Win this gift pack from Stonyfield Farm
As I figure it, I prepare nine meals a day: breakfast for me and the kids; lunch for me and J.R., and Zuzu’s packed lunch for school; and dinner for J.R., Zuzu and the adults. Between Zuzu’s allergies, J.R.’s typical 3 year old finicky eating – he is one of those kids who has a rotation of five foods that he will eat at any given time — and my desire to eat something other than what the kids are eating, I make three different dinners almost every night. (Just wait for my long-planned post entitled “The Case Against Family Dinner.”)
As you might imagine, I sometimes get rather desperate for new dinner ideas, particularly for the kids, who are each so limited in his or her own way. One idea that may have come out of desperation but has turned out to be a stroke of genius is breakfast-for-dinner — known as “brinner,” on the TV show “Scrubs,” or, as my friend Tracy calls it, “a.m. in the p.m.” Breakfast-for-dinner has a long and storied history. My mother remembers fondly having pancakes for dinner on Sunday nights when the “big” meal of the day was the lunch at her grandmother’s house after church. And, of course, many Jewish families break the Yom Kippur fast with a meal that is more like a brunch, complete with bagels and lox, than anything else.
I probably make the kids “brinner” at least once a week. It is a quick, healthy meal that seems more fun than it probably deserves to. I always start with chicken sausage. I have extolled the virtues of chicken sausage on this blog before. It is a lean source of protein that cooks up exceedingly quickly. With a little effort, you can find brands that are free of fillers, nitrates or nitrites. My preferred brand makes an apple and maple mini link sausage that my kids adore for this meal.
Alongside the chicken sausage, I usually serve toaster waffles, which could hardly be easier to make. From the freezer to the plate in a few minutes without even dirtying a pan! There are several varieties of frozen wheat-free waffles, which are perfect for Zuzu. For J.R., I usually make a Earth’s Best blueberry waffle – the ones with Cookie Monster on the box. J.R. likes to know which Sesame Street character is endorsing his dinner that night.
And to round things out, I give each kid a small fruit salad, using whatever I have handy, topped with yogurt. J.R. likes Stonyfield Farm YoKids “banilla” flavor, which is…wait for it…banana combined with vanilla; and Zuzu takes the O’Soy vanilla soy yogurt. I personally believe that the key to success when feeding kids is marketing. If you layer fruit and yogurt in a pretty dish and call it a parfait, your kids are going to eat it. In truth, I use marketing to sell my kids on dinner all the time. Sauteed peppers, corn and zucchini topped with leftover chicken goes down a lot better when I call it “New Mexico Chicken Surprise.” Pasta with peas and sausage? “Pasta a la Zuzu,” of course. Works every time.
To keep the breakfast-for-dinner thing going, I serve orange juice (calcium-fortified, naturally) instead of the usual milk and the kids think the whole thing is hilarious. Better yet, sometimes I let them get in their pajamas before dinner and go for the big laughs.
I hope that next time you are feeling desperate about putting yet another dinner on the table, you will give breakfast-for-dinner a try. To make it easier for you, the nice folks at Stonyfield Farm have given me a lovely package of their products to give away to one of my readers. I really like Stonyfield Farm, don’t you? Just about everyone I know gives their babies Stonyfield’s YoBaby yogurt. J.R. certainly used to eat it all the time until he graduated to YoKids. Stonyfield is a company committed to organics, environmentally sensitive practices and preserving family farms, which are all things that matter to me as well. And their yogurt is just really yummy.
This awesome package, which is pictured above, includes a coupon for a free YoKids yogurt, two coupons for a 6 oz. O’Soy yogurt, two coupons for 5.3 oz. Oikos yogurt – that’s Stonyfield’s new Greek-style yogurt, which (hello!) comes in chocolate and caramel – an Oikos tote bag, an Oikos spatula and a recipe card set. To enter the giveaway, leave a comment to this entry about breakfast-for-dinner OR what you do when you get really desperate for dinner ideas. I will choose a winner at random – and, no, I do not evaluate the quality of the comments! Leave your comment before midnight CDT on Monday, July 12. Good luck!
Thanks to Stonyfield Farm for this giveaway! I was given the gift pack for free, but was not compensated in any way for writing this post.
a great breakfast for dinner in my opinion is breakfast pizza, with bacon and sausage… sometimes I will throw in some onions, tomatoes and peppers and mushrooms and make it into an omelet type breakfast pizza… so yummy and definitely satisfies the family!~
We love breakfast for dinner. Any combination of the following is what we typically go with: French toast, eggs, biscuits and jam, bacon, grits, pancakes, waffles, etc. We add fruit sometimes to make it healthier.
we just did breakfast for dinner Friday night. I’d already bought the challah for Shabbat dinner and then DH had to work late. I’m not cooking a big meal if dad’s not home! So, challah french toast! Yummm-o! Served with a little Manishewitz, natch. My kids love brinner and it’s something that all 3 will gladly eat.
When I’m desperate for dinner ideas I usually check out the vegweb recipes or their forum and scour for dinners requiring minimal ingredients.
My kids love grits and hashbrowns so that ends up being a great quick treat for a dinner that does not take a lot of time to make!
We all love breakfast for dinner except my daughter who shuns foods with eggs in them
a bagel and cream cheese is a staple in my house. breakfast, lunch or dinner
Breakfast for dinner is a big hit in our house too. I love to make french toast with sauteed apples/brown sugar/cinnamon and sausages.
Seriously, what did mothers do before toaster waffles and microwave pancakes?! (which, incidentally are 2 of the 5 things my kid will eat…)
I honestly don’t know how parents survived without microwaves. When my kids want dinner, they want it NOW.
You’re the winner, by the way! Can you email me your mailing address so I can make sure you get your gift pack!
My son love soy yogurt because he is allergic to milk. Which of course makes it difficult to make meals. I honestly cook grits,eggs and pancakes for dinner once a week.It’s my husbands favorite foods.