To Dine in or Out: My 10 Minute Simple Vegan Breakfast

Avocado, Earth Balance creamy peanut butter with flax, and chia seeds

I don’t need a full refrigerator to capture my attention and help me choose a homemade dish over fast food, but it does have to have a couple of foods that I really like in it. As long as I have a few key foods, I can easily prepare myself something for breakfast and probably lunch without thinking twice to worry about if it’s good for me. Dinner’s still a weak spot, but more often than not I end up cooking with my husband, which is still better than picking up Chic-fil-A French fries or Chipotle for the 4th time in a week. Actually, scratch that about Chipotle. Nothing is better than Chipotle.

During college, I went back and forth between making my own meals a lot and then bounced into lazier, less healthy options. With new food delivery apps out like Favor and Postmates, the weeks when I was most swamped with classwork, thesis writing, and wedding planning, I found myself ordering dinner in all the time. Push a few buttons, pay a few extra bucks, and save myself the time and trouble of both cooking AND going out? A lazy gal’s dream and simultaneous nightmare.

Now that I’m looking for work and not drowning under the weight of 9,000 important projects anymore, I’ve had a little more time to spend on food and I’ve been trying to use that time to create healthy, useful habits to be in for when I’m working full time. Meal prep, Pinteresting recipes, nutrition research, and consistently preparing meals for myself so I gain the cooking skills to make things faster and tastier than before! I’d like to share a filling, nutritious vegan breakfast I eat all the time. Although it’s kind of a boring name, I just call it Ezekiel Bread Two Ways, because that’s exactly what it is.

My husband and I go through a loaf and a half of Ezekiel bread every week. It’s filled with protein, fiber, and it makes the PERFECT toast. Toasted with peanut butter on two slices and avocado on the other two is my favorite way to eat it. This recipe adds up to about 800 calories which is perfect for my lifestyle, but if that’s a little heavier than you’re used to feel free to adjust the ingredients/amounts until you find an adaptation that’s perfect for you.

Ingredients

4 slices of Ezekiel bread (although any bread will do)
1/2 large hass avocado
2 tbsp. nut butter (I used creamy Earth Balance peanut butter)
1/2 cup clover sprouts (optional)
1 tbsp. chia seeds

Instructions

Put the Ezekiel bread in the toaster for about 3-4 minutes.

Dice the avocado in its skin to make it easy to scoop out onto the bread.

You can add sprouts to this dish if you want! I love me some alfalfa sprouts, so I sprinkled about half a cup between my two pieces of Ezekiel bread with avocado on them.

Take the toast out of the toaster and top it with avocado.

Smooth out the avocado using a knife then season to taste with salt and pepper. My husband loves to put dried cilantro on here as well!

Scoop out one tablespoon of nut butter onto each remaining piece of bread. Pardon my salt and pepper shakers. They couldn’t resist jumping into this shot.

Spread the nut butter across your bread.

Sprinkle your chia seeds on top of the nut-buttered bread and enjoy!!!

What are your favorite toast toppers? I could eat this recipe every day of my life but I love trying new ingredients and would love to hear what everyone else eats. Better yet, what are your favorite go-to dinners? Heaven knows I could use an alternative to veggie fried rice from the vegan Chinese place down the street…

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