Mornings as a travel nurse are often hectic, here are some quick and healthy options.
Breakfast is known to be the most important meal of the day;
Breakfast provides us with that necessary boost of energy to accomplish and treat patients with patience and care. But life as a travel nurse is busy, and mornings can be hectic. Who has the time to spend even 15 minutes in the morning eating breakfast? Well, I definitely don’t.
But that’s not to say I don’t eat breakfast! I do, just only ones that take under five minutes of preparation. This way, I get that boost of energy, yet I haven’t wasted too much precious time.
Over the years, I’ve put together a collection of fast and easy recipes for travel nurses, some of which can even be made in advance and then put in the freezer overnight. Additionally, the ingredients are basic and easy to find no matter where you live.
Here are some of my favorite ideas!
5 Minute Breakfast
High Protein Shake
There are lots of delicious protein shakes available today that are chock full of vitamins and minerals. My favorite is Nestle’s Chocolate Flavored Boost Original Shake; it’s flavorful, and takes no preparation whatsoever.
Morning Prep Time: -1 min.
Instant Oatmeal
Quaker Oatmeal packets are a busy person’s dream. All you need to do is pour the contents of the packets into a bowl, add hot water and some milk, and stir. That’s all it takes to make a nutritious, healthy breakfast!
Morning Prep Time: -1 min.
Automatic Eggs
This one is so easy, it’s awesome. And it tastes great, and it’s nutritious, besides! It’s so easy, there’s no need for a full recipe. Here’s how to make these automatic eggs.
Total Time: 3 minutes
Turn on your sandwich maker (the type with 4 triangles)
Spray with Pam
Mix 2 eggs in a bowl
You can add in spices such as black pepper, garlic powder and onion powder to taste.
Pour the mixture carefully into the sandwich maker
wait for the light on top of the sandwich maker to turn green.
It’ll take a minute or two, so you can quickly pack a snack or find something else to take care of while it cooks.
Once it’s green, you can take it out with a fork, eat it, and enjoy!
Breakfast bars
Buy them or make them, depending on where you’re living and what you’d prefer. There are many delicious breakfast bars to be found in stores; Kind breakfast bars and those from Balance Bare are known to be great options.
Morning Prep Time: -1 min.
Granola Muffins
This is definitely my favorite: It tastes great, is healthy, and is relatively easy to make. I make a batch of them every few weeks (not in the morning; I do it every couple of weeks, usually in the evening. They take 10 minutes to make, and an additional 20 minutes to bake, and yield about 15 muffins.), and then just grab a muffin on my way out and eat it in the car. It’s so nutritious, yet simultaneously delicious!
Morning Prep Time: 2 min. to defrost
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 c. white whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 c. plain non-fat yogurt
- 1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 c. honey
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 c. granola
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 400. Line a muffin tin with muffin liners, & spray the liners with Pam.
- Mix flour, baking soda & salt in large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients: yogurt, applesauce, honey, egg & vanilla. Stir well to combine.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tins, filling about 2/3 full.
- Sprinkle granola on top of each unbaked muffin.
- Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes, until done. Let cool then store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. Freeze up to 6 months.
Greek Yogurt Parfait
Low-fat Greek yogurt is a healthy and dietetic breakfast option that comes in so many flavors! Choose from Honey Vanilla, Strawberry, Banana Cream, Blended Apple Pie, and nearly any other flavor you can imagine. Just open the yogurt, mix it, and eat. It’s that easy! But if you have five minutes to create your own flavor, here’s a great recipe to try:
Morning Prep Time: 4 min.
- 1 1/2 cups Greek yogurt (I use 2%)
- 2 tablespoons honey.
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 medium crisp apple (I like honeycrisp, gala, or pink lady for these), cored and diced
- 1/4 cup applesauce.
- Additional honey and cinnamon for topping, if desired.
Oat Smoothie
This smoothie recipe from Well Plated is delicious, and will fill you with fiber, protein and healthy fats. I don’t make it that often, since it takes a full 5 minutes to prepare, but if you’ve got the time, go for it! It’s so good, I just had to include it.
Morning Prep Time: 5 min.
Ingredients:
- ¼ c. quick oats
- 1 frozen banana chopped into chunks
- ½ unsweetened almond milk
- 1 Tbsp. creamy peanut butter
- ½ Tbsp. pure maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- Ice
Instructions:
- Blend oats in the blender. Once finely ground, add all the other ingredients.
- Blend until smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape down the blender as needed.
- You can add additional sweetener if you like a sweeter smoothie.
These recipes and ideas are great for traveling nurses; they’ll power you up for the long day ahead. And now, there’s no reason to ever skip breakfast, because there are such easy options for you to choose from! Enjoy!
