Take Back Your Morning by Planning the Night Before

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.

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.

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.

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”.

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.

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.

3.5.3226

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.

3.5.3226

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.