Homemade Egg McMuffins and Other Turbo Breakfasts

It’s no secret: Mornings are not my strong suit.  As the family cook, I’m responsible for meals, including breakfast, which means, if it were solely up to me, breakfast would be relegated to special occasions only in favor of a few minutes’ more sleep.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, for the kids), I am not the chief executive and am under orders to provide the kids with a reasonably healthy breakfast each morning before school.  So here are some of the ways I get food into my kids in the morning when we’re in a hurry.


For my oldest, I go with one of his favorites: a homemade Egg McMuffin.  I’m not sure he’s ever had the original, but he sure likes my version.  To make this, I first drop an English muffin in the toaster — it takes the longest.  While the muffin is toasting, I crack an egg into a small glass bowl (one with straight-ish sides is good; if it’s about the same size as an English muffin, that’s perfect), scramble it, and put it in the microwave for 44 seconds, until it is nearly done.  (Do some tests with your microwave; you’ll likely need to adjust the time.)  Add a slice of ham lunch meat and a slice of cheddar cheese on top of the egg and microwave for another 11 seconds.  By this time, the muffin should be done.  Run a fork or knife around the edge of and underneath the egg/ham/cheese combo, plop half the muffin on top, and turn it over on a plate.  Add the other half of the muffin and you’re done.

The beauty of this recipe is that it uses almost no dishes or pots (I do it with just a bowl, a fork, and a plate) and uses ingredients that do double duty for other meals — I use the same ham and cheese we use for sandwiches.  For us, another benefit is that all the ingredients can be had dirt cheap at Costco.  It’s also flexible — just about any sort of sliced cheese would work and you can use Canadian bacon, breakfast sausage, or last night’s leftovers.

My youngest likes scrambled egg; it’s exactly the same only minus the muffin, cheese, and ham.  My daughter likes a couple of slices of turkey or ham, rolled up and warmed in the microwave for a few seconds.  Add a banana and, while probably not the healthiest meal, it’s not bad for a hurried morning.

Although this is a pretty popular morning menu, I wouldn’t mind finding more quick breakfasts in order to mix things up.  Got any suggestions?  What’s your favorite quickie out-the-door breakfast?

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