Breakfast for Dinner: A Recipe for A Busy Family and a Time-Crunched Cook

Meal Monday

I had planned to take a break from my Work Wednesday blog this week and write luscious words about delectable meals for CurrentMom's Meal Monday feature. Sort of a tryout for a food writer fantasy. But I realized, as I started to write about "mouth-watering" macaroni and cheese and "tempting" turkey hot dogs, that our family food repertoire doesn't lend itself to blogging reverence.

Frustrated, I decided to follow an elemental (although oft-ignored) rule of writing. Write what you know.

So, I'm blogging about . . . breakfast for dinner.

Now, before you get the idea that I'm a complete culinary deadbeat, you should know that I love to cook. I can saute, simmer, and sizzle with savvy - and produce better-than-subsistence-level results. (I do, however, loathe baking.)

I've been known to whip up savory dinners for two from pantry supplies and fancy food spreads for forty with gourmet ingredients. And I love to think and read about food, too: I'm an avid cookbook, food magazine, and food blog consumer.  On the web, I often rely on Epicurious and Eating Well for recipes and sample beautifully-produced food blogs like Orangette, 101 Cookbooks (vegetarian), Chocolate & Zucchini, and Smitten Kitchen for inspiration.

But with the combined challenges of my children's picky palates, my vegetarian husband's food needs, and the working mom's constant dinner-time crunch, a real dinner can sometimes be daunting.

Hence, breakfast for dinner. Around once a month. Usually when the fridge is empty, I haven't managed to defrost leftovers, and I can't muster the energy or enthusiasm to resort to the microwave, let alone cook a real meal.

Now, I do have culinary standards even for breakfast for dinner. So, cereal with milk doesn't cut it in my kitchen. But neither does an omelette, frittata, or strata. If you're going to do this supper swap, you should keep it extremely simple and stick to comfort food. Breakfast for dinner in my house turns on two fool-proof pillars - pancakes and protein.

First, pancakes. These are a tremendous treat, turning what could be a disastrous dinner into an exciting event for the kids. In a pinch, I make them from a mix. Trader Joe's Multigrain mix (just add water) is particularly good. And if you can throw some bananas or fresh blueberries into the mix (or, if you're out of fresh fruit, some dried blueberries), you can check off a few DRIs. (That's Dietary Reference Intakes, which replaces the old, RDAs - Recommended Daily Allowances.) Chocolate chips won't get you any nutrition points, but I find that a few sprinkled into the batter mean the pancakes are polished off by my young diners. And I've even managed to persuade the kids that they don't need any syrup when chocolate chips are present.

Second, protein. Sausages, eggs, cheese, and fish are all perfect breakfast for dinner protein boosts.   My family likes the Morningstar Farms vegetarian sausage links but you could also go with chicken or turkey sausages. You can also do a fish, like smoked salmon or smoked trout. (A little salty but yummy.) And scrambled eggs are always classic.

Now, you'll notice that there's nothing green in this meal.  If you're making eggs, you might be able to saute in some spinach or puree in another green vegetable, and present them as Seuss-like green eggs (without the ham).  And you might even pull off zucchini bread or pumpkin muffins instead of the pancakes. But I try not to get too caught up in nutritional worries on breakfast for dinner nights.  After all, my daughter eats broccoli most evenings and my son loves salad - as long as its covered in dressing.

And there are no creative breakfast foods from around the world like dumplings, lentils, empanadas, etc. in my breakfast for dinner recipe. (My mouth is watering now!) That's because, for me, breakfast for dinner is all about uncomplicated comfort and convenience.  In a word, pancakes. But if you're interested in touring the world, check out 80breakfasts.com written by a Philippines-based blogger who presents breakfast recipes in all their global glory.

I cooked up a storm during our winter snowfall this past weekend so we have plenty of delicious leftovers (e.g., caramelized winter vegetables, pasta with roasted cherry tomatoes and kalamata olives, and turkey and bean chili) for tonight's dinner. But tomorrow, who knows?  Maybe it will be a breakfast for dinner night!

Photo by D'Arcy Norman via Flickr.

Comments

[Julie]

Breakfast for dinner, or in my house, "Brinner" is a lot of fun. It can be dressed up and made an event. :0)
Thanks for highlighting this as an option!