making mornings a little easier

I've never exactly been little Miss Sunshine in the morning, and long ago I gave up the pretense that I could train myself a morning person.   It was pure torture the year my firstborn became a kindergartener and I had to leave the house at 7:30 to get him to school.   Little man, now in second grade, doesn't like to wake up either.   
We are grumpy, but we still have to eat, and be on time.   Our pattern on weekdays has fallen to a boring rotation of cold cereal or yogurt and toast.  The thing is, my boys love breakfast foods, and if I fix a hot breakfast they will gobble up seconds and thirds.   They eat more at breakfast then they do the rest of the day combined.   I need to take advantage of that and get sneak some nutrition in.   
This week I decided to try something new.   I made up a whole bunch of nutritious breakfast foods, packaged them up individually and threw them into the freezer.   I have at least a month's worth of weekday mornings taken care of with just a minute thaw in the microwave.


Here's the menu:


1.  Whole Grain Sour Cream Apple Muffins

These muffins are delicious.  Even though they are made with whole wheat flour and oat bran, my kids devour them.   I made two batches.   The first batch I tried using applesauce instead of the oil, and I noticed I needed to bake them about 7 minutes longer then the recipe said.   The consistency was different then usual, and they tasted sweeter (even though I used no-sugar applesauce).    My family ate all of them up before I could get them in the freezer.   The second batch I made according to the recipe.   Next time, I'll try doing half oil/half applesauce, and throw in some wheat germ too.


You can find the recipe here:


http://pinchmysalt.com/whole-grain-sour-cream-apple-muffins/


2.  Egg Muffin Sandwiches

These were quick to make, and the boys were salivating in the kitchen wanting to eat them up right away.   I fried six eggs, breaking the yoke, and then in the same pan heated up six slices of canadian bacon for a minute a piece.   In the mean time, I toasted the whole grain english muffins with a dab of butter, and then assembled with cheese.   The muffins were rather large, so I decided to cut them in half before wrapping them up in foil.   Now we've got twelve sandwiches delivering protein and whole grains, and should be filling with a fruit salad for breakfast. 


3.  Mini Egg Cups

My mother-in-law is a great cook, and she taught me how to make a frittata (Italian omelet)  shortly after I was married.   We eat them a lot because they are so easy to put together, and you can use practically any ingredients you have on hand and they still taste delicious.   Usually, I'll mix together the ingredients in a pan and start cooking it on the stove, and finish it up under the broiler.   To make it easier for freezing, I tried baking these little guys in a mini-muffin tin.   They came out great!


For two batches, mix together 8 eggs, about 1/2 cup of milk or cream, and a good sprinkling of parmesan cheese.   Salt and pepper generously.  It is traditional to add in parsley, but I don't because the boys won't eat green.   You can add in all sorts of ingredients.   This time I just added a chopped up ham steak, but the options are endless.   Bacon, sausage, asparagus, potato, green beans, broccoli, onion-- you get the idea.     Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, or until eggs set.   Make sure you grease the pan well (I even have to grease the nonstick pan, or the eggs will stick).  
  
4.  Breakfast Cookies

I've collected many recipes for breakfast cookies over the years, but never made any until today.   I'm sorry I waited so long!   These are seriously good, and quick to make. 


1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup raw honey
1 mashed up banana
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup oats (I used coaches oats- my favorite!)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup nonfat milk powder
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1 cup cranberries or raisons


Mash up a banana with a fork, and stir in vanilla, peanut butter and honey.   In a different bowl, mix together try ingredients.   Add to the wet ingredients, and then mix in dried fruit.   Scoop about 12-13 cookies onto a baking sheet, and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes (I use a baking stones, and it took 21 minutes, but you want to start checking earlier).   


I wanted to do pancakes and waffles too, but that will have to wait until next time.   :)