Saving money on breakfast

[Kristen]

So, recently I've been realizing that I need to think out of the box(quite literally!) when it comes to breakfast. For a lot of years, my main way of saving money for the first meal of the day was to use coupons and sales and rebates to obtain cold cereal cheaply. While I'm pretty successful at this, it takes a lot of work, and it can be feast or famine with the deals(which means sometimes I have 30 boxes here, and sometimes only a few).

Anyhow, I've been realizing recently that changing WHAT we eat at breakfast could be a better use of my time. A lot of foods that require minimal cooking are significantly cheaper than even cheaply obtained cold cereal(and MUCH cheaper than full-price cold cereal, which is easily $4 a box here).

While Steve doesn't usually have time to eat a hot breakfast, the kids and I do, so lately we've been adding Cream of Wheat(I know, not whole grain, but neither were all the cold cereals we were eating), oatmeal, and muffins, and whole-wheat cinnamon raisin toast to our breakfast rotation.

A box of Cream of Wheat costs $2.50 or so, and we can get at least 3-4 breakfasts out of a box. $2.50 worth of cereal would never last us 3-4 breakfasts.

I know I have a recipe I used to make for oatmeal buttermilk pancakes that involves mixing most of it up the night before, so I'm going to give that a whirl too...it would mean very little prep in the morning, and pancakes cook really quickly too. :thumbsup I also saw a baked oatmeal recipe on a frugal blog recently that I'm going to try.

What does your household eat at breakfast?

[Beka]

I gave up cereal for the expense factor a long time back.

Our house is pretty straight forward for breakfast, fruit is common as we always have it in, pancakes, french toast, english muffins, fresh baked rolls and jam (jelly? preserve?) scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, toast, baked beans and toast, mushrooms on toast, crackers and cheese, cheese on toast- all pretty simple and cheap as we have the basic stuff in for all of them anyway.

I found alot of ways of making cheap, fast breakfast because cereal just didn't work in our house (i do keep some individual boxes of it in just in case they fancy it) and it is pricey. Also it is rare more than 2 people ever want the same in this house in a morning and everyone has to be out the house between 7.45-8.20. I find even if i am cooking rather than throwing in a bowl it still works out quicker if they all have something they're happy to be eating (nothing worse than a 35 minute bowl of cereal LOL)

[Kristen]

Ok, baked beans and toast must be a British thing.

I don't think that idea would go over very well with my crew. :giggle

[Lori]

We usually give Thomas cereal. It gets too expensive if we all eat it, but a big box of Cheerios can last Thomas a couple of weeks.

Sean and I generally eat hot cereal or have toast with peanut butter and a banana.

On the weekends I'll usually make pancakes one day, and the other day we'll just have a usual breakfast or I'll make eggs.

[freebiemom]

We keep cereal in the house because the kids like it sometimes and because it is a great finger food for babies and easy snacks for all kids. But I don't like my kids to eat it for breakfast, at least not by itself. If they decide they want cereal, they have to eat something like fruit or an egg with it and normally it's on the weekends that I let them so that I know they can get a snack easily if they get hungry before lunch.

Some of the things we have routinely for breakfast are scrambled eggs, biscuits, grits, french toast, grilled cheese and bagels. And fruit. All easy and quick and I feel better when my kids eat a good breakfast and it helps get my day started off better as well. Cold cereal just isn't a good breakfast to keep them going through their day, in my opinion.

[Kristi]

Well we are pretty lucky in that the boys get free breakfast at school and are pretty happy to eat it. That has saved us MAJOR amounts of money since the school year started.

Other than that we just buy cheap. Huge boxes of waffles when they are on sale. We get the really cheap cereal that is pretty much like the other cereals only it comes in those big huge plastic bags and the kids never seem to notice or mind. One of those big bags lasts us 3 weeks and sometimes longer and the boxes never lasted a week usually.

We also do alot of toast because bread is cheap. Sometimes we have eggs. They aren't too expensive.

Oh and Oatmeal lots of oatmeal. We were buying the quaker kind in the box with the fruit flavors but I have been considering buying the bag canister and just adding fruit to it and maybe a tiny bit of sugar to sweeten it for them. It would probably be cheaper. Usually they have to use 2 of those little packets for it to fill them up and there are only 10 in a box so it doesn't last long.

[Kristi]

Wanted to add the boys eating at school everyday also means they get a hot breakfast I just don't have the time or the desire to get up early in the morning and cook breakfast. I know eggs and things only take a few minutes but I would still have to get up before 6am to make it so that Dylan had enough time before school and then cook again when Caleb got up because he gets up 2 1/2 hrs after Dylan.

[Beka]

no beans on toast? Wow- it's a british working class staple here LOL

[Jbird]

I'm the only one who regularly eats breakfast. I'm a cold cereal junkie. DH will eat it occasionally, as will Taryn.
Sometimes on the weekends we will do pancakes, eggs, bacon, etc.

[elin]

My kids do eat a lot of cereal and oatmeal. But I won't spend more than $2 a box. So I scour for sales, and we eat the Target brand cereal which is always cheap. Their oatmeal is as well, so for those of you who eat the packet oatmeal, you can save oodles that way. It tastes perfectly fine.

(OT: Target brand graham crackers are less than $1.50 a box and popcorn is less than $1, so you can get great savings there.)

I usually eat sandwiches or left-overs for brekkie--I really need my protein in the morning, but am not a big fan of eggs.

I loved the baked beans on toast for brekkie at the UK youth hostels, but it is true most Yanks find it, well, mildly revolting in the early morning.

[Beka]

LOL ahhh beloved YHA Elin! I keep trying to prompt David into going but he's not hearing it.

[hillsturner]

As we are generally very rushed in the mornings, (my 17 year old really doesn't ever want to get out of bed in the morning or go to bed at night) I will do the frozen waffle thing or toast for him. My youngest (11) will eat an egg-in-a-hole every day of her life. That is fine with me. The small skillet stays on the stove 24/7. I generally have an apple or banana and call it good til lunch. Cereal is so expensive these days I'm glad mine don't insist on it.

[boosmama]

mmm beans on toast..

yea it definatley british and a well loved quick meal here....yummmm, i just might have to have that for supper now lol

we mostly have eggs with toast, cereals and fruit

[bloombaby]

dry cold cereal, since I'm lactose intolerant, granola bars, orange crackers, animal crackers, bagels, frozen waffles or toast....depends on what I'm in the mood for.

Madison gets breakfast at day care, and as part of the $100+ a week that I pay, she's eating breakfast, lunch and snack that I"m paying for LOL SHe just finished the box of Rice Krispies last week when we were off from my surgery that we opened over the summer....still fresh too

DH often eats a banana, apple, or sometimes those frozen breakfast things....I buy them on sale with coupons only.

We ALWAYS have bread products here at the house as the farmer who farms my parent's fields pays my parents in bread and a side of beef....Gotta love the fresh bread that comes every other week

[Shana]

Well, my older 2 kids (14 & 17) rarely eat breakfast :dunno

Kaleb loves hot oatmeal though, so I keep a couple of boxes on hand for when he is with me.

Kara loves those frozen mini pancakes, and they are NOT cheap. I prefer to make her pancakes from scratch. MUCH cheaper and far better tasting.

Brian & typically just have a banana and a slice of toast with a bit of peanut butter. Or, I will eat some of Kaleb's oatmeal.

[Desirae]

We tend to do cold cereal as I get it on WIC but I am looking for cheap ideas since I'm sure we won't get it in WI. Thanks for the tips Kristen!

[Kate]

no beans on toast? Wow- it's a british working class staple here LOL

Beans on toast are pretty big out here, too. And tinned spaghetti on toast.

Mushrooms on toast are good too...and so is cooked tomato and onion.

As for oatmeal, Kristen, I tend to do ours overnight in the slowcooker, with soymilk and raisins and a splash of vanilla extract. I'll look up my proportions for you if you like?

Boiled or poached eggs on toast are also popular. I have an egg cooker that will do them without me having to watch them or pay attention to them, so it's one less job for while we're getting ready.

[Desirae]

Kristen would you mind sharing those recipes?

[Kristen]

Did you want the pancakes and the baked oatmeal, Des?

Kate, sure, I'll give the slow cooker a try! Now, when you say tinned spaghetti, do you mean canned spaghetti sauce? over toast? You Aussies and Brits eat a lot more savory stuff at breakfast than we Americans do. :giggle

[Shana]

Now, when you say tinned spaghetti, do you mean canned spaghetti sauce? over toast? You Aussies and Brits eat a lot more savory stuff at breakfast than we Americans do. :giggleI was just thinking the same thing LOL Those sound more like dinner meals to me. And I cannot STAND baked beans or canned spaghetti, so the thought of eating them on toast? :makesick

I would do the mushrooms on toast, as I adore mushrooms -- but for breakfast?

It's fun to see the differences in our cultures :D

[Kate]

No - canned spaghetti is spaghetti, with a thin, orange, cheese and tomato sauce...all in the can together.

To be honest, I can't stand it, but Maia loves it, and nutritionally it beats sugary cereals etc, so every once in a while I will let her have it.

[Kate]

And for my slow cooker oatmeal, I can't find my recipe...but this (http://busycooks.about.com/od/meatlessentreerecipes/r/crockappleoatm.htm) looks really good as an alternative.

Oh, and I probably wouldn't give it the full nine hours - or I would add extra fluid if I were to leave it that long.

[Kristen]

No - canned spaghetti is spaghetti, with a thin, orange, cheese and tomato sauce...all in the can together.

When I first read that, I thought you were saying it was an orange-flavored tomato sauce with cheese, and I was like :makesick. LOL That sounds like our Spaghettios here in the U.S. Which I don't like, and my children have never had. :p

I don't think it would ever have occurred to me to eat it over toast! :giggle

[Beka]

yep Kate- spaghetti on toast here too, although Jude would probably starve because of how long it takes him to figure out what each shape is (and he has to :giggle)

Shana mushrooms we tend to do them with a bit of butter, garlic powder and seasoning.

Also i keep yoghurts in stock for if anyone wants to grab one.

Breakfast is quite a savoury thing here i guess really.

A "full english" (pretty much like the dennys extreme breakfast thing on the bad foods of 2007 list) is traditional breakfast served in restaurants here consists of... sausages, bacon, hash brown, mushrooms, tomatoes, egg, fried bread, toast and beans. most hotels offer that or continental breakfast (croisants, cereal, toast, yoghurt, fruits etc)

[Kristen]

Beka, I consider most of the stuff that you listed there as a full english to be breakfast foods except for the tomatoes. I just don't generally think of tomatoes as a morning food. :p

[Desirae]

Yes those Kristen. :) Thanks!