfast. Just heat leftover brown (or white) rice, barley, quinoa, or other grain. Top with maple syrup or cinnamon sugar for a fast and frugal breakfast.
- Homemade Granola with Yogurt (2 minutes, once made): A great way to get more yogurt! Once the yogurt and granola are made, this breakfast takes just a minute to serve. (See Amy’s great tip for speeding up the granola prep!)
- Sliced Banana with Milk and Toast (5 minutes) Another of my kids’ favorite breakfasts: slice bananas and serve with milk (and brown sugar/maple syrup if desired.) Whole grain toast on the side help make it filling.
- Yogurt Shakes (5 minutes): I make homemade yogurt on a regular basis. It’s easy to make and so full of beneficial bacteria. We eat it in some form multiple times a week: shakes is one of my favorite. Just blend yogurt, frozen fruit, juice/honey to sweeten, and a handful of spinach or other greens, if desired. (I added spinach recently and my 2-year-old was convinced I’d added green sprinkles.)
- Energy Bites (10 minutes to make/ 10 seconds once frozen): A yummy mix of protein, healthy fats, flax seed, and chocolate, these energy bites make an equally delicious breakfast or snack. Once frozen, they’re even faster than cereal and so much healthier (and more filling!)
- Eppli Cakka (10 minutes):This yummy breakfast is a family favorite. Layer applesauce, granola, and fresh chopped apples (if desired). Top with fresh whipped cream. Based on a Scandinavian dessert, this is a light and healthy summer breakfast. (See picture here.)
- Egg Omelet (10 minutes): A great way to use up vegetables. Fry onions, olives, peppers, etc. in a bit of olive oil before adding eggs.
- Breakfast Burritos (15 minutes to make, 2 to reheat): Healthy, filling and easy to make ahead. Just fill tortilla shells with scrambled eggs and your choice of hash browns, sausage, bacon, cheese, etc. Serve fresh or wrap tightly and flash freeze. Then store well-sealed until ready to thaw and heat. (Homemade tortillas are delicious, but don’t freeze quite as well.)
- French Toast (15 minutes): This is a great way to rescue bread before it gets stale!
- Whole Grain Muffins (20 minutes fresh/2 minutes reheated): Homemade muffins are a great way to start off the day with whole grains (yummiest and healthiest freshly ground!) These whole grain applesauce muffins and pumpkin/sweet potato muffins freeze very well. I usually serve them with homemade yogurt.
- Breakfast Casserole (Varies widely!)
- Whole Grain Pancakes or Waffles(30 minutes) They may be more work, but I’m sure to get lots of hugs and kisses on the mornings I make waffles or pancakes. Plus, it’s so easy to use a variety of fresh grains in pancakes. Yum!
What are your favorite breakfasts?
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Oh thanks for sharing these Breakfast ideas!!
I would love it if you would share this post on the Creative @ Home Wednesday Link-Up! I really think my readers will enjoy it!
http://susangodfrey.com/category/home-family/creative-home/
Blessings!
Susan Godfrey
Finding Beauty – http://www.susangodfrey.com
Thanks Susan… checking it out now.
I sooo needed some new idea’s! Thank you for sharing!
Sounds good to me even if I’m not much of a big breakfast person.
Oh yum! I’m getting ready to make Pad Thai for dinner but you’re making me want a large breakfast instead
I usually have apples and cinnamon oatmeal with peanut butter for breakfast. It keeps me full until lunch and is such a warm comfort.
Great suggestions! I always have the hardest time with breakfast foods for myself since I’m so picky. But anything with yogurt I’m game for
.
It is really important to eat breakfast. Eat breakfast like a king, dinner like a prince and supper like a pauper. I love your breakfast ideas, especially french toast, egg omelet and yogurt shakes. Althougth all of them are pretty interesting. Thanks!
http://originalcialis.com/
Love that quote! Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing.
Anna, you have a gift for offering helpful tips across the board! Every time I come here I walk away with another, tip, trick or recipe! Thanks so much! This was just the inspiration I needed to keep our breakfasts varied and healthy!
Awww, you’re so kind Kasey.
Thanks for the ideas. Life has been hectic lately, and I’ve really been struggling with getting a good breakfast on the table.
Thank you. I’m going to try the energy bites! I love making healthy muffins, like pumpkin or zucchini, and freezing them so they are easy to grab when you need them.
Thanks so much for stopping by Casey! What zucchini recipe do you use?
Muffins and breakfast breads are favorites around here. I made a recipe for Spiced Carrot Bread with Vanilla Chips that comes out to $0.26 per muffin (recipe coming tomorrow on the blog
).
Nice post and great ideas. We have oatmeal and eggs just about every morning. Got some great ideas now to change it up. Thanks!
Heather @ourcultivatedlife.blogspot.com
Thanks for the useful ideas! So often, when I look at a list of breakfast ideas, they’re all cooked-from-scratch things that take an hour; I have to leave the house at 7:40 five days a week, so those don’t work for me. I appreciate that most of your ideas are quick to make or use leftovers.
My favorite summer breakfast is Tomato Toast. Sometimes I top it with a scrambled egg or diced hard-boiled egg.
Yum! Glad these ideas aren’t quite so time-consuming. I don’t have to leave for work, but spending an hour in the kitchen is a sure way to slow down the morning for me.
Hi, Anna! This is Ashlea from church. Exploring your website today and found this post. Great ideas! So, I have a question. How do you re-heat rice? We’ve recently fallen in love with brown rice and I always have leftovers. Do you microwave it and how do you keep it from drying out? I’m thinking rice with maple syrup would go over really well with my boys.
Sorry I didn’t respond sooner, it’s been a crazy week!
WE dont’ have a microwave (no room in our tiny kitchen) so I just leave the rice in the pan, add a little water in the morning and heat it up on the stove (with the lid on.) It doesn’t take long at all to heat up, just make sure to stir it while it’s heating up. Hope you enjoy it!
This is a great list! I’m always looking for breakfast inspiration. Thanks for linking up to Healthy 2Day Wednesday and come back next week to see if you were featured!
Fantastic list! Thanks so much for sharing it. Great site!
I spread almond butter on toasted oatnut bread, then top with sliced banana, whipped cream, and slivered almonds. Filling and delicious.
That sounds delicious Myriah! Thanks so much for sharing—anything with whipped cream is a huge hit around here.