The morning rush is stressful for many students and faculty members of our campus. If you scramble for time in figuring out what to eat for breakfast, meal prepping could be the solution for you. 

The idea of meal prepping might look intimidating with all the glamour shots that Instagram provides but it is simply a form of cooking that best fits your schedule. If you want a quick and easy breakfast to prepare ahead of time, then try the following recipe. All you need is a container of low-fat unflavored yogurt, fresh and/or dried fruit, nuts and the optional addition of vanilla extract. 

In a large enough bowl, pour in your yogurt. Then drizzle in the honey and vanilla extract. There are no measurements here, so make sure to taste the yogurt in order to adjust the sweetness and notes of vanilla to your liking. Then cut your chosen fruit into halves. Make sure to remove any seeds and cut those halves into bite-size pieces. 

After prepping the ingredients, pour the yogurt mix into containers. If your class schedule runs Monday through Thursday, then you might like to prep the yogurt into four separate containers. This way, you’ll have breakfast prepped for each of those mornings. When pouring the yogurt into a container, you can easily pack it in your bag with a spoon and eat it on the go. The yogurt can be topped with your prepared fruits and nuts in order to give both texture and added flavor. Dried fruit works just as well as fresh fruit and might be a more convenient option for you.

This recipe serves only as a basic guideline. The ingredients listed here can be replaced with any toppings of your choice. For anybody with a nut allergy, the nuts can easily be replaced with granola which still provides that crunchy texture that compliments yogurt so well. 

This recipe is recommended because it can help ease newcomers into the lifestyle of meal prepping. There is very little to no cooking involved and very little prep work. Some other things to keep in mind are the following tips:

Buy in bulk when you can. Those packs of individual yogurt cups can be pricey and may contribute to plastic waste. By buying a single tub of yogurt, you can adjust the sugar and flavors to your liking and prepare single servings of your own without the hefty price tag. This is a convenient form of eating yogurt that may help cut the price of daily breakfast and the concern of plastic waste.

Don’t be afraid of preserved foods. You probably heard preservatives are bad. This is a rational fear but dried fruits tend to have a longer shelf life than fresh fruits. If you find yourself buying fresh fruit that rots away faster than you can eat it, then dried fruits might be a better option. When buying dried fruits, be sure to read the back of the packaging to be aware of any additional ingredients as well as the proper serving sizes. If you find the listed ingredients are to your liking, then you found yourself a delicious addition to meals that won’t expire within the wee