Save money – make quick and easy breakfast foods

Save money – make quick and easy breakfast foods

A family on the go every morning can go through a lot of cereal and milk and granola bars in a week. And that can get expensive. But what if you could make large batches of the homemade versions of popular breakfast foods and save money? Here are 7 suggestions for how to make quick and easy breakfast foods your family will love and still get out the door on time every morning.

Slow cooker oatmeal.

You can have delicious oatmeal hot and ready to serve by setting it up to cook overnight in your slow cooker. Online recipes will give the correct measurements for the oats, liquid, and mix-ins such as brown sugar or diced apples. Compared to the price of individual packets of oatmeal, which run approximately 30 cents per ounce, you can make oatmeal this way for half the cost, approximately 15 cents per ounce. Plus, you can use fresh fruit and control the sugar content.

Toaster French toast.

Use a full loaf of bread and make a large batch of French toast. Allow the finished pieces to fully cool without getting soggy, then freeze into portions. Pull them from the freezer and reheat in the toaster for quick French toast. Instead of paying over $2 for 8 slices, you’ll get about three times as many slices of French toast for the same money.

Heat and eat pancakes.

Use a full pancake mix box to make a large batch of small pancakes. Be sure the pancake batter isn’t too dry and your pancakes are nicely browned but moist. This will help them not dry out when reheating. Allow the finished pancakes to fully cool, then freeze into portions. Pop them into the toaster or a skillet to reheat. You can even lay a large batch out on a sheet pan and reheat them all at once in the oven. Like the French toast above, you can get 3-4 times the number of pancakes for the same price – or less – as it would cost to buy ready-to-heat frozen pancakes.

Homemade toaster pastries.

You can make toaster pastries with pie crust and your favorite jarred jam. Simply make rectangular portions of thin dough, fill with jam and seal. Freeze them before baking to help maintain their shape. There are recipes online that will walk you through step by step. Homemade toaster pastries might come out about the same in cost but they will taste much better than the boxed versions. And this time of year, with baking ingredients at such low prices, you’re likely to come out ahead in cost.

Ready to warm breakfast sandwiches.

You can make a whole batch of perfectly-sized eggs in a muffin tin in the oven. To keep the eggs from being too tall for the sandwiches, beat the eggs into a uniform consistency and then only use half an egg in each muffin tin space. Place on English muffins along with any other ingredients you desire, such as cheese and sausage patties or bacon. Place each in freezer-grade sandwich bags and freeze. Remove and wrap in a paper towel before reheating in the microwave. Compared to paying around $2 each, you can make 12 sandwiches for about $10.

Yogurt Parfaits.

Make yogurt parfaits in small cups or bowls with lids by layering cut fruits such as strawberries or grapes with yogurt then refrigerate. Be sure to make the top layer yogurt to keep the fruit fresher. Set a small portion of granola or nuts in squares of plastic wrap with each to top the parfaits just before serving. You can easily make eight 6-ounce parfaits for around $5, depending on the price of the fruit and nuts you choose.

Heat and eat breakfast burritos.

You can make your own breakfast burritos by tightly wrapping cooked and cooled egg and other ingredients such as crumbled sausage and cheese in tortillas and freezing. The key is slightly warming the tortillas so they are pliable and easy to roll and tuck in the ends. Wrap them individually in airtight plastic wrap first, then place several into a large freezer bag. To reheat, unwrap and microwave individually or put a bunch in the oven at once. If you crave a more toasted tortilla, heat the burritos first, then quickly toast the sides in a hot skillet before serving. You can make 24 breakfast burritos for about $12, beating even inexpensive options from fast food places at $1 each.