Meal One, April 2nd

Since my son Matty is prone to sleeping well beyond commonly accepted traditional breakfast hours and wakes up at a time most of us would consider to be lunchtime or later, we’ve taken to calling his first food of the day “Meal One” so that he doesn’t feel like he missed out on the chance to enjoy breakfast foods. Meal One can be anything from eggs, to a turkey sandwich or even a burrito– he just likes breakfast foods to be included in the menu.

For me a great morning lineup would be super crisp bacon, sunny eggs with fresh cracked pepper, some sort of delicious potato feature, and thick sliced seven grain toast with an ice cream sized scoop of whipped butter to swirl around the toasty bread— the kind of butter that lazily slides around that top piece of toast because the bread is stacked up on an angle. (Whipped butter photo courtesy of food.com) The only restaurant breakfast I’ve ever had that even came close to morning perfection was an awesome Meal One at Matt’s Big Breakfast in Scottsdale, AZ. (And of course I just love the name!)

My favorite choice at Matt’s is THE HOG & CHICK– two eggs, thick-cut bacon or country sausage, toast, and your choice of potatoes. It’s seriously like they knew I would be coming and crafted that selection just for me! And I know the food sounds pretty simple, but the line out the door scrambling for a table shows that Matt really knows his breakfast.

I’m amazed at the folks who prefer a sweet breakfast like waffles. That feels like having dessert first thing in the morning (Mom!!) and although I’m a dessert lover, I need to start the day on a savory note. Then there are people who can sip a smoothie as Meal One (my sister!!). I have to veto this as well– I like chewing my meals. Sipping just isn’t a satisfying way for me to know I’ve ingested calories.

The great part about naming the first food of the day Meal One, is that in a few hours, you guessed it… Meal Two can entertain all sorts of new caloric options. When jockeying for position on your personal menu of the day, food should occupy the order and time of day you deem important, provided you’re of course awake to enjoy it. We should all always feel free to eat what we like when we like it– even if Meal One happens at 3 in the afternoon.