Breakfast is one of those meals that can easily be overlooked. For many people it’s just about convenience, grabbing handfuls of cereal or a yogurt as you’re rushing yourself or kids out the door. Even even worse it can become picking at office treats, regretting you didn’t take the time earlier in the morning to plan ahead. Done right, breakfast is something that can both be savored but also set the tone for the rest of your day. Deciding to reclaim breakfast in our household, I spent the better part of the week coming up with some refreshing new breakfast ideas none of which required more than 5 minutes of prep and only used ingredients I had in the fridge or cupboard. None of my breakfasts required recipes but I’ve including some guidance on proportions below. Some were ones that repurposed leftovers from the night before and in those cases I’ve also included the original recipes (these happened to be my favorites and there is something so satisfying about emptying the fridge and using up leftovers!)

1. Fresh Smoked Salmon Toast
   Any smoked salmon will do for this one although I wanted to find a use for this leftover sweet smoked salmon that we made for New Year’s Eve. If you have the time and access to a smoker (we used our Big Green Egg) it’s well worth the effort and not a very complicated recipe. I had some great miche bread leftover from Bien Cut, I spread on some cream cheese, added arugula, topped with a few pieces of salmon and garnished with a few sprigs of fresh dill.
2. Farro Topped with Egg
   This breakfast used up my leftover Smitten Kitchen one-pan farro with tomatoes, one of my favorite farro recipes. It’s also another one of those dishes that seems to get better the next day and just calls for a fried (or poached) egg on top. It’s the perfect breakfast when you’re looking for something both hearty and savory and any farro (or other grain) would work.
3. Chia Seed Pudding
   This seemingly decadent but super simple breakfast should be prepped the night before. The recipe is totally flexible – all you really need are chia seeds and a liquid (I usually use oat or almond milk) this time we had a plant based chocolate milk in the fridge which I wanted to use up. The proportions are 1 tbs of chia seeds for every 1/4 cup liquid. Because I used chocolate milk I didn’t need a lot of honey but you can add honey to taste or if you’re using regular oat or almond milk you can add a tbs of cocoa powder (or not)! Add all ingredients to a jar, stir a few times and let sit in the fridge overnight. When you’re ready to eat the next morning, top with sliced bananas or any topping of choice.
4. Challah French Toast
   There is nothing better than French Toast using leftover challah. For this one, I used leftover challah I had made the day before using this winning recipe from Martha Stewart. Again, my general rule of thumb is two eggs for every one thickly sliced piece of bread, I add about a tbs of brown sugar, a dash of salt, tsp of vanilla and 1-2 tbs of milk to my egg mixture. Whisk everything together and soak bread for a few minutes before cooking.
5. Yogurt Parfait
   This one obviously requires no recipe and is completely adaptable. Granola is one of those things I love to make at home and keep on hand (although it never seems to last very long). My absolute favorite recipe is a version of Early Bird Granola which I’ve posted about in the past here.