Quiet/Night Before Prep Breakfasts?

So I have a roommate who is an ultra light sleeper and doesn't go to bed until 3 AM (then sleeps  until noon).  This causes huge problems for me because I typically get up at 4-5 AM and then cannot cook (or make any other noise) until noon without waking my roommate up.  If I need to open a new box of cereal I'll wake up my roomie, and smoothies are flat-out not an option (sadly ).  No microwave either (it's got the loudest beeps) so I can't do frozen things.  And if it smells really good (like pancakes -- yum) I've woken my roomie up with that.

So far this has pretty much left me with having milk for breakfast every morning.  I sometimes do yogurt, fruit, or granola bars, but it gets boring fast.  So I'm looking for options that are *very* quiet or that I can prepare the night before. 

I'd make breakfasts for lunch, but as it is I only get 30 minutes to prep/eat lunch before running off to teach labs (hence lunch is made the night before anyway).  So dinners end up being my big meals unless I squander my calories because I'm so hungry trying to work around my roomie's schedule.

Any ideas?

you could make the smoothies the night before and just shake em really good in the morning. They probably won't taste as good though. Or just tell you're roommate to be a normal person and just deal with it. I figure if she's sleeping till noon that's still around 8 hours of sleep if you happen to wake her up at 4am.

Buy her ear plugs or get a new roomie.

Honestly how quite is the roomie while you are sleeping?

yeah, i would tell her to invest in some earplugs and an eye mask thing (to block light).  i am also a light sleeper, but i'm the early riser and my roomie is up until 3am.  but she has to right to her schedule and i have the right to mine, so i told her after midnight on weeknights to try and make less noise and she does, i do the same in the morning.  but i can still hear her sometimes, but it's life with a roomate: you gotta deal with it. 

i used to live alone and have been with a roomie two months now and i've started getting used to it.  i learned to block out the noise.  it just takes time.  but if it's been a while and she's still difficult, you definitely need to talk to her.  i found out during these past two months i have anxiety issues, which is why i have trouble sleeping, but i guess you can't tell your roomie to try and figure it out...  i dunno, i know it's tough.  i took the itiative to go to an MD to figure out how to sleep with a roomie in the house, it kinda sucks that she's not.  i think cereal box opening is pretty extreme.  anything you make will make a little noise, you're not an ant or something.

so i guess in terms of quiet options i have none, but i would take to your roommate and you should let her know that it's difficult for you too (in a different way) and hopefully you can come to a compromise.  and if you can't and you can do it/can afford it, find another place to live.  it might be worth the moving expense to be able to not walk on eggshells every morning.  so to speak.

Don't be a doormat!...not being able to open a box of cereal is ridiculous.  It is your apartment too and preparing and eating breakfast is a very normal activity...its not like you are practicing drums at 5am.

However, to answer your question, one of my favorite breakfasts is muesli...a lot of people like to soak it in milk in the fridge overnight.  its high protein as far as cereals go.

of course, the spoon clinking on your cereal bowl might disturb roomie...you might have to scoop it up with your hands...

A few questions/suggestions that help me sleep with other people in my apartment.

-Is the door closed to her room?

-Is there a fan she can turn on, to create some white noise, which will essentially drown out your noise? (i.e. cereal box opening)

-Is the kitchen area the furthest removed place in the house? If not, perhaps you can go to your own room, open the box of cereal w/ the door closed, and eat in your room? Perhaps?

Just a few suggestions, along with those earplugs.

Wow, kind of an unexpected response.

My roomie is trying to work through the light sleeping (result of sleeping disorder), and I understand that.  It is a lot worse lately due to stress (working on masters + regular work to pay for college and other expenses + family issues).  Besides, if i really need to crash out at 8-9 PM, my roommate will accommodate that -- and that's something special in college students.  Also, the apartment is crappy when it comes to certain walls -- so the walls between the kitchen and bedrooms are paper thin.  Lastly, I only have to continue to deal with this until finals (because then I'm moving out and on to a job).

So I'd like to express a bit more clearly:  I'm not frustrated with my roomie's schedule -- I completely understand the situation.  Shoot, there were times where the slightest noise (like a door closing) could wake me up -- I was that stressed, worried, and sleep deprived.  And my roomie is a fantastic roommate in all other regards.  I'm just frankly tired of the breakfast options and still want to do my *best* to keep from waking my roomie up.  Would my roommate be mad at me if I did make enough noise for a wake-up? Not in the least, but I still don't want to do it if I can survive an alternative.

So please, no roomie bashing.  I was just looking for alternative quiet/night before recipes to try.

 

I'll have to try the night-before smoothies -- that could work out great :)

Original Post by tyrdrop:

 If not, perhaps you can go to your own room, open the box of cereal w/ the door closed, and eat in your room? Perhaps?

Doh, why didn't I think of that one.  That could add a few more options, since our rooms are on different sides of the kitchen.  Thanks!  That also gave me an idea -- plastic containers to move noisy-container foods to quiet ones... so cereal in a plastic container would avoid the inevitable pop noise of opening a new sealed plastic bag in the dead of silence :)

I understand that you're trying to be a polite roommate but you live there too. You both have to make compromises.  My sister and her husband are both RN's and work diffrent shifts, they both sleep with ear plugs and they can't hear ANYTHING...even if the phone rings or their dog barks.  Maybe you can tell her how you feel and see if she will wear them.  

Good luck...I've had quite a few roomates and none of them tried as hard as you've been trying you must be a great person. She needs to realize no-one else would be as nice as you've been!!  

 

She's lucky, but like others have said don't be a door mat either!

 

 

 

 

why not pour the cereal into a bowl the night before? cover with cling wrap or whatever then just pour milk onto it in the morning. or buy an electric kettle to boil water for oatmeal or cream of wheat. they are almost silent.

Original Post by noneedfowit:

why not pour the cereal into a bowl the night before? cover with cling wrap or whatever then just pour milk onto it in the morning. or buy an electric kettle to boil water for oatmeal or cream of wheat. they are almost silent.

I can see I haven't been problem solving well enough -- more great ideas :)  I'll have to look into an electric kettle, it'd be great to have some malt-o-meal in the morning.  That might quell the hot-food cravings in the morning.  Mm, and hot chocolate...

 

Youghurt's pretty quiet.  You could even add in some granola and is would still be pretty silent (granted you might want to measure out the granola the night before).  Don't forget MUFFINS!....great, quiet...delicious.  And if you make them yourself, they can be packed full of all sorts of goodness.

I love love love eggs in the morning, so that would make me sad...you sound like a nice roommate.

You're paying money to live there. Live your life, not tiptoe around theirs. If they don't like it they can go to bed earlier.

You don't have to eat breakfast foods at breakfast time.  Make a sandwich the night before and have it with a glass of milk. 

That's a good recommendation, the sandwich.

I also recommend yogurt, toaster waffles (but if cereal wakes her up, I don't know about that), a PB&J sandwich, peanut butter on a banana, someone (Kraft maybe?) makes those Bagel-fuls that are little bagels already filled with cream cheese, pretty decent on calories and fat and you can keep them in the fridge and just open it and eat - or toast it if you can.  Cottage cheese, hard-boiled eggs.

Can you stop the microwave yourself before it beeps?

You ARE a nice roommate!

Open the cereal box the night before...

Or put the cereal in the bowl the night before and then just add milk the next day. XD

It sounds to me like your roomie is actually being very selfish and inconsiderate towards you so tell him/her to deal with the consequences of having such an irregular schedule.

Mix up a smoothie the night before and put it in the fridge (that's what I do when I know I'll be rushed in the morning). It tastes fine in the morning - give it a quick stir in case anything has settled.

Ice will melt overnight, so don't make the kind of smoothies with ice cubes in them. Frozen or fresh fruit works great though.

How about bread + some kind of spread? PB, jam, cream cheese, etc?

What about making eggs or whole grain pancakes/waffles?

Original Post by windrinre:

Wow, kind of an unexpected response.

My roomie is trying to work through the light sleeping (result of sleeping disorder), and I understand that.  It is a lot worse lately due to stress (working on masters + regular work to pay for college and other expenses + family issues).  Besides, if i really need to crash out at 8-9 PM, my roommate will accommodate that -- and that's something special in college students.  Also, the apartment is crappy when it comes to certain walls -- so the walls between the kitchen and bedrooms are paper thin.  Lastly, I only have to continue to deal with this until finals (because then I'm moving out and on to a job).

So I'd like to express a bit more clearly:  I'm not frustrated with my roomie's schedule -- I completely understand the situation.  Shoot, there were times where the slightest noise (like a door closing) could wake me up -- I was that stressed, worried, and sleep deprived.  And my roomie is a fantastic roommate in all other regards.  I'm just frankly tired of the breakfast options and still want to do my *best* to keep from waking my roomie up.  Would my roommate be mad at me if I did make enough noise for a wake-up? Not in the least, but I still don't want to do it if I can survive an alternative.

So please, no roomie bashing.  I was just looking for alternative quiet/night before recipes to try.

 

I'll have to try the night-before smoothies -- that could work out great :)

 I was surprised by those unkind responses as well.  But I think you've gotten some creative and yummy suggestions.  I especially like the one about the electric kettle.  I kept thinking about how much noise my kitchen appliances make - the microwave door clicks loudly when opened and closed, the pop up toaster can be heard in the other room, and my teakettle whistles.  And that's not taking into account rattling dishes and glasses, pots and pans!

I have some ideas!!
I dont have quiet roomies (I have MASSIVLy noisy ones!!!) but I do like to prepare and I dont like the beeps of the mwave.

Did you say toaster was out? It does go pop but you can press the cancel button and slide the slider up sometimes. You can stick in waffles (defrost the night before for fast cooking) pre-cooked pancakes, EVEN HASH BROWN PATTIES (not suggesting cos they are unhealthy)

Anyway, my ideas are...

Buy muesli or oats and sultanas/bran and make your own beforehand. Put a scoop in with some water and yogurt so its a a bit of a sloppy mess the night before, cover and stick in the frige. It soaks it up and tastes YUMMY in the morning. I add psyllium husk for fibre and fruits like frozen cherries in summer - its soooooooo good.

Pre cut up a cantelope half (get rid of seeds) and in the morning top with cottage cheese and berries. You can have a HUGE one and there's no crunch when you chew :)

Bread pudding made before, cooked in mwave and eaten cold (as in a slive of bread, cubed, tip over mix of skim milk, egg white, vanilla, cinnamon, splenda and soak. Microwave until more solid and keep in fridge)

You dont HAVE to have breakfast food for breakfast - you can hhave salads or cold pizza (haha) or cold noodles, as long as you dont let it warm up to room temp.

I think just have what you like and vary it

Eg. fruit with yogurt and muesli
Try bananas, with natural yogurt, and sesame seeds in the granola. Or try exoitcs fruits like mangoes
oatmeal
get the quick cooking stuff, and put in boiling water and let it sit. And add fruit/yogrut/cottage cheese/PB
Snadwhiches
Salads (with breakfast foods like eggs, tomatoes etc)