Cheap Meal Ideas for Breakfast

I’ve been getting some requests lately for cheap meals ideas, specifically cheap meal ideas for breakfast. The resounding sentiment seems to be that many of you were taking the kids through the local drive through in the morning on the way to work or school.

The local fast food joint drive through is usually quick to be sure, but besides cost has more than a few drawbacks that I’ll be PC enough not to comment on.

Other than the convenience of not having to cook the meal and clean up in the morning when schedules are tight, most of you sited the desire to feed your kids a hot meal for breakfast during the cold winter months.

We eat oatmeal and cream of wheat with milk a lot at our house. You can’t do much better than whole grain hot cereal with milk for breakfast. It’s quick, hot, healthy, filling and cheap at $.79 per pound or less at the local health food store.

Quick Tip: Old fashioned oats cook in less than 3 minutes in the microwave on high. For extra quick and creamy cereal try soaking the oats in a mixture of ½ water and ½ milk overnight in the refrigerator. Use the basic recipe of 1 part oats, one part water, and 1 part milk. Microwave until hot, top with milk, sugar and fruit if desired and eat.

For those of you wanting more hearty fare, try this recipe for a quick breakfast casserole. This casserole mixes up really quickly and cooks in the oven while you get ready for work.
The key to getting the casserole in the over quickly in the morning is to do all the prep ahead. Thaw the potatoes in a covered bowl in the fridge overnight, chop the onion the night before while fixing dinner, and make sure your cheese is grated ahead.

For super quick pancakes in the morning, make them ahead of time. Make pancakes as directed, and allow to cool to room temperature. Freeze pancakes on a cookie sheet, and then transfer to an air tight ziplock bag or container. Freeze in single layer to avoid sticking. To use, toast frozen pancakes to warm, or place on a cookie sheet in the oven if you need to heat more than a single serving.

If you are trying to avoid the mess of cooking in the morning, enlist everybody to rinse their own dish and put it in the dishwasher. There’s not much left to clean up with all 3 of the above ideas.

There you have it, 3 quick, easy and cheap ways to give your family a hot breakfast without heading through the drive through. Cheap meals for breakfast don't need to be a hassle with a little organization.

Quick Healthy and Cheap Recipes: Apricot Honey Oatmeal

Oatmeal is one of my favorite really cheap, healthy and hearty breakfasts. When purchased either in bulk at the local health food store, or on sale with a double supermarket coupon oat meal is a tried and true healthy cheap alternative to much more expensive cold breakfast cereals. Apricot Honey Oatmeal is a quick to prepare morning meal that feeds 4 with generous 1 cup portions and my all time favorite cheap healthy and quick breakfast recipe.

Apricot Honey Oatmeal

3-1/2 cups water
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/3 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch all spice
2 cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)

In a large saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Add the honey, apricots and spices and simmer for 1 minute. Stir in the oats and reduce heat to medium. Cook for 1 minute for instant oats and 5 minutes for old fashioned oats stirring occasionally. Let stand until desired consistency is reached.

Microwave Instructions:

In a large microwave safe bowl bring the water, honey, apricots and spices to a boil. Stir in the oats. Microwave for 1-3 minutes stirring occasionally until desired consistency is reached.

Calories: 270, Calories from Fat: 25, Total Fat: 3g, Saturated Fat: 0g, Cholesterol: 0mg, Sodium: 10mg, Total Carbohydrates: 61g, Dietary Fiber: 5g, Sugars: 30g, Protein: 6g

Recipe Source: QuakerOatmeal.com

Cost Comparison: I buy the generic oats in bulk at my health food store for $.69 per pound ($.39 used in this recipe), dried apricots at the dollar store ($.69 used in this recipe), spices are also purchased at the dollar store ($.12) and honey on sale with a double coupon $1.69 per bottle ($.69)

Total Cost for 4 Servings: $1.89 ($.47 per serving)

I hope you enjoy my favorite cheap quick and healthy breakfast recipe. We will be making regular posts for breakfast, lunch and dinner as a regular feature.