Tell us Tuesday is a weekly question and answer feature… I throw out a question on a frugal topic, and you answer! Feel free to leave any links to posts that you’ve written in the topic in your comments.
I have trouble mastering the frugal breakfast. Lunch, dinner, snacks- I’ve got those covered. But breakfast has me in a quandary.
My kids and husband usually eat yogurt, buns (like pain au chocolat) and maybe some cereal for breakfast. Attempts to get them to eat fruit have failed spectacularly, even though they are all big fruit eaters at other times of the day. I usually take a yogurt, cereal bar or piece of fruit with me to work, where I eat it at my desk.
It seems to me that breakfast foods consume an inordinately large percentage of our grocery budget and I’d like to find some more frugal things to eat.
What do you and your family eat for breakfast?
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{ 25 comments }
I eat either a 1/2 bagel with peanut butter and an apple or I eat 2 eggs scrambled and a piece of toast. Both are very quick and I can fix all of them at my office since we have a full size kitchen. I love yogurt and frozen strawberries or blue berries as a snack. I’ll thaw the the fruit in the microwave and add it to plane yogurt or vanilla yogurt. I haven’t bought the fruity yogurt in quite some time.
.-= Ashley´s last blog ..haha $40 on the DOT! =-.
I have to admit that I don’t eat breakfast and neither does my husband. Neither of us has much of an appetite until we’ve been awake 2-3 hours; by then, we just wait until lunch.
As for my 6yo granddaughter who lives with us, I let her have anything she likes. My thoughts are that any food is better than none, and I’m hoping to keep her in the breakfast habit rather than let her fall out of it like I did. She eats traditional breakfast foods like eggs and toast, oatmeal, waffles, and pancakes…although she doesn’t like syrup on her waffles or pancakes…just butter. She also eats non-traditional breakfasts of leftover pizza, veggies and dip, egg salad sandwiches, etc. Like I said, anything is better than nothing.
I’ve even let her have ice cream once or twice I did a nutritional comparison of a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream in a dish vs. a donut, Pop-Tart or bowl of sweetened cereal and decided that it’s not that bad a food for starting the day.
.-= Annie Jones´s last blog ..???Happy Valentine’s Day??? =-.
Me: I usually eat high protein cereal with bananas on top.
Hubby: Sugary cereal or if he has time he makes his version of an egg mcmuffin
Boy: Scrambled egg with cheese, leftover pancakes or toaster waffles or cereal without milk
Baby: Mama milk
On the weekends or slow weekdays I try to make healthy pancakes. I either save the leftover batter for another day or make it all up and save the extras in the freezer. My 3yo son can eat an astonishing number of fresh silver dollar-sized pancakes. When fresh he’ll eat a 10-12, but when leftover he’ll only eat 2-3. We like them with butter, syrup, peanut butter, or Nutella depending on mood.
.-= nopinkhere´s last blog ..Laundry =-.
I love breakfast! I mash up a banana, cover it with some warm (old-fashioned) oatmeal, and sprinkle on some cinnamon and walnuts.
I second oatmeal and fruit, or if you have time on the weekend you can make up a batch of homemade granola or breakfast bars. Both will cover your cereal + fruit, so you can just add a glass of milk or a yogurt and you're covered.
I eat porridge in the winter. One packet of organic rolled oats for $5 lasts me and my husband about a month. Add a bit of milk or sugar to that cost. I’m British, so I grew up with porridge. It’s the ultimate frugal breakfast.
My husband is very much cereal with milk kind of guy – and he insists that the brand name tastes better. The kids and I eat oatmeal (regular not instant) so since I am only buying cereal for one I can afford to buy him the brand name cereal. I buy the oats at a local bulk food store and it makes the cost of oatmeal vs. cereal a great bargain. Then we have some fruit and consider ourselves ready for the day.
We eat scrambled eggs a lot. We also have pancakes or waffles often. We purchase a big bag of Krusteaz mix that you just add water to, so they are pretty inexpensive.
I'm with nopink. Except we make double batches of pancakes or french toast (no waffles, they just don't hold their shape well) and sausage links, plastic wrap 2 links on tops of a piece of toast or a pancake, and freeze. To thaw, just buzz in the microwave on defrost. Viola! Breakfast is served!
My friend also made frozen Egg McMuffins in a Once A Month Cooking menu that went over very well.
For breakfast on the go, I love making what Andrew calls "church sandwiches". Slice banana bread, slather one side with peanut or almond butter, fold in half. Plastic wrap individually and throw in the freezer. These got their names because I'd snag one on the way out the door to church, it would thaw in the car during the service, and Andrew would dig in when we got back to the car.
.-= Emily´s last blog ..Again =-.
We eat oatmeal. We buy organic rolled oats in 50 pound bags (much less expensive that way, compared with smaller quantities). We mix it with water, a little flaxseed oil, and some raisins, and let is cook for about 30 minutes (usually outside in the sun oven, or on the stovetop if it’s cloudy). It’s hearty, cheap, and tasty!
.-= Frugal Babe´s last blog ..Getting Started In Bulk Food Buying =-.
I make big breakfasts only on the weekends. I make sure to keep an eye out for great sales on cereal and oatmeal, as that is what we eat the most. But, our biggest savior for breakfast are make-ahead breakfast burritos. They can be made in advance, wrapped in wax paper and foil, and put in the freezer. Once you are ready to have one in the morning, take the foil off and warm back up in the microwave. We like to fill ours with chopped turkey bacon, scrambled eggs(of course), cheddar cheese, leftover potato chunck and leftover beans if we have any from some meals the week before I make them. Chopped herbs in the scrambled eggs are always nice too. I can yield about 15 burritos with just those things mixed together.
I saw a tutorial for breakfast burritos on Pioneer Woman about a year ago I think. You may want to check it out.
.-= Amiyrah´s last blog ..Stockpile Double Agent- Coffee Creamer =-.
Most often yogurt and muesli, both homemade. Muesli is easier, cheaper, and healthier than granola (just oats with some dried fruit & nuts, no need to added sugar or baking). Homemade yogurt is about half of the price of store-bought. If anyone wants to know how, post in the comments and I’ll tell you.
Other options: Porridge with raisins & milk, whole wheat toast with peanut butter. Rush mornings: a banana and some raw almonds that I eat on the walk to work.
Banana, Chocolate, Honey Toast
1 large piece of home made (bread machine) bread, toasted
Slather w/butter
Slather w/Nutella
Add banana, sliced lengthwise, to one half of the toast
Top w/drizzled honey
Fold toast in half and smash together if you like.
So good w/a cup of hot coffee!
Also, French toast (oui, oui) w/a chocolate bar melted on top and honey over the top of that. mmmm
Bette
A little yogurt, or perhaps a grapefruit–just to put something in my stomach. Eating very much in the morning makes me sick to my stomach. It has since I was a child.
I’m with the oatmeal crowd. I make oatmeal that I top with blueberries and strawberries then drizzle on some honey. Very affordable. The most expensive part is the berries but we buy the large bags of frozen berries. It seems the cheapest option.
.-= Junebug´s last blog ..Topics Tuesday – Sports =-.
Ooh – Add me to the Oatmeal contingent. I've been really into this lately – and boy is it Cheap! Regular oats (not organic, etc.) at our local super market costs 25 Euro cents. I cook it with vanilla extract, cinnamon, walnuts from my in-laws tree, brown sugar and/or maple syrup – Delish! On less frugal days I add self-imported dried cherries from Trade Joes 🙂
We are Gluten free so it is way to expensive to make oatmeal for us. GF oats are three to four times more expensive than normal oats, ouch! I will make my own Cream of Rice hot cereal. I just boil water and add rice flour until desired texture. I have a Vitamix blender so I even grind my own rice flour. It is so much cheaper than buying rice flour at the health food store. I do GF pancakes all the time too. I freeze a double batch. My kids could care less if they are fresh or not. We do fruit smoothies when when I get Costco frozen fruit. I add a handful of raw almonds and blend it and it stays with them longer than just fruit.
.-= Keilah´s last blog ..Day 16 =-.
I sometimes make waffles ahead of time and then pop them in the toaster-they taste better than eggos and are a lot cheaper. I also made an egg bake last weekend, that I cut into sections and froze so that it would last me a few work weeks. The recipe is on my blog: http://www.homeownerby30.blogspot.com. I think it was pretty economical.
I eat instant oatmeal with a little brown sugar every day. It is warm and keeps me much fuller than cold cereal. I buy the oatmeal in bulk at Sam’s Club and don’t sue the little packages. I am a big fan of fruit in the afternoons at work when I am running on low and need a sweet snack. Fruit fits the bill and is healthy.
Meanwhile my husband sticks to cereal every single day. I find what cereal he likes and search for sales. When I find a sale on a type he likes I will sometimes buy up to 10 boxes since they don’t go bad in the few months it takes him to go through them. I also look for milk on clearance and buy extra to freeze. I also will freeze part of the gallon so that he can use up the milk before it goes bad.
We have sworn off all boxed cereal. The cost, and amount of sugar, was not good for our family. We have three little boys who can chow an amazing amount at each sitting! So, we now offer oatmeal, with toppings of maple syrup (liquid gold they call it), walnuts, flax seed, bananas, etc. It’s very simple to make on the stove – not the instant kind, and full of nutrition and protein for the long morning ahead. If there are cries of dismay at having oatmeal yet again, we switch it up with some scrambled eggs, cornmeal pancakes, or other healthy option.
My mom swears by oatmeal and maybe some fruit. Uber-cheap and still nutritious. Plus, full of fiber so it has staying power.
Me, I like Kashi GoLean Crunch. I buy the big box from Sam’s Club for about $8.50. I get 10 bowls (1.5 servings) so about 80 cents for breakfast — plus the cost of milk, of course. It’s tasty but it’s still got a lot of fiber.
If your family really like muffins and such, consider stocking up on Betty Crocker muffin mix when stores have sales. (Here you can get it for free when Safeway has it for 99 cents each, since the store rounds all coupons up to $1.) Then it won’t take much to make muffins every other day or so. Just one thought.
.-= Abigail´s last blog ..A lazy post and a roundup =-.
I shuffle into the kitchen and put water in a pan with two eggs. I boil them, turn off the water and leave them there for 15 minutes with the lid on. Publix has fresh bread for $1.25 a loaf but I used to use toasted day old bread. I have a banana 30 cents two slices bread 20cents mayonnaise 5 cents tea 5 cents eggs are $1 a dozen so two are 17cents 77cents and 500 calories which is a hearty meal pretty cheap. Especially for college kids and those new to frugality or put in “eating on $1” on amazon for book I cowrote http://bit.ly/5jARKt
I usually eat something really small for breakfast like a kiwi fruit and a yogurt on weekdays and then on weekends I usually make french toast. I buy kiwi in bulk so it works out to be a lot cheaper. I also have gotten into the habit of drinking a half a glass of almond milk every morning. Although almond milk itself is more expensive than regular milk, I find that it really fills me up so I don’t feel the need to eat a lot. Also, almond milk doesn’t go bad for a long time, so when it goes on sale, I stock up.
.-= PamL´s last blog ..Should I Rent Or Buy A Home? =-.
Smoothies. Throw some fruit (fresh, frozen, or canned) into a blender. Add some milk, yogurt or soft tofu; add a little honey, molasses or fruit juice concentrate to sweeten it, and perhaps some peanut butter, tahini or almond butter to add protein. Give it a whirl and pour into cups. It can be made the night before and refrigerated overnight
I hate to admit it but we don’t eat breakfast. We both drink our coffee and tea with milk, does that count? If we get hungry before noon we might have a piece of toast. The funny thing is we both love breakfast for dinner. Pancakes, egg sandwiches, oatmeal, and cereal are all really cheap dinners.
I know that studies have found that people who don’t eat breakfast weigh more and have other issues, but my husband and I have found we eat more all day and are less productive when we eat in the morning. I have also found that skipping breakfast keeps my hypoglycemia under control. It goes against conventional wisdom but for some reason it helps.
I know with kids it’s different. If I had kids I would fix them oatmeal. Old fashioned oats with some cinnamon, raisins, sugar and water. You can heat it up in the microwave for 2 minutes and never buy the packets again. Then, there’s always toast. Anything more complicated can wait for the weekend.