But today as I was bustling around the kitchen preparing her breakfast, I thought “Hey, maybe I should just write about some of the everyday things we do with and for her that save us time and money.” So I thought I’d just start with what I was doing at the moment – preparing her breakfasts for the week. Although this post may not apply to everyone, and it’s definitely not the most earth-shattering, it’ll especially give the moms out there a glimpse of how we save a little time over here with Mom and Baby Crumb.
Here’s some proof if you needed to be convinced that I had a cute excuse for not writing in so long:
Preparing Breakfast in Advance
Every 4 days or so, I prepare Little Miss Crumb Saver’s upcoming breakfasts. Now, ideally, if we all ate breakfast together, I wouldn’t have to make anything special. She would just eat what we ate when we ate it. But because it doesn’t work that way with our schedule, she eats breakfast all by her lonesome self (well, while I bang around the kitchen putting away last night’s dishes). I used to wake up early to prepare her a little bowl of oatmeal, cutting up all the little add-ins, stirring it over the stove, trying to keep it from burning or boiling over while I did about 5 other things. But I got too lazy….and I got smarter. Now, since I have 4 little Pyrex bowls with lids, I make 4 breakfasts at once – two savory and two sweet. We go back and forth between the two since we don’t want to foster her already sweet tooth every day.
Oatmeal prep – Savory on top, sweet on bottom
What Goes In
For savory, we put:
- Chinese veggie meat  – Ours is a dried seasoned type that you usually sprinkle on porridge. It’s a bit crunchy but letting it sit in the oatmeal softens it up. You could put any veggie meat or protein that you like.
- Unseasoned seaweed – This is the plain kind used for sushi. I prefer it to most of the seasoned kinds because the seasoned kinds have a lot of oil, usually a lot of salt, and go rancid faster. I use scissors to cut up a whole stack of the seaweed sheets into little rectangles, keep it in the fridge, and then use it for months. It saves me a lot of time to cut it in big batches.
- Sesame oil – Just a few drops.
- Mushroom seasoning – My favorite seasoning that I rave about here. Just a few granules is enough to add a little flavor. I used to put soy sauce, but I think the mushroom seasoning has a milder flavor and less salt.
- Whatever else – I have a friends who cooks ginger with the oatmeal and says it adds wonderful flavor. You could put veggies (i.e. peas, spinach) if you want, but I’ve decided to just keep it simple and quick to make. Especially because I just want to cook one batch of oatmeal for both the savory and sweet.
For sweet, we put:
- Ground flaxseed
- Peanut butter or coconut oil
- Apple sauce, persimmon puree, or banana
- Diced prunes or raisins
- Whatever else – Of course, you could put whatever you’d like, have on hand, or is on sale – blueberries, chia seeds, nuts, etc.
Cooked oatmeal added on top
To cook the oatmeal I use about 2 cups of water to 1 cup of quick oats, pour it onto the ingredients in the little bowls and pop it into the fridge. In the morning, we just pull one out, warm it up, and add a little water or almond milk as needed. The refrigerated oatmeal is stiff when cold but gets nice and creamy again when warmed, a little liquid added, and stirred well.
Ready to go for the next 4 days
The Rest of Breakfast
In case you’re curious, the rest of Little Miss Crumb Saver’s breakfast rotates between homemade waffles and homemade no-sugar banana muffins. I make them in batches, freeze them, and just pull out enough for a few days. Right now we’re on the waffle rotation, so here’s a picture below. These are from the 7 Secrets Cookbook (my all-time favorite cookbook) and are super healthy with oats, cornmeal, flax, and cashews.  She finishes off with some type of fruit. Right now it’s oranges or cantaloupe since we stocked up during a recent Aldi sale.
Frozen waffles pulled out for breakfast
Oatmeal was our preferred breakfast item during winter, but now that summer is coming, we may venture out to cold cereal and whatever else we can think of. We’d love to get some ideas!
What do you feed your little ones that is quick and easy to make in the mornings? Please share below!
