Instagram-worthy pictures of breakfast bowls are a thing of fantasy for me. I’m lucky if I can sneak in a bowl of cereal before heading out the door- definitely not enough time to prepare a bowl of slow-steeped, chia-studded oats with perfectly portioned dollops of locally sourced sheep’s milk yogurt, ceylon cinnamon, berries, and bee pollen. It may sound exaggerated, but if Instagram’s healthy eats accounts are the standard, that’s what my breakfast is up against.
The reality is, I am a student. Not only a student, but a working graduate student with multiple extracurricular commitments that I’m enthusiastic about.
I’m also a foodie. Cooking takes time. The dilemma probably speaks for itself, but to clarify: on the one hand I love taking the time to prepare delicious, exciting recipes. On the other hand, I am a busy woman and don’t have hours each day to spare. For most meals, I have to settle for something quick.
While it might be possible a couple days of the week to aim to try a new dinner recipe- AT THE END OF THE DAY WHEN ALL MY WORK IS TENDED TO– breakfast is not the meal for me to try it out. Trying to make breakfast my exciting culinary endeavor of the day sets me up to feel like a failure.
Most on-the-go breakfast recipes I come across on Pinterest are truly great ideas- grab and go oatmeal cups, breakfast cookies, energy balls, etc. But , as I’ve made clear before, free time isn’t something I have a lot of- definitely not 3-4 hours at the beginning of each week to spend on food prep. I count time I’m at the grocery store as food prep. I’m a shortcut chef, and get the feeling a lot of you probably are in the same boat. So here are some quick, on-the-go breakfast options that take no prep, and are balanced. All you have to do is buy them and they’re ready to eat. Stash them in your backpack and you’ll stave off that rumbling stomach in class. Now go power through your day and save your food prep effort on that three-hour pot roast recipe you wanted to make tonight 😉
Fruit, Peanut Butter Packet, & Granola
- Choose a piece of fruit you won’t have to cut up, such as an apple, banana, or pear. Look for the single-serve squeeze packs of peanut or almond butter at the grocery store. There are entire aisles dedicated to granola packets at the grocery store- choose one that looks good to you and you have a balanced breakfast!
Cereal and milk with dried fruit and nuts.
- Look for single-serve milk cartons, and single-serve containers of cereal. Get to class, pour the milk and fruit and nuts in the container of cereal. Bon appetit.
Bran muffin with fruit and a latte.
- I highly recommend checking out Trader Joe’s muffin selections- lots of great options. Save this one for a day you actually have time to grab a latte.
Yogurt with cereal or granola and a Naked Juice.
- This one speaks for itself. Super easy and will keep you full until lunchtime.
Overnight oats.
- While this one might take a few minutes to prep the night before, simply combining oats, milk or yogurt, and fruit in a jar isn’t that time consuming, right?
Carina Chiodo is a graduate student in the Nutrition & Food Science department at Chico State, and she comes to us from the Bay Area. She has studied abroad in Florence, Italy and is doing her graduate research project on mindful eating and food attitudes in Italian and American university students. Carina’s quick and easy breakfast of choice is Cinnamon Chex cereal with milk, a heaping handful of dried cranberries, and chopped mixed nuts- after her morning coffee, of course.
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