Easy to prep men's group breakfast food

[klmama]

Dh asked my help, so I'm asking you, LOL!  What's something super easy he could take for a 6:00 a.m. breakfast for 12 men?  He wanted to take an egg bake, but then realized that meant getting up an hour early to put it in the oven.  With oven heat-up time and travel time, he'd be getting up at 4:15.  Not ideal.  

Has anyone tried the pre-peeled hard-boiled eggs from Costco?  Maybe pair those with some of the Danishes they sell?

Other brilliant ideas?  

[Danae]

You can make egg bake overnight in a crock pot.

[klmama]

Hmmm....  That might work.  I'll take a look.  Thanks! 

[ktgrok]

Sausage biscuits? Those heat up pretty fast. 

Build your own oatmeal? Plain oatmeal with toppings like dried fruit, coconut, nuts, etc? Could do instant oatmeal and hot water. 

Bagels and cream cheese spreads? 

Muffins and protein bars?

 

[KatieJ]

Oatmeal in a crockpot. Lots of toppings, craisins, nuts, cream, brown sugar, honey, etc.

[marbel]

29 minutes ago, KatieinMich said:

Oatmeal in a crockpot. Lots of toppings, craisins, nuts, cream, brown sugar, honey, etc.

This would be welcome with my male people.  

And even though this is carby, I'd add a few not-too-sweet breakfast breads -- like, not Danishes, but scones, muffins.   Bagels and cream cheese, can offer peanut butter for some protein, assuming it's not a an issue in that group.

Depending on facilities could do some sausage patties or links for those who like meat in the morning.

ETA: If I'm thinking of egg bake the way you mean (eggs, bread, milk, cheese, maybe meat) - when I make that at home, we always have leftovers. It reheats beautifully and quickly. So just another thought if that is a highly-desired item.

 

Edited October 5, 2021 by marbel

[klmama]

1 hour ago, marbel said:

ETA: If I'm thinking of egg bake the way you mean (eggs, bread, milk, cheese, maybe meat) - when I make that at home, we always have leftovers. It reheats beautifully and quickly. So just another thought if that is a highly-desired item.

 

Do you reheat in the microwave or the oven?  How long for a large amount?   

[Doodlebug]

I make these for my protein starved teenager b/c I am not a hungry and excited to cook morning person.

I wrap them in parchment, stuff them in a large ziploc, and freeze them.  DS heats them for 2-3 minutes in the microwave.  

Edited October 5, 2021 by Doodlebug

[marbel]

34 minutes ago, klmama said:

Do you reheat in the microwave or the oven?  How long for a large amount?   

Well now I didn't think about that level of detail. I've never reheated the whole thing, just the leftovers, with each person taking a portion and reheating it; we use a combination of microwave and oven for that. 

But if I was going to do, say, a 13x9 pan. I would leave off some of the cheese during the first baking. When it was time to reheat, I would stir it up some so it's not trying to reheat a solid mass. Then I'd microwave for about 5 minutes, checking after 2-3 to stir and see if it's warming up well. Then I'd put the rest of the cheese on top, and bake it till the cheese melted and it was hot all the way through, maybe 10 minutes?

Maybe it's not such a great idea after all for a  large casserole! 

ETA: after a little googling, it doesn't look like it's going to save any time to bake it ahead and reheat the whole thing. Sorry for leading you down a bad path! 

Edited October 5, 2021 by marbel

[klmama]

17 minutes ago, Doodlebug said:

I make these for my protein starved teenager b/c I am not a hungry and excited to cook morning person.

I wrap them in parchment, stuff them in a large ziploc, and freeze them.  DS heats them for 2-3 minutes in the microwave.  

Ooooh!  I'll bet dh would love these!  They are more work than the casserole, but the comments make them seem less finicky, and I could make them the night before and just refrigerate.  Hmmmm.....

[Bambam]

I'm hoping it is a Tuesday this is needed. I'm going to the store to purchase two different tubs of cream cheese (one plain, one flavor), and then I'm driving by Panera Bread to get their bakers dozen bagels for $8. I'll select a mix of bagels. Done.  (ETA: I want it to be a Tuesday because that's when Panera has their special on the 13 bagels. The rest of the week, the price is higher.)

Men eat bagels, right? 

Edited October 5, 2021 by Bambam

[klmama]

2 hours ago, Bambam said:

Men eat bagels, right? 

Yes, they do. LOL.  Someone brought them last week, so dh wants to take something different.  Thanks for the info on Tuesdays being cheaper!  

[KungFuPanda]

The Cracker Barrel hashbrown casserole can be put in the crockpot overnight. You can add cubes of ham to it to make it meaty. You could even adjust the flavors and take some tortillas and toppings to have breakfast burritos. If I went this route, I’d leave the cheese out of the crockpot and serve it on the side with some tortillas, salsa, and hot sauce. I’d be tempted to add peppers to the egg dish.  For twelve men, I’d want two crockpots. 

[PeterPan]

This time of year I'd just pick up pumpkin donuts.

[mathnerd]

store bought Croissants, fruit tray and greek yoghurt cups (costco has them all).

Edited October 6, 2021 by mathnerd

[KungFuPanda]

Another thought . . . men will eat a sandwich platter in the morning. Put everything on croissants to make it more breakfasty. 

[klmama]

Thanks for all the great suggestions!  I'm going to reference this thread again the next time it's his turn.  We decided to try the recipe Doodlebug linked, but with ham instead of sausage and with some onion and peppers.  I'll let you know how it turns out.  

[Tina]

Breakfast burritos and a fruit tray.

I am one who's gotten up to make the egg bakes for work.  Ham saves you time over having to cook sausage.

I buy the big bags of Jimmy Dean sausage patties from the freezer and then scramble a bunch of eggs that morning, too.  

Guys like homemade  muffins, too.

[klmama]

These muffins were a hit!  I used regular 12-cup muffin/cupcake tins, and only about 3/4 of the Grands biscuits in each as crust.  When I make them again, I'll try to use just half or else use a regular size biscuit (our store was out of those), as they were a little more bready than we would have liked.  The filling is SOOO good!  

[KatieJ]

Did you bake them ahead of time? If so, how did you reheat them?

Thankful you found a recipe that worked for you!

[klmama]

I baked them the night before and refrigerated them.  Dh took them in cold and told the guys they could reheat in the microwave.  He said no one did, but they were still really good.  He gave them a solid B+ at that point.  Later, at home, he had another one that he microwaved, and he said it was even better, a definite "A."  If I make these for the group again, I'll get them ready the night before and dh can just bake them fresh in the morning, so they are still warm.  

Note - The prep time was definitely much longer than described, but that's normal when trying a new recipe and tripling it, right?  Also, we chose to chop and saute extra veggies (onions, bell peppers) and also cut down the size of the Grands biscuits.  If I'd had the larger muffin tins (the BIG ones), or the smaller biscuits, I think that part would have gone faster.   

[ktgrok]

14 hours ago, klmama said:

These muffins were a hit!  I used regular 12-cup muffin/cupcake tins, and only about 3/4 of the Grands biscuits in each as crust.  When I make them again, I'll try to use just half or else use a regular size biscuit (our store was out of those), as they were a little more bready than we would have liked.  The filling is SOOO good!  

Anyone have idea on how to make this gluten free? Maybe make up biscuit dough from scratch? I really love the idea of these but we try to keep gluten out of the house for DS with celiac. (which reminds me, need to clean the oven rack today as I accidentally bought one non gluten free pizza this week)

[Doodlebug]

@ktgrokYou could do a layer of shreaded hashbrowns mixed with an egg in the bottom of the muffin tin to form the "cup" instead of a biscuit.  

@klmama I've made these twice, the first time using Grands canned biscuits.  The second time, I used the cheapest canned biscuit I could find -- Great Value.  The cheaper biscuits baked better and provided a less biscuit heavy ratio.

Edited October 8, 2021 by Doodlebug

[KungFuPanda]

9 hours ago, klmama said:

I baked them the night before and refrigerated them.  Dh took them in cold and told the guys they could reheat in the microwave.  He said no one did, but they were still really good.  He gave them a solid B+ at that point.  Later, at home, he had another one that he microwaved, and he said it was even better, a definite "A."  If I make these for the group again, I'll get them ready the night before and dh can just bake them fresh in the morning, so they are still warm.  

Note - The prep time was definitely much longer than described, but that's normal when trying a new recipe and tripling it, right?  Also, we chose to chop and saute extra veggies (onions, bell peppers) and also cut down the size of the Grands biscuits.  If I'd had the larger muffin tins (the BIG ones), or the smaller biscuits, I think that part would have gone faster.   

If you prepped them in the morning, then baked them, you wouldn't even want to cook it all the way.  You could wrap your pan in foil, then insulate it with towels and start driving.  It would finish cooking on the drive and be hot when you get there.  If you cook eggs all the way and transport them hot, they can get insanely overcooked en route.  Eggs with lots of cheese and veggies are going to be good either way, but you can save yourself a good 15 minutes in the oven and end up with an even better dish.  Also, if this is a regular thing, you can get one of those insulated casserole carriers with a hot pack.  Of course, beach towels and a laundry basket will also do the job. 😁

[klmama]

What great suggestions!  You all have been super helpful!  Thank you!  😀