It's Brinner-time, Baby!

Lots of families incorporate special themes into their dinners, either scheduled into the month's menus or appearing spontaneously when the crew is in need of a change of pace.  Our family is no different.  Soup and Sandwich Night, Taco Night, and Burger Night (veggie burgers for me) are all mainstays in our dining repertoire for different reasons.  Some, like Taco Night, are fun for the kids because they can build their own meals and eat what they want.  Others, like Leftover Night, have a special purpose, i.e. avoiding major food waste and/or giving the family chef a break. 

But few nights are as eagerly anticipated in our home as Brinner.  Brinner, which is "breakfast for dinner", flips the tired, repetitive script of our daily meals, turning the day upside down (sort of).  Breakfast can be such a fun meal, with room for both healthy and sweet options.  But in the mornings, we don't always have time to kick back and enjoy all that breakfast can offer, especially when Mom is rushing you to gulp down that orange juice and finish your cereal because we have an appointment in ten minutes! But Brinner?  At Brinner-time, there's no rush.  Everyone unwinds from the busy day, passing plates of breakfast goodness around the table.  Most mornings, Mom hounds you to eat enough to sustain you through three hours at preschool or to get you to snacktime.  At Brinner-time, she's done hounding.  It's been a very long day for Mommy.  You want to eat only one spoonful of eggs?  Mommy's over there wolfing down her Morningstar veggie sausage links, not even paying attention.  It's Brinner-time, baby.

Mixing pancake batter for Brinner

The Carnivore's fancy Southwest Scramble

The downside to Brinner, at least in our home, is that it becomes a production way more complex than regular breakfast, which typically involves Mommy slapping a bowl of cereal and some fruit at your place on the table.  A production which involves lots of clean-up, but still.  Some nights, it's really worth it.

Brinner requires multiple offerings; for example, tonight we had pancakes on the griddle (they really need to invent a child-safe guard for those things), tater tots (in place of hash browns), sausages (veggie and regular), and the Carnivore's recent invention the Southwest Scramble.  Frozen peppers, egg substitute, pepper jack cheese, and a secret blend of spices, only known to the Carnivore, comprise this fancy little scramble and it is good. 

Of course, Brinner can include any number of breakfast treats: cinnamon buns (Trader Joe's has some really yummy ones), bacon, fruit, waffles, and more.  Sometimes it depends on what's in the house the night of Brinner; other times Brinner requires a special trip to the grocery store to select specific cravings.

I think the beauty of Brinner is that it's a flexible meal, adapting to whatever the family's needs are in that particular moment.  Maybe you've got lots of breakfast ingredients and not much else in your pantry.  Maybe your family is tired of the same five meals you've got in your dinner rotation.  Maybe you're looking for a meal that has something for everyone in the family.  To me, there's only one conclusion to be drawn from any of these scenarios.  It's Brinner-time, baby. 

What's your favorite dish to eat for Brinner?

If you're looking for more adventures in eating with kids in Northern Virginia, like me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PaperPlacemats.  Thanks for reading!