Chicken Broccoli Casserole For Breakfast? Don’t Judge Me!
“Wow! Jonathan had a great swim!” exclaimed a fellow swim mom after my son won the high school 100 breaststroke heat. “He must have had a great breakfast this morning!”
“Well, based on the evidence he left on the kitchen counter, it appears that he had a turkey and cheese sandwich and the leftover chicken broccoli casserole from last night’s dinner,” I said.
After her eyes settled back into her skull and she picked up her jaw that had dropped to the bleacher seat, she replied, “Well, I always make sure that my kids get a good, hot breakfast before they go to school.”
“That’s so nice of you to do that for them! So, what do they eat for breakfast?” I asked.
“I always get up to make them pancakes with bacon. It’s their favorite – especially when it’s all drowning in butter and syrup – natural syrup, of course, “she said with a smug, satisfied smile that made her look as judgmental as Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
Let’s take a bite of that logic and chew on it for a bit. Pancakes have virtually no nutritional value, and, with butter and syrup, natural or not, are no better than a glazed donut. Bacon, in all of its delicious glory, is not a meat – it’s almost all fat. Jonathan’s breakfast had protein, fiber, calcium, and vitamins. Yet, from the reaction I received, I was afraid the Child Protective Services was going to be knocking at my door that night.
Whatever chance I ever had to receive the Mother of the Year Award was severely diminished that day by revealing that I do not drag my sorry ass out of bed every morning to make sure that my children get a traditional American breakfast of flour, sugar, and fat.
That conversation got me to thinking about America’s obsession about what we can eat at what time and prompted me to investigate this cultural phenomenon.
EGGS
Ah… the flagship breakfast protein. I am a huge fan of eggs at all times of the day. They are one of the most versatile, inexpensive, and healthy items one can buy. So, why do so many folks think that if I eat a fried egg on a bagel for dinner that I’m eating “breakfast for dinner”? No, I am eating food for dinner!
My mother, who was born and raised on a farm, told me that eggs were served for breakfast because they were gathered first thing each morning which made them the perfect breakfast meal; the eggs couldn’t be fresher and refrigeration would not be a concern as they would be used right away. Makes perfect sense. But, perhaps my mother’s memory had started to go a little when she told me that story, because most hens lay on a 25-26 hour cycle. So, do the math and you will see that while some eggs are laid in the morning, Henny Penny will eventually start laying her eggs in the late the afternoon – perfect timing for dinner. A win for me!
TOAST
My father, who is knocking at the door of 88 years old, still has toast with butter and jam every day for breakfast. In fact, I do not remember a morning of my childhood that did not start with the smell of freshly toasted white bread. My parents’ chrome plated toaster (that I’m sure was obtained from the local bank upon opening their first joint bank account), was lovingly shrouded after breakfast with a brown, quilted cloth – God forbid any dust would comingle with the bread crumbs on this precious appliance during the day! The toaster would not be revealed again until the next morning.
So, who decided that bread must be toasted if eaten before 11:00 in the morning and that toast is otherwise forbidden throughout the remainder of the day?
I didn’t realize how offensive eating untoasted bread in the morning was until I went on a weeklong retreat with the high school cross country team. As a captain’s parent, one of my most important duties on the retreat was to keep these 55 athletes well fed and watered. During the meal planning meeting, it was determined that we had a protein dilemma for the breakfast meal since we did not have access in the morning to a stove to cook eggs or other acceptable breakfast items. To further add to the complexity of the situation, we could not provide any peanut butter as one of the athletes had a peanut allergy. I made the foolhardy suggestion of serving lunchmeats and cheeses with whole wheat bread. I thought it was a fine suggestion, and somewhat worldly and sophisticated since it is common to see a variety of meats and cheeses served at breakfast buffets in Europe. The reaction was not what I expected.
“We can’t serve that bread for breakfast! We don’t have a toaster!” declared a mom.
“And, lunchmeat and cheese is for lunch. It can’t be served for breakfast!” exclaimed another mom.
Well, the defiant rule breaker in me got up early and set out lunchmeat, cheese, and loaves of bread at the breakfast buffet anyway. As expected, the runners gobbled it all up. Needless to say, I didn’t win any popularity contests with the moms on that trip.
RESTAURANTS
For those of us who believe that we should be able to eat what we want when we want get little help from the restaurant industry. Some establishments, however, are at least attempting to see things my way.
“Now Serving Breakfast All Day!” Well, what were you serving before? It seems to be mighty presumptuous to believe that everyone wakes up with the sun and eats their pancakes, bacon, toast, and eggs before 11:00am. We all “break our fast” at different times throughout the day based on our work, school, or party schedules. Some folks eat their first meal of the day at 1:00pm, but most restaurants will not serve such late comers to the breakfast table anything but sandwiches, salads, and soups. Sorry, dude, but if you can’t get here by 11:00, no toast for you! (My apologies to the writers and fans of Seinfeld)
AMERICAN PHENOMENON
When Jonathan was studying abroad in Singapore in college, we had the opportunity to visit him for a few days. On our first morning, we all went to the food court at the mall for breakfast. There were food stations representing just about every Asian country – Korea, India, China, Japan, Thailand. They all served the same dishes all day long – no separate breakfast, lunch, or dinner menus. Jonathan explained that it was the same in his dining hall on campus.
So, if billions of people in the world have subsisted on eating the same foods regardless of the time of day, why are Americans so hung up on what we eat and when?
As I’m writing this, I am starting to get a little hungry. It’s 6:00pm. I think I’ll go make myself a bowl of cereal and a chicken salad.