Breakfast for dinner is quick, easy … and comforting
When I was a little girl, one of my favorite things in the world
was when my dad fixed breakfast on Sunday mornings.
Breakfast for dinner is quick, easy … and comforting
When I was a little girl, one of my favorite things in the world was when my dad fixed breakfast on Sunday mornings.
He didn’t do it every Sunday – we could go an entire football season without him ever pulling out the skillet – but when he did, I was happy. I wasn’t a big pancake fan back then, although I love them now, but I really liked his french toast, and he made awesome fried potatoes, loaded with salt, pepper and some sort of spice which I’ve decided was simply seasoned salt, but back then, what did I know?
My dad enjoyed fixing breakfast for us. He would put some of his eight track tapes and sing as he cooked – thanks to my dad, I can sing along with almost any song considered a Golden Oldie from the 1950s. Singing while cooking is a habit I’ve picked up from him; my husband gave me a CD player one Christmas that hangs underneath the kitchen cabinets, so I can play my music or listen to San Francisco Giants and San Jose Sharks games while I cook.
Every now and then my dad would let us help him with the breakfast chores. I was maybe 6 or 7 years old, and we were living in Sunnyvale. My dad decided to fix breakfast and my sister and I were helping. We were going to make orange juice from concentrate, and my dad had put the cylinder-shaped pulp into the blender. Who pushed the button of the blender before the lid was in place, I can’t remember (it was probably me), but orange pulp went everywhere. I’m pretty sure there were still bits of pulp on the ceiling when we moved a few years later.
Today, my family enjoys a good breakfast, but I do it a bit differently than my dad. One major difference is that I don’t cook on Sunday mornings – I like to have at least one day each week to be a little lazy if I so choose. Instead, when we have breakfast, it’s usually for dinner. Breakfast foods tend to be quick and easy, and are usually something my family of six agrees on.
I also look for ways to cut back on the amounts of fats and cholesterol often found in breakfast foods. I use Egg Beaters quite a bit, since we enjoy eggs scrambled with meats and cheeses. I buy low-sodium bacon or turkey bacon, we eat fat-free cheeses and I never add salt to anything – even my potatoes.
I enjoy reading cookbooks, and I’ve noticed that breakfast for dinner is not as unusual as it sounds. Many books, such as “Betty Crocker’s 1-2-3 Dinner – 350 Quick and Delicious Supper Solutions,” include a section on breakfast/dinner entrees, and one of my favorite books for breakfast recipes is by the makers of Bisquick, which I picked up at the checkstand while shopping one day.
My husband grew up eating chorizo, a Mexican sausage that he crumbles into scrambled eggs then folds into a flour tortilla, but the rest of us have never really developed a taste for it. We like what we call breakfast burritos, but those are usually made with eggs, potatoes, ham and bacon – no chorizo. To me, chorizo is a bit greasy. Sometimes we compromise with Italian sausage, but often, he’ll just make his own little skillet of eggs.
Here are a few of the breakfast dishes we enjoy eating for dinner. None of them are what my dad would have fixed on a Sunday morning, but even so, cooking breakfast is comforting, because it reminds me of my dad, Golden Oldies and orange pulp on the ceiling. Good times.
Baked Peach Pancakes
(recipe courtesy of Bisquick)
¼ c. butter
1 c. Reduced Fat Bisquick® baking mix
¾ c. 1% reduced fat milk
1 c. Egg Beaters ® (or 4 whole eggs)
2 medium peaches, peeled and sliced thin (1-1/2 c. drained canned peaches or thawed frozen peaches can be used instead of fresh peaches)
¼ c. sugar
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place 2 tbsp. butter in each of two 9×1-1/4 inch pie plates. Heat in oven until melted.
Using wire whisk, beat Bisquick, milk and Egg Beaters in small bowl until smooth. Arrange half of peach slices in each pie plate. Divide batter evenly between pie plates. Mix sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over batter.
Bake uncovered 20-25 minutes or until puffed and golden brown.
Corned Beef Skillet Hash
(recipe courtesy Betty Crocker)
2 c. chopped cooked corned beef brisket
1-1/2 c. chopped cooked potatoes
1/3 c. chopped onion
¼ tsp. pepper
2 tbsp. butter
Chopped fresh parsley, if desired
In large bowl, mix all ingredients except butter and parsley. In 10-inch skillet, heat butter over medium heat until melted. Spread beef mixture in skillet. Cook 10-15 minutes, turning occasionally with wide spatula, until brown. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve with scrambled eggs and biscuits.
Breakfast Burritos
2 tbsp. butter
4 red potatoes, chopped into bite-sized pieces
4-5 pieces low-sodium or turkey bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 lean ham steak, cut into small pieces, cooked
¼ c. chopped onion
2 c. Egg Beaters (8 whole eggs)
¼ tsp. ground black pepper
1 dozen flour tortillas, warmed
1 c. reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese
Heat butter in 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes; season according to taste. Cook until softened. Add bacon, ham steak and onion; cook until warmed. Add Egg Beaters; sprinkle with pepper. Lift eggs as they cook into center of pan to let uncooked portion flow underneath. Scramble eggs; remove from heat.
Put cooked egg mixture into flour tortilla; sprinkle with cheese. Roll up tortilla. Serve with sour cream and salsa if desired.
