Early Morning Routines

Something you should know about me is that I love breakfast and I love early mornings! From the time I was a toddler,  I’d walk up to my mom’s side of the bed as soon as I woke up and yell, “Hungry Mama, Hungry!” Fast-forward 30 years, and now Mabel and Matilda wake me up super early and super hungry!

Last school year, the girls got accustomed to my early morning baking and lavish breakfasts, but this school year I don’t have the same amount of time in the mornings. I adjusted my hours for this school year and now report to school at 7:00am and leave at 3:00pm. I swapped my afternoon school duties for early morning hall duty, and we’re all still adjusting to the new routine.

We love having more time together as a family when Mabel is out of school in the afternoons, but it means I don’t have as much time with the girls in the morning. In these first few weeks of the school year, I’ve come to rely on a few kitchen appliances and accessories to help make mornings better!

Favorite Kitchen Appliances

1. Coffee Maker

1. Our Ninja Single-Serve Coffee Maker Bar is always my first stop in the kitchen! It was a gift to me from Emily on the first day of school 2 years ago, and it is one of my favorite kitchen appliances! I love that it perfectly brews both hot coffee and iced coffee and that it has a built-in milk frother.  Temperatures are still fluctuating here in New York City, so it’s nice to customize my morning brew based on what I’m feeling.

I also love that we’re able to change up the type of coffee grounds we brew and that the built-in filter is reusable. We simply dump it  out and quickly rinse the filter after each brew! We can also customize the size of cup we want to brew (I always choose the travel size) and we can customize the type of brew (classic brew, rich brew, over ice brew, specialty concentrated, or cafe forte).

There is a newer model of the Ninja Coffee Maker Bar that now includes at 50oz glass carafe for making larger pots of coffee.

2. Blender

2. The Ninja Professional Countertop Blender is typically my second stop in the kitchen! We replaced our tired and worn out blender with this model about a year ago, and it is one of the kitchen appliances that has transformed our breakfast routines. My girls are huge fans of smoothie bowls and I find that this model perfectly blends frozen fruit (and even veggies! I love to sneak frozen cauliflower into the smoothie bowls!). The blender features 1100 watts of professional performance power with 3 speeds, pulse, and single-serve functions. I’m not an expert on blender wattage, but I’ve never had an issue with blending anything in this machine! I also love that our model came with two 16 oz cups we can blend directly into, which gives us the option of making larger or smaller smoothie quantities!

Recently, this blender has also become my go-to baking companion. I place my dry ingredients into the blender and use the pulse button to mix, and then add in my cold butter and wet ingredients to combine. This model also came with a mixing tool that can be switched with the blades, which allows for even more blending uses.

I find that this blender cleans very easily, as I simply pump a few squirts of soap into the pitcher, add in some water, and then turn on the blender to get the blade and pitcher clean!

Priced at around $100, it’s a great blender and is perfect for the average home baker or cook!

3. Cast Iron Skillet

3. I cook with my Lodge Cast Iron Skillet multiple mornings each week! After years of being afraid to own a cast iron skillet because I thought they were difficult to clean, I am so glad that I finally dove in head-first and learned how to embrace cast iron skillet cooking. I use my skillet to cook savory dishes for breakfast, including eggs, sausage, and veggies. I love the versatility of the skillet and enjoy sautéing my vegetables, pouring eggs on top, and then placing the pan in a hot oven. Breakfast quiches turn out perfectly almost every time!

I’ve learned that cleaning a cast iron skillet is actually a breeze. I have a sponge I exclusively use on this pan (it is completely free of soap) to wipe away remaining food particles. Then I rinse the pan under water and place the skillet back on the stove. I then heat the skillet so the remaining water evaporates. This not only cleans the pan, but it helps preserve the seasoning of the pan!

The Lodge Cast Iron Skillet is a great bargain! The pan can typically be purchased for less than $20!

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