In my previous post, I shared quick meal preparation tips for working women who don’t have much time. That post received a lot of interest and met the needs of many people. I was so happy to receive so many wonderful messages. In my “Working Woman’s Quick Meal Preparation Guide,” I discussed main dishes. This week, I’ll continue by describing the snack and breakfast preparations I do in the last 30 minutes.

Last week, we cooked all our vegetable dishes, prepared our salad ingredients, and boiled the legumes in about 1.5 hours. Of course, breakfast and snacks are also necessary during the week. I prepare those in about 45 minutes. I’m generally an “all or nothing” person. I prefer to do everything at once when I’m in the kitchen, but if you’re tired, you can do the second half the next day.

Once the main dishes are cooked and the pots are cooling, the second part I mentioned begins.

My first priority is preparing the items that will be baked and putting them in the oven. Because while they’re baking, I can do my other preparations.

I make at least one savory pancake or savory bun every week. They’re a lifesaver for breakfast. I have lots of pancake recipes on my Instagram account. For savory buns, I usually make something similar to the one below. You can always adjust the flour and oats according to your own diet. Preparing this mixture with ingredients you have at home only takes 2-3 minutes. Once you pour it into individual molds and put it in the oven, the oven does the rest. That way, you have enough breakfast for two mornings.

Ingredients:

9 tablespoons rolled oats

2 eggs

250 g cottage cheese

1/2 cup milk

1 tablespoon cream (or butter)

A pinch of salt, a pinch of baking soda or baking powder

I mixed everything together. If you have time, you can let it sit for 30 minutes to allow the oats to absorb the liquids; if not, you can bake them directly. I put 1-1.5 tablespoons of the mixture into each muffin tin. I decorated them with sunflower seeds and sesame seeds. I baked them at 170 degrees Celsius for about 30 minutes. If a toothpick or knife inserted into the center comes out clean, your muffins are done.

You can also make them in loaf pans instead of muffin tins. Then you can slice them like bread and enjoy them with tea 🙂

You can store these little cakes in the refrigerator and heat them up on the day you want to eat them.

While the savory muffins are baking, I also mix in a cookie recipe. This is perfect for when I crave something sweet to have with my afternoon tea. If you don’t have something healthy and readily available, your mind can wander. This cookie recipe is just for inspiration; you can adapt the ingredients to what you have on hand at home. While the savory muffins are baking, I place the cookie on the other rack of the oven. That way, they bake together.

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons chestnut flour (you can boil and mash 20 chestnuts, it’s delicious, but any other healthy flour will do)

1 mashed banana

2 small diced dried figs

1 egg

1 tablespoon coconut oil (any oil will do)

The basic principle is the same: mix the fruit, flour, and egg to obtain a soft dough. Since I generally use gluten-free flour, I need to shape it with wet hands. After obtaining the dough, I wet my hands, shape it, and bake it in a 170-degree oven for approximately 25 minutes.

If you don’t make savory muffins, an even easier option is to boil 6 eggs and store them in the refrigerator. This is a good preparation for breakfast in the mornings.

So, in total, I have a cookie and a three-day supply of breakfast ready in 35 minutes. While they’re baking, I make my yogurt and kefir, and all the preparations for the week are done.

I’m so happy to see that these ideas have been useful to you too. The less we eat out, the more home-cooked meals we have, the better. This is necessary for both our health and weight control. It’s best to do as much as we can without stressing ourselves out too much. We shouldn’t restrict our social lives just because we’re going to eat home-cooked meals. That nourishes our souls too. Everything is beautiful when it’s balanced and in moderation.

I wish everyone healthy, happy, and sugar-free days.

Sema Özpekmezci

*This article was published on December 8, 2017, in my column at www.hthayat.com.