Sometimes breakfast, the most important meal of the day, gets skipped because there is just no time or it seems too much trouble.

Organization is the solution to both issues. Here are a couple of things we do at my house.

Crock-Pot- Using the slow-cooker for steel cut oats flavored with raisins and nuts.

Having a breakfast basket in the pantry. The basket slides out to sit on the counter and it contains oatmeal, muselix, cream of wheat, walnuts, cinnamon, honey, instant breakfast drinks.

Wipe-off board for kids. It is great to put one on the fridge with a breakfast menu. Instead of you repeating over and over what is on hand or them digging through all the cabinets, you can put up a menu when you come home from the store.

Frozen waffles with blueberry syrup
Microwaved turkey bacon
Bagel with melted cheese
Cheerios with bananas

Kids love to order off a menu and it takes a lot of the whine and the fuss away.

I pre-cook breakfast meats (like crumbled sausage, patties, chopped ham, etc) and bag them for the fridge and freezer; this can save 15 minutes during breakfast prep every day! Home-grated and bagged (fridge or frozen) cheese also saves a lot of time.

I've made grits and savory bread puddings in muffin tins to portion them, then frozen the cooked servings and bagged them. Two minutes in the microwave, and they're hot and ready to go.

We bake favorite breakfast muffins in large batches, wrap and freeze them individually; 30 seconds to 1 minute in the microwave defrosts and warms them.

We also make, wrap, and freeze homemade English Muffins.

Scrambled eggs with meat, cheese, salsa, etc are quick to prep and clean up, so having the pre-prepped ingredients in the fridge and freezer speeds things up a LOT... I can also split a homemade English muffin and fill it with eggs/cheese, etc for a quick breakfast sandwich.

We, too, do hot cereals; mine don't like the commercial varieties, so we keep containers of dried fruit in the cabinet. We use regular old-fashioned oats, and steam them briefly instead of boiling them to mush, for a very chewy hot cereal in under 10 minutes (only 2 of which is actual labor--the rest, we can be doing other things while it sets up.)

My kids do love to have a menu options list for breakfast and lunch--they like to play restaurant.

The other breakfast tip I can think of is to wash or rinse the dishes immediately. It's so nice to get up to a tidy kitchen, and have plenty of clear space for lunch prep.

DD and I both take our b'fasts with us when we leave the house in the mornings, to eat at school (DD) or office (me): Muffins, bagels with butter (DD) or cream cheese (me), quick breads, frozen burritos (DD), leftover pancakes or waffles, etc., and fruit.

The trick is to plan ahead and either buy or make b'fast items during the weekends. I either pack them up the night before or heat frozen items in the microwave in the morning and put in a container to pack in our lunch bags.

Occasionally, DD will buy a hot b'fast at school for $1.00 (she gets burritos, or pancakes/french toast with a sausage patty, or pigs-in-a-blanket; with milk, juice and fruit - fully worth the $1.00 in my opinion).

LeaSchneider and ElizabethClark, do you really let your children choose different breakfasts? If you have four kids, that could be four separate meals to fix. If I had had more than one child, they would have eaten the same thing if I'd had to fix it, or different if they could prepare it themselves, such as cold cereal. Or maybe I would have let them take turns choosing the common breakfast.

When I was working, I had a "stash" of food at the office that I could nibble on if I didn't have a chance to eat breakfast on the way (no food allowed on the subway).

I fix things ahead when I can. I love deviled eggs, and DS is an expert at making them. They work for me better than cooking eggs in the morning (save that for weekends).

I've heard one can save time for breakfast in the morning by setting the table the night before, bur since we have three cats who love to climb, we set the table right before eating.

When my children were too young to prepare their own breakfast, then they did not have a choice. But, from older elementary grades on up, they can and did prepare their own meal - with supervision. We'd all be in the kitchen getting ready for our day so they were not in there alone and could receive assitance in cutting a bagel or other task but they had a reponsibility to choose a breakfast and get it on their plate and sit down and eat.

I've never been one to be a short-order cook to the kids. We had one meal at dinnertime and if someone was unhappy, I'd say "We'll it might not be your favorite tonight but another night it will be so it all works out. (And you knwo where the peanut butter and jelly is located so you will survive.)

I especially like the menu in the morning as I want them to eat something healthy and filling because unlike us adults, they don't get to snack at school as we do in our workplace. It can be a long time until lunch. So allowing them to choose from healthy options on the menu meant less fussing at them to hurry and eat before they were late.

Deviled eggs are a great idea! I'll have to try that as I am not a huge fan of sweet breakfast. So are hard boiled eggs. Leftover pizza was also a very popular breakfast item in our house.

I admire all of you for being so planned out with the breakfast meal. Personally, while I do keep a few bananas, yogurt, some regular and hot cereal in the house, my favorite is the high protein bars I buy(always get them at the 10 for $10 sales, so they are very affordable). I can grab them as I walk out the door with my second cup of coffee in a travel mug and enjoy breakfast while driving. Not only is it low calorie, but is also very filling.

I guess if there was more than just me, then I would take more time

We vary things; some mornings, we all eat together, but I have a few early-bird kids who like to eat right away, one early-bird who doesn't eat right away, and a "slow waker" who doesn't eat right away most of the time (DH is an "eat immediately" morning person, and I'm an "Eh, sometime later" eater.)

But, my older kids have been making various breakfasts since they were each about five; my current 4.5yo can make eggs in the microwave, toast, etc (with someone older in the kitchen with her.) So, I don't actually *make* breakfast most days, unless they all want something that takes Mom Skills.

Generally, though, they all settle on the same thing on any given morning, so it's not a short-order situation. I don't mind customizing plates a bit, in any case. Most dinners they choose two of three to four veggies, etc.

I'm fortunate that the 'variety' of items I have are satisfactory to everyone. I keep cold cereals (dh's preference) and frozen waffles (dgd's preference) along with yogurt and frozen fruit for smoothies (my preference) and everyone fends for themselves. It works well for all of us and there is enough choice so that everyone gets the variety they like without me having to be a short order cook. I like that!

I usually decide the night before what I'm making for breakfast. I already know what everyone does & doesn't like so what I make is fine with everyone.

Sometimes right before bed, I ask hubby what he wants for breakfast in the morning (sometimes he decides he doesn't want to eat breakfast)but what he wants, he gets & the kids are fine w/it because it's usually a big meal.(eggs, grits, bacon, toast)

If the kids don't see me cooking breakfast after they get dressed & ready for school they know it's a cold cereal morning & mom doesn't have the energy or "want-to" to cook a hot breakfast. It works out really well.

Dd has challenges as she has multiple food allergies, is resistant to change and fiercely independant.

We make pancakes on the weekend and freeze them. Two pancakes zapped for 33 seconds (3 button pressed 2x is easier to press than 30) this is choice #1.

I make cinnamon raisin bread in the bread maker and she can have a slice of toast (#2).

I always have instant oatmeal with a pinch of nutmeg (make a big jar of it and scoop out 1/3 cup per person. She's welcome to join me (#3-but never does).

As a last resort, she is free to choose from the dry cereals in the cupboard.

Any of these with a big glass of soymilk is an easy start to her day. She has fruit for an am snack.

Another option we like is quesadilla's (shredded cheese sandwiched between 2 tortillas and nuked for 44 seconds).