Serving a hot homemade breakfast when you are not a morning person!

When looking through our grocery budget and trying to find areas to cut breakfast items stood out significantly. I am not a morning person. I hate waking up and usually am not really awake for about an hour after I stumble out of bed. Obviously I hate cooking for 8 people while I am still trying to wake up. So to combat the problem I had been buying a lot of convenience foods for breakfast. Things such as frozen sausage biscuits, frozen waffles, and cereal were our go to meals for several years. This however was getting crazy expensive!

4 boxes of frozen sausage biscuits: $13.96
3 family sized boxes of frozen waffles: $12.99
3 boxes of cereal: $12.50

Totals for one weeks breakfasts: $39.45
Total per month: $157.80
Total per year: $1,893.60

So how was I going to combat the need to stop buying convenience foods and still  maintain my sanity at 7am? I decided to try making breakfast at night before I went to bed. It seemed simple enough to make up a batch of something and stick it in the fridge for the next morning. I decided on a rotating menu of items that could handle being cooked, refrigerated, and then reheated the next day.

Rotating one week menu:
Baked Oatmeal
Pancakes
French toast casserole
Sausage biscuits
Biscuits and gravy
Breakfast cookies
Cinnamon toast

I broke out my receipts, calculator, and cookbook to calculate the total cost per meal.

Baked Oatmeal

 6 cups oatmeal $2.58
1 1/2 tsp salt $0.01
2 tsp cinnamon $0.02
3 tsp baking powder $0.02
4 eggs $0.43
2 1/2 cup milk $0.50
1/2 cup honey $0.40
1/4c applesauce $0.10
1 tsp vanilla $0.03

Mix together and spread in a 9x13in pan. Bake at 350 for 30min. Let cool and slice into squares. Store in refrigerator.

Total $4.09

Pancakes

9 cups flour  $0.71
3/4 c sugar $0.13
1/3c baking powder $0.10
4 1/2 tsp salt $0.03
6 eggs $0.64
6 cups of milk $1.24

Mix together and cook as normal. Layer in a 9x13in pan and refrigerate.

Total $2.85 plus $0.44 for syrup

French Toast Casserole

1/2 loaf of bread  $0.44
1/2c butter $0.47
1/2c brown sugar $0.29
4 eggs $0.43
2c milk $0.40

Melt butter and stir in brown sugar. Spread mixture on bottom of 9x13in pan. Cut bread in half and layer 3 high till the pan is filled. Beat eggs and milk together and pour evenly over bread making sure all the bread is wet. Bake 350 for 30-45min till set. Cover in tin foil and refrigerate.

Total $2.03 plus $0.44 for syrup

Sausage Biscuits

2lbs pork sausage $5.78
2 cans biscuits $2.38

Slice sausage and lay out on baking sheet. Lay out biscuits on a separate baking sheet. Bake sausage and biscuits according to directions on biscuit container. Let cool then assemble sandwiches for fridge. Pour drippings into container and refrigerate for next meal.

Total $8.16 for 16 biscuits

Biscuits and gravy

Sausage drippings  $0.00 (saved from meal above)
1/2 cup flour $0.03
4 cup milk $0.80
2 cans biscuits $2.38

Warm drippings in large skillet. Once liquified stir in flour until smooth. Let cook while stirring continuously for 5 min to cook our the flour taste. Add milk and whisk till mixture starts to thicken (this can take a bit).  Season with salt and pepper. Bake biscuits according to package directions. Place cooled biscuits and cooled gravy in separate containers and refrigerate.

Total $3.21

Breakfast Cookies

2 cups flour $0.15
2 cups oats $0.87
1/2 cup oil $0.31
1/2 cup brown sugar $0.29
1 1/2 cup milk $0.30
1 tsp baking soda $0.02
1/2 tsp salt $0.01
1/2 tsp cinnamon $0.01

Mix together like any cookie dough. Bake 350 for 15 min. Let cool and store in air tight container.

Total $1.96

Cinnamon Toast

1 loaf of bread $0.89
2 tsp cinnamon $0.02
1/4 cup sugar $0.40
1/4 cup butter $0.23

Line bread on baking sheets. Spread with butter and sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top. Broil for a minute or two till golden brown. Cool and store in air tight container inside fridge.

Total $1.18


Total for 1 weeks breakfasts made from scratch: $24.36

That is a savings of:
  $15.09 a week
  $60.36 a month
 $724.32 a year!