Healthy Breakfast Sandwich

August is almost here. I can feel the season turning — not in the temperature, which is still hellish, but in the mood. The back-to-school displays are up at Walmart. The school supply lists are posted. Chloe starts KINDERGARTEN in three weeks, and I am not ready. She is five years old and she is leaving the little-kid world and entering the real one and I want to stop time. I want to hold her at five forever, reading Junie B. Jones under the covers with a flashlight, arguing about broccoli, calling me "Mama" without self-consciousness. But time doesn't stop for mothers. It only stops for mountains and fossils and things without hearts.

I took Chloe school shopping. Not at Walmart this time — at Target. I know. TARGET. I spent $40 instead of $20 because Target has the good backpacks and the folders with designs and the pencils that don't break after one sharpening. She chose a backpack with butterflies on it. She chose it instantly, without deliberation, the way she does everything — with certainty and volume. "THIS ONE, MAMA. THE BUTTERFLIES." The butterflies it is.

Jayden tried on Chloe's backpack and walked around the apartment in it for an hour. He doesn't start school for two more years but he wants what Chloe has, always, because Chloe is the sun and Jayden orbits her. He said, "I go school too?" I said, "Not yet, buddy." He said, "Why?" I said, "Because you eat crayons." He considered this. He accepted it. Fair point.

I got my final semester schedule: Advanced Clinical Practice (Mondays and Wednesdays, all day at the clinic), Community Dental Health (Tuesday nights), and Board Exam Review (Thursday nights). Plus peer tutoring on Friday mornings. It's the fullest schedule I've had, which means Mama will have the kids more than ever, which means I need to have a conversation with her about whether this is sustainable. She'll say yes. She'll mean it. She'll be tired. I'll feel guilty. We'll do it anyway, because Mitchell women don't let guilt stop them from reaching for things. They carry the guilt and reach anyway.

I made BLTs for dinner this week. Crispy bacon, lettuce, tomato (from Mrs. Patterson's garden, obviously — the woman is single-handedly keeping us in produce), mayo, on toasted bread. BLTs are summer dinner perfection — five minutes, no cooking besides the bacon, and every bite tastes like a sandwich decided to be excellent at one thing instead of mediocre at twelve. Chloe eats hers without the L or the T. Jayden eats the bacon separately and dips it in ketchup, which I don't endorse but I also don't have the energy to fight. Pick your battles. Ketchup on bacon is not the hill I'm dying on.

BLTs have been on permanent rotation at our apartment this August, and honestly I don’t see that changing — Mrs. Patterson’s tomatoes are too good, the kids are too easy to feed (in their own chaotic, bacon-dipped-in-ketchup way), and I have too much on my schedule to fuss with anything that requires more than one pan. This healthy sandwich version adds an egg and swaps in whole grain bread so I can feel like I’m doing something right while life is moving faster than I’m ready for. Simple food for a summer that’s almost over.

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 15 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

8 slices whole grain sandwich bread
8 strips thick-cut bacon
4 large eggs
2 large ripe tomatoes, sliced (garden tomatoes preferred)
4 leaves romaine or butter lettuce
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon olive oil or reserved bacon drippings

Instructions

Cook the bacon. Lay bacon strips in a cold skillet and set heat to medium. Cook, turning once, until crispy, about 7–8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Reserve 1 teaspoon of drippings in the pan if desired.
Fry the eggs. Return the skillet to medium-low heat and add olive oil or drippings. Crack in eggs and cook to your preference — over-easy keeps a runny yolk that soaks into the bread beautifully; over-medium is neater for little-kid households. Season with salt and pepper.
Toast the bread. While the eggs cook, toast bread slices until golden and sturdy enough to hold the fillings without going soggy.
Mix the mayo. Stir garlic powder into the mayonnaise. Spread generously on one side of each toast slice.
Assemble. On four toast slices, layer one lettuce leaf, two or three tomato slices, two bacon strips, and one fried egg. Season the tomato with a pinch of salt. Top with the remaining toast slices, mayo-side down. Press gently.
Serve immediately. Cut diagonally and serve while the bacon is still crispy. For kids who dissemble their sandwiches: serve components separately and accept no notes.

Nutrition (per serving)

Healthy Breakfast Sandwich — Because Some Summers Deserve One Perfect Thing