Each summer, we redo our annual meal plan. As a part of this, the kids help select the meals we’ll eat on rotation for the year. When I asked my daughter, Ellie, to pick breakfast for one day of the week, she asked if we could do a hotel breakfast bar.
It was definitely not something we’d ever had in our meal plan before. So, we started talking. I wanted to know what her expectations were, and see if it was a meal that would fit within time and budget constraints.
She shared that one of her favorite parts of going to a hotel was never knowing what breakfast was going to be. Some breakfast bars are amazing, and others are simple. But, they all have food that can fill you up before you hit the road again.
I liked where she was going with this, and saw it as a way to:
- Add a bit of variety to a meal that can sometimes feel boring
- Intentionally use up leftovers from other breakfasts
- Occasionally surprise the kids with an “amazing” breakfast bar experience
I decided it’d be a great idea, so we added it to our menu plan. Each Monday morning, we set out a hotel breakfast bar in the kitchen. Then the kids can select whatever they’d like for the available options when they’re ready to eat. It’s one of the few mornings that we don’t eat all together.
Staples of Our Hotel Breakfast Bar
There are a few things that are always available in our hotel breakfast bar, because we always have them on hand. Kids can select from:
- Fruit
- Toast
- Cereal
- Any leftover breakfast item from other days (typically pancakes or waffles)
If the kids select leftovers, they put what they want on a plate and microwave it to heat it up. I’ve also seen them put the waffles in the toaster, Eggo style.
Ellie or I set out plates and bowls and spoons for the breakfast.
Special Items for Our Breakfast Bar
Some hotels just offer a basic breakfast bar like the one we have most of the time. But, others have special items. A couple of times a month, I try to add a few surprises to the options. These include:
- A hot offering (typically bacon, sausage, or scrambled eggs)
- Pastries (Ellie really likes breakfast claws or honey buns, so if I find a good deal on either of those I’ll pick up a few)
- Gogurt (we have yogurt for breakfast on Tuesdays, so I try not to do regular yogurt on this day)
We don’t always have the special items, but when there’s time I try to add something fun.
How to Set Up a Hotel Breakfast Bar at Home
Honestly, most weeks I just set out the options in the kitchen and let the kids at it. When we were down at Missionary Acres for the summer, the house we were in was a fairly tight fit and there wasn’t a lot of counter space to make things fancy.
But, Ellie really likes making things fancy. So now that we’re home, I’m going to charge her with setting up the options. We have a portable kitchen island that she can clear off and set out the offerings on. She can also use the nearby counter for putting the toaster.
I know that she’ll make it beautiful, and will have fun doing it. And, it’ll take one day of breakfast prep off my plate, which is always a good thing. 😀
Have You Ever Recreated a Hotel Breakfast Bar at Home?
What do you think of having a hotel breakfast bar at home? Is this a breakfast option you could see working for your family? We’ve really been enjoying the variety.
