I am stuck in a serious rut when it comes to making breakfast... I usually fall back on eggs and hashbrowns.

So... I'm looking for suggestions on how to add variety to the plan - ideas on inexpensive but healthful ways to mix up what is served. Or recipe ideas.

I love to cook, but getting up at 5 limits how elaborate the meal plan can be! Quick and easy is the key. Or frozen. I've considered making spinach quiche, but am afraid it may not freeze well (?)

We have to limit sausage/bacon for health concerns, cereals (hot/cold) don't got over too well, sweet/sugary things aren't really an option (except for fruits)... I need help!

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Jennifer Bessette
Member of Westminster OPC, Indian Head Park IL
Resident of Chicago, IL
Married to Casey Bessette
Mother of Hannah Marie and Josiah Owen

We have two favorites Jennifer:

The German Puff Pancake (Also called a Dutch Pancake or Dutch Babies) and the Fiesta Skillet.

Here is the recipe for the pancake from Taste of Home.

You can use an iron skillet instead of a glass baking dish if you like.
If you don't have buttermilk on hand (who does?) you can stir 1 tablespoon of vinegar into a cup of milk and let it sit for a few minutes.

WARNING: You must make the Buttermilk syrup, it is the best BUT use a very tall pot because it really rises like a volcano when it's boiling for 7 minutes. Our first attempt boiled over and we had to replace the glass top of our range. Don't let this scare you, the syrup is worth it.

Some folks add apples to the pancake.

Fiesta Skillet:

Cook up about a pound of hamburg, drain and add taco seasoning. Put it in a casserole dish.

Cook up some hash browns and make this the next layer.

Scramble some eggs and put that layer on next.

Top it off with shredded cheese. I like Pepper Jack or a mix of cheeses.

Bake this until it's heated through and the cheese is melted.

Scoop some onto a plate and top with sour cream and salsa.

It's spicey but we love it.

The pancake is the easiest to throw together but the skillet can be assembled and refrigerated or even frozen until it's needed.

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Bob Vigneault C.O.L, L.E., G.E, Dr.O.P., O.U.T.
The Heartbeat of Heaven (blog)
Deacon/Christ Presbyterian Church, Janesville, WI OPC www.christ-opc.org

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

One word: Grits!

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We shall not adjust our Bible to the age; but before we have done with it, by God's grace, we shall adjust the age to the Bible. - Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Lawrence Underwood, Jr.
Pastor - Providence Family Fellowship / Mobile, Alabama
1644/46 LBC
My Blog - Imprimis

My husband grabs a granola bar every morning on the way to work, and my girls and I eat eggs (either scrambled or fried) and toast, but here are a couple of things we did when I was helping out in the school kitchen.

Have you ever done French Toast? or Cheese toast?

French Toast

Heat a skillet or pancake griddle
scramble 1 egg with a dab of milk
Dip dry bread in egg until both sides are covered
cook on preheated griddle until side is light brown, flip and cook on the other side

Serve with butter, pancake syrup, fruit, jam, jello or powerded sugar

Cheese toast is even easier.
Place cheese on top of slices of bread
Bake in the oven until cheese is melted
Serve plan or with apple butter

__________________
J Baldwin
Keowee Presbyterian Church, PCA
Pickens, SC
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27

Check Out My Blog: http://reflectjoy.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the ideas! (And the warning, Bob... we have a brand new stove, and I don't think the landlord would be very happy about that accident! lol)

I don't know if I've ever really had grits - maybe once?? I'm probably at risk of being stoned for this comment, but they don't look too tasty. I grew up eating a cereal called Cream of the West (grew up in MT) Cream of the West, Harlowton, Montana - Roasted Wheat, Roasted 7-Grain, Roasted Ranch Oats, Montana Crunch and 7-Grain Buttermilk Flapjack Mix Products
Good stuff, and one variety (looks like they don't make it anymore) resembled grits.

Anyhow - thank you!

Jennifer, I don't like grits either. All the attempts to southernize me in that aspect have failed. I made the mistake of putting 2 tablespoons of dry grits into the last batch of bread I made thinking that it might give it an interesting texture and flavor. It was interesting all right. YUCK. Now I am thinking of ways to finish of the bread as quickly as possible so I can make something that has a nicer flavor.

If you like pancakes and want to keep it simple, Cracker Barrel sells their mix in a bag. You just add water and they make very tasty pancakes. I've tried tons of pancake recipes and I haven't found one as good as their mix yet.

JBaldwin;

With the above, you can add a dash of Cinnamon to the scrambled egg/milk mixture

I buy the aunt Jemima pancake mix (just add water) my son makes those for breakfast before school..

If you have a waffle maker you could make waffles

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Bobbi Clark
Covenant Member
Pinewood Pres. (PCA) Middleburg

When I kept Silent, My bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. Psalm 32:3

Unfortunately, she's north of the Grit line. I believe it falls fairly close to the Mason-Dixon line.

During the week for me it's toast, coffee, and a piece of fruit to eat in the truck on the way to work.

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Jim
1689 LBCF
Independent Bible Church
North Texas, USA

That's a good recipee, but I would add just a drop of vanilla to the mixture. It really adds alot to french toast.

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Josh G
Zion Community Church
Greenville, SC

Psalm 27:13-14
I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

Migas! You can form them into a breakfast casserole, cut into portions and freeze.

Basically, you need eggs scrambled with cheese and some veggies, like onions and peppers of your choosing and you toss shredded, softened, buttered corn tortillas into the mix. Form it into a casserole dish and top with grated cheese.

I bet spinach would go in there well, as does any form of salsa.

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Rev. Toby L. Brown, pastor
Jefferson Center Presbyterian Church--in, but not of, the PC(USA)
Saxonburg, PA
A Classical Presbyterian
Proud member of The Westminster Fellowship

"The happiness of the creature consists in rejoicing in God, by which God is also highly exalted." --Jonathan Edwards

I am coming over to your house for Breakfast.

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Benjamin P. Glaser, M. Div, Licentiate, Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
Member Fairmount ARP Church
Pittsburgh, PA

Deo Vindice

Come on up! You know where Route 8 is!

See you tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday morning

Sounds wonderful Pastor Toby, but where's the chorizo?

Moved to PA.... Can't.find.it.

Something that we make from time to time and our kids love is: Breakfast Pizza!

Use your favorite pizza crust, for sauce use cheese sauce (melted velveeta works fine too), crumble cooked bacon, eggs, sausage, etc, and put on as ingredients. Top with some shredded cheese of choice. Bake until cheese is melted and crust is cooked to how you like it. Scrumptious and fun!

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Ben
Chaplain, US Army
Ft. Riley, KS
TE Ohio Valley Presbytery, PCA

Another breakfast casserole that we make and keep in the fridge is as follows. It is very flexible in ingredients and quite yummy.

Take all your stale or older bread, biscuits, cornbread, tortillas, etc. and crumble them into a bowl.
Saute some onion, bell pepper, chiles, whatever (even broccoli is good).
If you like add in some crumbled cooked bacon, sausage, chorizo, or boudin. (You don't have to do this if meat is an issue.)
Grate two cups of cheese. Real cheese, not Velveeta.

In another bowl beat a half dozen eggs for every large bowl ( ours is about twelve inches in circumference ) of bread crumbles.
Grease a pyrex baking dish.
Put the meat and veggies into the eggs. Stir them well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour the egg mixture into the bread. You want to get a stiff 'dough'. If it is too dry add milk while stirring until you get the right consistency. Fold in the cheese reserving about 1/2 cup.

Spread the dough into the pyrex cooking dish. Sprinkle the top with the remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden.

Allow it to sit for about five minutes before cutting. It keeps very well in the fridge.

When I was 10 our teacher asked us what we had for breakfast and I said I had grits and living in the north was mocked by the teacher and the whole class,they had no idea what they were,never heard of them-too bad they didn't know what they were missing!

I enjoy Kashi Golean crunch cereal it's delicious with tons of fiber and protein

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Brian
Grace Bible Church;E.Bridgewater
East Bridgewater MA
http://www.gracebiblehome.org

My grand daddy used to say that if we'd have had just one more sack of grits we would have won.

Here is a couple of links to the American Heart and Diabetes Association. They have meal ideas and I think recipes. here and here

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sarah
WI
OPC
My Pastor's Sermons: Mark Jenkins...he's awesome!!!

You just eliminated practically everything our family eats for breakfast.

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Jonathan
Audio Engineer
Reformed Anabaptist
Ohio

Moroni's magical glasses of proper interpretation:

what ARE grits?

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Bert Mulder
Elder of the First Protestant Reformed Church of Edmonton
Edmonton Alberta Canada

Here is the Wikipedia link for Grits


I like the quote in the article:

"A Man full of Grits is a man of Peace"

Here's another definition. Although I wouldn't advise eating these They are very much adored.

The GRITS Guide to Life

I am pretty easy, two cups of dark coffee, sugar, splash of half&half. BREAKFAST! My Mum's family, are breakfast people! eggs bacon, the works! I take after My Pop's side on this, before 10 am coffee, thank you, JUST coffee, we love the "brunch" concept eggs and such after 10. May sound weird but, it is like that with most of my Paternal side! Some gene!

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Jon Lake
Whitehouse,Texas/ Member: Good Shepherd (REC)

You can make a variety of pancake batters the night before and cook 'em up in the morning. Cornmeal pancakes sound weird but are actually very tasty, and much better if you let the batter sit for a few hours or overnight. With frozen berries you can make a fruit sauce/syrup instead of using nasty fake syrup or expensive maple syrup.

Spinach quiche freezes just fine. Put individual slices on a baking sheet and freeze an hour or so, til firm. Then wrap with aluminum foil and put in a plastic freezer bag (if the foil is thick and tight enough, that part's optional). When you're ready to serve it, unwrap it (don't thaw it) and bake for 25 minutes or so at 350.

If you want the cornmeal pancake recipe, or an excellent quiche lorraine recipe with a really easy pat-in-the-pan crust, let me know.

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Laura
member of Geneva OPC, Woodstock, GA
"Christ has done great things for his people, and he has suffered great things for his people, and he has purchased great things for his people, and he has prepared great things for his people; yet many of his own dear people are so taken up with their own hearts, and with their own duties and graces, that Christ is little eyed by them or minded by them! This is the great reason why so many Christians, who will certainly go to heaven—do walk in darkness, and lie down in sorrow." - Thomas Brooks

Wasn't she a dancer? Maybe it was a singer.

Floor sweepings from a granary, I think!

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Michael Tremmel
attending Christ Reformed Baptist Church
Hales Corners, WI.

Isaiah 46:5-11

I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Ps.16:8 ESV

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. 1 Cor.15:10a ESV

Praecepta docent, exempla movent (precepts teach, but examples move)

As the president of the *South-East New Brunswick Maple Producers Association* (True), I recomend that every week you should include Maple Syrup in your breakfast menue!

My own family enjoyed pancakes & maple syrup this morning!

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Kevin Rogers
Sovereign Community Church, PCA
Moncton NB

Oh, the variety of breakfast opportunities...


Fresh popovers are absurdly easy to bake yet quite yummy with butter and/or jelly.

Quiche is also easy, though it might be a time-saver to make the crust the night before (or buy one pre-made). I typically make a simple pastry crust, baked for 15 minutes or so before I fill it. I've never had to freeze a quiche.

Some cheese, scrambled eggs, maybe a bit of meats, some salsa, wrap it all in a tortilla and voila! Instant breakfast burritos!

Blintzes are another nice and easy breakfast. Make a thin batter pancake, put a big wad of cottage cheese in the center, roll it up and drizzle with a fruit sauce or jam.

Here's an easy- take an English muffin, put a fried egg in it, along with a slab of cheese and perhaps a slice of sandwich ham. It's cheaper than McDonalds.

Or try a breakfast casserole. lay a few sausage patties in a 9X13 and cover with a goop made from shredded potatoes, cheese, onions and cream of mushroom soup. Bake 'til browned (Google for 'toads in the hole' for more info).

Theognome

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Bill Cunningham
Covenant Reformed Church, URC
Kansas City
There are three kinds of people- those who can count, and those who can't.

Take a baked potato & split it in half.

Scoop out the inside of each half.

Crack an egg into the scooped out portion.

Sprinkle cheese, bacon bits, whatever on top of the egg.

Bake for 15-20 min in 350 oven.

A rösti is similar to hashbrowns, but you can put cheese inside. I like mine with rosemary.

How about something you start the night before? Like: Alton Brown's Overnight Oatmeal or congee.

Is pizza okay? You could have lunch or dinner for breakfast instead.

Eliminating bacon, eggs, potatoes, and cereals really limits your options when you consider what the traditional breakfasts choices are. And most donuts, danishes, and such like are out of the question if you want to limit your sugar intake.

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Chris
Independent Baptist
Michigan
Layman

We love popovers. I'll second that recommendation. A puff pancake is a cross between a pancake and a popover. The very same ingredients, just a different amount of eggs.

-----Added 2/5/2009 at 10:23:09 EST-----

Another suggestion:

Creamed Chip Beef on Toast!!!!

I love this but it's probably not the most healthy of suggestions.

Furthermore, Stouffer's makes a frozen version and it's cheap. You can keep a few boxes in the freezer. When Casey want's something different he can pull out the bag, slice a small hole in it, but it in the microwave, make some toast and then marry the two. Yummy!


I also enjoy creamed eggs on toast when I was growing up. Bother's my stomach these days.

Can somebody come over and fix me breakfast?

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Ivan R. Schoen, B.A., M.A., M.L.I.S.
Pastor of Maranatha Baptist Church (SBC)
Poplar Grove, IL, USA
http://maranatha-sbc.org

Wish I could Ivan. One of these days.

Or Chilis...and a Sam's.

okay... my stomach is officially growling now! Thanks for the great ideas! This morning was a small Cornish pasty and eggs. Nice to get some new ideas - I really hate it when I'm stuck in a rut with cooking options! Thanks to everyone who participated in improving my repertoire... even to those who endorse grits.

How do you make hashbrowns?

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Andrew DeShazo
Husband of Kathryn
Father of Phillip-Giles B. DeShazo
Deacon
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, Memphis, TN
"From out of the depth of unbroken Infinfity arose the Question, "Who am I?" And to that Question there is the answer, "I am God!" -Meher Baba, died 1969.

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Christ, died 33 AD, ressurected three days later.

Follow the directions on the package.

I know this sounds like a sarcastic reply, but I'm notorious for not following directions when it comes to cooking. While I admit using prepared hash browns isn't exactly "cooking"... they work great at 5 am... if you are awake enough to follow the directions! lol Small amount of oil, heated (no butter, burns too easily) put frozen patty in, cover, checking on occasion to make sure it's not getting too dark (doesn't take long). Flip when 1st side is brown. At this point I pull the lid off (which was there to heat it enough so the middle is hot.) Brown second side. Voila! Breakfast a la simplicite.