This old dog may try a new trick!

Going into our 25th year of making B&B breakfasts I am going to try something new. Gasp!
Yup, it's overdue...but I'm still not convinced that it will be worth the time and effort, so I am hoping that you can chime in with your opinions. (See, I have noticed that you all have opinions )
This idea does not represent a big change, but it will necessitate some rearrangement in the dining room and a small expense as well as some additional prep time for me. Let me get to the question...
For those of you who serve a full breakfast, do you also offer homemade yogurt and home made granola? If you do...how often do your guests choose those items? Do you have them available for self-serve, or do you verbally let them know that they are available?
I am considering setting up self-serve area with these "healthy" options as a nod to the increase in the number of guests who don't eat meat, don't eat eggs, don't want much breakfast, ate too much for dinner the night before, or are looking for an additional protein. We will still serve each guest our full breakfast (cook's choice), even though it kills us to waste good food on some who clearly do not enjoy a big breakfast, but I am wondering if this "healthy" station, as an addition, might come under the "low hanging fruit" category. We do presently verbally offer Greek yogurt, since there is not room on the table for it, but very few guests ask for it. Perhaps if it were self-serve it would be more popular.
What do you think?

What if you offer a choice of 'chef's choice' or 'yogurt and granola plate'? No waste and you can still serve, but the alternative.
Another suggestion - also less waste, instead of a tub of yogurt and a bowl of granola, which have to be tossed if not used, how about individual yogurts and granola in an airtight container? If the yogurts aren't eated, they go back in the 'fridge.
(We serve ours in a large bowl of ice, so they are kept cold.)

Well that is sort of what we do now..."full breakfast or perhaps something lighter.. cereal and yogurt". But not many opt out of the breakfast, even though they don't always eat it. One of our hallmarks is our home-made breakfasts...just about everything is made from scratch using as much as we can from our own organic garden in season. So I thought that perhaps if we offered a place where guests could help themselves to home-made yogurt and home-made granola they might feel like they were getting something special, above and beyond their usual Yoplait and rice crispies .
We don't have room on the table to display individual yogurts, I have tried that but it's just too congested. That was the reason I thought of making separate station. I keep the granola in an airtight clear container and certainly would not throw it out if it went un-used.

I think it is terrific.
Here is our scenario.
I am married to a man who lifts weights. He requires a large amount of protein, he also requires small meals throughout the day (why we carry protein bars around in car/backpack etc). The first meal is immediate. If we had to wait for breakfast at a B&B it would not work for him. I also like to be up and at em earlier, so for me that would be great as well.

Joey Bloggs said:

I think it is terrific.
Here is our scenario.
I am married to a man who lifts weights. He requires a large amount of protein, he also requires small meals throughout the day (why we carry protein bars around in car/backpack etc). The first meal is immediate. If we had to wait for breakfast at a B&B it would not work for him. I also like to be up and at em earlier, so for me that would be great as well..

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We usually open the door to the dining room for breakfast at 8:30. Guests have coffee and tea available in the adjoining common room from 7:00, unless thay indicate that they are early risers when DH goes over the breakfast details at check in. In any event, I was planning to have the G&Y station in the dining room. Am I correct in thinking you would prefer it in the common room with the coffee? And are you saying that having a "healthy" breakfast of G&Y might not preclude someone from also having the full breakfast?

Silverspoon said:

Joey Bloggs said:

I think it is terrific.
Here is our scenario.
I am married to a man who lifts weights. He requires a large amount of protein, he also requires small meals throughout the day (why we carry protein bars around in car/backpack etc). The first meal is immediate. If we had to wait for breakfast at a B&B it would not work for him. I also like to be up and at em earlier, so for me that would be great as well..

Click to expand...

We usually open the door to the dining room for breakfast at 8:30. Guests have coffee and tea available in the adjoining common room from 7:00, unless thay indicate that they are early risers when DH goes over the breakfast details at check in. In any event, I was planning to have the G&Y station in the dining room. Am I correct in thinking you would prefer it in the common room with the coffee? And are you saying that having a "healthy" breakfast of G&Y might not preclude someone from also having the full breakfast?
.

Click to expand...

Silverspoon said:

We usually open the door to the dining room for breakfast at 8:30. Guests have coffee and tea available in the adjoining common room from 7:00, unless thay indicate that they are early risers when DH goes over the breakfast details at check in. In any event, I was planning to have the G&Y station in the dining room. Am I correct in thinking you would prefer it in the common room with the coffee? And are you saying that having a "healthy" breakfast of G&Y might not preclude someone from also having the full breakfast?

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YES!!

Joey Bloggs said:

Silverspoon said:

Joey Bloggs said:

I think it is terrific.
Here is our scenario.
I am married to a man who lifts weights. He requires a large amount of protein, he also requires small meals throughout the day (why we carry protein bars around in car/backpack etc). The first meal is immediate. If we had to wait for breakfast at a B&B it would not work for him. I also like to be up and at em earlier, so for me that would be great as well..

Click to expand...

We usually open the door to the dining room for breakfast at 8:30. Guests have coffee and tea available in the adjoining common room from 7:00, unless thay indicate that they are early risers when DH goes over the breakfast details at check in. In any event, I was planning to have the G&Y station in the dining room. Am I correct in thinking you would prefer it in the common room with the coffee? And are you saying that having a "healthy" breakfast of G&Y might not preclude someone from also having the full breakfast?
.

Click to expand...

Silverspoon said:

We usually open the door to the dining room for breakfast at 8:30. Guests have coffee and tea available in the adjoining common room from 7:00, unless thay indicate that they are early risers when DH goes over the breakfast details at check in. In any event, I was planning to have the G&Y station in the dining room. Am I correct in thinking you would prefer it in the common room with the coffee? And are you saying that having a "healthy" breakfast of G&Y might not preclude someone from also having the full breakfast?

Click to expand...

YES!!
.

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Hmm, I hadn't considered that....so thanks. I'll have to see if there is room in the common room for the G+Y. And then I'll have to consider if it is worth setting it up there and then moving it to the dining room for breakfast. If we were a larger place I'm betting it would be a hit and worth it. But for 6 guests I might just be spinning my wheels most mornings.

Hi,
My first post. I love greek yogurt and granola. I would appreciate being offered it. Sometimes when we are traveling we are not eating the best at dinner and I like to start my day as healthy as I can. I love fresh fruit with this too. I like a good size bowl so if you can offer it out of a quart size container I think that would be best. I also like the vanilla or honey flavor instead of just plain. I want to offer this in our B & B along with smoothies. My husband thinks no one is wanting healthy when they are on vacation. But I think he is wrong. I also want to offer oatmeal with toppings.
I think you are heading in a good direction myself. People are getting more health conscious all the time.

debis7860 said:

Hi,
My first post. I love greek yogurt and granola. I would appreciate being offered it. Sometimes when we are traveling we are not eating the best at dinner and I like to start my day as healthy as I can. I love fresh fruit with this too. I like a good size bowl so if you can offer it out of a quart size container I think that would be best. I also like the vanilla or honey flavor instead of just plain. I want to offer this in our B & B along with smoothies. My husband thinks no one is wanting healthy when they are on vacation. But I think he is wrong. I also want to offer oatmeal with toppings.
I think you are heading in a good direction myself. People are getting more health conscious all the time..

Click to expand...

debis7860 said:

Hi,
My first post. I love greek yogurt and granola. I would appreciate being offered it. Sometimes when we are traveling we are not eating the best at dinner and I like to start my day as healthy as I can. I love fresh fruit with this too. I like a good size bowl so if you can offer it out of a quart size container I think that would be best. I also like the vanilla or honey flavor instead of just plain. I want to offer this in our B & B along with smoothies. My husband thinks no one is wanting healthy when they are on vacation. But I think he is wrong. I also want to offer oatmeal with toppings.
I think you are heading in a good direction myself. People are getting more health conscious all the time.

Click to expand...

Welcome Deb!
Yes this is in ADDITION to the regular breakfasts, many of us offer a muesli/yogurt type starter. Our guests 95% of the time love it, so you can tell your hubby he is way off... Oatmeal with the toppings is very popular right now as well.
I think the question here is in addition to, as in a "Help yourself" portion of the meal and perhaps prior to the main sit down breakfast, to which I think would be terrific!
We're glad you're here...

debis7860 said:

Hi,
My first post. I love greek yogurt and granola. I would appreciate being offered it. Sometimes when we are traveling we are not eating the best at dinner and I like to start my day as healthy as I can. I love fresh fruit with this too. I like a good size bowl so if you can offer it out of a quart size container I think that would be best. I also like the vanilla or honey flavor instead of just plain. I want to offer this in our B & B along with smoothies. My husband thinks no one is wanting healthy when they are on vacation. But I think he is wrong. I also want to offer oatmeal with toppings.
I think you are heading in a good direction myself. People are getting more health conscious all the time..

Click to expand...

BTW You know I have to do this --
InSpIRe Women’s Retreats
Inspirational Spiritually Invigorating Retreats for Women
mess it up like this since it is at a B&B:
INNspire Women's Retreats
Innspirational Spiritually Innvigorating ...

debis7860 said:

Hi,
My first post. I love greek yogurt and granola. I would appreciate being offered it. Sometimes when we are traveling we are not eating the best at dinner and I like to start my day as healthy as I can. I love fresh fruit with this too. I like a good size bowl so if you can offer it out of a quart size container I think that would be best. I also like the vanilla or honey flavor instead of just plain. I want to offer this in our B & B along with smoothies. My husband thinks no one is wanting healthy when they are on vacation. But I think he is wrong. I also want to offer oatmeal with toppings.
I think you are heading in a good direction myself. People are getting more health conscious all the time..

Click to expand...

Welcome Deb! Since you are new here to the site, how about telling us a little about yourself.
So, if I understand what you said. DH would chow down on the full breakfast but you would saunter up to the yogurt station, dish out some granola and yogurt and...how about a choice of dried fruit, or nuts? Would you be happy with dried cranberries, toasted coconut and toasted nuts as add-ins? We give everyone at the table a fresh, seasonal fruit cup as the first course and may not want to add additional perishables, like strawberries at the yogurt station.
I can't argue with the idea of starting out with this cold, but healthy choice..we always offer it but do not put it on the table as a matter of course. I'm just trying to figure out if enough guests want it to warrant making everything home-made and setting up a special station for it. Unfortunately, the more choices we give the more picky the guests get! LOL sort of like "Gee it's nice they have yogurt on hand and I really would have had some but the bowl was too small, I don't like unsweetened yogurt and they didn't have strawberries to add in."
See what I mean? I'm trying to avoid this type of nitpicking that comes with every little thing we innkeepers offer.

Silverspoon said:

debis7860 said:

Hi,
My first post. I love greek yogurt and granola. I would appreciate being offered it. Sometimes when we are traveling we are not eating the best at dinner and I like to start my day as healthy as I can. I love fresh fruit with this too. I like a good size bowl so if you can offer it out of a quart size container I think that would be best. I also like the vanilla or honey flavor instead of just plain. I want to offer this in our B & B along with smoothies. My husband thinks no one is wanting healthy when they are on vacation. But I think he is wrong. I also want to offer oatmeal with toppings.
I think you are heading in a good direction myself. People are getting more health conscious all the time..

Click to expand...

Welcome Deb! Since you are new here to the site, how about telling us a little about yourself.
So, if I understand what you said. DH would chow down on the full breakfast but you would saunter up to the yogurt station, dish out some granola and yogurt and...how about a choice of dried fruit, or nuts? Would you be happy with dried cranberries, toasted coconut and toasted nuts as add-ins? We give everyone at the table a fresh, seasonal fruit cup as the first course and may not want to add additional perishables, like strawberries at the yogurt station.
I can't argue with the idea of starting out with this cold, but healthy choice..we always offer it but do not put it on the table as a matter of course. I'm just trying to figure out if enough guests want it to warrant making everything home-made and setting up a special station for it. Unfortunately, the more choices we give the more picky the guests get! LOL sort of like "Gee it's nice they have yogurt on hand and I really would have had some but the bowl was too small, I don't like unsweetened yogurt and they didn't have strawberries to add in."
See what I mean? I'm trying to avoid this type of nitpicking that comes with every little thing we innkeepers offer.
.

Click to expand...

Yes i would love the fresh fruit starter then head over to the help yourself station of whatever kind of yogurt and toppers. Then if you ask if i want the reg breakfast say no. Hubby would chow down on. whatever you would fix.
My hubby is 5 years retired from UPS. Retired very early and I only went to work full time about 12 years ago after raising our 2 sons on our farm. We had a few animals and the boys kept me running with sports. Don't know how working mothers do it all ...
I have recently worked hard to loose weight and get healthy and want a job that makes it easier to stay that way. Sitting behind a desk 9 hours a day was killing my joy. I know how to do most everything it takes to run a B & B and know I can learn anything I need to. Hubby is excited to join me and work his but off too on this adventure. That's the long and short of it...

Joey Bloggs said:

debis7860 said:

Hi,
My first post. I love greek yogurt and granola. I would appreciate being offered it. Sometimes when we are traveling we are not eating the best at dinner and I like to start my day as healthy as I can. I love fresh fruit with this too. I like a good size bowl so if you can offer it out of a quart size container I think that would be best. I also like the vanilla or honey flavor instead of just plain. I want to offer this in our B & B along with smoothies. My husband thinks no one is wanting healthy when they are on vacation. But I think he is wrong. I also want to offer oatmeal with toppings.
I think you are heading in a good direction myself. People are getting more health conscious all the time..

Click to expand...

BTW You know I have to do this --
InSpIRe Women’s Retreats
Inspirational Spiritually Invigorating Retreats for Women
mess it up like this since it is at a B&B:
INNspire Women's Retreats
Innspirational Spiritually Innvigorating ...
.

Click to expand...

Love the idea. Thanks!!!

debis7860 said:

Silverspoon said:

debis7860 said:

Hi,
My first post. I love greek yogurt and granola. I would appreciate being offered it. Sometimes when we are traveling we are not eating the best at dinner and I like to start my day as healthy as I can. I love fresh fruit with this too. I like a good size bowl so if you can offer it out of a quart size container I think that would be best. I also like the vanilla or honey flavor instead of just plain. I want to offer this in our B & B along with smoothies. My husband thinks no one is wanting healthy when they are on vacation. But I think he is wrong. I also want to offer oatmeal with toppings.
I think you are heading in a good direction myself. People are getting more health conscious all the time..

Click to expand...

Welcome Deb! Since you are new here to the site, how about telling us a little about yourself.
So, if I understand what you said. DH would chow down on the full breakfast but you would saunter up to the yogurt station, dish out some granola and yogurt and...how about a choice of dried fruit, or nuts? Would you be happy with dried cranberries, toasted coconut and toasted nuts as add-ins? We give everyone at the table a fresh, seasonal fruit cup as the first course and may not want to add additional perishables, like strawberries at the yogurt station.
I can't argue with the idea of starting out with this cold, but healthy choice..we always offer it but do not put it on the table as a matter of course. I'm just trying to figure out if enough guests want it to warrant making everything home-made and setting up a special station for it. Unfortunately, the more choices we give the more picky the guests get! LOL sort of like "Gee it's nice they have yogurt on hand and I really would have had some but the bowl was too small, I don't like unsweetened yogurt and they didn't have strawberries to add in."
See what I mean? I'm trying to avoid this type of nitpicking that comes with every little thing we innkeepers offer.
.

Click to expand...

Yes i would love the fresh fruit starter then head over to the help yourself station of whatever kind of yogurt and toppers. Then if you ask if i want the reg breakfast say no. Hubby would chow down on. whatever you would fix.
My hubby is 5 years retired from UPS. Retired very early and I only went to work full time about 12 years ago after raising our 2 sons on our farm. We had a few animals and the boys kept me running with sports. Don't know how working mothers do it all ...
I have recently worked hard to loose weight and get healthy and want a job that makes it easier to stay that way. Sitting behind a desk 9 hours a day was killing my joy. I know how to do most everything it takes to run a B & B and know I can learn anything I need to. Hubby is excited to join me and work his but off too on this adventure. That's the long and short of it...
.

Click to expand...

Hmmm, I have an idea for you. Our favorite Bar Harbor inn is for sale. Great in town location, innkeepers have been running the place for 20 years but want to retire. Interested?

debis7860 said:

Silverspoon said:

debis7860 said:

Hi,
My first post. I love greek yogurt and granola. I would appreciate being offered it. Sometimes when we are traveling we are not eating the best at dinner and I like to start my day as healthy as I can. I love fresh fruit with this too. I like a good size bowl so if you can offer it out of a quart size container I think that would be best. I also like the vanilla or honey flavor instead of just plain. I want to offer this in our B & B along with smoothies. My husband thinks no one is wanting healthy when they are on vacation. But I think he is wrong. I also want to offer oatmeal with toppings.
I think you are heading in a good direction myself. People are getting more health conscious all the time..

Click to expand...

Welcome Deb! Since you are new here to the site, how about telling us a little about yourself.
So, if I understand what you said. DH would chow down on the full breakfast but you would saunter up to the yogurt station, dish out some granola and yogurt and...how about a choice of dried fruit, or nuts? Would you be happy with dried cranberries, toasted coconut and toasted nuts as add-ins? We give everyone at the table a fresh, seasonal fruit cup as the first course and may not want to add additional perishables, like strawberries at the yogurt station.
I can't argue with the idea of starting out with this cold, but healthy choice..we always offer it but do not put it on the table as a matter of course. I'm just trying to figure out if enough guests want it to warrant making everything home-made and setting up a special station for it. Unfortunately, the more choices we give the more picky the guests get! LOL sort of like "Gee it's nice they have yogurt on hand and I really would have had some but the bowl was too small, I don't like unsweetened yogurt and they didn't have strawberries to add in."
See what I mean? I'm trying to avoid this type of nitpicking that comes with every little thing we innkeepers offer.
.

Click to expand...

Yes i would love the fresh fruit starter then head over to the help yourself station of whatever kind of yogurt and toppers. Then if you ask if i want the reg breakfast say no. Hubby would chow down on. whatever you would fix.
My hubby is 5 years retired from UPS. Retired very early and I only went to work full time about 12 years ago after raising our 2 sons on our farm. We had a few animals and the boys kept me running with sports. Don't know how working mothers do it all ...
I have recently worked hard to loose weight and get healthy and want a job that makes it easier to stay that way. Sitting behind a desk 9 hours a day was killing my joy. I know how to do most everything it takes to run a B & B and know I can learn anything I need to. Hubby is excited to join me and work his but off too on this adventure. That's the long and short of it...
.

Click to expand...

Welcome

We have help-yourself granola and yogurt on the sideboard. The granola is homemade and we also have two other (store bought) cereals available. The yogurts are in individual serving tubs kept cold on a bowl of ice; not homemade but it is "natural" and fruit-bottom, ie no pectin, gelatin, gums or artificial sweeteners/colours. Milk is available in a little dorm fridge below. The baked good of the day is also help-yourself on the sideboard.
I don't put out any add-ins but that's a good idea if you want to make it special. We serve a fruit course to start and some people add yogurt and/or granola right in with their fruit. Some of our fruit courses include yogurt and/or granola so it's superfluous at that point, I suppose.
I'd say on average 1 in 4 people eat a yogurt. Usually it's before the main course but occasionally after. I get a lot of overseas guests and --generalizing here-- the Europeans do like their yogurt, often with granola or cereal.
I've never asked if anyone wanted the sideboard options instead of the main course. I always serve the main course no matter how much they've already eaten.
One thing I learned: when giving the tour of breakfast and describing what's on the sideboard, I end by reminding guests to "save room for breakfast; I'll be back with the main course in a few minutes" or else they'll think the continental is all they're getting and dive in in a big way.

When you serve breakfast right now do you cook everything up in advance or do you cook it as the guests sit down? If you 'cook to order' why not offer the granola and yogurt as an either/or option?

Silverspoon said:

Well that is sort of what we do now..."full breakfast or perhaps something lighter.. cereal and yogurt". But not many opt out of the breakfast, even though they don't always eat it. One of our hallmarks is our home-made breakfasts...just about everything is made from scratch using as much as we can from our own organic garden in season. So I thought that perhaps if we offered a place where guests could help themselves to home-made yogurt and home-made granola they might feel like they were getting something special, above and beyond their usual Yoplait and rice crispies

.
We don't have room on the table to display individual yogurts, I have tried that but it's just too congested. That was the reason I thought of making separate station. I keep the granola in an airtight clear container and certainly would not throw it out if it went un-used..

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I think offering it at the time of making the breakfast and specifically stating it is homemade might get the uptick you'll need to make it feel like you're getting somewhere.
I, too, hate when guests say nothing but just push the food around. Altho, we really have few guests who 'say nothing' when they have something to say!

Silverspoon said:

Joey Bloggs said:

I think it is terrific.
Here is our scenario.
I am married to a man who lifts weights. He requires a large amount of protein, he also requires small meals throughout the day (why we carry protein bars around in car/backpack etc). The first meal is immediate. If we had to wait for breakfast at a B&B it would not work for him. I also like to be up and at em earlier, so for me that would be great as well..

Click to expand...

We usually open the door to the dining room for breakfast at 8:30. Guests have coffee and tea available in the adjoining common room from 7:00, unless thay indicate that they are early risers when DH goes over the breakfast details at check in. In any event, I was planning to have the G&Y station in the dining room. Am I correct in thinking you would prefer it in the common room with the coffee? And are you saying that having a "healthy" breakfast of G&Y might not preclude someone from also having the full breakfast?
.

Click to expand...

Silverspoon said:

We usually open the door to the dining room for breakfast at 8:30. Guests have coffee and tea available in the adjoining common room from 7:00, unless thay indicate that they are early risers when DH goes over the breakfast details at check in. In any event, I was planning to have the G&Y station in the dining room. Am I correct in thinking you would prefer it in the common room with the coffee? And are you saying that having a "healthy" breakfast of G&Y might not preclude someone from also having the full breakfast?

Click to expand...

You will have guests who eat everything. We have 6-7 boxed cereals out. Guests will sit down with their coffee and then get up and get 2-3 boxes of cereal. When I bring the starter I ask if they are having the cooked breakfast and they look at me like I have 2 heads. OF COURSE! they are having everything!

we have honey toasted muslie made locally and its the most popular of our cereals - lots of people eat it with yogurt probably 1 in 4