Meal Plan Monday 6 Great Ideas for Simple Summer Breakfasts

   
 Welcome Back, dear readers!

    I wanted to apologize for not getting out the  Fabulously Frugal Friday Post I had planned this last week, but was taken out in less than 24 hours with bacterial pneumonia that was complicated with a severe flare up of my fibromyalgia. God bless the sweet little doctor who saw me in the Urgent Care on Thursday afternoon,  and she could not believe how high my temp was, or that I was able to keep moving with so much pain! I went on a Z-pac, and prednisone, both I know of which are nasty drugs, but I also knew this was not run-of-the-mill stuff by how fast I was getting worse. As a normally healthy person who rarely sees a doctor and grows a lot of my own medicine (click here if you want to hear more about that), I also know there is a time to head in to a doctor as well, and when the thermometer said 103*, I knew the time had come. I have been down a couple days, but feeling well enough to literally sit at and through a dear, precious girl and boy's wedding, as well as church today, so I knew blogging was going to be easy compared to those.
    I am on the mend, and praising God for it. Good thing was that I was sick enough to not even be thinking of all the things that needed to get done. Anyone else been there and done that? Not much else is worse than that, in my world.

   Anyhow, I am trying to keep Monday's themes a little more varied because I am having so many ideas to throw in there. Since Meal Plan starts with Monday, this week, I humbly come to you with my hat off to some amazing bloggers and friends who have done most of the work for me, and just let me pull it all together in one place.
   If you have not signed up for Pinterest yet, just the wealth of ideas for foods is worth it in and of themselves. I find myself slipping on there for 10 minutes or so with a pad of paper just trying to get some new ideas (yes, I'm easily bored), and I always post them in my folders, so if you have not clicked on my Pinterest ribbon, seriously, head on over there and just do it.

   My first idea of a great warm weather breakfast that does not heat up your kitchen to make is so so sooo simple. Did I say simple? Good I mean it. Being an avid canner, we have lots of jars sitting around waiting to be filled this time of year, and for kids, making this in jelly jars is a perfect size. My dear friends, feast your eyes on this lovely picture of Refrigerator Oatmeal from TheYummyLife blog.

http://www.theyummylife.com/Refrigerator_Oatmeal

   Gorgeous, and oh, just. so. good. So far we have had strawberry, banana walnut, pumpkin brown sugar (using pumpkin butter canned from last year), and blueberries and cream. I make ours by whirling the OF oats in the blender so they are more broken up, and then combining everything and putting right into the fridge. Definitely a new favorite around here.

   The next idea comes from my dear friend Viciklynn Haycraft, who has her own YouTube channel, and who is just such an inspiration in what she does and how she teaches others to duplicate! She is showing you in this video how to get the easiest and best breakfast right off of your grill: check out her video!

She just has an amazing channel, and I would encourage you to head over there and check it out. I bet you are on there for longer than you think! :)

   Now let's talk about two of my all time favorite stand-by in warm weather kinda breakfasts. You know, the ones that you look forward to all winter until the time has come and you dont have to sneak them in as snacks but can really call them meals all of a sudden? Know what I mean?
   I am talking about SMOOTHIES and NO BAKE BREAKFAST COOKIES.

   Let's start with Smoothies.

   We make a lot of smoothies around here and I am sad to say, *sniff sniff* that unless someone finds the seal to my blender, or I buy another immersion blender for the third time since the blending part just got melted on the stove, it may actually be a week or more until I can eat another smoothie. My kids feel the same way. The Handy Hubby feels the same way. We are smoothie addicts. Seriously. SO in honor of how much the Welcoming House loves smoothies and wants the world to taste the rainbow (of smoothies) out there, here is an awesome link on the TOP FAVORITE smoothies just for your pleasure:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Drinks/Smoothies/Top.aspx

  And now, for those fabulous, no bake breakfast cookies----yep, kids love them. Heck, I LOVE THEM. Easy, overnight in the fridge again, and you even get to feel just a touch naughty while you are eating them, all the while knowing you are eating something good for you!  Here is a fabulous link I came across, complete with recipe. I use wheat germ whirred up in the coffee grinder as it makes things a little thicker in the morning, and is healthier as well.
 http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/vitamin-g/2009/08/breakfast-at-your-desk-do-you-2.html

   Okay, for idea number five, it is simple, satisfying, and a whole lot less money (and actually really food) if you make it from home and not run through the line at McDonalds. Grab yourself some yogurt, and some granola, and some fruit, and make yourself (and the family) a layered fruit parfait. Just like the smoothies, your options are endless. What do they like? What do you like? Got just a little of this fruit, and a little of that fruit left (you know, we ALL have those few berries left in the container that NO ONE chooses to eat for some reason), then this is the perfect meal. I throw in little bits of nuts that are at the bottom of the bag, I will top it with the crumbs from the bottom of the choc chip bag---seriously, it is a great leftover meal without seeming like one at all. If you were ahead of the game at the end of the summer season last year, you could have picked up those amazing plastic covered drinking cups for cheap (do I hear some of you scribbling on your notepads for the end of THIS season?), and those are awesome for this meal, smoothies, and just plain stashing meals ahead in the fridge (not to mention iced lattes, but that is another post).

   Finally, I am going to give you a huge kid favorite and seriously popular around here in the summer, mainly because my oldest can make them Herself, and it makes her feel Accomplished with a capital A. We call them Banana Roll-ups, but you can call them whatever you want. Take a homemade tortillas, slather with Peanut or another Nut Butter, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar as well as wheat germ, chia seeds, etc. Peel a banana, and roll the banana up in the tortilla. Instant filling, healthy breakfast. I am waiting for my "uber-creative" and silly 12 year old to come up with some name for them since she is trying to rename the Grilled Cheese Sandwich.
   Don't worry. It wont be long.

   For some other ideas, I wanted to pass on a couple links that during my searching popped out at me and looked like great sites for ideas.

• http://www.sheknows.com/holidays-and-seasons/articles/848995/10-no-cook-breakfast-ideas
• http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FY/FY131400.pdf

   That last one is a printable PDF, although it was not "worthy" enough to be printed and put into my binder because I already have copies of a lot of those ideas! May be great for you though so be sure to bop on over there and check it out!
   Finally, as you know, many of these ideas can be filed under snacks as well later in the year when you want to cook again inside, and are looking for some quick and healthy snacks for you and your family! That is why I am also labeling them snacks and you will be able to pull up the recipes under both tabs above in the nav bar. Have you done any searching around here lately? Lots more being put under the titles above---hope some of you are checking them out!
   Hope you all have a WONDERFUL Monday, and we will see you back tomorrow for some amazing recipes and canning how-to's on making your own jams for Tasty Tuesday!

Linked up at Deep Roots of Home, Raising Homemakers, GLOWFINS, and a few other amazing blogs that are in my blog roll at the bottom left of the blog--check them out!

Many Blessings to you and yours,

Heather