Six Ways to Heat Your Home While Making Breakfast
When I stumble into our living room at 5:40 a.m. I am usually greeted by a little screen telling me it is 56 degrees. I kind of fumble around, wearing an extra pair of socks and my husband’s sweater, while I make some hot tea. By the time I get started on breakfast it is now 57 degrees and I am thinking I can either turn on the stove top and remain in a 57 degree chill or cook breakfast with our oven and raise the temperature by three degrees.
I think I’ll turn the oven on.
Our family tends to get in a breakfast rut of oatmeal, eggs, or smoothies – all of which are stove top or no top. Now that I am motivated by cold toes and hands, breakfast from the oven is sounding better all the time. Here are a few of my ideas:
Baked Apples. Who wouldn’t be glad to wake up to the smell of apple pie? A simple method is to core them, stuff with raisins, cinnamon, butter, and honey, and bake until tender. Serve with yogurt and nuts for a balanced breakfast.
Cook Bacon in the Oven. Even if you are going to fry up some eggs you can still turn the oven on, throw your bacon on a sheet pan, and bake it at 400 degrees until crisp. I can get little folks dressed for the day or pack my husband’s lunch while it cooks.
Bake Your Oatmeal. While my youngest son (enthusiastically) answers "eggs an’ bacon an’ pancakes!!" when I ask him what he wants for breakfast, my four-year-old always asks for baked oatmeal. When I shared my recipe for baked oatmeal on the Plan to Eat blog last week I was reminded that meal planning makes my hot breakfasts happen. If you need a little help with that a free 30-day trial might be a good fit.
Roast Squash. It is high squash season in our home, and breakfast shouldn’t be the exception. Throw a squash in when you get up, walk away for about an hour, and then serve with butter, sea salt, and lots of crispy nuts. Cinnamon and honey would be lovely too. Or turn your leftover squash into a pudding with eggs and cream or coconut milk.
Bake Your Pancakes. We like pancakes around here, as you may have been able to tell from my three varieties – buckwheat, oat, and coconut flour. I make pancakes up to twice a week, but why not tweak the recipe to make a baked pancake or Dutch Baby. Most dutch babies have similar ingredients, but use less flour and more eggs and milk so they are higher in protein to boot.
Bake Your Eggs. Whether it is a frittata, a quiche, or very simple baked eggs, it can all be done in the oven. Baked or shirred eggs take some time to adapt to cooking. Overcooking your eggs and turning them into rubber is usually the problem, so airing on the side of "jiggly" when taking them out is a good idea. They will continue to cook due to the residual heat of the pan.
Having grown up in a cold climate, a 60 degree home really doesn’t bother me. Dressing warmly is key, moving around a lot helps, and if you’re going to make breakfast why not leave that thermostat down and let your oven do the work.
Do you have any baked breakfast ideas I can add to the list?
Mmnnn, baked oatmeal is a great idea. We used to make it growing up, and it was delicious, but it was always more of a dessertish breakfast than something nutrient dense. Lots of eggs and maple syrup.
I have twin three year old daughters, and one ALWAYS wants pancakes, eggs, and bacon, and the other always asks for oatmeal, so what you shared with me about your boys made me chuckle.
We always like soaked whole wheat muffins for breakfast too–I usually fill them with dried fruit and nuts so they are quite wholesome. I make them smoothies and it is a simple, healthy meal.
Rita – That’s what I always think of baked oatmeal which is why our version just has a bit of molasses and raisins. Muffins are good too, thanks!
Baked bacon is the best! It’s the only way I make bacon now. My husband made his bread this morning, so the oven kept our house nice and toasty.
This is not an everyday suggestion, but on a really nippy weekend morning, I like to make a coffee cake (you know, the kind with all sorts of butter and sugar and stuff in the topping) and have a warm slice with green tea (or red raspberry leaf or your favorite herb) and some fruit and a boiled egg. I put blueberries in my coffee cake, or else layer pears under the streusel topping. The cake itself is made with soft wheat flour and yogurt, so it adapts well to being soaked, and the topping could just be made with Rapadura, ground-up nuts, and butter, or rolled/ground sprouted grains. I find whole grains in a coffee cake actually tastes better than white flour because it adds texture to what is otherwise, frankly, sweet fluff.
We bake turkey bacon and eggs in a muffin tray. First line each muffin cup with a slice of bacon. Break an egg in the middle. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 350. At the end of bake time, you can top with cheese. Mmmm…the children love these!
Cheryl – I will definitely be trying this.
I sometimes open up the oven after I’m done baking. I don’t know if it helps or not. I do have to stay right there in the kitchen b/c I have twin 17 month olds.
Great ideas, Shannon. We are so blessed to have a really small home right now, so it doesn’t take long to warm up in the morning. (Turning my teapot on heats us up to 65 in no time 😉 ) With three little ones running around it gets and stays toasty, but I still like to use the oven for heat, rather then the central furnace.
These are all great suggestions! Especially if one is a seasonal eater. Great post
These are a great idea! I thought it was cold in our house at 61 degrees!
I had to laugh when I saw the apple picture, I feel the same way!