Mornings CAN BE crazy. I’m sure you agree!
However, if you do a bit of planning ahead, even the busiest families and the earliest mornings CAN BE simplified.
Dave and I both hate feeling rushed, we hate being late, we hate forgetting anything, and we hate being unprepared… so we’ve always been huge advocates for planning our mornings the night before.
We pick out our clothes, pack lunches, get bags packed, go over our schedules, make sure the cars have gas in them, etc. etc. all before we go to bed so even if we do hit “snooze” a couple of times, we can still make it out the door without feeling rushed or forgetting something important.
Since I mainly work from home, this isn’t a huge issue for me anymore — but Dave still faithfully packs his lunch and sets out his clothes every night, along with his wallet, watch, chapstick, keys, school bag, coaching bag, and anything else he’ll need for the day.
And up until a few months ago, the one thing he COULD NOT do the night before was program the coffee maker… because we were using an old freebie coffee maker I got in college 🙂
Thankfully, my friends over at Hamilton Beach thought Dave needed a brand new (programmable) coffeemaker… so now, our mornings are even less rushed!
I don’t drink coffee, but Dave has already gotten good use out of our new coffeemaker and he loves waking up to hot coffee. However, even though I don’t drink coffee, I’ve also been able to use this coffee maker because it has a separate, single-serve spout that brews enough hot water for one cup of tea or hot chocolate.
So instead of putting coffee grounds in the single-serve filter basket, I just leave it empty and then let the steamy water pour over a tea bag or my homemade hot chocolate mix in the bottom of my mug. It’s the perfect amount for me… and it’s way easier than boiling water in a tea kettle or in the microwave.
I love that the single brew feature works with a travel mug or a regular mug.
Here are a few other features we really like about this coffeemaker:
- It’s fast — maybe this is just because we had an older coffeemaker before!
- It’s big — it holds 12 cups which is way bigger than our other coffeemaker and perfect for entertaining if we ever finish our kitchen renovation!
- It’s shiny — black and stainless steel (and it matches our new kitchen appliances!)
- It’s automatic — not only can you program it to automatically turn on, it also has an automatic shut-off, which is really nice for when Dave forgets and I don’t notice.
- It’s simple — even I could figure out how to use it within 2 minutes!
Thanks to Hamilton Beach for our fun new kitchen appliance… and for letting Dave get an extra 10 minutes of sleep every morning!
Meh-Hasin says
Wonderful innovation!!! I think this coffee maker is one of the best coffee maker I have ever seen. Loved it!!!
Songita Basak says
I like this brand of coffee maker because of its special features and simple operating system. the features i like themost for this particular item are progamable, fast and short time consuming. With this i could be able to serve 12 persons at atime. So i like this most and i want to order it very shortly.
Sohana says
I can never imagine a morning without coffee. I have recently ordered this Hamilton Beach coffee maker through amazon. Hopping for the best. 🙂
Andrea says
oh good — hope you love it!
Debra says
I have been trying to get my family to understand about preparing the night before. This struggle has been going on for me for the last 15 years. I prepare my things the night before. My husband and my two oldest children do not. My youngest son started preparing the night before this school year. I am so proud of him and so pleased. He is in his first year of Jr. High School. He has chosen not to wait for his Dad and two siblings to get ready and get to school in work just by the skin of their teeth. He walks with a friend to the public bus stop. It is free to children during school hours. Friends have told me not to give up. I had given up in my way because I quit asking them the night before if they were ready for tomorrow many years ago. That coffee/hot water maker is perfectly beautiful. Like computers every home should have one. 😉
Tracy says
I purchased this coffee maker last year around Christmas time. I have used it everyday and I.LOVE.IT!!!! You will not regret it!!! I purchase the Senso pods to use for my afternoon cup 🙂
I would never own a coffee maker if it did not have the automatic timer. It makes for a much more peaceful morning. I have brewed too many pots without the filter and coffee in it. :p
p.s. I REALLY enjoy reading your blog and Nora is a precious as can be.
Victoria@Snailpacetransformations.com says
I am a morning person, the other 4 people in my family are not. I use to get irritated with their slow pace in the morning and they use to get irritated with my perky morning attitude, our solution has to been to bet everyone an alarm clock and put out a list of what needs to be done each morning, then I leave and work out just before the first person is set to wake up. By the time I am home from my workout they are all up and going and ready for my morning perky self.
Gayle says
Must get one! My husband is a coffee drinker and I always crave coffee but I drink decaf only so this is a perfect solution. He can have a pot of his coffee and I can have a cup to go of my decaf. Thanks for letting me know this exists 🙂
Debbie says
I showed my husband this and we were excited. He is a coffee pot junkie. We dont need a new coffee maker yet, but he wants one of the K cup makers and I dont. This may be our peace maker coffee pot. lol He wishes they would make a pot like this but with a K cup part too.
Maybe you could tell Hamilton Beach this for us. haha! Thanks again for sharing all your ideas and all the good work you do. I am a big fan of your site.
Thanks,
Debbie
Andrea says
Haha… yes Debbie, my sister said the exact same thing. Maybe Hamilton Beach can partner with the K-cup people and make a machine for everyone!
Vicki says
Oh yes, programmable coffee pots are a must Love waking to the smell of fresh coffee!