Looking For: Easy and Portable Breakfast Recipes
Liz is looking for quick, portable breakfast ideas. She writes: I’m an elementary school teacher, and I’m always rushing out of the house in order to get into school early to do lesson planning. Since the kids are super-energetic and eager, I definitely need to eat something in the morning to keep up with them. I used to buy a muffin or granola bar on the way, but that’s getting expensive. I’m looking for some good quick-breakfast recipes.
We have some ideas for Liz. Read on for a gallery of breakfast recipes, and add your own ideas too!
Here are a few more criteria from Liz: It needs to be something that I can make in big quantities once a week or so and have on hand as I run out the door. It should also be fairly portable, unlike yogurt, so I can eat either as I walk to work or at my desk. And, of course, healthy and delicious would be ideal!
Is this an impossible dream? Or could I possibly get 15 more minutes of real dreaming in a day?
This isn’t impossible at all, Liz! We have a few ideas here (click through the gallery above to see which looks most appetizing), and the readers will pitch in with more great ideas.
Most of these are breads or muffins; realistically, that’s the easiest thing to make ahead and pack later. But we also think that most quiches and frittatas are great for this too. You can cut them up and wrap each piece individually, then refrigerate or freeze for quick morning consumption.
1. Zucchini Muffins – We like to pack our zucchini muffins with other textures and flavors, too: a handful of white raisins, some walnuts, a quarter cup of flax seeds or oat bran, maybe some extra grated carrots. We also really like this recipe from Simply Recipes, which uses oil or melted butter and doesn’t require a mixer.
2. Homemade English Muffins – Sara Kate’s recipe is whole wheat, and delicious in the mornings. Just pop in the toaster, put on some butter (or peanut butter, for a protein boost) and eat on your way out the door.
3. Zucchini and Bacon Frittata – This frittata is just as good one, two, or even three days after baking. You can cut it into wedges and wrap them individually for a quick grab and go. It’s sturdy enough to eat with your hands, too.
4. Dried Fig and Nut Bars – Homemade granola bars! These are sweet, crunchy, and chewy.
5. Overnight Oatmeal with Apricots and Buttermilk – If you have just a little more time, try steel-cut oatmeal! This oatmeal cooks with apricots and buttermilk overnight in the Crock-Pot. It makes a lot, and it’s just as delicious reheated. If you have just five minutes to sit down with a bowl of oatmeal, these creamy, pearly oats will make it worth your time.
6. Bill Granger’s Oat, Pear, and Raspberry Loaf – This is a hunk of fruit, baked with oats and spices. It’s a dense sort of bread, very nourishing and satisfying on a cold morning.
7. Peach and Spice Tea Muffins – Another muffin. Make a half-batch and store tightly wrapped.
8. “Ham and Cheese” Breakfast Casserole – A breakfast casserole that can also be sliced up, packaged individually, and grabbed on the go.
And two more muffins:
9. Lemon Sesame Muffins – These muffins get doused with a lemon syrup just after baking, which helps them stay soft and moist for up to a week.
10. Mini Blueberry Lemon Muffins – Small, easy, and cute.
OK, readers! Do you have more suggestions for Liz? These are only a few of the breakfast possibilities out there, of course. What do you depend on for quick, portable breakfast?