Remember the good old days, when you could start the day with bacon and eggs, toast, and orange juice? Or sometimes you could have pancakes and sausage, french toast, or waffles? For most of us, those days are gone. In retirement, we don’t do the hard physical labor every day that we used to do when we were younger. As a result, we can no longer afford the calories and fat packed into a breakfast like that. Our breakfasts are now lighter and more sensible fare, such as whole grain cereal with fresh fruit.
But if you’re like me, you still miss some of your favorite foods. We solved that dilemma by having breakfast for dinner. At dinnertime, we can afford to eat a few more calories than we can at breakfast. We also have more time to spend preparing such a feast. We all need to think of such a heavy meal as a feast in our healthy retirement, and we must remember that we shouldn’t eat like this very often. Many breakfast meats are nutritional nightmares, containing little more than fat and salt. Bacon and sausage should be eaten sparingly, if at all.
But some of the other dishes have redeeming value, especially eggs. Eggs are excellent sources of riboflavin, phosphorus, and selenium and they contain vitamins A, D, and B-12. One egg contains only 70 calories, although it also contains cholesterol. In a balanced diet, there is room for the cholesterol of an egg: just don’t eat a dozen a week.
One of our favorite egg recipes is a vegetable frittata or omelet. Chop up most any veggies you like—onions, peppers, olives, spinach, tomatoes, broccoli, zucchini, or most anything—and sauté them in a skillet with a little oil. Then stir the eggs. Cook until nearly done, top with feta or shredded cheddar, and pop the skillet under the broiler for just a minute or two. Yum! Serve with a couple slices of whole wheat toast and you have a delicious dinner that goes together in a flash.
We find pancakes, waffles, and french toast are especially appealing when weather is chilly, whether in the winter or on a cool and rainy summer evening. Experiment with waffle or pancake batter that is more nutritious than what you remember. Use whole wheat or buckwheat flour, or add pumpkin, cranberries, or other fruit to the batter. For french toast, use a whole grain bread.
Perhaps the least nutritious part of a pancake is what you put on top of it. Loading it with butter and drowning it in maple syrup (or what passes for syrup these days) turns a nutritious base into a soggy nightmare of sugar. Instead, try topping it with homemade cinnamon applesauce or fresh berries with a dollop of whipped topping. Slice an orange into wedges and serve alongside.
Now that we are retired, we don’t need to give up some of our favorite memories. You can rearrange your favorite breakfast meals and turn them into dinners. End your breakfast-for-dinner with a decadent cup of hazelnut or vanilla flavored decaf, and you have a meal to remember.
Copyright 2010, Linda Manley
