A Cooking Lifestyle: Part 1 - Go-to Breakfasts

In keep with our recent series structure, we’ll be taking a deep dive here on the blog into all things cooking and baking. As a woman in her young twenties, I completely get that the tricky thing about jumping into cooking is figuring out the balance. It’s difficult to commit to cooking and baking as a lifestyle when you have a million places to be and very limited time. SO! This series is going to focus on relatively low effort and low cost ways of making your own food. Here’s the plan, the series is pretty massive, with six weeks of my favorite go-to recipes in six main categories of my eating. Week one will cover easy prep breakfasts that will slide seamlessly into your busy morning routines. In week two, we’ll chat about easy peasy lunches (that are also relatively healthy!). In week three we’ll discuss weekday dinners that are as simple as they are delicious. In week four we are obviously talking about showstopping but manageable desserts and in week five we’ll narrow our focus to healthy choices. Finally, in week six, we are covering my FAVORITE thing to bake and eat: bread (it isn’t as hard as you think).

So without further ado, here are four of my everyday perfect breakfasts to fuel you up and get you out the door. The best part is that once you work a homemade breakfast into your routine, I promise you it will be the thing that gets you out of bed in the morning. Here we go!

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1. 5 Minute - 1 Person Oatmeal

Confession: I LOVE McDonald’s oatmeal. Go ahead and judge me. This recipe is even better and can be modified to be sugar free or dairy free by substituting milk/cream for almond/soy/coconut milk. Also feel free to swap out a hunk of brown sugar for pecans or chia seeds, but I’m sticking with my sugar fix.

1. Grab a deep cereal bowl.
2. Mix ½ cup of any kind of oats, ½ cup of milk, ½ cup of water, a heaping ⅛ teaspoon of cinnamon, and a pinch of ginger, nutmeg, and salt together and microwave for 2-3 minutes, stirring halfway through (2 minutes for quick oats and 3 for old fashioned).
3. Arrange a half of a diced apple, a handful of dried fruit, and about 1 ½ teaspoons of cream on top and serve!

Avocado Toast

Well not to jump on the bandwagon but truly, this breakfast fills you up while simultaneously looking perfect for an early morning add to your instagram story. Here’s my go-to:

1. Mash a half of an avocado in a bowl with the back of a fork and mix with a little lemon juice.
2. Toast a hunk of bread, whatever you have lying around.
3. Spread the avocado on the toast and top with red pepper flakes (if you’re that kind of person) or with Trader Joe’s everything bagel seasoning (if you’re my kind of person).

3. Dutch Baby

This is not my personal recipe but it comes from one of my most trusted sources. I have read the Smitten Kitchen cookbooks cover to cover and this recipe is a showstopper. This Dutch Baby is easy enough for a weekday, but impressive enough for company. I’ve linked up to the recipe below, but i just have to say, when I top this with a little lemon curd, fresh lemon juice, and sifted powdered sugar - Ben could die of happiness. ​

Dutch Baby Recipe

4. Omelet

This is my “kitchen sink” breakfast. Meaning that whatever is in my fridge in tupperware containers is probably going in this omelet. I love to add leftover roasted veggies that I prep at the beginning of the week and eat with everything for every meal.

1. Scramble 1-3 eggs (depending on how hungry you are and your filling vs. egg preferences) and mix with a splash of milk and a pinch of salt and pepper.
2. Quick sautee in a little oil whatever veggies and meat you are using and set aside.
3. Add a little more oil to the same skillet and pour in the egg mixture.
4. Let cook over medium heat until mostly solid, then use a wide spatula to flip.
5. Add greens, veggies, protein, and cheese to one side of the egg, wait about thirty seconds or so and fold in half.
6. Slide the omelet onto a plate and dig in!

5. Bonus: Single Lady Pancake

Sometimes you just need a pancake, smothered with syrup and loaded with fruit or chocolate chips or nuts or whatever floats your boat. Here is a recipe from one of my all time favorites, Joy the Baker, for a single lady pancake that is quick enough for a weekday morning but small enough for a one-person breakfast

Pancake Recipe