Feeding a Tribe: Breakfast Skillet Scramble

(Don’t judge a mess before you eat it)

On busy mornings when I have a lot of short people needing to be fed somewhat quickly and with something that will sustain them for a good stretch of time, this proteinacious and straight-forward breakfast is a frequent winner in our home.

We lovingly call it “Breakfast Mess”, but “Skillet Scramble” probably sounds better.

Versatile, adaptable, filling, and delicious, my kids have been known to eat it for breakfast and then cheerfully devour any leftovers for lunch as well! Try it and see what you think.

Breakfast Skillet Scramble (Breakfast Mess)

The following is less of a recipe and more of a method.

• Eggs
• Frozen shredded hashbrowns, or cooked chopped boiled potatoes, or leftover chopped french fries or tater tots, or leftover baked potato, diced, whatever you have!
• Chopped/diced ham or turkey or crumbled sausage or chopped cooked bacon, or leftover steak or pulled pork… you get the idea.
• Chopped vegetables – I have used leftover steamed broccoli, fresh sliced peppers, chopped steamed green beans, frozen green peas, chopped cooked spinach, chopped roasted asparagus… I just usually stick with one kind each time.
• Seasonings you like – salt, pepper, granulated garlic, granulated onion, cayenne…
• Shredded or grated or crumbled cheese – you pick your favs, I’ll pick mine: I usually go with cheddar, feta, smoked gouda or whatever I can find in my fridge.

All right. Ready? Let’s do this!

First, heat up your griddle to medium heat. If you don’t have one, use a skillet or a frying pan. Lightly grease it. Spray oil, butter, bacon grease… you pick.

• Start with the potatoes, mostly so they have a chance to get a little crisped up. Stir them around a little so they get a bit golden, maybe 3-5 mins.
• Add the veg. Today I had some sliced peppers and leftover steamed broccoli, so that’s what I used, adding them to the frozen shredded hash browns.

• Once it’s all mixed about and nicely heated, start cracking eggs over the top. Depending on how many you’re cooking for, or how hungry you are, this number for me can be anywhere from about 8 eggs to 15 eggs. (I think 16 was the most I’ve done on one skillet so far.)

• Cook till the eggs are a little set and the whites have become, well, white. Then break the yolks and drag them about to ensure a pretty even eggy layer throughout all that potato-vegetable goodness. This is exactly the part that earned the name “Breakfast Mess”.
• Season it with what you like! I usually go for salt, granulated garlic, black pepper, and sometimes granulated onion.

• Let it cook till it’s set enough to start cutting into wedges with your spatula. Then start cutting into wedges with your spatula. Like this:

• Then cut the wedges into squarish chunks so you can flip them over, like this:

• Now, sprinkle on your cheese of choice, if you’re choosing cheese. I went with feta and cheddar today. And I added a bit of chopped parsley, because I had some and felt like being fancy and irritating my kids:

• Et, voila! A delicious, messy-looking, but scrumptious and filling breakfast delight. You’re welcome.