Overnight French Toast Bake
Overnight french toast bake is truly such an easy breakfast or brunch ideas, especially for the holidays!
Overnight french toast bake is truly such an easy breakfast or brunch ideas, especially for the holidays!
Breakfast is so important, so why do we often skip it? Saving time and money while supporting a healthy way of eating isn’t as impossible as it may sound. As we all have heard time and time again, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but so often we think “Who has the time?” I’m here to tell you – YOU DO!
Investing a small amount of time on a Sunday to prepare your breakfasts for the week will pay dividends for your health and stress levels during the week.
If you’ve read my article on mason jars, you know that I love them for many reasons, but one thing they’re great for is breakfast. I like to make my oatmeal jars with half oatmeal, half quinoa, but the great thing about these is how flexible they are!
Quinoa is great to add because not only is it healthy and delicious, but I can cook up a whole bunch at once to use in multiple meals throughout the week.
You can adjust this to suit your preferences, just make sure you always use enough liquid to completely cover your oatmeal/quinoa mix.
You can use several different combinations – I like berries and almonds, for instance, but walnuts, pecans and apples cooked in butter and a bit of honey, or bananas and Greek yogurt are all delicious additions.
Take the main ingredients and your add-ins (the proportions should be about ½ cup for fruit and 2-3 tbsp for nuts), combine them, and pour them into mason jars to sit overnight in the fridge. Now you can grab one and a spoon on your way out the door. Simple, healthy, and filling! Re-heat or enjoy cold!
If you’re looking to cut carbs or you want to make sure you’re eating more of the healthy amazingness that are eggs, egg muffins (or “eggies” as we call them at our house) are quick to put together and will keep you full all morning, with lots of healthy fat and protein.
Cook the bacon and drain all of the fat, leaving enough to grease a 12 tin muffin pan. Beat the eggs then mix in the other ingredients. Crumble then fold the bacon in. Pour the mix into the muffin tin. Cook the muffins in a 350 oven for about 25 minutes or until a butter knife/toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool and store several to a ziploc (depending on how hungry you are!) and put them in your refrigerator. Another grab-and-go meal that is healthy and satisfying!
Few things are as delicious or healthy as avocados – these creamy, fatty fruits are great on chips, but they’re wonderful at breakfast time, too. This recipe offers a healthy breakfast full of protein and good fats, but without the sugar or processed nonsense you may want to avoid. Plus, it’s ready in the time it takes you to dress your toddler – who doesn’t like multitasking?
Take the two halves of the avocado and, leaving the skin on, scoop out just a slight bit more flesh around the pit area. The idea is to extend the “bowl” left by the seed. Add some Parmesan cheese to your bowl, and then crack an egg in both halves. Stick them on a baking sheet uncovered, and place them in a 425 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Add some more Parmesan and salt and pepper to your liking, let cool for about 5 minutes, and then dive into these delicious little morsels.
You probably wouldn’t expect ice cream for breakfast, let alone for it to be a healthy breakfast, but lucky for you, I’m here to change that thinkin’. This is a very easy way to get some fruit and non-meat protein in your breakfast without spending tons of time and money.
If you’re like me, chances are good you often have a banana (or two or three) that doesn’t get eaten before it browns. Take those (or purchase overripe bananas from your grocer at a discount), peel them, stick them in sandwich bags, and pop them in the freezer.
This is a great way to have frozen, easy-to-grab bananas with which to base your smoothies, but they also serve as a fantastic mock-ice cream.
Pop everything but the milk/cream into a blender and blend until smooth then slowly add the liquid. Then, well, you eat it. You can also add nuts, berries, or chia seeds!
If you’ve got some quinoa left over from our previous foray into the previously mentioned oatmeal jars, why not give it a whirl in a savory dish? These little mini-muffin quinoa bites are a great way to get the protein-packed power of quinoa, along with some flavorful vegetables and cheese, plus they’re wonderfully portable.
Recipe:
Mix everything together and portion out into a mini-muffin tin, greased with coconut oil or butter. Bake for about 20 minutes at 350. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving, and portion the little guys out into containers for a quick grab-and-go breakfast that will keep you energized and satisfied all morning long.
It can be difficult getting away from the concept of eggs for breakfast, but this is for good reason, as eggs are incredibly healthy and filling. If you want to add “delicious” to that list of adjectives, try eating perfectly cooked eggs simmered in a spicy marinara, bursting with a rainbow of delicious sautéed vegetables. Maybe throw in some whole wheat toast, and a cup of coffee. Yeah, that sounds good, right? Give Eggs In Purgatory a try and you’ll probably convert even the most diehard anti-eggist.
Saute the onions in a cast iron skillet until they just start to brown. Add in the diced mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes or so, adding in salt and pepper to taste. This also helps draw out some of the moisture from the vegetables.
Sprinkle in the pepper flakes and the diced jalapeno and cook for another few minutes, tossing to makes sure the flakes get evenly distributed.
Add in the marinara and simmer until the sauce begins to bubble, and then add the mozzarella in 4 circles on the top.
Crack an egg onto each mozzarella spot, and place the whole skillet in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. Alternately, you can pour some of the sauce into individual ramekins and crack the eggs into those, but the heat and time remains the same.
Pull them from the oven when they’re set and sprinkle with shaved Parmesan. Definitely allow to cool before serving – the top might be cool, but oven-cooked marinara is like magma. Portion these out into glass containers and reheat at work, or on a cold winter morning in the oven, and dive in – they’re perfect.
I hope these recipes will help end the battle between starving yourself and rushing to beat the clock in the mornings. Getting protein and healthy fats each morning can curb your desire to eat bad food later in the day, keep you full and focused, and is far cheaper than grabbing something in a drive-thru. In reality, these breakfasts are even faster than the drive-thru plus you’ll be saving yourself from the guilt later on. And if you DO want a guilty pleasure for breakfast that’s still super easy, make sure you check out my post on French Toast Bake!