Quick & Easy Breakfast Ideas for Busy Teachers

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and I never ever skip it. But I don’t have time in the morning for a long or involved meal!

If you also like to eat breakfast while simultaneously taking attendance, here are some quick and easy ideas to keep you going until lunchtime!

1.  Overnight Oats

Confession: I love oatmeal. Love love love.

Overnight oats are insanely easy to make and they are my current #1 go-to breakfast item.

All you have to do is mix everything together at night right before bed, and then take it out of the fridge in the morning and it’s ready to go!

And you can customize it, so you can make a million different flavors.

Prep Time:  5 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 cup milk (I prefer low fat but any type will work)
• 1/2 tablespoon chia seeds
• toppings:
  • chopped fresh fruit (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, kiwi, peaches, cherries)
  • granola (optional)

How to make it:

2.  Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Sandwich

These are so easy to make and so super delicious.

Prep Time:  10 minutes

Ingredients:  

– 1 bagel (sliced sandwich bread, rolls, or English muffins will work just as great)
– 2 small slices of butter
– 1 egg
– salt and pepper
– 1 sausage link (I recommend turkey sausage, but any sausage you prefer will be fine)
– 1 slice of cheese

How to make it:

1.  Slice your bagel (or bread product of choice) and toast it. This isn’t required, but you won’t regret toasting your bread.
2.  Heat a pan on low heat and throw a slice of butter in there. Wait for it to melt and then fry your egg. Salt and pepper it lightly. I prefer to break the yolk and swirl it around so my fried egg is almost scrambled. Put your cheese slice on the egg in the last minute on the heat so it’ll melt.
3.  Set your cheesy fried egg to the side. Toss another slice of butter in the pan. Peel the casing off the sausage link and shape it so it’ll fit in your bread (think circular for a bagel, rectangular for sliced bread) while the butter melts. Fry up your sausage until it’s cooked through.
4.  Make your sandwich! Enjoy!

3.  Quinoa & Chocolate Chip Muffins

I don’t really like quinoa because it tastes like you’re eating a field (ew), but it’s healthy, so I find ways to mask the gross healthy taste. This recipe uses chocolate chips to mask the taste of quinoa. This recipe comes from Yummy Healthy Easy.

I like to take 2 muffins to work with me and eat them as a late breakfast snack, an early lunch snack, a late lunch snack, a mid-afternoon snack, or a late afternoon snack. Snacking keeps me alive. They’re delicious and the quinoa makes them stick with you more than regular muffins.

This recipe makes 15 muffins.

Prep Time:  20 minutes

Ingredients:

– 2 cups cooked, cooled quinoa (2/3 cup dry quinoa)
– 1 cup white whole wheat flour (regular whole wheat flour is fine also)
– 1 cup all-purpose flour
– 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
– 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
– 1 teaspoon salt
– 1/2 cup chocolate chips
– 1/4 cup canola oil
– 1/2 cup buttermilk
– 1 large egg
– 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (or plain Greek yogurt)
– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

How to make it:

1.  Preheat the oven to 350. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or spray it with cooking spray.
2.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the cooled quinoa, both flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, and chocolate chips.
3.  In a separate small bowl, whisk together the canola oil, buttermilk, egg, applesauce, and vanilla extract.
4.  Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Divide among muffin cups.
5.  Bake 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool muffins in the pan for about 5 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack. Enjoy!

Pro tip 1:  Buttermilk doesn’t come in just 1/2 cup quantities. If you want to save the remainder, measure 1 tablespoon into each portion of an ice tray and freeze it. Once frozen, throw the buttermilk ice cubes into a freezer bag and pull them out 1 tablespoon at a time whenever you need buttermilk in a recipe again.

Pro tip 2:  Use an ice cream scoop to portion the batter into the muffin tins.  It keeps every muffin the same uniform size and shape.

4.  Fruit & Yogurt

I also really love yogurt. Sometimes I take a container of yogurt (okay, two) and I make them fancy for breakfast. The additional granola and fruit will stick with you longer than plain yogurt.

Prep Time:  5 minutes

Ingredients:  

– two 6-oz containers of yogurt in your favorite flavor (Greek or regular are fine, I highly recommend a fruit-on-the-bottom flavor like passion fruit or cherry)
– a sprinkling of fresh fruits (chopped strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, chopped peaches, chopped kiwi, chopped cherries, or any combo of fruit)
– a fistful of granola (optional)

How to make it:  

1.  Dump both yogurts into a larger container. Sprinkle chopped fruits of choice on top. Toss some granola in. Mix everything. Enjoy!

5.  Baked Oatmeal with Lemon & Berries

If you have never had baked oatmeal – I’M ABOUT TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Seriously. This is not your mother’s instant oatmeal. That stuff is like flavored concrete.

I love this recipe because the yogurt makes it so creamy. It’s a great intro to baked oatmeal. I edited this recipe from Budget Bytes.

This recipe makes 8 servings. Anything you don’t eat can be cut and put into sandwich bags and thrown into the fridge or freezer.

Prep Time:  20 minutes + 30 minutes bake time + 5 minutes cooling time

Ingredients:

– 1 lemon
– 2 eggs
– 1.5 cups milk
– 1.5 cups plain yogurt
– 1/2 cup sugar (I prefer brown sugar, but white is fine too)
– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
– 1/2 teaspoon salt
– 3 cups old-fashioned oats
– 1.5 cups raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries
– cooking spray

How to make it:

1.  Preheat the oven to 375.
2.  Clean the lemon and zest it. In a large bowl, mix the lemon zest, juice of the lemon, eggs, milk, yogurt, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt. Whisk until smooth.
3.  Stir in the oats. Stir in the berries.
4.  Coat a 6×8 (or similarly sized) baking dish with cooking spray and pour in the oat mixture.
5.  Cook at 375 for 30-35 minutes, or until the center is no longer liquid.

What do you like to eat for breakfast? If you have any ideas that are quick and easy to make, please share them below!