I eat bigger dinner than lunch. Because I work at home (not linked to covid), I don’t have time or don’t want to spend the working hours to prepare a big lunch. Most of the time, lunch are just leftover dinners. Weekend are exceptions. Although the culture here is bigger lunch than dinner.
Another reason is after a full dinner, with a stomach full, I sleep much better, if I have a small dinner, I can have a hard time falling asleep! Or I need to eat again before sleeping LOL!
Typically I have 3-4 meals, breakfasts, lunch, afternoon snacks, dinner. Half of the time, I skip breakfasts.
Dinner. I don’t eat lunch. Instead, I space my breakfast “courses” (V8, yogurt with fruit, egg with bread) throughout the day. Ordinarily, this is plenty for me, but if the day involves a lot of moving around, especially in the cold, I’ll need some extra calories around 4pm.
Biggest meal if Im fixing it is lunch. If dinner is prepared elsewhere, chances are its the bigger meal.
Breakfast in an open field. Always coffee could be baked goods, could be leftovers, could be a frig clean out. Could be brunch elsewhere. Hot cereal, yogurt, eggs.
When left to my own devices,
Breakfast is coffee, toast doctored up and fruit
Lunch is a soup/ sandwich or a big salad with protein or takeaway, a new recipe I tried.
Dinner is light fare sometimes a veg plate, again leftovers, eggs, in summer it could be grilled fruit.
Then there are all the exceptions! I eat in the exceptions since semi retiring. If I workout close to a meal time the meal size and type chgs dramatically. I lose my appetite after exercising. Then its just liquids.
I used to power eat in my younger days. Build muscle in order to work. Now Im much leaner and my appetite is lighter even though Im cooking and baking more than ever.
Usually only lunch and dinner during the week, with dinner being the largest meal of the day. When I am working in the office, a salad at my desk for lunch is the norm. Now that I am working from home due to COVID, I typically have leftovers, an omelet or a salad for lunch. If I wake up hungry I will eat breakfast, but usually I just have coffee. Dinner is typically a grilled meat plus vegetable side, a stir-fry or other one-dish meal.
We have also been doing some serious weightlifting during COVID so like @Rooster, we occasionally eat something specific before a workout and/or a recovery drink afterwards. Sometimes wine is my recovery drink!
On weekends things are looser. Sometimes we’ll do a big brunch meal and a very light dinner, other times we’ll have several smaller meals or snacks based around errands or other activities. Anything goes! Today, since DH is devoted to football, I had some leftovers before going out to rake leaves, a snack afterwards, and I’m about to go make Buffalo chicken wings and pizza dip for us to enjoy during the afternoon games - that will be dinner!
Just coffee first thing, then about 2 hours later its time for breakfast. Yogurt and toasted something or eggs (eat a lot of eggs). There is usually a banana or orange or apple in there too.
Lunch is salad and/or soup, maybe left overs.
Dinner is bigger, more of us and its a social time too. Wine, dessert for some. Maybe a small plate to
nosh on while dinner is being prepped. (and this is since C-19 and everyone is home).
When its just myself and DH we do eat smaller at dinner. But that has been a while.
Definitely lunch, whether I am at home or not I always try to eat a decent lunch. Then it’s breakfast, and finally dinner which will generally be he lightest meal. With a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack (that I try to keep healthy enough, with mitigated results).
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Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
#7
Three meals.
Breakfast - usually a slice of toast or muesli. Once a week or so, something cooked like bacon & eggs
Lunch - usually a sandwich
Dinner - main meal of the day. Assuming we are cooking something from our own North European culture that’s going to be a very familiar plate involving a protein, carb and vegetable/salad. Usually fruit to follow.
6.am: I have a high energy breakfast for example: a season fruit, a natural eco type bread or cracker and a hard boiled egg or the bread with fresh grated tomato and Evoo (pan tomaca) and / or a piece of cheese and cracker flat bread … ( Weekends we might have a croissant or churros = fritter ) … with a hot chocolate ).
At 11am - 12pm: A “montado” - very Spanish of white albacore tuna (ventresca) with a slice of red bell pepper on 1 slice of baguette … or a couple of slices of Iberian Acorn fed Ham or a sandwich called: SANDWICH VEGETAL which is white asparagus, tomato, a hard boiled egg, lettuce and served in a toasted bread sandwich.
14.00 - 14.30; Main meal lunch. A starter; a salad or a soup depending on climate and / or a vegetable dish. MAIN: Protein or Pasta or Risotto. For Dessert; I conclude with an Espresso – and a fruit … sometimes a slice or two of cheese … Weekends; we share a dessert … Wine is always on the table and if out, we order by the glass or a bottle depending on where we are.
21.00 - 21.30: A tapa or two that we share; and / or a Caldo de Jerez; which is a broth made from Cadiz, Jerez Aged Brandy and served with a tiny tapa of choice … Wine is our beverage of choice.
This is an example … It varies from season to season and also; a glass of wine with all of the above except breakfast … Also if we are home and / or walk to the corner for a tapa and wine or 2.
Breakfast for me is coffee. Usually black, sometimes a splash of cream. I have never been one to wake up hungry and while I enjoy “breakfast foods” very much, I never actually eat them at a time that would be considered breakfast. I am not judging anyone, but I could never wake right up and wolf down bacon or sausage and eggs. I’d probably throw up. Any time I do wake up hungry, I’m craving carbs, so that means a bagel.
I eat a light lunch before going into work, usually a turkey sandwich on grain bread. Maybe a bagel and an egg or two. Maybe leftovers from the previous night. But I keep it light.
Dinner is usually very late (not optimal, I know, but that’s my schedule). A cocktail or two to unwind. Most of my calories are consumed at this time. I don’t have to say what I eat because I post pictures almost every day in WFD!
Same for me. It’s dinner because I have the most time to prepare. Breakfast only really happens on weekends. Weekdays is occasionally a piece of fruit or yogurts, but mainly coffee.
Lunch is something that can be heated or made in 15 minutes, especially with work from home. In the office, it’s picking up a lunch outside or at the cafe. Lunch portions are usually smaller, so whatever I order is going to be lighter than dinner.
Dinner is the full meal… Rice/starchy carb+protein+veggies. Occasionally fruit afterwards. If I actually have any dessert laying around, maybe a little dessert an hour or so after dinner. It’s likely ice cream.
