Tomorrow morning is coming, which means one thing: it will be breakfast time once again. While weekend breakfasts can be fun and relaxing, week day breakfasts tend to be a bit different. Early week day mornings, whether you have children to feed or not, are hurried and stressful. This makes breakfast an easy thing leave behind for a drive-through window, something vacuum sealed, or to skip altogether.
But, it doesn’t have to be this way!
We make a lot of breakfast here. And most mornings, we’re cooking for a crowd! With a breakfast time of 8:30am and a table set for up to 10 guests, breakfast preparation can be get crazy here, too.
However, we’ve found the key to preparing delicious, hot breakfasts every morning. This is breakfast preparation that you can maintain much longer than just the first week of school.
What is the key? Preparation.
The key to any great meal is the preparation behind it. With a great plan, any meal can come together in a way that will keep you sane and satisfied.
So, how do you prepare to master your busy weekday morning breakfasts? Here are our 3 tips:
Choose The Right Recipe
When brainstorming your next breakfast idea, pay attention to the amount of preparation needed. Don’t choose a recipe that is going to require you to be up at 5am. While fresh, made-from-scratch, yeast cinnamon rolls may be delicious, they simply are not practical. Even items like pancakes can be difficult to execute when you have a large crowd to feed.
Instead, choose one pan recipes that can be put in the oven and left to forget about while you get ready for work. You can also utilize oven-ready store bought options to cut the prep time. Save the creative recipes for the weekends!
Plan your Prep-Time
When our innkeepers plan their menu, they always plan with the serving time in mind.
For example…If breakfast needs to be hot, on the table at 8:30 am, and the bacon takes 40 minutes to cook in the oven, then bacon goes in the oven at 7:50 am.
While going through your recipes, plan what time each item needs to be in the oven or be cooking by in order to be ready in time. Also, keep in mind how long it will take to put the ingredients together before putting in the oven. It may seem a bit overwhelming now, but planning well will actually reduce your stress level when it counts.
Do Ahead
Get as much done ahead of time as possible. If you know you’re going to need onions and peppers chopped up for your egg dish in the morning, chop them the night before. Buy grated cheese or pre-grate it yourself. If you tend to store your breakfast meats in the freezer, put them in the fridge to thaw so they are ready to cook in the morning.
While items like eggs and fruit should not be prepared until the day you serve for freshness, many items, such as muffins, home-made jams, veggies, cheeses, fillings, or syrups can often be prepared ahead of time. Look into overnight french toast bakes or oatmeal for possible breakfast solutions, too! This will prevent the breakfast frenzy from setting in.
You can have a delicious, hot breakfasts any day of the week for any number of people. Breakfast is a great time to fuel up and focus on the day ahead!
What about you? What tricks do you use to prepare for busy morning breakfasts?