5 Meals I Make When I'm in a Breakfast Rut
Do you ever have those mornings when you're hungry but you don't have an appetite for or feel enthusiastic about anything in particular? I do. All. The. Time. That’s why I keep a running list of the meals I fall back on when I get stuck.
Below, I’ve shared five of those meals in hopes they will ease your breakfast ambivalence, too. They’re substantial, satisfying, relatively quick, reliable, and consist of staple ingredients I keep on hand like corn tortillas, eggs, jarred salsa, tahini, dried fruit, oats, frozen banana, and other frozen, store-bought reinforcement.
Frozen Waffles and Beyond Breakfast Sausage
When I make waffles on the weekend, I'll freeze leftovers to toast throughout the week. But this only happens every couple of months. In between, I'll stock frozen storebought waffles and the frozen Beyond Meat breakfast sausage patties. Such a fun, playful meal. For those in America, I love Buckwheat Wildberry Waffles made by Nature's Path.
Oatmeal with Hazelnuts and Brown Butter
I don't often eat oatmeal so when I'm in a breakfast rut, this feels novel and exciting to me. Even if oatmeal is a staple in your house, you might still find novelty in this version because of the unusual and decadent blend of ingredients: crème fraiche, hazelnuts, prunes (or dried apricots), maple syrup, and brown butter. If you're totally over oatmeal, use leftover cooked quinoa in this Cinnamon Hazelnut Quinoa Porridge instead.
Egg Tacos
I'll layer scrambled eggs*, extra sharp English cheddar, hot sauce such as Tabasco, and avocado onto lightly-toasted corn tortillas (I like toasting them directly over the gas stove). Delicious as is. On occasion, if I have an extra five minutes and the motivation, I'll make a fresh salsa with diced red onion and jalapeno, chopped cilantro, salt, and lots of lime. *I learned a genius technique when living in Switzerland where you crack the eggs directly into the skillet over medium heat and use the spatula to break up the yolk and mix into the whites. One less dirty dish to wash.
Sometimes I just need breakfast in a glass. This shake in particular is interesting but also simple and minimal. It uses staple pantry, fridge, and freezer ingredients - including tahini, oat milk, dried figs (or dates), and frozen banana - that I can always count on having stocked.
This is another fun and satisfying meal, and it's deceptively quick to pull off. I use the linked recipe as a jumping-off point. But I make two changes for weekday breakfasts. I use a jarred salsa instead of the homemade tomatillo salsa. Then after warming the tortilla in the oil and cooking the egg and transferring out of the pan, I'll pour 1/3 cup of salsa into the same pan to heat up. Once it's warm (after 30 seconds), I'll submerge both sides of the fried tortilla into the salsa, then plate up following recipe directions.