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You are here: Home / Recipes and Cooking Tips / Take Back Your Morning by Planning the Night Before

Take Back Your Morning by Planning the Night Before

April 14, 2013 by Alea Milham 7 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy here.
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I am not a morning person. At all! Unfortunately both of my sons are, so that means I have to get out of bed at the crack of dawn.

For me to have any chance of having a reasonably smooth morning, I have to start  planning the night before. I play to my strengths and take advantage of the energy boost I get in the evenings to prep for the next day.

Actually, I start planning for the whole week on Sunday evening. On Sunday evening I make lunches for the week and put them in the refrigerator.

Take Back Your Morning by Making Lunches on Sunday night (400x267)

Tip: If you want to make salads in advance, put the dressing on the bottom, add a layer that will not wilt like crunchy carrots or cheese and then place your greens on top. I put a little extra dressing or salsa on bottom, so my husband can dip his vegetable sticks in the leftover dressing.

Take Back Your Mornings byPrepping lunchthe night before (267x400)

My husband takes his lunch in a reusable lunch bag. I put the prepped food on the shelf above his lunch sack and refill it when he brings back the empty bag.

I ask everyone their schedule for the week and have them check to make sure they have enough clean clothes for their planned activities. The night before, I plan and lay out clothing and remind my husband and kids to do the same.

I have everyone line up everything that they will need the next day by the front door: back packs, gym clothes, instruments, etc. This prevents  the mad dash to gather everything together before we leave.

Make your morning easier by prepping breakfast the night before (400x379)

Breakfasts are pretty easy because my husband usually makes a triple batch of pancakes or waffles on the weekend. I wash fruit the night before and set out place settings, so all we have to do in the morning is toast frozen waffles. Despite our easy weekday breakfasts, I still make my youngest son’s morning cup of milk as well as a “breakfast snack” the night before, just in case he wakes up extra-early and wants breakfast and milk before I am fully functioning. Then he can enjoy pancakes or waffles for his “second breakfast”.

Take Back Your Morning with a preprogrammed coffee maker (400x267)

But the most important thing I do the night before is program my coffee maker to go off 5 minutes before my alarm. If I can smell fresh brewed coffee, I will get out of bed instead of hitting snooze.

Seattle's Best Coffee with homemade Vanilla Caramel Creamer Yes, Please! (400x267)

I have a special cup waiting for me and I take a few minutes to enjoy my Seattle’s Best coffee. By the time I have finished my first cup of coffee, I am ready to face the day. But I pour myself a second cup for reinforcement.

To make our coffee a special treat I make flavored coffee creamers. French Vanilla Creamer is my stand by, but sometimes Mondays require a special creamer like Vanilla Caramel Creamer or Peppermint Mocha Creamer.

Vanilla Caramel Coffee Creamer
 
Print
Prep time
5 mins
Total time
5 mins
 
Ingredients
  • 14 oz. can condensed milk
  • 2½ cups milk
  • ¼ cup caramel sauce (homemade caramel sauce recipe)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
Directions
  1. Combine all of the ingredients in a pitcher. Stir vigorously or place a lid on the container and shake to thoroughly combine ingredients.
  2. Add to coffee.
  3. Store unused creamer in the refrigerator.
3.5.3251

Take Back Your morning with Seattle's Best Coffee and Vanilla Caramel Creamer recipe (400x267)

Peppermint Mocha Coffee Creamer
 
Print
Prep time
5 mins
Total time
5 mins
 
Ingredients
  • 14 oz. condensed milk
  • 2½ cups milk
  • 3 - 4 tablespoons chocolate syrup
  • 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
Directions
  1. Combine all of the ingredients in a pitcher. Stir vigorously or place a lid on the container and shake to thoroughly combine ingredients.
  2. Add to coffee.
  3. Store unused creamer in the refrigerator.
3.5.3251

 

How do you take back your morning?  To learn more about Seattle’s Best Coffee, visit their website. My favorite is Level 2 and found it amusing that their “level 2 personality description” matched my personality very closely.

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias®  and Seattle’s Best Coffee #cbias #SocialFabric. All opinions, ideas, and recipes are my own.

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About Alea Milham

Alea Milham is the owner of Premeditated Leftovers and the author of Prep-Ahead Meals from Scatch. She shares her tips for saving money and time while reducing waste in her home. Her favorite hobby, gardening, is a frugal source of organic produce for her recipes. She believes it is possible to live fully and eat well while spending less.

Comments

  1. CeeKay says

    March 24, 2016 at 7:00 pm

    How about the recipe for the homemade caramel sauce?

    Reply
    • Alea Milham says

      March 25, 2016 at 12:09 am

      Here is the Crockpot Caramel Sauce Recipe: https://premeditatedleftovers.com/recipes-cooking-tips/one-ingredient-crock-pot-caramel-sauce/

      Here is the Easy Homemade Caramel Sauce Recipe: https://premeditatedleftovers.com/recipes-cooking-tips/easy-homemade-caramel-sauce/

      Reply
  2. Cherilyn says

    September 17, 2013 at 5:12 am

    Do you mean sweetened condensed milk for your coffee creamers or evaporated milk?

    Reply
    • Alea Milham says

      September 17, 2013 at 5:39 am

      Sweetened condensed milk.

      Reply
  3. Chelsea @ Someday I'll Learn says

    April 15, 2013 at 10:09 pm

    Wow! I want to start doing more meal prep on weekends, too.

    Reply
  4. Annie says

    April 15, 2013 at 2:14 pm

    These are all great ideas. I’m something of a morning person, but having things run smoothly in the mornings is s benefit just the same.

    Reply
  5. Pauline Wiles says

    April 15, 2013 at 9:10 am

    So inspiring! I actually enjoy mornings, but I do find it helpful to plan my tasks/objectives so I don’t get hopelessly sucked into social media (oops!).
    Love your batch idea for making lunches and the salad dressing tip is perfect. When I used to regularly take a salad to work, I often made it the night before and just added the dressing in the morning. I’ve seen other people keep the dressing at work, which is another alternative; mine was certainly soggier than theirs.

    Reply

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Welcome. I'm Alea!

On Premeditated Leftovers I share simple recipes made with whole foods, practical shopping tips, time saving techniques, and meal planning strategies. I also share tips for minimizing food waste, so more of the food that is purchased ends up on the table.

While volunteering as a budget counselor, I realized that food is the element of most people’s budgets where they have the greatest control. I set out to develop low-cost recipes from scratch to prove it’s possible to create delicious meals on a limited budget. Eating well while spending less is about more than just creating recipes using inexpensive ingredients; it’s about creatively combining ingredients so you don’t feel deprived and are inspired to stick to your budget.

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