Some girlfriends and I decided to get together Friday before Mother’s Day.  At first, we were going to bring appetizers, but then decided that, since we usually enjoy our brunches, we were going to have it for dinner.  Initially, I was going to take the easy route and bring turkey bacon because I wasn’t planning to go shopping for anything else, and I really didn’t have time to cook.  My memory failed me though and the turkey bacon I thought I had in my freezer was there no more.  My husband must have opened the last package and it was half used in the fridge. I knew that wouldn’t be enough. Therefore, I searched for more ingredients that I could get away with as breakfast-y.  I had half a container of Brussel sprouts, two potatoes and some tofu. I decided to make bacon and Brussel sprouts, and also breakfast potatoes substituted partly with tofu.

Now I will get a lot of backlash for this from haters out there, but I actually prefer turkey bacon to pig bacon. It’s perhaps partly because I raised two pigs on the farm, or because I don’t like the taste and texture of grease and fatty tissue on my tongue. Or maybe, I can eat more of turkey bacon and not feel like a pork chop. Anyways, if you bake it in the oven at 350°, it gets a pretty crunchy texture and can be chopped up to look like real bacon.  While the bacon cooked, I sautéed the Brussel sprouts to make it an even more beautiful green. I added salt, pepper, dried onions and a creole seasoning that claims it is “great on everything” (We’ll just see about that.)

For the breakfast potatoes, I first baked the potatoes for a couple of hours the day before. The next day, I chopped them up into cubes and sautéed it with salt, pepper, and red bell peppers.  Then, I set them aside.  I pretty much did the same with the tofu, but added paprika to them.  Afterwards, I put it all in a baking dish, threw some avocado oil on top, and put it in the oven on low.

When it was time to go, I took it out, threw some foil over it and put it in the car.  My daughter was a little overwhelmed by the smell of it in the car on the way to my friend’s house.  A few times I heard the crinkling of foil, so I peered in my rearview mirror and found my daughter sniffing the dish.  I told her she could have a little bit, and she was elated.  She approved by her classic sound of “mmmmmm.”