Breakfasts Snacks Fresh Nutritious Vegan Options

Breakfasts Snacks Fresh Nutritious Vegan Options? In a hurry, want something quick, healthy?

Well here is a few things we have in the morning to get a good start to the day. Or we might want something mid day for an energy boost or snack. I am not guaranteeing each idea will give you every nutrient you need. I am not qualified to do that.

All I know is these ideas are all easy to do, delicious, feel healthy and are better than most of the processed fast foods that are so readily available and easy.

The list is of quick and healthy bites are endless. Hope you find something that inspires you!

Breakfasts Snacks Fresh Nutritious Vegan Options

Breakfasts Snacks Fresh Nutritious Vegan Options. There are so many!

Today I am going to share a few of my go to faves:

Smoothies
Avocado on Toast
Chia Bowl
Oat Bowl
Quick and Easy

Smoothies

Smoothies are such a great way to start the day. Each one is unique and you never know exactly what its going to taste like, till you taste it. They are portable, quick to drink, easy to digest, give us lots of get up and go, especially if you add a bit of protein to the smoothie or as a side. If you have a portable blender, you can make them at home and on the road. So cool!

At our house, the mornings are pretty busy and we think its important to get some good food in your body early in the day to wake it up. My husband is not a big breakfast eater, in fact, when we first started going out he often did not eat till dinner, and then he ate late in the evening. Boy have things changed in the past 30 years.

Now we usually have a smoothie as part of the start to our day. I might add a piece of toast or a few nuts and seeds. For Brent, the smoothie is all he needs to kick start his day.

Every smoothie, everyday and every way is unique. How do we do it?

We basically look on the counter, in the fridge, the garden and in the freezer; whatever there is that we like, goes into the blender. Bam….you never know what you’re gonna get.

I realize that some of what we choose is more nutritiously balanced than other ingredients and that’s ok with me. My goal is to overall eat relatively healthy food that is delicious and does not require that we hurt ourselves, the animals or the environment. Health, kindness and environment, my three big drivers for being vegan.

Here are a few basic guidelines that I follow….

If you can afford one, get yourself a high speed blender, they make awesome smoothies and yes a regular blender will do, just a little less smooth
My beloved high speed blender. We use it every day!
Add a little coolness into your smoothie to give it a bit of a chill. I add frozen berries and fruit, kale cubes and regular ice cubes.
Simple ingredients such as dates, mint, ginger, turmeric, maple syrup, can really boost your flavours
Add any veggies and fruit (any veggie – spinach, kale, Swiss chard, carrots, celery, avocado, tomatoes, bell pepper), all fruits (bananas, melons, berries, apples, grapes, pineapple, mango, all tropical fruits, any nut milk, flax, hemp hearts, chia seeds, coconut milk/water and plain water.
Blackberries fresh off the vine. These babies are the best and the hardest to pick. Be prepared for a scratch or two, all worth it though.
Really, what ever you think would taste good and is healthy. Throw it in.
Leftover smoothie? Throw it in a jar with a tight fitting lid and take it with you on your travels that day. Give it a good shake when you’re feeling a ready and there you go, more goodness.

Smoothie Combos

Below are a bunch of ideas of what we have made, to show you just how diverse you can be. A few examples of smoothies that we had and I actually wrote down what we put in it. All are different, all can be modified and I’m sure you will like some more than others. My goal is to get you started with experimenting and finding new ways of starting your day with a smoothie.

Sometimes I’m just trying to make a pretty colour and that’s how I put things together, other times I want lots of greens, sometimes something light and airy.

PS I really had a thing this summer, trying to match the colours of my smoothies with my flowers for a good pic.

Avocado on Toast

OMG Avocado on Toast is the Best! Especially if you get really lucky and open up the perfectly ripened avocado. Life just doesn’t get any better.

I love to start my day with my favourite gluten free bread, toasted, lighted covered in Vegenaise or other vegan friendly mayo. Then I top it with yummy avocado, red onions, red pepper flakes, homemade vegan parmesan.

Another favourite starts with homemade pesto, lettuce, tomato and avocado on the top.

Chia Bowl

This is another amazing breakfast! I love the portability of this food and of course its one of the super-foods too – does life get any better?

So simple. Before you go to bed, soak about 2-4 T of chia seeds per person in nut milk overnight. Cover the chia in lots of nut milk and leave it in the fridge. If you forget, and you have about an hour in the morning too, it will still work. The texture will be slightly different.

When the chia seed soaks for a long time, they absorb the liquid and can become kind of jelly like.

***BTW, chia can be used as a egg substitute too – end of this blog, I’ll tell you how.

Anyway, I like mine less jelly like, so I stir it up real good and add in some more nut milk, till its the texture you like.

Next I add in whatever fresh fruit I may have around – bananas, peaches, blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, really any fruit will work. I usually sprinkle on a few raw seeds, such as sunflower, pumpkin. Some nuts are good to raw cashews, slivered almonds, pecans, walnuts to name a few.

Sure go ahead and add a little sweetness too, coconut, maple syrup a bit of sugar. Go crazy!

Oat Bowl

Pretty much like the Chia Bowl, anything goes with the oat bowl. I like to soak the oats the night before, I like steel cut oats and slow cooking less processed oats best. Soak the oats in nut milk overnight. Your decision whether to cook them in the morning or eat them raw. If I am going to cook them, I soak them in water and drain before cooking in fresh water. If I am going to eat them raw, I soak them in nut milk.

You can always warm up the milk if you’d like to do that to.

Once you are ready to eat your oats add any of the above fruit, nuts and seeds. I also like to add a couple tablespoons of nut butter on my oats, a few raisins, sunflower and hemp seeds. You will not be hungry for quite a while.

Quick and Easy

Peanut Butter and Banana on Toast. Your favourite bread plain or toasted. Top with your favourite nut butter and banana. Want it a bit sweeter? Add on some coconut butter or maple syrup. Could get pretty messy! Add a peach on the side and away you go!

Fruit Plate – pretty much anywhere you travel in the world you can find some type of local fresh fruit. Stop at a local vendor or in your local farmers market and pick up some seasonal fruit. All you need is a knife and you are in business. Eat an avocado and a few raw nuts and seeds at the same time; helps to slow down how fast your process the sugar from the fruit. Its a portable snack.

Pancakes. Who doesn’t love pancakes? Make some up on the weekend. Pop 2 or 3 into a freezer friendly container and freeze till you want to eat them. When you are in the mood, take them from the freezer and pop them in the toaster or toaster oven and cook till warm in the centre and crunchy on the outside. Add your favourite toppings and enjoy fresh or frozen!

Nuts and Seeds. Grab a handful or two of your favourite raw nuts and seeds. I love almonds, cashews, pecans, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, a salty nut or seed, a few raisins (organic of course) and sometimes I throw in a few dark chocolate chips for fun.

Hemp Seeds. They may seem a little gross and it works! If I am super hungry and don’t have time to cook. I gobble down 2-3 Tablespoons of hemp seeds. You’ll need to drink something too, maybe a little homemade almond milk or some of leftover smoothie from this morning? It stops you from grabbing something really bad for you and it will tide you over for an hour or so, till you can get more of a meal.

Leftovers. What have you got in the fridge from last nights supper? Throw it all in a burrito and wrap it up or toss some in a dish and warm it up in the toaster oven while you get ready for work. Relax, enjoy your food at home or take it with you for when you get to work or on on your commute.

My favourite leftovers are pizza, lasagna, salad, soup and stir fry! What’s yours?