There Is Nothing Called “Quick Breakfast”. So I Think I’ll Try These Hacks!

As they say there is no free lunch, I believe, there is no “quick breakfast” either. Even hardboiled eggs takes 15 minutes to cook and 5 minutes to cool down (absolutely essential, I nearly burned my hands today trying to remove shell before the eggs cool down) and another minute or so to remove shell. Well, that adds up to 21 minutes and that isn’t quick!

Many responded to my previous blog on “everydaycooking dilemma" and shared how they hated or found “cooking breakfast depressing”. Yes, gone are the days when you could demand a bed tea or coffee from your mother! The thought of getting up, making your own cup of tea and then breakfast for the family is indeed depressing, I agree. Weekday breakfast at home is mostly hurried – as I mentioned in my previous post, “he has to leave around 7.45 AM, we get up around 7 AM, and he comes down dressed up around 7:30 AM, by that time I am already busy with my laptop browsing through my work email”. So where is the time for preparing breakfast??? For the sweetheart he is, he doesn’t raise an eye brow or pick up a fight seeing those not so appealing dishes on breakfast table every other day (although, I make up for that during lunch and dinner), but that doesn’t mean I should take him for granted. There has to be a way out!

Every time I barely manage to dish out something for this main meal of the day, my conscious pricks – because I believe and know that one should not skip breakfast and that it has to be healthy, but still do not do a good job at it. So, I ended up on a date with Google again and put my R&D experience to full use. The result – I ended up finding the same content duplicated in more than one result; yeah, Google, where did the panda penalty go! Anyhow, among those I did find a few handy ones, but, not everything went well with my routine. So, I realized the hard truth – I am on my own here.

I pondered and I did it with utmost seriousness, because, I do not want to screw up my mornings every other day, instead, I need to feel good about being in the kitchen and that too for not more than 15 min in the morning. So finally, I made up my mind to follow some breakfast hacks that I used to apply but never continued, along with a couple of points I picked up from my friends here and those that I collected from Internet.

As a first step towards determination, I am listing the points down. I request you all to please keep sharing more such breakfast hacks that you try everyday and I shall keep adding it with credits. Let us help each other in making our mornings brighter!

Waking up 15 minutes early will not hurt much –Well, the truth is that I’m up since 6 AM, but the feeling of curling up in the quilt for another one hour is beyond words can describe. But I am willing to sacrifice that and reduce curling up time to 40 or 45 minutes so that I have 15-20 minutes extra at my disposal every morning.

Feel like a queen with homemade multi-purpose spreads and mixes - I have a friend who buys chicken, boils it with spices and masala, shreds it and stores it up. This mix can go on sandwich as a spread and filling for wraps in the morning and it can even be used in your pasta for dinner. In the bargain, saves hell a lot of time, isn’t it?

Follow the make-ahead rule – If you look at it, mostly every dish has a part that can be made ahead. This includes making spreads for your sandwich, mix for your patties, batter for your breakfast muffins or cut fruits to go with your cereal etc. Then what is left is just assembling in most cases, which you can easily do every morning.

When you cook, cook a lot – Well, what is refrigerator and Tupperware for? Always double or triple a recipe and cook one or two varieties for the week, and stock it up in refrigerator. When you are already in the kitchen cooking, why not spend another 30 minutes or so to make something extra?

Love your leftovers – Yes, even if it’s just a piece of chicken from previous night! Such leftovers make good filling for next day’s sandwich or wraps. Saves time, all you got to do is spread, and stack or roll!

Always have chopped fruits and milk/yogurt stocked up – Use it in smoothies, one of the quickest and healthiest breakfast options you have, or in cereals. Serve it as it is or along with something.

Start baking those healthy breakfast bars – I never fancy breakfast bars and neither does he. But, if nothing works out, much on a bar and you are good to go.

So, what is your breakfast hack? Would you share it with me, please :)

Thank you Sandhya Ranjith for this suggestion - "I cook macoroni the previous day and a white sauce can be made easily in 5 minutes. Also previous bites chapathis with jam."