Planning a regular rotation of breakfast items can make meal planning and prep loads easier.
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Some folks really like variety when it comes to their daily meals. Some folks like to eat. My people fall mostly in the latter category. They are pretty easy going about meals as long as they are presented in abundance and in a timely manner.
We are currently in a very busy season of life with homeschool, hockey, ballet, karate, and my writing responsibilities. Throw in a sugar fast and meal times get more complicated than they already are.
I made the executive decision that breakfasts and lunches are going to be a set menu for the next six weeks. Not only will I not be planning breakfasts and lunches, but the grocery list will be the same every week. As long as we have things stocked, we’ll be good.
I did this last summer as well and it worked like a charm. As you can see, there are SO MANY variations within my rotation schedule, there’s little chance of our getting bored, even though I’ll be working from the same ingredients every week.
Here’s the menu for breakfasts:
Breakfast Bar
Get the low-down on a breakfast bar here.
- Cereal, most likely Trader Joe’s Shredded Wheat
- Homemade Granola: Not-Too-Sweet Granola, Maple Vanilla Almond Granola, Cranberry Orange Granola
- Quick Breads: Spiced Carrot Bread, Banana Bread
- Yeast Breads: Honey-Sweetened Raisin Bread, Whole Wheat Cranberry Rolls, Maple-Brown Sugar Cinnamon Rolls
- Yogurt
- Fresh or Frozen Fruit
- Fresh Juice
Waffles
Pancakes
- Easy Homemade Crepes – To make traditional crepes, you’ll need to prep the batter a little bit in advance — at least 30 minutes.
- Basic Pancakes
- 5-Grain Pancakes with Flax
- Multi-Grain Blueberry Pancakes
- Pancakes with Apples and Whipped Maple Butter
- Oven Pancake with Cinnamon Apples
Eggs or Egg dish of some sort
- Skillet Eggs
- Spicy Turkey Egg Bake
- Bacon and Broccoli Egg Bake
- Omelets
- Fajita Omelet
- Breakfast Burrito Bar
- Hashbrown Breakfast Stacks
Smoothies/Juices and Muffins
- Apple Carrot Juice with Ginger
- Carrot Juice Plus
- Coconut Mango Banana Smoothie
- Strawberry Mango Smoothie with Banana
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Coconut Lime Muffins with Chocolate Chips
- Mix and Match Muffins
- Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins
Oatmeal and Hot Cereal
- Not Mushy Oatmeal
- Cranberry-Sunflower Oatmeal and an Oatmeal Bar
- Raspberry Baked Oatmeal
- Cinnamon Apple Oat Cakes
- Breakfast Cookies
There are six categories here which takes care of six days of the week. Then, the seventh day will be Chef’s Choice.
Kim in AZ
So – are you planning a lunch menu rotation to share too? :). I love using your hard work to make my life easier.
Jessica
Yes, next week probably. Glad to hear it’s helpful!
Laura
All of these recipes sound great, but in our house, breakfast is either cereal or oatmeal. Your choice, but that’s it. Anything beyond that is too much work for 6:30am. Maybe none of us are true breakfast lovers? Every once in a while (like once a month, if that) we’ll make pancakes on the weekend.
Jessica Fisher
Breakfast is my husband’s favorite meal of the day, so I think my kids got it from him. 😉
melanie
I need to do this as well. Thanks for the motivation. We don’t do gluten, so I can make some adaptations, but you can add this to your cereal list: http://shesourceful.com/2013/04/22/not-your-childhoods-breakfast-cereal/
Jessica B
Lol, I have 2 kids that will eat the same thing for breakfast M-F, no complaints. Sometimes they even eat it on the weekend. (mini whole wheat bagels, with cream cheese, jelly or PB, and a banana with PB on it) It’s not the cheapest thing out there, but it sure is easy. It usually lasts about 6 months and we change to something else. Actually, my husband eats the same thing everyday too. I guess we don’t mind that.
Tiffany R
I have one kid that will eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch every day her entire life. The other one gets bored and likes to change it up. So, for one I just make her the same thing every day and for the other, we decide before the week begins what he will eat that week and it says the same for that week. It seems to work for us.
Angie
I did this last summer for breakfast and lunch and it worked GREAT! It shortens the time it takes to put together the grocery list. The kids never complained about not being able to choose their own breakfast. I wish I could make it work during the school year.
Jessica Fisher
What makes it harder during the school year?
Jessie
I usually rotate through muffins (pre made in the freezer) yogurt and granola, oatmeal, and toast or bagels with cream cheese, jelly, or peanut butter. We usually have breakfast for Sunday lunch so we’ll pull out any leftovers too. Add in juice and a dairy and we call it good:)
Melissa W
We also do a rotation. Mon- muffins and smoothies, Tue- cooked breakfast (pancakes, waffles, French toast, etc), Wed- eggs, Thu- granola, yogurt, & fruit, Fri- hot multigrain cereal, Sat- cold cereal, Sun- oatmeal. We get our variety at dinner and this simplifies things in the morning when I’m not at full speed yet. My young kids have come to expect certain things on certain days, which gives them a sense of stability and rhythm to our week.
Jessica Fisher
I always did this when my kids were little, for the same reasons, too. I took a break when my oldest started to dread Mondays. He said it’s a Monday AND we have to have oatmeal. Ha! Now, he loves oatmeal and wouldn’t complain.