Do you ever feel like your house holds onto you in the morning and won’t let you leave no matter how hard you try? We have had many a morning with that feeling! Too many in fact, and decided to take back those mornings and replace the chaos with calm. Here are some things that have helped make our mornings a little easier.

1. Meal plan on Sunday. Kevin and I try to plan all our meals for the week and get all the shopping done on Sundays. This really helps us know what we are having for breakfast in the mornings, allows us to prepare any lunches for work and school ahead of time, and keeps the running around in the evenings to pick up random items to a minimum. In addition, we spend less money on eating out and I usually either lose weight or maintain it if we are doing this consistently.

2. Put a checklist by the door. When we made the move to private school and started driving 30 minutes or more in the morning to get there, forgetting a lunch had the potential for disaster. That’s when we created a checklist and hung it by the front door so we HAD to see it upon leaving the house. Ours is titled “Before You Leave…” and includes things like, backpack and lunch (Colin), and briefcase, phone, and coffee (me). The last item on the list poses the question, “Anything Special?” to cover field trips, doctor’s appointments and the like, to make sure we cover logistics before we leave!

Back-to-School French Toast

This recipe is so easy you can do it on a busy weekday morning and send the kids with a solid breakfast in them before heading off to school.

Ingredients
2 slices of Wheat bread
2 Egg whites
1/4 cup fat free Half and Half
1 tbsp of Cinnamon
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 1/2 tbsp Margarine
1/4 cup sugar free Maple syrup
1 tbsp Confectionery sugar

How to Make It!
Place egg whites, cream, cinnamon and vanilla in a shallow bowl and whisk. Melt the margarine in a large frying pan over medium heat. Place the bread in the egg batter covering it on both sides. Place the bread in the pan and cook approximately 3 minutes on each side. Remove the bread slices and place on a plate. Add the syrup and confectionery sugar and enjoy!

Kevin’s tip: Microwave the syrup in a container for 20 seconds or so you aren’t pouring cold syrup over warm toast.

Yields 1 serving

Serving Size: 2 slices of toast

Fat 11g | Calories 367 | Carbs 54g | Protein 15g | Fiber 2g