Last month, I shared our favorite EASY at-home lunch ideas, in preparation for all the kiddos being home from school this summer. Soon after I published that post, I started getting requests to share our favorite (easy) at-home breakfasts… so that is what’s on today’s agenda!
Much to my dismay, my children will not eat cereal (yes, I know it’s not super nutritious, but it IS easy!) So, for the most part, we have a hot breakfast every day of the week. I’m not sure how this will work once Nora starts Kindergarten next fall and has to get on the bus pretty early — but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there!
I realize a HOT breakfast might not sound super easy… but we basically rotate between the same 3 or 4 options every day so I truly do not spend large amounts of time or energy to get a hearty breakfast on the table each morning.
If you’re looking for a few new HOT breakfast ideas, here are some of our favorite, relatively easy, recipes.
Pancakes:
My kids could eat these every single day without complaining!
I usually make up a double batch of this recipe at night, and it will last us for 2 or 3 mornings. I just keep it in a food storage container in the fridge and make 5-6 pancakes every morning.
If you want to mix things up (and if you have time to preheat your oven) these puff pancakes are amazing as well!
Waffles:
This is Dave’s favorite breakfast food — and thanks to our Belgian Waffle Maker, he can easily make one waffle for himself when he wakes up, and I can make more for myself and the kids once we’re ready for breakfast.
Again, I always mix up the waffle batter the night before as it’s one less thing to do in the morning.
Here’s one of our favorite waffle recipes, and here’s another.
Eggs:
We eat eggs every single day — basically, no matter what we’re having for breakfast, it always comes with eggs. They are so frugal, fast, easy, and my kids LOOOOOOVE them.
We almost always have scrambled eggs with cottage cheese mixed in — they are SO good!
Also, if you have time to bake in the morning, this make-ahead egg casserole is AMAZING! It can be assembled the night before and simply popped in the oven first thing in the morning!
Breakfast burritos:
I started making breakfast burritos 6 or 7 years ago, and it’s still one of those super simple meals Dave and I both love.
I can make 20 or 30 of them at one time, pop them in the freezer, and enjoy a yummy breakfast or hearty snack after roughly 30 seconds in the microwave.
Oatmeal:
Simon is the only one in our family who doesn’t care for oatmeal (no matter how much brown sugar I put on it!) but the rest of the family really likes hot oatmeal for breakfast on occasion.
I usually make it once a week and serve it with a variety of toppings.
Also, here’s a fun recipe for homemade instant oatmeal packets.
Meat:
We don’t always have meat for breakfast, but often times we have either bacon or sausage ready to go. I usually cook 2 pounds of bacon and/or sausage at a time and just keep it in the fridge.
I can simply warm it up in the microwave, toss it in with the scrambled eggs, or reheat it on the griddle as I’m cooking the pancakes.
Cinnamon rolls:
We almost always have cinnamon rolls on Sunday morning for breakfast — either homemade the night before or the refrigerated packages from the store.
Both are HUGE hits with our kids (and SO easy!)
FRUIT:
OK, I know this isn’t a “hot” item, but we pretty much have some sort of fruit with every breakfast meal — usually strawberries, oranges, and/or grapes… or whatever else is in season and on sale!
So our weekly breakfast menu might look something like this:
MONDAY = pancakes, eggs, sausage, fruit
TUESDAY = waffles, eggs, sausage, fruit
WEDNESDAY = breakfast burritos, fruit
THURSDAY = pancakes, eggs, bacon, fruit (using the leftover pancake batter)
FRIDAY = waffles, eggs, bacon, fruit (using the leftover waffle batter)
SATURDAY = egg casserole, fruit
SUNDAY = cinnamon rolls, yogurt, fruit
.
I realize this might still sound like a lot of work, but once you get into the routine and memorize the recipes (I’ve literally made the same pancake and waffle recipes HUNDREDS of times!) it really does go quite smoothly.
I can have pancakes, eggs, bacon, and fruit on the table in about 10 minutes since the pancake batter is ready to go, the bacon is already cooked, and the fruit is already washed and cut up in the fridge.
Although I would love for my kids to eat cereal a couple days a week, I do really enjoy a hot breakfast and by rotating a few really simple recipes, I can quickly and easily get a hot breakfast on the table without too much effort.
Trisha G says
My family doesn’t really like boiled oatmeal like Simon, but all 5 of us LOVE this baked oatmeal recipe, even my husband! http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/06/freezer-friendly-baked-oatmeal-recipe.html I like to make a double batch the night before, freeze one for later, and put the other in the fridge for the following morning. I usually have it on Sunday, and I stick it in the oven just before I jump in the shower. By the time I am dressed and ready and wake the kids up, it’s ready to come out. So easy and I don’t load up the kids with sugary cereals right before church (and I have noticed a big difference in their behavior since nixing those). I like to top it with raisins, nuts, bananas, or berries. And my favorite part is the crunchy bite it has compared to mushy stove-top oatmeal. Perhaps that’s why Simon has a hard time eating it? I’m curious to know if he would prefer the crunchy one like we do!
Andrea says
yum… thanks for this recipe! I’ve always thought about baked oatmeal — but usually in the morning so it’s too late. I’ll have to give this one a try!
Kristen says
We LOVE your pancake recipe. It’s so easy and yummy! I was buying a mix for a while and I got so sick of them. While a little easier than homemade, they just don’t taste the same!
My kids are very routinely cereal and yogurt kids but with my youngest going to preschool in the fall, I think I’m going to start getting hot breakfast around more often. There’s just something about a “hot” breakfast that seems more filling and satisfying!
Andrea says
yay! Glad to hear you like my recipe (and that you’re making more hot breakfasts!)
Tina says
Andrea, what waffle maker do you use? I’ve been wanting to get one for a while.
Andrea says
Tina, here’s the link to our waffle maker — we got it for $5 after rebate from Kohl’s many years ago 🙂
JJ says
Banana muffins with fruit are a favorite! Along with pancakes(or pancake muffins!), peanut butter oatmeal, waffles, and eggs for one. Two of my kids have food allergies, which has been tough. And I don’t sell Pampered Chef, BUT. I had bought their brownie pan a couple months ago. It is literally nonstick(as in you legit don’t have to spray it, and clean up is soooo easy). I used it three days in a row just recently. One day for the muffins (it’s more than a brownie pan!!!), one day for pancake muffins, and the last day for cupcakes. You can make eggs in it, too! So it’s one of my new favorites to make breakfast!
Andrea says
do you put chocolate chips in your banana muffins? If not, you should try it some time (the mini ones). It’s SOOOOOOOO good!
Tina says
I second that! The mini ones are so good!
JJ says
Yesss! I actually have a recipe with the minis that tastes as good as Starbucks (they used to have banana bread with chocolate chips!). But. My 3 year old daughter was appauled that I dared to add chocolate chips to “her” banana muffins. So, since everyone eats them without the chocolate chips, I make them that way more often. We are dairy-free in our house(2 kids with milk allergies), but we LOVE the EnjoyLife mini and regular sized chocolate chips.
Jo says
Instant oatmeal, toasted bagels w/cream cheese, eggs(just crack into bowl and pop in microwave for 1 minute and add to toast or eat plain), every now and then omelettes on weekends. And sometimes waffles and sausage now because you inspire me! I used to do fancy bfast burritos with bacon and onions and peppers, not sure why I stopped, I’ll have to make those again…I love breakfast food! We eat croissants regularly too because it’s “grab n go”
Andrea says
sounds yummy! and yes, you should definitely start making the breakfast burritos again!!
Karen says
My youngest wasn’t always a cereal lover. I started by giving her some dry in baggies and then eventually moved on to a bowl with milk. I mix a healthier box with something fun that she picks out. She mainly eats it for an afternoon snack now. Maybe try it this way first and then move it to your morning rotation if they start to like it. I love sneaking in some extra vitamins and fiber since my girls is not a huge fruit eater.
Andrea says
yes, my kids will eat a little DRY cereal in their snack cups… but that’s it. They don’t like milk at all — so there’s probably not a huge chance I’ll get them to be eating cereal with milk any time soon!
Jill says
Do your kids like yogurt? I’ll put the cereal on top of yogurt sometimes to switch it up, plus it’s easier for kids to eat since the yogurt stays on the spoon better than liquid milk.
Andrea says
yes, they like yogurt, but not with cereal on top 🙂 I’ve tried that already!
Brittany says
Our typical breakfast is a piece of wheat toast with butter, homemade jam, and 2 eggs (over hard) on top.
Christine from The (mostly) Simple Life says
My husband eats the same thing for breakfast every day, whole wheat frozen waffles (from Aldi) and a hard boiled egg. I always have my high fiber cereal. 🙂
We eat breakfast for dinner quite often so that we can have things like pancakes, bacon, and breakfast burritos too. My family always sautes veggies (onion, green pepper, mushroom…) and then adds in eggs to make scrambled eggs with veggies. We’ve been eating a ton of eggs lately since they’ve been so inexpensive.
Andrea says
yeah, I often buy 4-6 dozen eggs at a time and it’s crazy how quickly we go through them. Just the kids and I go through 5-7 every morning, and then there’s hard boiled eggs, baking with eggs, breakfast for dinner, etc. etc.
Jen says
I always thought hot breakfast was SUCH a chore so it was mainly reserved for weekends in our house when the kids were little. However, my boys LOVE hot breakfast, and I decided for our older son’s senior year in high school, I would make the effort to make a hot breakfast at least three out of five school days. He was thrilled, and I was actually really surprised at how little prep and time it takes. He’ll be a junior in college next year, but my younger son wouldn’t let me skip hot breakfast so it continues!
We do the same basic rotation as you–waffles, pancakes (always with chocolate chips in our house!), eggs. I also add super easy crepes (Swedish pancakes). My boys slather them with homemade strawberry jam and whipped creme. And I do breakfast sandwiches. I usually get mini-croissants (they are super cheap and yummy from Aldi), but you can do biscuits or bagels too and add eggs (I make a large portion of scrambled eggs in a jelly roll pan in the oven so I can cut them into smaller portions.) and I add bacon, sausage, or Canadian bacon and a slice of cheese. I freeze them in foil and the kids love to grab them for a quick hot breakfast. I have also done breakfast burritos in a big batch for the freezer too. Super easy and make-ahead things like breakfast casserole, scones, oven french toast, etc. also make it into the rotation occasionally. I’ve been really surprised at how simple hot breakfast can be!
Andrea says
yes, I used to be overwhelmed by the thought of hot breakfasts EVERY morning, but now that I have a routine down, it really doesn’t take much work at all. Glad your boys are getting their beloved hot breakfasts too!