Breakfast for the working

[secretkessa]

I was thinking about this today because I have observed some widely different breakfast habits for people who leave for work in the morning. I will list what I have seen, and then tell me which you fall under, if any:

Never eat breakfast
Cook at home and eat before you leave
Cook at home, then eat in the car
Cook at home, then eat when you arrive at work
Fast food breakfast
Nothing, but munch as soon as you actually begin working (crackers, etc- not like a breakfast meal)

[jenscats5]

I usually exercise in the morning and need to be at work by 7:30 am, so my "breakfast" is ambiguous....I eat something light pre-exercise, typically a protein shake post-exercise then coffee + PB&J at work about 8:30 am or so.....anything goes for "pre-exercise" - fried rice is my current favorite.

[amyzan]

When I worked first shift (and I had the keys to the store, so HAD to be there at 7 am,) I did a lot of cook ahead the night before, and eat in the car. Alternatively, I'd eat at work, but that often was a challenge because the person who closed the night before was sloppy and sometimes left hellacious messes. (Then, he got promoted to my boss, and well, I won't go there.) Occasionally, I made time to stop at a local biscuit and egg shop on the way, but that was tricky, too.

Now that I'm self employed, i generally make the time to prepare a good breakfast, and my life is THAT much better for it.

[berkleybabe]

I always eat breakfast and almost always at home- always, otherwise I get really crabby and weird. Ranges anything from soft boiled eggs, rye toast, to egg/cheese/English muffin sandwiches, to soup, leftover pasta, meatloaf, and pizza. I like the savory route, very rarely do granola, never pancakes.

[DPGood]

OP
How many people have you observed at home, then in their cars, then at work--all in the morning? Did they know you were observing them? Sounds weird .

[Vetter]

How is it weird? I work in my office alone and I still interact with at least ten people before ten am as I get my day going. The OP isn't leering at anyone inappropriately.

[DPGood]

OK. Makes sense now.

[golfer1]

Breakfast on the road at least 9 days out of 10...on the way to the office that is. Usually a slice or whole grain bread, or a tortilla, spread with crunchy Peanut Butter and then rolled around a banana. Freshly ground and freshly brewed coffee to go with it, and then in the car to drive 45 minutes to work. Weekends are for a real breakfast...denver omellets, poached eggs over a hash of some kind etc.

[meltygarden]

It just depends on what is going on that day. My daily schedule varies quite a bit. I always have a huge mug of milky coffee the minute my eyes are open, but I don't want food until at least 11 or so - my stomach just can't deal with it. If it's going to be past 1pm before I have another chance to eat, I'll fix something at home, usually just reheated leftovers unless there is something specific I am craving. Otherwise I will just throw a couple of pieces of fruit and a yogurt into my purse along with a big jug of water to get me through until I get home again. I always have GORP and wholegrain crackers in my car, so between that and the fruit and yogurt I'm covered for quite a while during the day.

[occula]

I used to never eat breakfast, but as I get older, I find I'm ravenous by lunchtime if I don't. I would far, far rather sleep a few more minutes than get up in time to make so much as coffee at home! I bring a yogurt, yogurt-plus-granola, yogurt-plus-fruit I prepped the night before, or even just a protein bar to eat at my desk with coffee as soon as I get to work.

[ursy_ten]

Breakfast at home - just something quick like toast or instant porridge and tea. I probably wouldn't bother if it was just me, but I have a growing girl and a partner who always stays up too late the night before - gotta give them a good start to the day :)

[RealMenJulienne]

A cooked, savory breakfast with black coffee is essential. Nothing sweet, nothing oatmeal based, and nothing prepackaged for me. For example, I'll boil extra potatoes the night before, get up an hour earlier the next day, and enjoy a plate of hash browns and fried eggs before facing the commute. It's worth the lost hour of sleep to me. If absolutely pressed for time, Hardee's makes a bad-ass breakfast, with biscuits better than I can make at home.

[Jenny Ondioline]

I work from home, so my morning routine is a little different. I always start the workday with a large cup of French-press coffee and a bowl of homemade yogurt with fruit and granola. The difference depends on how much I have to do on a given day: sometimes I come right back upstairs, park myself in front of the computer and get right to it, eating my yogurt and drinking my coffee as I go. But if I have a little time to kill, sitting in the front room with my coffee and yogurt listening to NPR, or maybe catching last night's Jimmy Fallon on the Tivo, makes for a nice relaxing start to the day.

I always fantasize that on a nice spring or summer day, I'll have my breakfast out in the backyard, but I never actually do it for some reason.

[Will Owen]

Yeah, why is that? We have a lovely terrace with a table and chairs, plus two upstairs decks, and when we moved in I could just see myself out there in a robe with coffee and the paper. But no. Cocktails, yes; grill dinner, sometimes. It probably has much to do with our weekday morning hustle, and then there's the dog: who the hell wants to throw a slobbery ball eighteen times before he's had his toast?

[onceadaylily]

This made me smile. I have a nice deck, with not only a large wicker rocking chair, but a cafe table and two chairs. I have never eaten out there, but I really did think I would. I still think I will, once the weather turns. But I probably won't. I eat breakfast at my desk (if I eat breakfast), same as always.

[CarmenR]

I am of the leftover crew, but my mealtime habits are a big screwy because of my long hours. I usually grab leftovers to bring to work for "breakfast" around 11am. I dont usually have time to make a real breakfast prior to leaving for work at 9:30, and if I eat too early I'm hungry too early ("lunch" is around 3-5pm and "dinner" at work is usually around 8-9pm.)

I need something hot and/or savory for breakfast since it will potentially be a while before I eat again. Cereal or yogurt or a smoothie just won't cut it for me.

[srsone]

never eat breakfast...rarely if ever did/do
my appetite doesnt wake up till 10 or 11 am...
unless sometimes i have a very late dinner? then i might get hungry earlier... never did understand that..but if i eat after work ...say 5-7 pm -- then i am never hungry in the morning

[kaleokahu]

Hi, secretkessa:

You missed one popular option: leftovers. Usually one or more of the items that are left over in my house can either be snarfed Dagwood Bumstead style, or wrapped in an omelet or a tortilla.

Cold pizza tomorrow, looks like.

Cheers,
Kaleo

[somervilleoldtimer]

I think there are two kinds of people in the world: those who will eat cold pizza or leftover chinese food for breakfast, and those who are breakfast traditionalists, like me. I will eat any kind of food (okay, nearly any) for lunch/snack/dinner, but I really want simple and unchallenging for breakfast, so it's cereal/pancakes/waffles/bagel for me. Boring for breakfast.

[scubadoo97]

Or those that swing both ways. I'll eat either from breakfast but my wife is a more traditional breakfast eater.

[somervilleoldtimer]

Either cereal and coffee at home, or an "egg mcmuffin" at home made with a whole-wheat toasted English muffin, an egg poached in a silicone poacher, and (shame) a slice of "swiss" kraft cheese, nearly indistinguishable from "american" packaged cheese slices except that it tastes a bit better, sort of like a Flat Stanley version of La Vache Qui Rit cheese. Or an oatmeal/dried cherry scone and large coffee at a decent cafe near work.

[chocolatetartguy]

Since I usually go out to lunch, I usually just pack in a ready-to-eat breakfast. Most frequently a carton of Greek yogurt, peanut butter and crackers or fruit. I work near a university that has a relatively cheap cafe, so if I get up on time I have oatmeal with raisins and as a special treat the best tator tots I have ever had. They do them in a deep frier. They also make a passable biscuits and gravy.

[Querencia]

Easy breakfast if you want something substantial and non-sweet is quiche. Make a couple and freeze individual slices. They zap in two minutes. Ham and cheese quiche and some coffee will stay with you for hours.

[noodlepoodle]

I cook at home and eat before I leave for work--oatmeal, Kashi cereal and milk with dried currants, or banana with PB, whole grain toast with PB and blueberry jam, or a one-egg omelet with pepper jack cheese, Bay's English Muffin with butter. I rarely drink juice, but have coffee every morning and a big glass of water, a vitamin d pill and a calcium pill.

[scubadoo97]

Cook at home and eat before we leave.
Could be anything from eggs done many ways to oatmeal and currently we are working our way through a side of salmon that I cured and cold smoked. Yummy breakfast for sure!

[Michelle]

I usually prepare something at home and eat it in the car on the way to work. I don't have enough time in the morning to eat at home, and I cannot eat at my desk at work. I gotta have protein in the morning, so some things I like are Greek yogurt, sandwiches of all types (peanut butter and jelly, meat and cheese, egg salad, etc), a slice or two of cold leftover pizza, cut up cheese, etc. Sometimes on the weekend I will make a quiche or breakfast casserole, and portion it into individual portions, keep a day or two's worth in the fridge and freeze the rest. Then, in the morning, grab a container, microwave it and out the door!

[jmcarthur8]

I have to have breakfast every day as soon as I get up. I cannot function on an empty stomach, but unlike DH, I function just fine with no coffee.
Most days it's an english muffin with peanut butter and homemade strawberry jam, or eggo waffles, same toppings. Sometimes scrambled eggs and toast or an egg and cheese on english muffin sandwich.
Plus OJ. Big glass of 1/2 OJ and 1/2 water.

[mamachef]

Breakfast is unorthodox around here. It generally involves leftovers, soup, or hardboiled eggs. I'm fortunate in that I don't have to be up and out in the early am's, so every now and again it's all about cooking a really big breakfast, skipping lunch, and having early dinner.

[Will Owen]

Mrs. O is now the only office worker in the family, and I'm the cook. She therefore eats breakfast at home every day, unless she has to be somewhere very early, in which case she has some oatmeal from her office cafeteria. My routine is to alternate weekdays between steel-cut oats and eggs with toast, always with an orange or apple cut up and ready to eat. On weekends I'll get more elaborate.

Back when she was working at home and I went to an office, I was breakfasting much too often on Sausage & Egg McMuffins, especially after they began offering them at 2 for 1 …

[healthybeet]

I always have small breakfast at home - a bus ride to work takes more than an hour, and I know I'd get hungry. Usually a cup of coffee with honey, lemon and cinnamon, and a toast with soft goat cheese (my favorite). Then another coffee, and munch on almonds or dried berries after I get to the office.

[MonMauler]

Never eat breakfast.

In fact, just about the only time I ever eat breakfast is on Sundays that I don't golf and when I'm traveling. Oddly, when I travel for work I generally have breakfast.

My typical workday breakfast, I guess, would be the four cups of coffee and four cups of water I drink before I grab lunch around 1 or so...

[odkaty]

Mornings I run I take steel cut oats or pb&j, riding days it's apple and cheese or toast. I almost always take breakfast with me, and eat around 10 or 11. I'm normally up by 5:30, but I can't stomach the idea of food in the morning.

I cook big pots of steel cut oats on the weekend, cool in individual containers, and add toppings. I keep a small container of cream in the fridge at work to add after it's reheated.

[Jetgirly]

I'm sort of known for my Magic Bullet smoothies at work in the morning. A banana, some frozen fruit, some fat-free Greek yogurt, flax oil, orange juice and soy milk all get blended together. A special treat is a banana-chocolate smoothie, where the banana gets blended with chocolate soy milk and ice cubes made from frozen coffee.

HOWEVER I have decided to revamp my entire life and now only want to eat chic French breakfasts like butter and honey on fresh bread. At my kitchen table. Sloooowly. We'll see how that works out come Monday.

[loveballet101]

just some fruit and coffee before leaving in the morning

[MandalayVA]

I don't eat breakfast. It used to drive my mother crazy but I was rarely hungry in the mornings even before my current dietary regime. And don't beat yourself up about not eating breakfast. If you're hungry, eat. If you're not, don't.

[Bob W]

None of the above! My usual breakfast is either yogurt or cottage cheese, fruit, and nuts (eaten at my desk).

[LeoLioness]

I have a cup of coffee at home then usually eat when I get to work. Usually some combination of toast, fruit, cheese, oatmeal, or yogurt.

I take the subway to work, so sometimes I get a potato-pea samosa from the Indian food kiosk in the subway station, or grab an egg and cheese sandwich from the cafe next to my building.

[mpjmph]

I cook at home and eat before I leave. I need a little wake up time before I leave for work, plus I walk/ride the bus. Can't eat on the bus, and the only place I walk past on the way in is a med school cafeteria. I prepare and eat breakfast at home, right now toast with almond butter and a banana, sometime cereal w/ soy milk and fruit.

[rockandroller1]

I don't really "cook" for breakfast usually, but if I do, it's at work. Breakfast for me is typically a bar (protein, granola, fruit/nut, etc) bar plus another additional source of protein like one piece of veggie sausage or 2 chicken-apple sausages, microwaved at work. Or a banana if I don't have sausage. I usually get to work about 15 minutes early so I just eat breakfast at my desk.

[Cheez62]

Work for me is mostly away from home, so breakfast most often is whatever the hotel has to offer. More of them these days do offer eggs and maybe some kind of meat (like this morning), otherwise I usually stick to a raisin bran or granola type cereal, maybe some yogurt as well. When at home, I'd say I make something about a third of the time, otherwise skip it.

[Maximilien]

If I have food (cereals, bread, ...) at home, I will eat it at home before leaving (while answering questions like this one),

if I've got nothing to eat, I'll grab something on the way to work and eat it at my desk (while answering questions like this one).

:-)
M.

[Val]

Almost always cook or prepare at home and eat before I leave. If no time, grab a banana and some walnuts or almonds and eat on way to work or when I arrive.

[ultimatepotato]

Nothing at home, coffee, yoghurt and a slice of toast when I get to the office. To be fair I hit work at 7:30 - not only do I want to minimise the amount of time between waking up and leaving the house, I also can't face anything more than a mouthful of juice that early.

[mcel215]

I cook at home and eat before I leave.

[Jeanne]

Unfortunately I'm a never eat breakfast - unless I'm on vacation or decide to have breakfast for dinner. I don't have time in the a.m. - plus it takes a couple of hours for my appetite to get going. Coffee and that's it. Am going to try and get better and start eating Chobain yogurt mid-morning (love it).

[ipsedixit]

If I don't have a breakfast meeting, then I eat and cook at home.

Breakfast is probably my favorite meal of the day. It's a good way to recharge after my morning workout, figure out what's going on in current events so I sound half-way intelligent at the water-cooler, and to collect myself before the day starts for real.

[woodleyparkhound]

"cook" at home and eat before I leave - generally fruit smoothies or cereal.

[Cachetes]

i cook at work - oatmeal - and eat it at my desk. But I work at an office where I am the only one there when I arrive.

[02putt]

Fruit smoothie to go in car and homemade banana bread, cut up fruit and dry cereal (Morning post), or multigrain toast and PB from the caf to eat at my desk.