I hope you are warmer than me on this wicked-cold Wednesday. Last night our weather man reported that, with wind chill, it felt like minus 6 degF, and boy did it ever. This morning it was even only in the 20’s all the way down at my in-laws’ home in Florida! Brrrr. I am managing okay, although I would like to invest in a nose-warmer.
Ever since I started thinking of finding a job later this year, my mind keeps wandering back to the horrid thought of what our household would be like with both of us working. I am fairly sure the organization level of our refrigerator would drop a few pegs, as would our level of clean laundry and, let’s be honest, our sanity. Nate and I keep looking at each other and saying “how do people do it?!”
With that state of mind, I decided that one of my 2012 goals should be to learn more recipes that are either made in a crock pot or in large batches ahead of time. I knew just where to start: breakfast. To smooth out my chaotic morning routine, a while back I decreed breakfast would consist of a constant of the following two choices for myself and the girls: 1) oatmeal with raisins and a side of applesauce or 2) yogurt with granola and a boiled egg on the side. I would love it if they would also eat cream of wheat, but as I’m the only one who loves it (or even stomachs it), I have given up that fight. I should add that this set-up does include contingencies for occasional weekend forays into pancakes, banana bread, or eggs and grits, but for the most part we’re on a consistent 2-choice breakfast schedule.
After a year of this routine, I am growing a bit tired of the monotony, so I recently added breakfast cookies to the mix. They have been a huge hit, and we now call them “anytime cookies,” since I frequently bring them in my purse for snacks. This week I decided to add more variety to the mix and make Frugally Sustainable’s breakfast burritos
They are another huge hit, both with us and the girls! What a relief to have another quick, easy, affordable breakfast option. Go to her site via the link above if you want the recipe. I’ll mention a few of my own notes too. I made the potatoes and eggs the first day, and the bacon and cheese a second day, which somehow made it feel quicker. The recipe allows for whatever seasonings you choose for the potatoes, and I found a sprinkle of smoked Spanish paprika and roasted ground cumin gave them an earthy taste, yet not too spicy for a toddler.
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| My burrito-filling station |
Additionally, at the end of the recipe she notes you can freeze them using whatever method you normally do. While I do not have my own go-to method, I opted to wrap them in wax paper (which can be microwaved! Did you know that? I didn’t until reading it right on the box) and put them in a 2.5 gallon ziploc.
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| Apologies for the blurriness, but you get the gist. |
Next up will be to try an idea I got from Attainable Sustainable some months back to take oatmeal to work in a mason jar. Perhaps the hubster can be my guinea pig, though his breakfast routine typically consists of a cup of coffee and two cheese sticks when he gets to work.
Do you have any best-loved quick breakfasts that can be eaten on the run?
