Meal Planning Monday! It's all about the Breakfast!

This week’s post is by Leah Kelley.

Meal Planning isn’t just for your dinners!  You’ll save even more money and time by planning your breakfasts and lunches.  This week is all about the breakfast, which many health experts agree is the most important meal of the day.  Most of us are so rushed in the morning we barely have time to scarf down a bowl of Lucky Charms or grab a donut.  With a little forethought, you can have nutritious and tasty breakfast items in the freezer, ready to pop in the microwave.

I have a busy week coming up; my husband and I are going on our first vacation without kids in 6 years!  I'll need some quick things to make for breakfast so I can start packing. I do a lot of Freezer Cooking and that makes it so much easier to plan my breakfasts. If I have time while I'm making a fresh batch of muffins, I'll make a few more batches and freeze them. I do the same with a lot of other breakfast foods. You could do sausage biscuits, hash browns, pancakes, or omelets to name a few.  Who wouldn’t love a pancake breakfast on a school day, thanks to a minute in the microwave?

            So, what is on the breakfast Meal Plan for the Kelley household this week?

Sunday  ~  Pancakes (I'll make a double or triple batch and freeze some of them.)

Monday  ~  Freezer French Toast

Tuesday  ~  Maple Oatmeal and Fresh Strawberries

Wednesday  ~  Cinnamon French Toast

Thursday  ~  Cereal with fresh fruit

Friday and Saturday ~ Freezer Muffins. (I'm sending my sister-in-law, Amber, who has so graciously agreed to watch our three kids while we’re on vacation, a few batches of muffins I made so she has an easy breakfast.)

           

            This week we’re going to give you some tips for jazzing up store-bought pancake mix.  I recently got several boxes of pancake mix for 50 cents apiece at a recent Kroger Mega Sale. Freeze extra pancakes in individual servings.  Pop them in the microwave straight from the freezer for about 45 seconds.  For each variety add the following per 1 cup of dry pancake mix:

·        Cinnamon Walnut Pancakes: Add ¼ of finely chopped walnuts (or pecans) and ¼ tsp. of cinnamon.

·        Berry Pancakes: Add ¼ cup of frozen or fresh blueberries.

·        Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip: Add 2 Tbs of peanut butter and ¼ cup of mini chocolate chips.

·        Country Boy Pancakes: Add ¼ cup of cooked crumbled sausage.