Breakfasts

I am often asked what do I serve my family for breakfast?  Well, lots of things. 

And as you might expect most of those things are made from scratch with a high focus on good nutrition.  In the winter I like to serve a hot breakfast as often as possible and in the summer we tend to eat more cold cereal. 

Sunday breakfasts are always special.  We eat later in the morning and have a larger meal so it is more or less a brunch.  We eat our supper early so I only serve two meals on Sundays.  A light snack midway in between is often served as well. 

So what is usually on the menu during the week?  Typically you will find: 

·        Whole wheat waffles or pancakes with butter and homemade syrup.  Sometimes I add frozen blueberries or raspberries and on special occasions chocolate chips.

·        French toast with homemade syrup or jam.

·        Whole wheat muffins of all types of varieties – zucchini, banana, blueberry, raspberry, spice, bran, corn, pumpkin, etc.  I also offer up butter and homemade jam or jelly.

·        Homemade biscuits or cornbread with butter and homemade jelly or homemade country gravy.

·      Toasted English muffins or homemade English muffin bread with butter and homemade jam or jelly.

·        Toasted homemade whole wheat, cinnamon swirl, oatmeal & honey, rye bread with butter, jelly and/or peanut butter.

·         Homemade coffee cake or Kuchen.

·         Homemade cinnamon rolls.

·         Homemade banana bread, pumpkin bread, zucchini bread, raisin bread, Friendship bread, etc.

·         A variety of homemade granolas with All-Bran added to it for extra fiber.

·        Oatmeal cooked in a variety of ways – maple & brown sugar, raisin and spice, pumpkin, banana, etc.

·        Baked rice custard topped with maple syrup.

·       Cold cereal (purchased on sale and with a coupon).  I usually take a sweetened cereal and mix it half and half with a non sweetened cereal like Chex, Cherrios, Rice Krispies, Corn Flakes, Total, etc. for the kids.

·        Scrambled, fried, poached or hard boiled eggs.

·        Omelets or quiche. 

I take one of these items and pair it with a nutritious side like fruit juice or milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, fresh or canned fruit, fresh fruit salad or compote, berries, and sliced oranges.

This year we have decided to cut down on our dairy and meat consumption and eat more fresh fruits and vegetables.  We are trying to enjoy smaller portions of what has typically been our main dishes and larger portions of the more nutritious fresh foods.  As a result we are all noticing that we feel better and seem to have more energy. 

So this is what I serve at breakfast at our house.  What is the usual fare at your table in the morning?

Chopped Salad

Ever notice how you accumulated little bits and pieces of vegetables in your crisper drawer sometimes?  Rather than let them rot so you can justify tossing them out, make a chopped salad! 

I love chopped salads.  They are so healthy for us and taste so good.  Plus, they are super simple to make.  The other day I made one with all my little leftovers and cleaned out my crisper drawer quite nicely in the process. 

 

This is what I put into mine: 

·         The end of a cucumber

·         A handful of grape tomatoes, sliced in half

·         A handful of baby carrots, sliced in ½ inch pieces

·         The last third of a bag of broccoli florets

·         A handful of black olives

·         About a dozen green olives

·         3 sliced pepperoncini peppers

·         2 slices of yellow onion diced and rinsed in cold water 

All items just rattling around in the crisper waiting to be rescued.  I tossed it all with my homemade Italian dressing and let it marinate until lunchtime.  So good and unfortunately no leftovers to enjoy later. 

This salad is a wonderful dish to take to a potluck as it holds up so well.  You could also add in leftover pasta and some Feta cheese too if you had it. 

Tip:  Rinse your onion in cold water and drain to remove the heat and bite when adding to a raw salad.  You are left with a sweet oniony flavor and no bad breath or aftertaste to contend with later.

Grocery Budget Update - January

I can see where our new budget is going to be a tough one to stick to and I’m going to have to be really good at staking out the bargains.  Especially as we are really working at eating healthier and increasing our consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.  That being said I think we did a great job!

 

Our $25.00 nonfood budget was over this month 30¢ due to an unplanned purchase of some much needed lotion tissues for raw noses.

 

The items in blue are my pantry stock up items.  This is what I bought this month:

 

January 2013
Groceries			$$$
Crushed pineapple (3)			0.04	Double coupons
Sugar 4# (2)			3.24	Double coupons
English muffins (2)			1.25	Coupon
Salad mix			0.13	Coupon
Sausage 2#			5.00
Eggs - 12ct			FREE	Store Coupon
Farfalle (2)			2.00
Canned tomatoes (6)			3.00	Store Coupon
Ramen (5)			0.97
Rye flour			2.21
Tomatoes			0.61
Less Bag Refund			(0.10)
Rice 20#			11.29	Cash & Carry
Tuna (10)			5.00
Whole wheat tortillas			2.42
Spinach			1.68
Cole slaw mix			1.28
Grape tomatoes			1.28
Avocados (2)			1.36
Bell peppers (2)			0.96
Red bell pepper			0.68
Cucumber			0.48
Peanut butter			2.98
Vegetable juice (2)			3.08
Olives (2)			1.56
Peas & carrots (2)			1.56
Bean sprouts			1.28
Sour cream			1.18
Cream			1.28
Cheese			3.38
Parmesan			1.98
Cream cheese			0.98
Kiwi (2)			0.76
Almonds			1.42
Peanuts			1.14
Pecans			1.99
Mushrooms			2.15
Apples			3.53
Oranges			1.24
Bananas			0.52
Milk - 1/2 gal (4)			3.98	Store Coupon
Pasta (4)			2.16	Store Coupon/Coupon
Oranges			3.15
Less Bag Refund			(0.20)
Lettuce			3.24
Apples			1.87
Tomatoes			1.49
Pesto			3.09
Snap Peas			2.50
Chocolate			0.99
Less Bag Refund			(0.10)
Broccoli florets (2)			3.98
Avocados (2)			1.00
Bananas			0.52
Less Store Coupon			(5.00)
Total			$   99.46

 

We ate really good this month and entertained company for dinner twice.  All three of us packed lunches to school and work too.  We only dined out once this month and that was a lunch out for pizza and salad bar.  We have plenty of fresh produce to get us through until next month.  I couldn’t be happier with how this month’s budget panned out.

 

How did you do with your budget this month?