Budget Breakfast

We all know how the kids like the little breakfast trays that are now in the freezer shelves. They certainly do save a lot of time when you want a balanced breakfast for the kids... but they also cost a lot of money.

An effective way to give the kids the breakfasts they like and still save money is to have the budget breakfast meet once a month cooking. In fact, just a couple of hours spent once a month can have your freezer full of little breakfasts for the kids.... and yourself too! This will give you enough ingredients to make breakfast for at least 30 days for four people. If you have more, make more, if less, well, they will last longer. You will end up with four varieties of choices; pancakes, French toast, breakfast sandwich and scrambled eggs.

You will need the following things from your supermarket:

• 5 lbs. of pancake flour (your preference, buckwheat, buttermilk or plain)
  
  
• 4 pounds of bacon
  
  
• 2 pounds of sliced ham
  
  
• 4 loaves of bread
  
  
• 6 dozen eggs
  
  
• 4 packages of English muffins
  
  
• 2 quarts of milk
  
  
• 4 packages of "hash brown patties in bulk"
  
  
• divided plates
  
  
• plastic wrap
  
  
• 1 large package of sliced cheese
  
  
• 2 packages of brown and serve sausage
  
  

Lay the bacon out on cookie sheets and put in the oven at 350 degrees. This will let the bacon cook slowly so that you will be able to watch it. When done, set aside.

Take the five pounds of pancake mix and make according to package instructions. Use a well-greased griddle or even a large fry pan will work. Make as many pancakes as you can.... making some smaller for the little ones. They would rather have three little pancakes than one large one. Set them aside.

Next mix two dozen eggs, one quart of milk and add about 1/4 cup sugar and two teaspoons of nutmeg. Dip the bread in the mix and cook on the same griddle where you did the pancakes while the griddle or fry pan is still hot. Make French toast until all of the egg mixture is used up. You may have bread left, but you can use it for sandwiches and lunches. Set the French toast aside.

Now take two dozen eggs and mix them with a small bit of water (about 1/4 cup) to the whole dozen. Make the scrambled eggs. Set aside.

Fry the last two dozen eggs, breaking the yoke in each and frying them completely. Set aside.

Now you are ready to start assembling the breakfasts. You can make the sandwiches by stacking on them whatever you think you will like. Fried egg, bacon, cheese on an English muffin. You can substitute ham or sausage for the bacon. If you don't like the English muffins, you can use hamburger buns; whatever you like. Wrap in plastic wrap and mark them by writing on apiece of masking tape and tape it on each one.

Then, using the divided plates, assemble breakfasts such as:
French toast, bacon, ham, or sausage.
Pancakes, bacon, ham, or sausage.
Scrambled eggs, bacon, ham, or sausage and a hash brown.

If you don't want to go all the way with cooking for a whole month, you can save a lot of time by making extra pancakes or French toast while you have everything out and the griddle is hot. Put them in portions in zip lock bags and the kids can easily serve themselves a nice hot breakfast by popping them in the microwave.

Gramma (Sandra Schneider) is the President of Hitansa, Incorporated . Let Gramma Take Care of You!

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