It's a few months into the school year. Are you back to a great morning routine? This year, make breakfast a requirement in your house. All you need is 15 minutes and these tips, tricks and hurry-up secrets.

FRUIT SHAKES. Start with this basic recipe, and then customize with what's in the refrigerator: Pour 1 cup juice, 1 cup water, 1 egg (optional), 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 cup crushed ice in the blender. Blend until smooth. Customize by adding fresh fruit, yogurt, protein powder, leftover pudding, applesauce and even leftover Jell-O.

Keep banana slices in plastic bags in the freezer. Add them to any fruit shake, or even just plain milk.

MONKEY MILK: Blend 1 frozen banana, 1 cup of milk and a few drops yellow food coloring (optional).

PURPLE COW: Blend grape juice and milk.

FIVE-MINUTE BACON AND EGGS. Cook a whole package of bacon (fry or microwave), drain it well and then put the strips into a zip-close freezer bag. Put the bag in the freezer. In the morning, remove a few strips (they won't stick together in one big clump, as you might expect). Microwave for 30 seconds, or until sizzling. Put bread in the toaster, and while that's going scramble the eggs.

FRESH-BAKED MUFFINS. On the weekend, make your favorite muffin batter. Once you've lined the muffin tins with paper cups and filled them with batter, instead of baking, stick the entire pan into the freezer. Once frozen, put the muffins in a zip-close plastic bag and store them in the freezer. In the morning, preheat the oven while you're in the shower. Then, put as many frozen muffins as you need back into the muffin tins, and bake according to recipe instructions, adding about five extra minutes. Yum!

LEFTOVERS. Last night's dinner can easily become breakfast. Here's an idea: Place scoops of mashed potatoes on a greased cookie sheet. Make an indent in the center of each scoop, and crack an egg into each one (or, if you love scrambled eggs, beat the eggs first). Bake for about 15 minutes at 375 F or until the egg is cooked as desired. Salt and pepper to taste and you've just made birds nests.

Additionally, you could dress up omelets with last night's meat and vegetables. And if pizza or spaghetti was good enough for dinner, it will be just fine for breakfast.

ON THE GO. While eating on the run is not, shall we say, ideal, it's better than skipping breakfast altogether. If you must, make breakfast to go. Stand firm, even when your adolescents insist, "If I eat anything, I'll puke!" Breakfast is one of the best tools you can give your kids to ensure their academic success.

Mary invites questions, comments and tips at [email protected], or c/o Everyday Cheapskate, 12340 Seal Beach Blvd., Suite B-416, Seal Beach, CA 90740. This column will answer questions of general interest, but letters cannot be answered individually. Mary Hunt is the founder of www.DebtProofLiving.com, a personal finance member website and the author of "Debt-Proof Living," released in 2014. To find out more about Mary and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.