Make your mornings easier by prepping some easy baking mixes, instant oatmeal packets, and granola.
This afternoon my two little girls and I set out to create a bunch of breakfasts for the month. As you may know, I love having a breakfast bar each morning. It’s an easy way to serve the whole crew without a lot of work or orchestrating wake-up times.
And of course, making much of that breakfast bar in advance makes the mornings even easier. With a little planning, I can pull a few things from the freezer the night before, add fruit, milk, and yogurt the next day, and we’re good to go.
Today I made a round of baking mixes as well as 30-some packets of instant oatmeal. Once you have all the ingredients and bags lined out, it really doesn’t take that long at all.
I reuse the freezer bags several times, storing them in the freezer between refills. The same goes for the bags that we use for instant oatmeal packets.
Here are some of the recipes that I drew from this week to make mixes and instant oatmeal packets:
- Basic Pancakes
- Spiced Waffles (in my cookbook)
- Instant Oatmeal Packets
- Mix and Match Muffin Mix
How to Assemble Baking Mixes Ahead of Time
You will need:
- quart or gallon size freezer bags
- the dry ingredients for the recipes you choose to make (You can use any scratch recipe that you enjoy for quick breads or use the ones mentioned above)
- Assemble all your bags and ingredients.
- With a sharpie, label each bag with the name of the recipe, the wet ingredients that will need to be added later, and the cooking instructions.
- Lay out several labeled bags for each recipe you’re going to make.
- Make sure you have enough of all the ingredients. We ran out of baking powder and cream of tartar midway through which was very problematic.
- Measure into each bag the dry ingredients for each recipe.
- Remove the air and seal the bags.
- Seal the bags in the freezer for longest storage.
I love having homemade baking mixes all ready to go. And even though oatmeal is pretty easy to make by itself, I love the convenience and ease of homemade packets. We get to control the ingredients in both for homemade, yet convenient breakfasts.
Emma
This recipe looks great and I am looking forward to trying it out. I just have one question! Would this recipe work in a loaf tin rather than as muffins? I ask as my daughter (aged 3) does not like individual cakes for some reason, and prefers slices. Have recently found your blog and am enjoying trying some of your fabulous recipes, especially the comfort food type as the weather is starting to turn very chilly here in the UK! Thanks.
Jessica
Yes, I think that would be fine. Just check it for doneness much sooner.
Carla
I finally figured out the combo of ingredients that work for our tastebuds. The one thing that I was stuck on was with adding dried fruit (I only have to deal with 2 taste preferences, one of which is mine). Raisins and cranberries are easy but I wanted to do apples. The dried apples I can get become really large with the hot water so I tried chopping. Uh, yuck. So I came across a good price on freeze-dried fruit. I was able to chop those up and avoid the stickiness. The strawberries I left by themselves but put raisins and cinnamon with the apples. Oh, and there is no added sugar to the freeze-dried stuff. Even though its pricier you only need a little for each bag so it goes a long way. Just thought I’d share.
Jessica
@Carla, sounds like a great solution. Good job!
Mandy
Thanks for this post! I love the idea of having a bunch of premade mixes set aside. It states above that the recipe for Spiced Waffles is in your cookbook. Where can I find that?
Jessica
The cookbook is due for release in about 8 weeks. You can preorder here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1558327568/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1558327568&linkCode=as2&tag=oflwtf-20
Claire
This would help my mornings out so much. We homeschool also. I am having baby #7 in Nov so my energy level is 0, LOL. One day I should just make these with my older boys and it would get done alot quicker. Thank you for all your great ideas. I mention you all the time to my family. Great site!
Jessica
@Claire, Thanks for your kind words!
Susan
tried your oatmeal recipe last month. I made up two weeks worth and took it to work. I ate them for breakfast and (some busy days) for lunch too. I love that I could make the recipe bigger (half cup of oats for a hungry mom). I’m sad I ran out! I keep saying I’m going to make more packets but I keep running out of time. Maybe tonight!
Tiffany @ DontWastetheCrumbs
I just did this last week. I made 30 baggies of homemade oatmeal – 5 each of 6 different flavors and used dehydrated fruit and flax to beef up nutrition without adding work later. I also put colored washi tape on each bag so the kids (and I) knew what was in each bag. My littles enjoy picked out “the orange one” or “the pink one” from the basket each morning and it makes breakfast SO much faster!
Jessica
@Tiffany @ DontWastetheCrumbs, making flavored ones is great! My kids are so hard to predict, I stopped doing that.
Carla
Sat down to check email with ironically, a bowl of oatmeal. Saw this and remembered that I bought all the ingredients before we went on vacation. And this is something that can be done even though its sweltering outside. “I know what we are going to do today.”
Jessica
@Carla, love the Phineas and Ferb reference. LOL
Carla
@Jessica, One of the only cartoons I tolerate, and one of the few the boys are allowed to watch. The show gets quoted quite often in our house–even by dad.
Steph
This is a great idea. We’re taking baby steps toward eating healthier and more intentionally and breakfast is still lagging far behind lunch and dinner. Having pre-planned and made breakfasts would go a long way toward remedying that.
Jessica
@Steph, I rarely buy boxed cereal now. Egg dishes are great for make ahead and freeze, except my kids don’t like egg dishes. If they did, I’d be set.
cherie
I do love homemade mixes! Today’s plan is to make up a few for the bread machine.