Cheap Breakfast Ideas That Save Time Too

Breakfast sets the tone for the day. Skip it and you feel hungry, lethargic and you can’t focus as well. Eating a nutritious breakfast is important for energy, for starting your metabolism for the day and for concentration. Busy lives mean people often skip or skimp on this important meal. Here are some ideas that can keep you feeling well without draining your wallet. And they are real time-savers, too!

Pancakes and Waffles

Pancake mix is relatively cheap compared to lots of other breakfast menu options. Even if you make your own pancake mix, it is still cheaper than frozen pancakes or waffles. Who has time to make pancakes in the morning when the kids are clamoring for food and you need to get them out the door and get yourself off to work? You do.

On the weekend or whenever you have a little time to do some cooking, make up an extra batch or two of pancakes or waffles. Once they have cooled, divide them into portions, 2 or 3 per portion and seal them in freezer bags. Squeeze all the air out of the bag before sealing the last inch of the bag. The bags will stack easier in the door compartments if they aren’t all puffed up. Then you can take out the number of bags you need on a weekday morning, heat in the microwave, add a little syrup and enjoy.

French Toast Sticks

You can definitely make you own for much less than the frozen kind in the grocery store. I buy the thick sliced white bread, often packaged as Texas Toast. I freeze the bread to make it easier to cut and handle but you don’t have to. Once it is frozen, slice each piece of bread into 4 equal strips. Dredge them in your milk and egg batter and fry on a flat griddle, turning every few minutes on each side to cook evenly. Allow them to cool before storing in freezer bags.

You can add vanilla or black walnut extract to the egg mixture to add flavor. I also add cinnamon right to the egg mixture when I’m making them for the kids.

Tips

I used to make these for my husband who had to get up at 4 am each morning. Some mornings, if he was running late, he would take them to go but he couldn’t put syrup on them as he was accustomed to doing. I experimented and added the syrup to the egg mix too. While the French toast sticks didn’t have the moisture they would have if they were dowsed with syrup, they did have the flavor and he loved it. It’s a perfect on the go meal that saves time, money and doesn’t create a mess while you’re in the car either.

Once I saw how well this worked out, I began adding the syrup to my pancake and wafflebatter too. It worked well with pancakes but not so well with waffles. The syrup caused the waffles to stick the iron more and shred when removed.