Help me with breakfast, Pyrex question

[happypamama]

Breakfast takes too long to make, now that I'm fixing it for six people (DH makes his own breakfast before he leaves at o'dark thirty).

 

I'm looking at more baked dishes, like egg casseroles and baked oatmeal, because we need more protein and fewer carbs than muffins, bagels, etc. provide. The problem is that I would like to assemble them the night before. I can set the oven up with its delayed start feature, so that it comes on an hour before breakfast, and either DH can pop a dish from the fridge into the oven before he leaves (which would still be before the oven starts to heat up), or I can if I'm down there early enough. But that would mean putting a cold dish into the oven. Is that a no-no for my Pyrex pans? Is cold Pyrex from the fridge supposed to go into a preheated oven or not a preheated one?

 

I could use my cast iron, I suppose, but it takes up a lot of room in the fridge, compared to the Pyrex pans. (I suppose it doesn't really matter for cleaning, since I don't have a dishwasher anyway.). I don't have a crockpot either and don't really want to get one because of lead concerns, nor do I really want to have the oven on all night long on low frequently. I don't really want to buy metal pans. I could mix up the ingredients at night, store them in the fridge in a different container, and transfer them to room temp Pyrex in the morning, before putting the Pyrex into the oven, but I'd rather not put that on DH. He's great about pulling the washer knob if I set up the laundry the night before, and I don't think he'll mind popping a dish into the oven if I've set it up already, but the man works 12 hour days, so there's only so much I am willing to ask him to do first thing in the morning, kwim?

 

Thinking out loud. . . Any ideas about what would work best here? Maybe I should have DH just take the pan out of the fridge and let it sit on the countertop? It'd be for about 30-60 minutes, and I could come down right away when I wake up (ugh, but oh, well) and put it in the oven.

[Momof3littles]

Fridge to oven is fine for pyrex in my experience. Freezer to oven is riskier and I avoid that.

[kbutton]

If it's not going into a hot oven, I think it would be fine. You said he'd be putting it in the oven, and then a timer would start. I think that's plenty of time for the pan to acclimate.

 

Just remind him to take the rubber lid off if you use those! My husband is not terribly aware of such things on his way out the door, lol. 

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

If it's not going into a hot oven, I think it would be fine. You said he'd be putting it in the oven, and then a timer would start. I think that's plenty of time for the pan to acclimate.

 

Just remind him to take the rubber lid off if you use those! My husband is not terribly aware of such things on his way out the door, lol. 

 

This. My experience has also been that fridge to oven is OK, but if you can set your timer so that the pan can come closer to room (or cold oven) temp before the heat turns on, your food should cook more evenly as well.

 

I agree about the rubber lids!

[Meadowlark]

Not to derail...but I'd LOVE to hear about some of these "prepare the night before" recipes!

[happypamama]

Okay, thank you everyone! I'm glad for a reasonable consensus on the Pyrex. I think the plan will look something like this:

 

DH takes the pan out of the fridge, removes the lid, and puts it in the oven no later than 5:45 (when he usually leaves), maybe earlier if he does it when he's making his eggs. Oven is cold but is already set to come on.

6:45 -- oven comes on and has about 45 minutes to bake.

7:00 -- I come downstairs and am able to monitor the oven so it doesn't overcook if 45 minutes is too long, but that's easier to do while starting laundry, waking kids, etc.

7:30 -- we are ready to sit down to breakfast.

 

As for recipes, I don't really have many, although I need to look for some good baked oatmeal recipes. I'm thinking cranberries and almonds for tomorrow, but raisins and walnuts are always an oatmeal mainstay around here. But I'm mainly thinking of oven versions of the egg dishes we usually make: cheddar, broccoli; ham, mozzarella; spinach, mushroom, goat cheese/cheddar; etc., just kind of whatever we have on hand. I also want to try some pumpkin soufflés. We will see how it goes. :)

[Farrar]

Just another option, but there are tons of good slow cooker breakfast options. That would eliminate the extra step of having to have your dh take it out and put it in the oven. Or could just be another way to deal with the issue for some mornings.

[momee]

This looks great and easy will let you know how it tastes.

 

http://fitfoodiefinds.com/2013/10/slow-cooker-creamy-coconut-steel-cut-oats/

[momee]

Not exactly what you're asking for but this oatmeal is a life saver for me.  You could double batch it and make in a smaller pyrex.  Don't need to bake, simply prep at night, cover, and in am top with boiling water just to cover.  Put Saran Wrap over top to keep moisture in and there ya go.  

 

Sooooooo easy and yummy.

 

Edited to say leave the apple until morning if adding, or add raisins at night, cranberries, dried blueberries, etc.

Ingredients

• 1 cup(s) of organic rolled oats
• 2 tbsp. of maple syrup you can use less, or you can use brown rice syrup to make it more superhero!
• 2 tbsp. of chopped walnuts
• 1/3 crisp apple, cut in cubes
• 5 dates (about), pitted and chopped
• 1/2 pinch of fine sea salt to taste
• 3 shakes of ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. of (scant) flaxseed oil

Directions ( Default | Numbered )

Steps 
1.Bring a kettle of water to boil 
2.Combine the oats, syrup, nuts, apple, and dates in a bowl 
3.Add a pinch or two of salt, then pour enough hot water to just cover the oats (don’t add too much, or it will be too watery) 
4.Cover the bowl with a plate or pot lid, and let the oatmeal stand until the oats have absorbed the water 
5.Stir, and add a little more water if the oats look too dry 
6.Let the oatmeal cool a little, and then drizzle with the flaxseed oil

 

[TammyinTN]

I fix things, pop them in the refrigerator and pop them into a pre-heated oven with no problems.     The only problem I've had with pyrex is accidentally putting it on a hot burner and it exploding...definitely a duh moment on my part.  Probably not enough coffee in the system yet moment.   ;)

[happypamama]

Just another option, but there are tons of good slow cooker breakfast options. That would eliminate the extra step of having to have your dh take it out and put it in the oven. Or could just be another way to deal with the issue for some mornings.

But then I'd have to ask the Hive for a slow cooker recommendation, and although I missed that kerfuffle, I hear that's a bad thing to ask around here. :P. (No, seriously, I would have to buy one. I will try what I have first and see how it goes.)

[happypamama]

This looks great and easy will let you know how it tastes.

 

http://fitfoodiefinds.com/2013/10/slow-cooker-creamy-coconut-steel-cut-oats/

  

Not exactly what you're asking for but this oatmeal is a life saver for me.  You could double batch it and make in a smaller pyrex.  Don't need to bake, simply prep at night, cover, and in am top with boiling water just to cover.  Put Saran Wrap over top to keep moisture in and there ya go.  

 

Sooooooo easy and yummy.

 

Edited to say leave the apple until morning if adding, or add raisins at night, cranberries, dried blueberries, etc.

 

Ingredients

 

• 1 cup(s) of organic rolled oats
• 2 tbsp. of maple syrup you can use less, or you can use brown rice syrup to make it more superhero!
• 2 tbsp. of chopped walnuts
• 1/3 crisp apple, cut in cubes
• 5 dates (about), pitted and chopped
• 1/2 pinch of fine sea salt to taste
• 3 shakes of ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. of (scant) flaxseed oil

 

Directions ( Default | Numbered )

 

 

Steps 

1.Bring a kettle of water to boil 

2.Combine the oats, syrup, nuts, apple, and dates in a bowl 

3.Add a pinch or two of salt, then pour enough hot water to just cover the oats (don’t add too much, or it will be too watery) 

4.Cover the bowl with a plate or pot lid, and let the oatmeal stand until the oats have absorbed the water 

5.Stir, and add a little more water if the oats look too dry 

6.Let the oatmeal cool a little, and then drizzle with the flaxseed oil

These both sound delicious -- thank you!

[idnib]

Does your oven have an auto off? I'm concerned what would happen if you overslept your alarm or it didn't go off for some reason. Or if you woke up to an emergency and forgot and left the house with the food in the oven.

 

In that sense a crockpot would be safer, but I understand your issues with one. I don't own one for the same reasons.

 

Sorry to ask, but it seems to be my job to come up with everything that could go wrong.  :blushing:

[happypamama]

Does your oven have an auto off? I'm concerned what would happen if you overslept your alarm or it didn't go off for some reason. Or if you woke up to an emergency and forget and left the house with the food in the oven.

 

In that sense a crockpot would be safer, but I understand your issues with one. I don't own one for the same reasons.

 

Sorry to ask, but it seems to be my job to come up with everything that could go wrong. :blushing:

No, those are good questions to consider. We only use the door to the house that is right next to the stove anyway, and my keys/wallet/phone are on a counter catty-corner to it, so we'd see the stove on and turn it off. I think the chances of us not turning it off are so slim they might as well be nil. But also, it does have an auto-off feature, and it beeps annoyingly every few seconds if you've set a timer and haven't turned off the timer yet. So with the delayed start and set cook time thing, it'll either shut off when the timer goes off, or the timer will keep beeping (I haven't used that feature recently, and the stove is less than a year old, so I'm not sure which it'll actually do). The kitchen is under DD's room too, so eventually it would wake her up, even if I completely overslept.

[Woodhaven]

I fix things, pop them in the refrigerator and pop them into a pre-heated oven with no problems.     The only problem I've had with pyrex is accidentally putting it on a hot burner and it exploding...definitely a duh moment on my part.  Probably not enough coffee in the system yet moment.   ;)

 

I've had this unfortunate experience as well.  Wow, you should have seen the millions of shards of pyrex!  I was SO grateful no one was in the kitchen when it happened!

[happypamama]

That could not have worked more perfectly! I made the baked oatmeal last night and left DH a note. He did what I asked, and I came down to a delicious aroma! My oven both turned itself off after the prescribed time AND continued to beep until I turned it off, so it has plenty of safeguards. And the oatmeal was delicious. :)

[momee]

Mine burned on the bottom but I think that's because of the crock pot.  I started using MIL's and hers is way smaller and I think more heat efficient than my old one.  I'll try again because it really was tasty.

[momee]

Mine burned on the bottom but I think that's because of the crock pot.  I started using MIL's and hers is way smaller and I think more heat efficient than my old one.  I'll try again because it really was tasty.

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

That could not have worked more perfectly! I made the baked oatmeal last night and left DH a note. He did what I asked, and I came down to a delicious aroma! My oven both turned itself off after the prescribed time AND continued to beep until I turned it off, so it has plenty of safeguards. And the oatmeal was delicious. :)

 

:hurray: