Brinner

Driving to school the other morning, I asked Kara what we should have for dinner that night since daddy was going to be at a work. Without skipping a beat, she said, "Mommy, can we have brinner?" To which I replied, "Absolutely!"

Brinner, for the uninitiated, means breakfast for dinner. I know this is a tradition in many households. When I was little, my mom would sometimes make corned beef hash with eggs and toast for dinner. Dave remembers his mom making pancake dinners from time to time as well. Dave and I first heard this called "brinner" on the sitcom "Scrubs"  many years ago. (Here is link to a clip.) Needless to say, the term has become part of our family vernacular.

The excellence of brinner cannot be understated. Brinner is your go to meal when you don't feel like cooking. I always have the ingredients from brinner in the house.  Brinner takes about 20 minutes to make and less than that to clean up. And as fast dinners go, brinner is pretty healthy. Finally, when I say we are having brinner, my kids cheer. It is a complaint free meal. How many of those do you have in your repertoire?

Our most recent brinner included eggs, bacon, orange slices and, because its fall, pumpkin pancakes.

Here is the pancake recipe. 

Super Easy Version
Make pancake batter and add 1/4 to 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, a dash of pumpkin pie spice or any combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, ground cloves, alspice. Trader Joe's multigrain pancake mix is particularly well suited to this "method."

Easy Version
-In a mixing bowl combine:

• 2 cups flour (white, or a mix white and whole wheat)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1tbsp baking powder
• Dash  each cinnamon, nutmeg, alspice, ground cloves, OR about 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

-In a separate bowl beat 2 eggs and add 2 tbsp melted butter or canola oil.
-Pour egg mix plus 2 cups milk into dry ingredients; stir until just combined. Add 1/2 cup pumpkin puree. Stir to combine.