Inexpensive breakfast ideas?

[Kerrie]

I need to feed 5 kids breakfast 3x/week and 3 kids 4x/week. I need a few suggestions on how to do it as inexpensively as possible but still as healthy as possible since 5 of those mornings they are going off to school for the day. Here is my problem most of them will not eat oatmeal and I need the meal to either be easy to make in bulk and/or easy to clean up from as once the kids go to school I still have 3 small kids in the house. Any thoughts? I am going to make some breakfast muffins I saw a recipe for and hope they will like them. if they do I can make them on the weekends in bulk. I would appreciate any thoughts or ideas!

[EmsMom]

Pancakes and waffles can both be made and frozen and then just reheated in the toaster oven. Hardboiled eggs could be made ahead ready to eat in the morning. Scrambled eggs (with added vegies) can be put in a tortilla with some salsa for a breakfast burrito. And if they won't eat oatmeal, you can try other grains for the morning, ie, brown rice is nice with a bit of cinnamon sugar on it. With the glass of milk, not such a terrible breakfast. Homemade granola is also very easy to make and can be served with milk or yogurt. Muffins are also good. I bet you get lots of great suggestion here!

[its_betty]

French toast also freezes well: cook it up, freeze flat on trays so it doesn't stick together, then put in containers or ziplocks. 30 seconds in the microwave and a couple of minutes in the toaster oven to heat. Good for kids who won't eat eggs separately. (And could eat it in the car on rushed days if you skip the syrup!)

Leftovers: Last night's pasta or potatoes (maybe topped with some cheese for extra protein) works great.

[cristina47454]

Can I get your muffin recipe? I always feel like my muffins/quick breads have too much sugar/butter/white flour to be considered "healthy...

[MaddieMay]

What about a breakfast casserole? You could assemble the night before and pop it in the oven an hour or so before they are ready to eat. Homemade waffles can also be made ahead of time and frozen. I do a PB&J or a grilled cheese once in awhile when I need a filling and quick breakfast.

[mommathea]

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Edited by mommathea - 5/11/11 at 4:21pm

[mumm]

Will they eat raw oatmeal? Most of my kids dislike cooked, but if I soak oats in milk (or yogurt) and some fruit overnight they will eat it fine. Might be worth a try. I put the oat mix in individual glass bowls with lids at night and then it is ready to serve in the morning.

[mum4vr]

The PP have posted my good ideas c:

On the uncooked oatmeal: my kids LOVE this, but we don't soak it. They put it in a bowl, like granola, add nuts, seeds, raisins, peanut butter, whatever, and pour milk or yogurt or kefir over for a cold cereal. We lovingly call it "greeny granola."

[larablue]

Semolina pudding or rice pudding.
Both can be made with whatever fruit you have available.

I am not sure of how they freeze, though.

But rice pudding can be cut the next day and fried in a pan.

[Tradd]

Baked French toast is even easier than regular French toast. Just search the net for recipes. Bake night before and just nuke in the AM.

[eirual]

Breakfast smoothies (for us we do frozen banana, whatever frozen berries or soft fruit we have in the freezer, a TBSP frozen OJ concentrate; kefir, milk, juice, or water; a raw egg; jam or honey or stevia; and flax seed. I often serve with toast or bacon on the side. I'll sometimes add avacado or spinach, but DS will only eat those if it's in a closed container and he can't see that it's green.

Breakfast burritos: scrambled eggs and cheese (I like salsa too) in a wrap

Not cheap, but fun and delicious: vanilla yogurt and ceral with fruit to make a kind of parfait.

Toast and bananas or apple sauce

and don't forget to think outside the breakfast box. Any protien-rich snack can count as breakfast. We sometimes do english muffin pizzas, garlic toast with cheese, PB&J sandwiches, Bread with cream cheese and jam, rolled cold cuts and deviled eggs with rice cakes, rice cakes and cheese with fruit, egg salad sandwiches, muffins and carrots, etc.

[cschick]

Originally Posted by cristina47454

Can I get your muffin recipe? I always feel like my muffins/quick breads have too much sugar/butter/white flour to be considered "healthy...

You need to experiment. Half the sugar, sub half the white flour with whole wheat, maybe sub 1 egg with 1 tablespoon flax/+water. They will be healthier.

(I don't consider butter unhealthy btw, I consider most of the butter subs MORE unhealthy than butter.)

[cschick]

Will they eat scones? I find scones quick (and easy to make healthier, easy to dump things like oatmeal or ground flax into). I have been known to prepare them in about 10 minutes in an evening, pop them into the oven on the bread stone I always keep in there (and thus already preheated from whatever I made for dinner). They bake in about 20-25 minutes.

What is the price of conventional eggs in your area, and will they eat them scrambled? I can get 18 eggs for $1.29, then I'll still "bulk" out the scrambled eggs with some milk and cheese. (Pour in the milk before you scramble, mix in the cheese as you cook). I can easily feed 4 adults on 6 eggs, scrambled. (Whereas they'll usually eat 8 eggs any other method).

[VisionaryMom]

We do lots of what's mentioned. We eat grits rather than oatmeal as a "hot grain" breakfast. It's inexpensive, though not particularly healthy. Clean-up's simple but needs to be done immediately when you're done.

I also do cinnamon toast w/ sliced apples on the side - no protein, but it's a quick breakfast for 1-2 times per month. We have grilled cheeses a couple of times a month as well.

[lolar2]

Plain cheese quesadillas, or cheese-and-crackers, or grilled cheese are DS's three favorite breakfasts (you may notice a theme). He has juice or fruit on the side, something easy like a juice box or banana or drained canned fruit.

[hadleys_mom]

We do a simple egg casserole that the kids and DH eat off of for the week.

10 eggs
1 small container of heavy whipping cream
pound of breakfast sausage cooked
a couple cups of shredded cheese
veggies (whatever I have on hand...onion, green pepper, spinach, mushrooms)

blend the eggs and the cream, pour thin layer on bottom of a casserole pan, add sausage and veggies next. Top with some cheese. pour remaining eggs over cheese. Top with remaining cheese. Baked on 350. Reheat for 2 mins in the microwave in the morning.

It is definitely a hearty breakfast and for my underweight gang, its the calories they need to get them going.

[karne]

If you can find it, Mollie Katzen's cookbook Sunlight Cafe, has great breakfast recipes in it. I cook out of it all the time. There are recipes for various protein-type muffins that my kids love.

[Kerrie]

Thanks everyone - all are great ideas. Eggs are at least $1.50/dz and that's the cheapest and therefore not the best that I can find. I think I'm going to try the breakfast muffins - I found a recipe at incredible egg.org and the egg casarole because I can do most of the prep the night before. Thanks!

[Kerrie]

Okay so I made egg sandwiches this morning and while my kids ate them the 2 kids I am watching did not. I'm going to try the muffins for friday I guess. Grrr!

[honeybunmom]

Originally Posted by Kerrie

Okay so I made egg sandwiches this morning and while my kids ate them the 2 kids I am watching did not. I'm going to try the muffins for friday I guess. Grrr!

It may take a couple of times presenting before they'll eat it if it is new to them. And on the oatmeal front, have you ever tried cooking it overnight in the crock pot with fruit (like apple), vanilla extract and brown sugar? Whole 'nother experience than the regular. I think I'm going to try coconut milk in mine the next time.